Cheers to 2025

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your continued support of The Work of Our Hands this past year. Because of you, our fair trade mission continues to thrive.

The past year has been one of uncertainty.  The fair trade community is concerned about how new tariffs will affect our small businesses and we have already seen some stores close their doors. We were fortunate to be able to purchase most of our merchandise for the holiday season before the tariffs on imported products went into effect. As a result, we were able to keep our handmade, fair trade prices comparable to last year.  Unfortunately, prices in 2026 are likely to increase.  We will evaluate each product and try to keep prices as low as possible while keeping our store sustainable. 

As we look back on 2025, there are many things to celebrate.  Early in the year, we updated our logo giving it a fresh, clean, more modern look.  We added many new items, product lines, and vendors.  We had two large food sampling events.  One for our new African Honey and the other for our two new spice companies. 

In September, Amanda and Anna attended the Fair Trade Federation Conference in St. Louis. It was inspiring to connect with others who are passionate about ethical retail and fair business practices. We came home with many new ideas, including ways to improve our online presence. One update we implemented right away was adding our store to Pinterest—a perfect place to share our fun and unique products. If you haven’t already, we invite you to follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.

In the fall, we also made some exciting physical updates to our store. We added new fixtures, including several pieces from West End Architectural Salvage in Des Moines. Many of our fixtures had been in place since the store opened 36 years ago, so it was exciting to refresh the space while honoring its history. In the coming year, we hope to make a few more improvements, including a new front table and updated lighting.

Thanks to your support, we were blessed to have another record-breaking sales year. We are deeply grateful to everyone who shopped online and at our brick-and-mortar store in beautiful Pella, Iowa.

As we look ahead, we are filled with gratitude and hope. Thank you for being part of our fair trade community. We look forward to the year ahead and hope you will continue to support The Work of Our Hands in 2026.

With sincere thanks,
The Work of Our Hands Team