If you're looking for unique, it has to be handmade

Crafters, artists and fans of handmade goods were out in full force at Unique Los Angeles during its debut at the California Market Center. About 6,000 people showed up to peruse goods made by some 200 vendors (most of them local) offering lithographs, jewelry, hair clips, letterpress stationery, T-shirts, clothing, leather goods, stuffed animals, children’s clothes and much more.

The setting — the unfinished top floor of the center — gave the show a loft-like, airy feel, perfect for the fun and funky items displayed in booths. Letterpress cards and stationery at the Tiselle booth caught our eye, the delicate graphics and lush colors standing out. Owner and designer Tianyi Wang, an Art Center graduate, said she draws some of the designs by hand before turning them into polymer letterpress plates. "My background is in oil painting," she said, "so I love mixing inks."

Next stop was the Purrr booth, where designer Junko showed us her one-of-a-kind clothes made from recycled vintage items: youthful mini-dresses fashioned from oversized men’s sweaters, embellished with little bows, and men’s shirts crafted into feminine blouses, complete with ruffles.

Gifts for the gardener

The Home staff has rounded up a bunch of really cool gifts for the gardener. Among our favorites -- a planter filled with lettuce (grow your own salad bowl!) and a mushroom growing kit with mushroom plugs and indoor logs included (your gardener friend will have fresh homegrown mushrooms within two weeks).

Click here to read more about gifts inspired by the garden.

Photo: Mushroom log. Credit: Gourmet Mushroom Pro

This season, Santa's shopping locally

It's sometimes easy to lose sight of the great products we have right here in Southern California.

So this Christmas, why not keep your gift-buying close to home?

Concentrate on shopping locally and you might find parts of the area you've never seen before and even meet the producers face to face. And if all of that just seems like too much, almost all of the items in the coming list are also available over the Internet.

The Food staff of the Los Angeles Times put together this list of homegrown favorites to get you started. Among the picks: giving the fun-yet-practical gift of coffee. In particular, Los Angeles-based George Laguerre's coffee -- mellow and rich, with caramel notes that go really well with milk and a bit of sugar -- it's just the thing for a sleep-deprived morning of unwrapping gifts.

Photo: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Discounts and reusable tote giveaways on 'A Day Without a Bag'

Shoppers could do the planet -- and their wallets -- a favor by skipping plastic or paper bags and switching to reusable totes on Dec. 18, when stores across the Southland are offering giveaways and discounts during the second annual "A Day Without a Bag."

Organized by Heal the Bay, with help from Los Angeles City and County officials, the event urges consumers to "send a gift to the environment during the holiday season." There are nearly four times the number of giveaway sites this year, and planners expect to give away thousands more reusable bags than they did last year, Heal the Bay spokesman Matthew King said.

Bags in a variety of styles and sizes were donated by companies including Earthwise Bag Co., Go-Again Bags and the Inconvenient Bag.

Promotions are being arranged at all L.A. County retail locations of the 99 Cent Only chain (free bag with $29.99 purchase), Ralphs (a double "Reuse-a-bag" rebate when shoppers use a Ralphs membership card) and Whole Foods (free bag with a $50 purchase).

Here are some other participants:

• Albertsons is giving away 1,000 bags at its Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica and Burbank stores.
• A $50 purchase at the Hollywood, Beverly Center and West Los Angeles locations of Bed Bath & Beyond earns you a free bag.
• Fred Segal in Santa Monica is also offering a free bag when customers spend $10.
• At Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade, Banana Republic will knock 20% off sale tags for shoppers who bring their own reusable bags.

Visit the Heal The Bay website, which will be updated with more than 50 other locations.

--Tiffany Hsu

How green is your Christmas tree?

Experts are divided on the long-standing question of whether to buy a fresh-cut live tree or a plastic artificial one. Many don’t approve of buying fresh trees, which are grown for years -- often with the aid of pesticides -- before being cut down and shipped thousands of miles to Christmas tree lots. Once the holidays are over, the trees are tossed to the curb and often wind up in a landfill.

But before turning around and picking up an artificial tree, consider this: Many fake trees are made of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, which can contain harmful chemicals. And even though you’ll probably use the tree for years, eventually it’ll have to be thrown away.

"Christmas trees in general are just bad news," said Damien Somerset, a Hollywood new media producer and environmentalist. "If you can, I would say avoid a tree -- of any kind."

But for many Americans, a tree is a must-have Christmas tradition. So when shopping for that perfect fresh-cut tree, consumers should ask where the trees came from and whether pesticides were used to help them grow, said Paul McRandle, deputy editor of National Geographic's the Green Guide.

"A third option that is even better, but requires a little more work, is to get a live tree in a pot, take that home and put your lights and your ornaments on it," McRandle said. "The idea is after Christmas, you just plant it in your yard. That would be probably the greenest option."

To brighten your tree, green website Eco-Artware.com sells ornaments made from old record labels, wood Scrabble tiles and tea bags. If you’re into crafts, many designs can be replicated with knick-knacks from around the house, a glue gun and some string.

To reduce your energy use, McRandle recommends using LED (light emitting diode) lights instead of traditional incandescent ones. Also keep an eye out for items featuring an "Energy Star" label, which identifies energy-efficient products. After you hang Christmas lights, make sure to set them on a timer and turn them off during the day and when you go to sleep at night.

-- Andrea Chang

Photo: LED lights conserve energy and are brighter than conventional lights used on Christmas trees. They can be used in both indoor and outdoor decorating. Credit: Carlos Chaves / Los Angeles Times

Santa's Little Helper: Green gift-wrapping and cards

If you feel guilty about the mountain of glittery wrapping paper and holiday cards that goes straight into the trash after Christmas, there are a number of creative and easy do-it-yourself options that are greener.

