Support These Hometown Farms and Etsy Shops This Holiday Season

North Branford's Economic Development Commission recently shared a letter encouraging North Branford residents to shop local. And many businesses throughout North Branford and Northford participated in Small Business Saturday.

In addition to the small businesses in town, many of North Branford and Northford's farms are also selling holiday wares. Check out the attached PDF's for the Agriculture Commission's 2012 brochure, which highlights the local farms and details their hours, location and what each has to offer. 

There are plenty of ways you can support the local farms in your holiday preparation as they offer Christmas trees, wreaths, baked goods and more. The farms also offer gift-give opportunities as well with plants, riding lessons, syrups, yarn and gardening/planting needs. 

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Did you know you could shop even smaller than our local stores right here in town? Etsy showcases handmade items from all over the world, including several shops based out of North Branford and Northford.

According to its website, "Etsy is the world's handmade marketplace. Our mission is to empower people to change the way the global economy works. We see a world in which very-very small businesses have much-much more sway in shaping the economy, local living economies are thriving everywhere, and people value authorship and provenance as much as price and convenience. We are bringing heart to commerce and making the world more fair, more sustainable, and more fun."

You can find Etsy shop owners by location? There are 10 Etsy dealers with 60 items listed in North Branford and 126 items listed in Northford, never mind that there are 85,660 items listed in Connecticut.

Here are our hometown Etsy shops:

• CoffeeCrocheted: Crochet crafts
• CRSisters: handmade dolls, housewares, book marks, baby security blankets, dog jackets and sock bunnies
• crsisterscrochetshop: crocheted items
• JGS444: artwork by Justin
• LindseyMHottin: Disney princess costumery
• pegstabletop: handpainted mugs and trivets
• sandyssoapshop: soaps, sports soaps, lotions
• SculptureHaven: hand-crafted and personalized whistles
• SeasideRawMaterials: gift boxes and other packaging materials
• sharonlamb: commissioned pet portrait paintings and original art

Tell us: Do you shop handmade and local? What's your favorite Etsy shop?