Only 47 more days til Christma (but who is counting, right?)

Now that we have the election behind us, we can focus on the next couple of months.  As many of you know, E and I go way out with the holidays.  We start decorating for Christmas by the 15th. of November at the latest, finishing up inside and out side so that all the lights and pretties can be turned on, lit, whatever on Thanksgiving Evening when our family is together.

We are almost done with our holiday shopping for the family and have shopped as locally as we can and, if not locally, we have tried our best to buy American made products.  Over the next few weeks I will be doing a recommendations list on this blog of places we have found locally to purchase holiday gifts for our friends and family.

Being a big supporter of local economy and small businesses, most of these can be found within about a 30 mile radius of my home.  Essentially, I started this when I posted about the beautiful products carried by Shoppe Around the Corner in Palm Harbor, Fl.  When ever possible, I will contact information for the stores so even if you are not in my part of Florida, you could still purchase from any of these companies.

So, two stores head my list for today.  The first is Posh Scraps for all your paper needs.   I adore the owners, Michele and Loui and not only shop at Posh (A LOT) but design and teach for the store as well.  The store has relocated to the end of the mall where they were before and the store is lovely and intimate.  This is the wonderful place where the Women Who do Lunch bunch gather to crop and for group therapy, both retail and otherwise.  Come gather at Posh too!

The second store is the one I blogged about previously, Shoppe Around the Corner where the proceeds go towards Meals on Wheels for north Pinellas county.  The selection of gifts and pretties for the home are endless and lovely all year around but the store outdoes itself at Christmas. 

Whenever possible I will post pictures and as much information as I can on the stores.  Remember, if we do not buy locally and from our small businesses, we won't have them.