One Day Closer to Rain Rural Cottage Crafts has proven to be an important Christmas shopping tool again this year, with more than 250,000 members logged on to browse through a wide range of items.

There's a bit of everything - from quilts and engraved horse shoes to barbed wire christmas trees, christmas baubles, knitted toys, food, self-care items like soap and body lotion, calendars, bags and prints, to name a few.

Items are selling out quickly and parcels are being sent across the country, sparking a long list of economic benefits.

Merriwa farmer Cassandra McLaren, who started the page last year, said shoppers enjoyed the direct link with the person who made the item and knew the money they paid for it was making a difference.

She said shoppers were thrilled with the high quality products they received and often returned to buy from the same seller.

"The page has changed the way they buy, for so many of them Christmas was running into the big department stores and choosing something that was mass produced but now they have the luxury of sitting back in their home and sifting through the posts and choosing something throughout the year that really suits the person and expresses what they want to express," she said.

"It's not just a Christmas initiative, it runs all year around but we see the most demand at Christmas."

Ms McLaren prides herself on offering sellers a place where they can post their products for free. She gives them free access to a sellers-only support group and helps them to make sure their post contains all of the important details a buyer requires.

"The customers just keep coming and it's great," she said.

"A couple of the sellers live in their off the grid farm, or live on a farm where they are living off solar and only using the generator in the evening, or the trip to the post office is a very long dirt road. The shopper gets an insight into their world and it's educating them and showing them what some of the sellers go through to be able to make and post their product."

The page began at the height of the drought, and while rain has fallen and crops have been grown and harvested, Ms McLaren said there was a long road to recovery ahead.

"The conditions have eased and we all hope that this is not a false break," she said.

We know all of the farmers need frequent follow up rain to keep us going, and we know that just because it rains doesn't mean the bills and all the debt suddenly gets wiped."

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