Creating the Handmade life.....

In our pursuit of a more "natural" lifestyle and because Jeff & I originally chose aviation as a career (which essentially means resigning 3/4 of your adult life to poverty), we had very little money to spend most of the time so became pros at dumpster diving (yes really-just not food!) and yard sales (or "tag" sales as Martha would say).  Now that it has become somewhat hip to recycle everything, we are now officially "cool", or so we tell our kids.

Over the last decade we have been preparing for higher oil prices & anything else that we don't want to say out loud for fear of being labeled “paranoid” (and I do know a little about paranoia, as I once worked with 30 Paranoid Schizophrenics).  It used to be that we just made almost everything ourselves-with all four hands.  However, as life became increasingly hectic and we would meet people at Farmers Markets & craft shows, we were introduced to the coveted term "trade friendly"! Kolt & Darby have become quite skilled at trading our soaps for Shower Art, Handmade Dolls , ... and Tweets' Toffee.

While envisioning eventually paying $20 a gallon for gas, we have set up a network close to home. We get our eggs from Chris, organic vegetables from Garden Treasures, coffee/tea from Fiddlehead, and clothes from Tina at Glam Spoon. For special occasions Robyn bakes a German chocolate birthday cake for Grandpa  and sews sweet aprons for any little girl’s birthday party we're invited to.  Our company photos come from the amazing Molly and Angie teaches Darby how to felt, knit & make a loom.

We figure  ~80-90% of our purchases are recycled (Thrift Stores/Yard Sales/Craig's List/generous friends), made from companies that are here in the USA, or handmade by us or friends. I doubt we will ever make the 100% mark as I have yet to find anyone that can make socks or underwear that my family will wear.

Besides the benefit of supporting products that are actually made here in the United States & local Artisans, it's really more about building relationships.  We know exactly where most of our food comes from and the people that cultivate it.  I find tremendous pleasure in using, wearing or eating something that a good friend has created or grown with their own hands...We would love to hear how you are creating your own handmade life!

Visit us at www.UrbanFarmNaturals.com  and see what we do when we aren't eating German chocolate cake from our multi-talented friend Robyn.