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As I placed my order last week, I realized how personal a thoughtfully selected spoon can be. I wanted to share my idea here and see if our readers have more ideas for personal, hand made gifts like these.

I'm giving something from Jonathan's Wild Cherry Spoons to nearly everyone on my list. You can order a left-handed Lazy Spoon for the southpaw stirrers in your life. For the zesty, salty type, there's Wild 'n Crazy spoons.

Jonathan sells a special spoon and pie servers for bakers. A friend with a New Year's resolution to eat more veggies might appreciate a salad set. I always reach for a spatula when I cook, so I put the cooking paddle from Jonathan's on my wish list.

There's even something for the friend who doesn't cook -- toaster tongs. These tongs are beautiful and very functional too since metal utensils should never be pushed into the exposed elements of a toaster.

Sharing Jonathan's story with the recipient of your gift makes these spoons even more special. He says spoons represent a sense of balance.

Now more than ever we're trying to support small artisan business like this. Isn't it cool that there's company that's thinking about beautiful, useful spoons all day long? And since Jonathan's shop is Kempton, PA near where I grew up -- he's local too.

How's your holiday shopping going? If you know about more companies like Jonathan's please let us know.