This holiday season, I’m opting out of the traditional box store shopping binges and foregoing plastic.  I’m not only buying local, but I’m buying handcrafted in the USA, supporting both local businesses and the online handmade mega house Etsy.  Shocking?  Maybe, to some at least. Beyond the growing “buy local” craze is a growing momentum of buying handmade in the USA from home-based artisans and crafters, many of whom are selling their wares on sites like Etsy and Artfire.  Before discovering Etsy, whenever I thought of “handmade” I used to conjure up images of church sales, knick-knacks, tired knit scarves and granny square crocheted blankets.  But online sites, like Etsy, and an…