Martha Stewart would have been awed had she found her way to the Renegade Crafts Fair at the Concourse Exhibition Center this past weekend, 12/18-12/19. The amount of creative crafters packed into one space was overwhelming, and Martha would have found it quite inspiring.
The meandering crowds, diligently finishing up their holiday shopping, had a plethora of cool commodities to pick through, from vintagey Polaroids by Sprout Studio, to a hip stuffed-animal owl by Doris Anne. For those who wanted a truly creative gift, squished in the middle of the isle was The Poetry Store, where you could have Silvi Alcivar write you an impromptu poem for that special someone. There were also items that would have been totally dude-approved, including carefully crafted wooden watches by Mistura, and all-recycled bicycle clocks made by Oakland’s 1 by Liz.
The two cutest vendors at the fair were Ysabella and Anna Patricia Designs flower headbands (whose model was asleep in her stroller, which just added to the cuteness) and Twinkie Chan, who was working on a string of crocheted popcorn when I passed, but was also selling crocheted pizza scarves and cherry earrings.
And finally there were my two favorite vendors: first, Double Parlour‘s totally weird and wonderful dolls that were so expressive it was eerie. And then (boy, I wanted everything from these guys!) the awesome Native American inspired clothing and jewelery by The Local Branch. I especially loved their Hippie Fringe Necklaces, that were so undeniably handmade, making them ever so irresistible.
Ok, people. Christmas is just a few days away. I’ve done the hard part of finding all the awesomeness. Now you just need to buy it!