’Tis the season for arts & crafts; area shows help ring in holidays

Need a little Christmas? Area upcoming arts and crafts shows offer plenty of that.

Kathy McPeek can understand their continued popularity as the sentimental stop for one-of-a-kind gifts.

“For many people, they’re a great way to find something very unique and different,” said McPeek, recreation program manager for the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department.

She expects about 400 people — same as in past years — from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday for the free 19th annual Holiday Creations Craft Show and Sale at Donner Center, 739 22nd St. in Columbus. The 30-vendor event will include jewelry, doll clothes, candles, personalized Christmas ornaments, candles, knitted hats and scarves and related merchandise.

Breakfast and lunch items will be served for a modest charge.

Also on Saturday, Flintwood Wesleyan Church’s free 27th annual Open Hearth Craft Show unfolds from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the church, 5300 E. 25th St. in Columbus.

The 25-vendor event that generally attracts 500 or more shoppers features handmade jewelry, pottery, candies, breads, soaps, hats, scarves and other items.

“It’s all pretty phenomenal,” said Sandy Dooley, a Flintwood member who helps with the church’s publicity.

Plus, a range of breakfast and lunch items, from doughnuts to soups, will be available for purchase.

Dooley added that many people visit both shows on Saturday — and make stops at other such shows throughout November.

“They kind of follow the circuit,” she said.

Later this month, Columbus residents Pat and Tom Carothers will revive The Seasons Holiday Art and Craft Show near Nashville Nov. 25 and 26 at The Seasons Lodge on Indiana 46 West.

The free event, held for more than 40 years and often attracting more than 700 people, was not held last year because the hosts decided not to organize it. So the local couple decided to bring it back.

Pat Carothers, a basketmaker who teaches her craft nationwide, once chaired the now defunct ARTColumbus’ Fair on the Square arts event that was especially popular in the 1980s and 1990s downtown.

The Seasons show, set 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 25 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 26, features 30 vendors offering furniture, baskets, handmade toys, wooden bowls and related items, textiles, mosaics, jewelry and other elements — many of them hand-crafted.

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  • 19th annual Holiday Creations Craft Show and Sale, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Donner Center, 739 22nd St. in Columbus. Free, but food for sale.
  • The 27th annual Open Hearth Craft Show, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Flintwood Wesleyan Church, 5300 E. 25th St. in Columbus. Free, but food for sale.
  • The Seasons Holiday Art and Craft Show, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 25 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 26, The Seasons Lodge on Indiana 46 West in Nashville. Free, but food for sale.

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