Twelve Days of Giftmas: Jewelry

Sick of corporate Christmas? Try shopping local. Hair Balls presents a 12-part series highlighting ideas for holiday gifts made and sold in Texas.

If you aren't familiar with Esty.com, you should be. The four-year-old website is the best online source for anything handmade, from warm knitted scarves to artwork to now even baked goods. The best thing about Etsy, though, is the "shop local" feature, which allows you to view the 100 most-recently updated online shops based in your city.

Hair Balls likes to trawl Etsy's Houston sellers for jewelry because there's a good guarantee we'll find something there that no one else we know has. Below are a couple of our favorites. Make sure you order early and allow for shipping.

​Seller mcstoneworks' profile says she's a nature lover who lives in Houston. Her sterling silver Texas lariat necklace, complete with a real yellow rose, would be perfect for your favorite Southern Belle. Cost: $44.

​These Twister earrings made by a seller from Denton are funky and fresh. As freeforged writes, "Because the curves and fluff of each cloud is hand-formed, each pair will be slightly different from the last."

​Your girl loves football? Appropriately-named Houston seller truetomboy hand-stamps sterling pendants with team letters and sports images. Maybe your girl is an Astros fan instead? truetomboy also does custom orders.

​Maybe you can't compare with Edward, but you might come close with this subversive necklace made by a Houston-area artist. faboo has lots of Twilight-inspired items in her shop.