Handmade to Market

June 20 marks World Refugee Day, a time to recognize the strength, resilience, and contributions of refugees around the world.

Today, we're highlighting a former Canvas Home Small Grants recipient, Pomegranate Seeds, an organization that works with Afghan refugee women to create sustainable income opportunities through craft. Their handcrafted accessories and home goods feature traditional embroidery techniques from the Balochistan region, preserving cultural heritage while supporting economic independence.

By providing flexible work opportunities, Pomegranate Seeds empowers women to support themselves and their families, demonstrating how refugees can thrive when given the resources and opportunities they deserve. We invite you to celebrate World Refugee Day with us today!

📸

If you’ve been following our stories on our Weave a Better Tomorrow initiative, today we are highlighting the final step in the creative process: taking a product to market. Through our projects, HANDMADE to MARKET assists artisans with identifying their ideal customer, ensuring long-term success, and sharing their products with the world.

Through our collaboration with Living Willow Farm, we hope to continue our work supporting the full craft ecosystem, from the land to the maker to the market. Click the link to donate and help us empower artisan businesses with the support, resources, and community they deserve to thrive sustainably in today’s global market: https://www.handmadetomarket.org/donation-weave-a-better-tomorrow

📸 Arif Irshad

After obtaining materials, the next step for an artisan is to create their unique product. HANDMADE to MARKET, with the help of their expert consultants including Howard Peller, contribute technical and design expertise to help artisans craft products that appeal to their market while staying true to their heritage and traditions.

Our work ensures that craft traditions are valued, protected, and help sustain livelihoods for people all around the world. By lending your support, you will help us continue these programs and protect these craft traditions.

When clicking the link to donate, this money will go directly to supporting practical, market-led investments: design and technical training, access to tools and materials, community-based workshops, and strategies that help artisans reach stable markets: https://www.handmadetomarket.org/donation-weave-a-better-tomorrow

📸

What happens when artisan entrepreneurs receive the resources they need to grow?

The stories in our 2025 Canvas Home Small Grants Impact Report showcase the results: improved production systems, new market opportunities, stronger artisan livelihoods, cultural preservation initiatives, and investments in sustainability across 10 artisan businesses in 8 countries.

We're proud to share how these grants are helping artisan communities turn ideas into lasting impact.

Read the full report: https://indd.adobe.com/view/a669c11c-8a07-4752-b172-b2a9b83163a0

pe







in

Around the world, many handmade entrepreneurs start their creative process with natural materials.

Across cultures, basket making and weaving are deeply tied to local plants, land stewardship, and community knowledge. From willow grown and woven in Ohio to grasses, reeds, palms, and willow harvested and woven around the world, Weave a Better Tomorrow supports the full craft ecosystem, from the land to the maker to the market.

We hope you share our commitment to the value of growing renewable plant fibers that provide both cultural artifacts and sustainable income. Please lend your support and ensure that these agricultural plants and weaving skills are preserved for future generations.

Click the link to donate today and help Weave a Better tomorrow: https://www.handmadetomarket.org/donation-weave-a-better-tomorrow

📸

We are so excited to announce a new partnership with and internationally recognized artist, craftsman, organic farmer, designer, and teacher, Howard Peller.

Howard runs Living Willow Farm, a historic farm in southeastern Ohio dedicated to growing willow and preserving traditional weaving practices.

Through this partnership, we hope to connect people who value handmade, land-based craft with weaving communities in Latin America, India, and West Africa. Click the link to learn more, and follow along over the next few days as we share more about how this partnership will support artisans throughout the creative process: https://www.handmadetomarket.org/donation-weave-a-better-tomorrow

📸

Introducing HANDMADE to MARKET Member Magatte Diop Max Sow, founder of Vannerie-Diama ().

Named after the village of Diama in Senegal’s Thiès region, Magatte works with local basket weavers to help organize production, strengthen sales, and support innovation in technique.

While many contemporary baskets use mixed materials, Vannerie-Diama is committed to 100% natural fibers, preserving traditional Senegalese weaving methods and supporting both current artisans and the next generation of weavers.

Since joining the membership in January 2026, Magatte has actively shared both wins and challenges of building a handmade business.

Click the link in our bio to meet more of our members and see when you can join us!

Today we are happy to celebrate World Handicrafts Day!

By celebrating the craftsmanship and creativity of people around the world, we ensure that traditions and skills passed down for generations will endure.

Throughout our history, we have been lucky enough to work with artisans and handmade entrepreneurs in over one hundred countries. We look forward to continuing this work and celebrating the beauty of handmade everywhere.


📸Vocational Training Center La Grâce in Gulmu, Burkina Faso; Eastern Accents, India; Ja-Nuin Artisan Group, Colombia

To celebrate World Environment Day, we are spotlighting one of our Founding Members (and a 2022 Canvas Home Small Grants winner) Achenyo Idachaba-Obara, founder of .home.

Based in Nigeria, MitiMeth uses invasive plants like water hyacinth and agricultural residues to create stylish table organizers, baskets, and other products. Since 2011, Achenyo has trained more than 600 women and youth across Nigeria and Ghana, empowering communities while promoting sustainability and showing how handmade businesses can create real social impact.

So many handmade entrepreneurs around the world work every day to advance the goals of the UN Environment Programme, reminding us that everyone has a role to play in caring for our planet.

Expanding Possibilities Through Design 🎨

At Bombolulu Workshops, the Artisan Pathways program supported the development of a wide range of jewelry and woodcraft products.

From this work, earrings and wooden nativity scenes are now moving forward for potential sourcing with Ten Thousand Villages - Handcrafted & Sustainable Goods.

This reflects not only product creation, but the growth of design capability, confidence, and market readiness within the team.

📸 Swabir Bazaar (https://www.instagram.com/officialroyalarts/)