Handmade Arcade starts holiday shopping early

Hey yinz,

Handmade Arcade, which calls itself “Pittsburgh’s Largest Indie Craft Fair,” gave a preview of the frenzied holiday shopping season with its annual pre-holiday craft show in David Lawrence Convention Center on Saturday.   There were so many vendors selling jewelry, homemade soaps, recycled/reused/upcycled notebooks, screen-print T-shirts and my favorite, plushies!  Most of the items are reasonably priced for gifts, which I think is one of the goals of the event. The pre-holiday shopping extravaganza for handmade wares began in 2004 with 32 vendors, and this year, the event had more than 150 vendors. My favorite part about this event is that most of the craftsmen and artists are Pittsburgh-based.

Here are some pictures from the day. I asked all of these vendors for permission before photographing their work. Some asked for me to send them my photos. I also decided to add their websites if available. The Handmade Arcade website has a complete list of the vendors with their websites.

On a side note, you’ll notice that I played around with my photo presentation. It actually was not that easy, so if you don’t like it, I’ll happily go back to the usual format.

Rebound Designs

Pittsburgh-based Green Bubble Gorgeous www.etsy.com/shop/greenbubblegorgeous

Pampering treats from Green Bubble Gorgeous

I can personally vouch for Green Bubble Gorgeous because I’ve purchased Krystal Doring’s expertly crafted, organic cupcake bath bombs, and Popsicle- and donut-shaped soaps for myself and for gifts.

There was also a great interactive area for the kids, where they could make silk screened wrapping paper (I got bison wrapping paper!), create a cardboard tube city and dress up like monsters.

Congratulations to the organizers on another successful Handmade Arcade!

-Estelle