Dishes typically taste better when they are made by hand - that is the mentality at Pastaio in Royal Oak where they make fresh pasta and pizza daily.

When you first walk in All About Grace, you will be floored by just how many items they really have. The Trenton handmade boutique hosts 97 different artists’ work and it covers everything from beautiful clay jewelry, to industrial-looking lights.

ANN ARBOR – Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, one group of volunteers is helping raise funds for a local nonprofit by making handmade ornaments. For 25 years, volunteers with Arbor Hospice have created handmade Hearts of Remembrance ornaments during the holiday season as part of the nonprofit’s signature fundraising campaign, which raises $50,000 annually for the center. Arbor Hospice serves the greater Washtenaw area. “Arbor Hospice and the Arbor Hospice Foundation are so grateful and proud of this team of extraordinary women who’ve continued to work on these Hearts of Remembrance gifts during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Judy Vindici, director of philanthropy for Arbor Hospice said in a statement. Arbor Hospice recommends making a $25, tax-deductible gift for the first heart and $20 for each additional heart ordered together.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Caravan Gift Shop was 100% reliant on walk-in traffic but it had to close to in-person shopping for 14 weeks. The gift shop sells thousands of handmade items including dryer balls, wallets, glassware, wooden bowls and gift sets. (Sarah M. Parlette / WDIV)To continue offering eclectic handmade gifts to shoppers, Caravan GIft Shop built a website that has many of its items. Ahles said that customers are particular attracted to the uniqueness of the globes sold at Caravan Gift Shop. Caravan Gift Shop is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturday but video appointments can be arranged outside of those times as well.