Well-Crafted: Where to Shop for Handmade Goods

by Christine Liu - Citysearch Editor - 69 Reviews - 104 Lists

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Updated: October 29, 2009

It just feels more virtuous to pay for goods created with painstaking handmade effort, rather than items manufactured by some faceless corporation. Plus, the probability of creative adorableness is way higher. Pass on the good karma and shop handmade at these local Boston shops, and you might even be inspired to get a little crafty yourself.

(Photo: Grand by Christine Price Hamilton)

Made with Love

  1. 1 Grand
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    374 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA 02143 (map)

    A designer's dreamland lurks within these industrial walls, which are draped with uber-creative home accessories and personal affects that are often crafted by hand. Among the fray include suede-textured earrings shaped like rib cages; a table constructed from birch, machined steel and bicycle cables; and a gorgeous series of Tesselight lamps made by piecing together hundreds of folded and sewn sheets of paper (pictured above).

  2. 2 Greenward
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    1764 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140 (map)

    When a store marks its pride on facilitating an eco-chic lifestyle, it's a no-brainer to expect plenty of quirky, handmade goods that manifest a minimal carbon footprint. The array includes earrings made from scraps left over from guitar production, bangle bracelets constructed from skateboard wood, jewelry fashioned from tin cans and personal accessories concocted from vinyl records, mesh billboards and tire inner tubes.

  3. 3 5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended Habit
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    703 E Broadway, South Boston, MA 02127 (map)

    This fiercely neighborhood-centric Southie boutique is a godsend for locals craving on-trend threads, and tucked within the inventory are handmade goodies worth the trip. Designer Shara Porter restores and hand-screens vintage leather bags, coin purses and wallets; local talents are also represented by handmade jewelry and hand-knit scarves.

  4. 4 4.5 Star Rating: Recommended Magpie
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    416 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02144 (map)

    The mother ship-slash-mother lode of Davis Square's DIY energies, Magpie put the craft scene on the Boston map during the nascence of Bazaar Bizarre and other hipster artisan markets. Everything in the store is proudly produced by independent designers, from hand-spun yarn to letterpress stationery to hand-screened tees to all-natural lip balm, rendering this a foolproof stop for one-of-a-kind gifts.

  5. 5 Oak
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    245 Newbury St, Boston, MA 02116 (map)

    Oak's name stands for One of a Kind, which describes all the goods in a nutshell, with a stamp of extra earnestness. Everything at this Back Bay boutique is proudly designated as handmade, from a ruffled silk miniskirt to pendant lamps constructed from vintage Tupperware Jell-o molds to crocheted bacon-and-eggs scarves. And as befits its tony location, the atmosphere has polish along with playfulness.