This isn't a traditional DIY roundup, but since it's black friday I had to do a shop handmade post.  Of course there are way too many handmade shops around the web to round up even a small percentage of them, so this is more like a resource roundup for finding the kinds of handmade gifts you're looking for.  First of all, I just want to point you toward buyhandmade.org's why buy handmade? page.  Taken from the page: "Buying Handmade makes for better gift-giving.... Buying handmade is better for people.... Buying handmade is better for the environment."  The page has a video about shopping handmade, and a bunch of great links about the handmade movement, conscious consumption, and challenging big box stores.

Now onto the shopping, of course I have to start with etsy, the king of all handmade shopping websites. Anything handmade you can imagine, you can find it on etsy. With over 100,000 sellers from all over the world, there are all kinds of crazy inventive ways to discover things, like the visually beautiful colors search, the shop local browser, and the treasury, with all sets of items handpicked by etsy members. Or if you're looking for a specific type of gift, you can be more practical and search by category.  If you're looking for jewelry, you might come across Daydream Glass's gorgeous rings and other multi-colored glass creations...

 ...or if you're in the Geekery category you'll see these great Floppy Bookys by contexto:

Etsy even has massive items like handmade musical instruments!  Check out this amazing electric guitar by West Corinth Studio:

And you'll find food items, like ruaTEA's yummy-looking tea!

Then there is tons of art, like Lovely MPLS's prints, and my photography!

Now that etsy is out of the way, you don't have to confine yourself in your handmade holiday shopping - there are great shops outside of etsy, and lots of places to track them down!  Buyolympia.com is a handmade stuff site that has been around for many years, and carries all kinds of stuff by lots of different artists.  I love this bike cog bottle opener by Steel Toe Studios!

Cut + Paste is another site that has been around for quite awhile, set on representing small businesses and individuals, having hosted over 300 artists since they started. I love these Bubble Hoop Earrings by dottyspeck!

 Trillium Artisans is based here where I am, in Portland, OR, and is a fantastic organization supporting people who make things from recycled materials (at least 50% of each item must be reclaimed).  Besides the brick & mortar store here in town, they have an online shop too, with lots of different kinds of items; for example, check out this wallet made from lawn chair webbing by April Alden:

I just discovered this site called Try Handmade, which features handpicked items made by people all over the web, done as a blog by Erika Jurney, but designed in a way that's super friendly to browsing the handmade items and searching for what you're looking for.  I love this shopping bag by mystudio:

 Poppytalk Handmade is a monthly curated marketplace of handmade and vintage items by "emerging design talent from around the world."  Each month the market changes, so right now it's holiday and gift themed.  I love the work of Melanie Favreau:

Indie Fixx has a bunch of handmade holidays stuff going on right now, with 12 days of indie holiday shopping, spotlighting a different handmade online shop every weekday, and a Handmade Holidays Recession Guide, with all gifts under !

If you want to be extra good about your holiday shopping, trying to shop local is another great thing you can do for your community. Of course you can attend whatever real-life craft shows might be happening nearby, but if you can't make it or there aren't any close enough, looking at the websites for those craft shows is an easy way to find indie businesses to support online.  You can do a search for your own area, just by searching the city name and "craft show," "craft fair," or "craft sale" - if you're in a smaller town, trying searching whatever big city is closest to you. I'll give you a few examples, in case you're close to any of these cities... My city has a monthly show called Crafty Wonderland, and the website lists vendors for all their past shows, so there are tons of Portland handmade shops to click to over there, like my shop!

 The Renegade Craft Fair takes place in Brooklyn, Chicago, and San Francisco, and each location's website has a full vendor list.

 And lastly, Bazaar Bizarre happens in Boston, San Francisco, Cleveland, and Austin, and you can check out vendor lists through each location page with pictures and descriptions for each vendor.

I hope that helps you out in your holiday shopping, and I hope you support small businesses this holiday season!!  Feel free to share your favorite indie shop links in the comments!