Now that we’ve all acknowledged the economy is in for a bumpy ride, many of us are wondering how to keep up our life style of “buy whatever I want whenever I want.” Well, that might be impractical under the circumstances. However, what’s to stop you from finding well made, beautiful jewelry at low prices ? I tell you, it’s out there.  If you can’t do a little bit of looking on your own, then you’re in worse shape than I thought!

Seriously, you can find hand crafted jewelry made right here in the USA for bargain prices if you don’t mind searching a little. Some people have already discovered the fun of exploring thrift stores and local art fairs, (Not that the two venues really belong in the same sentence) I’ll bet you that some of your best friends may have some great ideas up their sleeves on where to look.

One of my favorite art shows is the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar that takes place every December in Austin Texas. But you don’t have to wait until the holiday season, or fly to Texas to see what this eclectic group of artists has to offer. Go to their website and look at the listing of artists, complete with all of their web sites! I tell you, there are still ways to “let your fingers do the walking.” The Armadillo Bazaar is rich in jewelers from all over the country, and every one of them hand makes their own work. Maybe I’m just getting sentimental as I grow older, but it seems like a great idea to support your own country’s economy. And I would say the same thing to any readers out there in cyberspace from Germany, England, Japan and so forth. So I’m not being USA-centric. I believe all of us should support our local economies. This can start with buying your produce locally, and extend to other areas of life, including artistic ones.

If all else fails, maybe you can learn to craft your own jewelry! This idea is not as crazy as you might think. There are lots of people who have developed skills over the years, some who are quite talented. You can easily learn to bead and work with clay. Casting and enameling may take more complex skills, but aren’t impossible to learn. At the very least you’ll create some great (and meaningful) Christmas presents!

Now if your only jewelry love is gemstone jewelry, things might be a little more complex. Cutting gemstones well is a delicate art. But hey, there’s no time like the present to expand your horizons! And you may just learn something that becomes a brand-new livelihood. Stranger things have happened.