Buy Local

If you look at the right side of this page, on one of my blogrolls, I've put up a "Buy Local" section. I have come to love interesting quirky things that I can buy for a sheer shot of joy and a pinch of cuteness. And I also appreciate the creativity that the makers have put into the products. In this entry, I'd like to showcase some of the things I've bought.

This I bought last year for my sister's birthday. It's a quote from one of her favorite songs "Everything" by Michael Buble. I ordered it from Pam (www.paperonia.com), who was living in the same dorm as I was when we were in Singapore. She's so artsy, and she has a thing for paper cutting. She takes custom orders whether it's for baby gifts, wedding invitation, or just for wall decor. My order currently hangs nicely above my sister's bed.

The next is from I-hope with Mbak Ika Damayanti as the brain behind it. She draws on wooden spoons and cutting board and takes custom orders mostly as gifts. The one I order was for my parents on their wedding anniversary. She is based in Jogjakarta, the city for college students and the city for creative souls. I was satisfied with the order although the size is not as big as I imagined it would be. But to be fair, she does write down the sizes of the product; I, personally, am wishing it to be a bit bigger. 

OK, so this one seems to be a little bit crazy to buy. I don't know what came into me but I thought at that time that the plushies in the form of traditional Indonesian cakes are worth buying. I got three stuffed toys in the form of lemper, cakue, and bolu kukus. Honestly, the idea was cute enough and they are probably going to be great gifts for children, but definitely not worthy for decoration purposes. Still, kudos to the maker for the creativity. Check them out at Boneka Japarr.

My latest puchase is GrowBox. This one is definitely a worthy purchase and a unique one. Basically, what it does is grow mushroom with convenience. All you have to do is religiously spray the box with water once a day until the shrooms are ready to be harvested. It takes about a month to be harvested and can grow for 4 cycles. You can cook and eat the mushroom when it has grown. The design of the box is too cute; it even comes with tiny spray bottles for you to water the plant. Ahhh, I can't wait for my first harvest. I put mine in the office and it has only been about 4 days after the box is opened and I can see green things starting to appear. Tee hee!

Aaaand, finally, I have a custom order in place from Molawall.  The creator of this new handmade business is Mbak Putri. She does canvas printing and mostly sells her own design as wall decor. Once in a while, she would sell leftovers from her canvas print as pouches as shown above. I have ordered in a print with my favorite quote on it, and I can't wait for it to be done and hung in my room :) I will post it later when it arrives.

So, those are some of my local fun purchases, please share with me if you have recommendation for any buys that might be interesting!!!