Dad manning the C&D booth.

This past Saturday, Charmed & Dangerous had a booth at the Bust Holiday Craftacular in NYC. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect because of previous circumstances.

Previous circumstances being that the last show we did (Shecky’s Girl’s night Out) we were next to a sex toys booth. Which is totally fine, but the sales people were out in the aisles wildly waving dildos at passersby and those that weren’t frightened away were certainly distracted by the spectacle. It also didn’t help that it was the worst winter weather of the season. But I digress..

The Craftacular was sponsored by Etsy, so I had high hopes of seeing some great vendors and I was not disspointed. Oh, and the crowd was amazing too, there was a line down the block to get in!

Our booth was super busy (I can’t tell you how cool it is when people come by actually wearing our pieces!) but I did manage to sneak away and get some great gifts!

Well, actually, I mainly shopped for me.. and Jeff too, but I can’t post the cool stuff I got him here because he might read it. I did have the intention of giving these away as housewarming gifts, but I can’t seem to want to part with them (notice a pattern here??) But anyway, here are some of my cool finds, hope you enjoy them, and if you live in NYC, definitely consider going to the Craftacular next year!

Cool Find #1, Hand made hat from Charm NYC

Now, I’m not a really big hat person. I have curly hair, and sometimes I feel like Slash when I wear a hat. You curly girls know what I mean. But from the second I saw these hats I knew I had to have one. Not only are they really heavy weight, hand made with great fabrics, but she also hand makes the little pins that you can choose from to decorate them. And – the point that really sold me – they are reversable!

Its like getting two hats in one, how could I NOT buy it? At $68 they aren’t exactly cheap, but hey, they are HAND MADE!

Love it.

OK, moving on to cool find #2. Pottery by Little Flower Designs.

These are also handmade of course, and well, maybe now you can see how I can’t possibly give these away.. who could love them more than me?

Cool find #3, handmade toys by etsy seller Magpie DC!

To the right is the original Astro Not design. To the left is the “baby safe” version. When I couldn’t decide between the two (yeah, I’m going to be a GREAT mother!) and told her I was expecting my first child and this would be its first toy she gave them both to me for $20!! What a sweetheart. I also really loved her original illustrations even though I didn’t buy one. I totally should have though:

Dead Bear painting by Etsy seller Magpiedc.

And last but not least, cool find #4 is from My Favorite Mirror, fellow members of The Switchboards who I got to meet for the first time in person after being a long time admirer:

Indie illustrator Mouse pads from My Favorite Mirror.

There were so many other wonderful vendors that I just didn’t have time to check out, but if you’re interested in browsing their online stores, all the vendors are still listed on the Craftacular website here: http://www.bust.com/craftacular/vendors.html

My mission next year? Buy gifts for OTHER people instead of just shopping for me :)

Filed under: holidays, products by ariana
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