Try looking around the house for material that could be used instead of gift wrap, such as extra fabric, old maps, fancy paper bags and glossy magazine ads.

"The message we’re trying to get out this year is save money on the wrap and make that yourself so you can spend money wisely on the gift," said Paul McRandle, deputy editor of National Geographic’s the Green Guide.

Other ideas:

• Wrap your present with another present. If you bought your sister a scarf, why not use it to wrap the CD you also got her?
• Wrapping with newspaper? Make it more personal and relevant by matching the gift to the section. For example, you could wrap a cookbook with the food section, or a children's game with the comics.
• If you can't bear to give up wrapping paper, use it to cover a shoebox and place your present inside. Like a gift bag, your decorated shoebox can be used again and again.

Others say the bare-bones approach is gaining acceptace. "The buzzwords here are don't wrap the package," said Richard Giss, a partner at accounting firm Deloitte & Touche's consumer business division in Los Angeles. "Leave it in the box, and if you want, decorate the box."

Not feeling particularly artistic? Many stores sell wrapping and holiday cards made from 100% recycled paper. Green Field Paper Co., based in San Diego, produces handmade cards from recycled paper, including cards made from hemp and junk mail. One of the company's most popular holiday items is its handmade "Grow-A-Note" greeting cards, which are embedded with wildflower seeds. Once you’re done enjoying your card, you can rip it up and plant it in the ground. A box of four cards sells for about $15 and can be found at specialty retailers around Los Angeles.

"The beauty of that is, especially toward the holidays, you're giving a gift as well," co-owner Shari Smith said. But "when you do plant it, make sure there's no information you need on that card."

And although they aren't as personal as handwritten notes, e-cards don't use paper — recycled or not — and are usually free.

-- Andrea Chang

Photo: A Los Angeles sanitation truck picks up holiday gift wrapping materials after Christmas in 2006. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Santa's Little Helper: Green gift ideas to start with

Dreaming of a green Christmas? An eco-friendly holiday is on many consumers’ minds -- along with an uncertain economic situation. Many say they will shop less and cut their holiday budgets by hundreds of dollars. So in addition to slashing prices and extending store hours, retailers are boosting their selection of green products to attract shoppers.

"All retailers are looking for some edge," said Richard Giss, a partner in accounting firm Deloitte & Touche’s consumer business division in Los Angeles. "If they can be seen as the eco-friendly retailer, that will help them."

In Deloitte’s annual holiday survey this year, nearly half of consumers said they were willing to pay more for green gifts despite the bad economy, and 1 in 5 said they would purchase more eco-friendly products this holiday season than in the past.

But going green doesn’t mean having to spend a lot of it. "It’s a massive misconception," said Sophie Uliano, a Los Angeles author who wrote "Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life." "People think solar panels, hybrid cars, organic jeans and very expensive skincare. But that doesn’t have to be the case."

Whether you have already adopted an environmentally friendly lifestyle or are just starting out by recycling here and there, here are cost-conscious green gift ideas to get you started.

Santa's Little Helper: Have a green Christmas

It would be hard to find a list of more mundane gifts, but these humble household items have two huge benefits: They’re cheap to buy, and they keep on giving . . . and giving . . . and giving, because they save so much money and precious resources.

Be sure to wrap them in a reused gift bag or old newspaper!

1) .5 Gallons Per Minute Faucet Aerator

Instead of allowing 2.2 gallons of water to flow out of your kitchen or bathroom faucet head each minute, this chrome-plated aerator restricts the flow to a meager 0.5 -- and does it with an even spray. Price: $1.95. Info: www.e3living.com/5-gallons-minute-aerator

2) Dishpan

If you throw a plastic bin in the sink and hand-wash your dishes, you can collect excess water and, rather than send it down the sewer, throw it on your plants. Price: About $1 and up

3) Water heater blanket

If your water heater has a tank and you don’t have the cash or willingness to go tankless, at least wrap it with a blanket. It will keep the water warmer longer and cut down on the energy needed to heat it in the first place. Price: About $10 

The Scout: Lawn furniture, a new twist on X-max trees, and more

Pot-ted, the garden furniture and accessories specialist, offers a 20% discount on all merchandise on Black Friday. If you miss out, don't worry. You can still find discontinued pots and other older merchandise for up to 50% off, plus deep discounts on classic Fermob patio furniture.

The power-coated aluminum lounge chairs, regularly $495, and side table, regularly $225, are 30% off through December when purchased separately. Purchase two chairs and the table, and you'll get a 40% discount. More from The Scout.

Crafty: The first rule of Felt Club...

“I think there has always been an appreciation for handmade goods,” says Jenny Ryan of the crafting website, SewDarnCute, “but nowadays it seems to be catching on more than ever because there are so many new ways to share that appreciation. A crafter can make something here in L.A. and within minutes can snap a photo, upload it to Flickr, write a blog post about it, and send that handmade awesomeness all across the world in no time flat. So now we're seeing global trends and the crafty community is more connected than ever.”

Ryan is also the event coordinator for Felt Club, the show that celebrates all things handmade and drew thousands of craft-lovers and shoppers over the weekend. Just shy of 9 a.m. on Sunday, people were already lined up on the sidewalk around the Shrine Auditorium Expo Center, ready to dash in for the 11 a.m. opening. (If you missed the show, and still have holiday shopping to do, fear not. Another crafting show is just around the corner: Unique Los Angeles, Dec. 13-14.)