MY KIND OF HOLIDAY SHOPPING

Ah, the Holiday Craft Show…a tradition in most towns, no?  I’m certainly a veteran—as an occasional entrepreneur, and as a shopper—so I can tell you, this one was special!  What makes the SoWa Winter Market a fun way to spend a few hours on a Saturday?  Let’s play show and tell…

The empty shell of an old power station is the perfect place to host a market: nice wide aisles, plenty of room for lots of vendors and a great atmosphere!  The chill in the air is pleasant, Christmas carols add a festive note, and the architecture adds a city vibe.

Impressive!

But the interesting venue is only one ingredient…what’s more important to a market than vendors?  SoWa has a quality mix of the beautiful and useful, the delicious, and of course the seasonal…

The Herb Lyceum at Gilson’s has really lovely pine and boxwood arrangements for sale—I especially loved the birch log vessel.  I wanted to buy one, but between my cats and being away so much, I stay away from the real stuff.  It’s a trade-off!

Frames…with a history is a purveyor of reclaimed wood wall art and furniture—mostly framed prints, but really cool ones at that (I love maps)!

Fiber and Water out of Maine is a staple at the SoWa markets.  They do prints on burlap, a fun way to add texture and personality to your walls.

The Science Boutique.  Jewelry + Science = Yes Please!  They had me at Schrodinger’s Cat! I love the clever way they expressed this quantum physics thought experiment with two-sided pendants featuring a vintage-style cat on one side, and a cat skeleton on the other.  I love cats too much to wear a skeleton, but they also had my boyfriend Nikola Tesla! And the caffeine molecule… so much to love!  It turns out I’m not the only nerd in Boston, because this booth was packed!  I’ll be hitting these ladies up on Etsy for sure!

I’m in love with the rustic offerings at Joshua’s Trees.  There’s something about working with nature, rather than against it—showing the wood for what it is, rather than forcing it to be something else.

A close-up of the beautiful bench above.

Yeah, well you know I had to check this out!  Not So Kitty…cat accessories…for the laid back cat in your life.  The fascinators are adorable!  I would love to deck my cats out in party hats, but alas, they would shred me.  However, they are enjoying their Death to Cucumbers toy…so much that I can’t find it!

Have you ever tried mead?  O-M-G…it’s delicious!  I bought a bottle of Viking Victory (if you know me you aren’t surprised), and well, let’s just say it’s stronger than I anticipated!  A honey-based drink sounds fairly innocent, but I can see how folks back in the day stayed warm through the winter!

There was no shortage of four-legged shoppers—meet Oakley!  This adorable Australian Shepherd caught my eye and I just had to ask for a photo.  And it turns out, Oakley was celebrating his one-year birthday!  Good boy!

Indulge me with another shot of the structure—I just love how they strung lights to emphasize the height!

I used to love mall shopping—now I only go if I really have to!  Everything seems so “been there, done that.”  This is only a small sample of what was available at SoWa this year, what caught my eye.  There were so many unique, hand-crafted goods and food, it felt like a treasure hunt!  If you didn’t get to attend the three-day event this year, I highly recommend you put it on your calendar for next December!