My favorite gifts to give and get are those that have a story behind them. Something that makes the present thoughtful and special beyond “I picked this up at a department store.” That’s why I love Etsy, where everything is handmade, so much.

This weekend while in Miami for the Blogalicious Conference I learned about a wonderful campaign Macy’s is doing called Heart of Haiti, which is bringing beautiful, hand-made Haitian art to the US.

Despite the horrific earthquake that devastated Haiti this year, many of the countries most talented artists are using raw materials to create beautiful works of art.

Macy’s recognized the potential these artists have and purchased 20,000 products up front, with help from Fair Winds Trading and the BRANDAID Project, to effectively get money into the hands of the artists quickly.

Check out some of the amazing gifts including items made from recycled scrap metal:

These hand-painted, pieces of art.

And even gifts made from old recycled oil drums.

You can browse all the Heart of Haiti gift items on Macy’s website.

With gift-giving season just on the horizon, I can’t think of any other practical, unique gifts that tell such a compelling story than the items for sale through Heart of Haiti. Even better- they’re cheap! Nothing on featured above is more than $60.

How amazing would it be to be able to tell someone that the gift you bought them was hand-made by a Haitian artist who is using his/her artistic ability to help rebuild their country?

I hope you’ll consider making some of your holiday purchases from the Heart of Haiti collection!