While many shoppers pound the high street for imported gifts from chain shops, crafters are seeing Christmas in a very different light. Mary Griffin hears about the beauty of unique handmade goods and the rise of "craftivism".

Is she a visionary muralist? A craftivist? An anarchic artist? Reichardt is not one for labels, though she does like the idea of being a craftivist — "marrying craft with activism" — and being part of a movement that is anti-sweatshop, against mass production and very much focused on sustainability and giving new life to old materials.

Although [Jennifer Anisef] wants the Church of Craft to provide a range of activities, she also would like to add more of what she calls "craftivism." This is activism through craft, such as hanging protest banners in the night (Greenpeace's signature act) or the Revolutionary Knitting Circle's protest against last year's economic summit in Alberta.