Reply #46: Buy books, art supplies, jewelry or buy from people who make one of a kind [View All]

items. Ebay has people who make all kinds of stuff just search "OOAK". Or do a google search for Made in America toys. In our area at this time of year, there are also boutiques and gift fairs every weekend with vendors selling their own hand made wares. You could also make up a gift basket with scrapbooking or seeds/garden items and later spend time with the grandkids scrapbooking or planting the seeds or maybe even a tree. Also, you could always make your own items for them too.

I can't stand the plastic crap from China either-when I think what it does to the environment I want to cry! However, it's this stuff that my kid wants for Christmas and birthday, so that's when I buy it new. The rest of the year, I make a concentrated effort to buy used video games, used books and some used toys-when I can find them since good clean and unbroken toys are hard to find.