For those who like shopping locally for handmade crafts, this is (usually) the best time of the year. But this year, even if you are inclined to go shopping in person, craft fairs aren't being held. Enter Homemade for the Holidays! Rhode Island, a new Facebook group connecting crafters with the people who love their wares.

Amanda Shea, a Cranston resident, came up with the idea not long before Thanksgiving. The stay-at-home mom of 4 teenagers enjoys crafting and was trying to think of some ways to make extra money. "There's a lot of interest this year year in local, homemade products, so I thought, why not have a Rhode Island-based site?"

She created the Facebook group and it immediately took off, with more than 400 members in 3 days. She also reached out to vendors she knew, and soon, others asked to be added to the group.

Vendors, who are added to the group with approval, are asked to sell only items they have made themselves. They can post once a day, at a preset time, in order to keep the site organized, with fresh content added regularly.

"We are all small businesses, but we don't have storefronts," said Amanda. "This has worked out well for all of us," she said of the vendors, who handle their own sales, and most link from the site to their own Facebook pages. "It's been a lot of fun — and we have been getting slammed with sales, too."

To check them out, search for Homemade for the Holidays! Rhode Island on Facebook.