Grab gifts, holiday greens and tasty treats at Marin craft fairs

It’s the season for stocking stuffers and wrapped packages, and just in time, here are some Marin  crafts fairs that can help you check everyone off your list.

Winter fun

This Saturday, there will be a makers marketplace along Fourth Street during the Downtown San Rafael’s Holiday of Lights & Winter Wonderland event from noon to 6 p.m.

The market will feature handmade linen bedding, throws, towels, pillow covers, soy candles, organic herbal body care products, DIY holiday cookies in a jar, jewelry, leather goods, charcuterie boards and more.

Sponsored by the Downtown San Rafael Business Improvement District, the event will also include live music, food trucks, sweet treats, a human snow globe, a juggler, an ornament craft table, an elf hunt, jump houses, a toy drive, merchant specials (and discounts and complimentary beverages and treats) and a tree lighting ceremony in the San Rafael Plaza at 5:30 p.m.

Admission is free. For more information, go to downtownsanrafael.org.

West Marin holiday gifts

Start your shopping spree at the Dance Palace’s annual Artisan Craft and Holiday Market with some warm local Straus eggnog, coffee or tea, and a delicious cookie from Bovine Bakery from Dec. 1 through 3. They’re all available during the weekend, but if you go on Friday night, you can opt for the rum-spiked eggnog.

Holiday music will play in the background and the Dance Palace’s children’s choir will perform at 1 p.m. Sunday.

“We have a full fair this year, with a huge variety of vendors,” says executive director Bonnie Guttman. “Everything is artisan made and mostly local and everything from skincare products to jams, handknitted clothing, jewelry and hand-carved wood kitchen implements.”

Look for the vegan, gluten-free baked goods seller this year, Guttman says. “She’s supposed to be phenomenal.”

On Saturday, there will be a local Japanese vendor selling homemade Japanese food and, on Sunday, the focus is on scrumptious breakfast pastries.

“This fair has a real Point Reyes hometown feel to it,” she says. “Lots of locals come and shop and half the vendors have been coming here for years. It’s a real cozy event.”

And “parking is easy,” she adds. “We’re at the edge of downtown and free parking is all around the building.”

The Artisan Craft and Holiday Market will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. Dec. 1; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 2; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Dance Palace at 503 B St. in Point Reyes Station. Admission is free. Call 415-663-1075 or go to dancepalace.org.

If you head out to West Marin the following weekend, the Bolinas Winter Faire will be open. It will feature food, eggnog, music, caroling and arts and crafts from local artists.

It takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 8; noon to 8 p.m. Dec. 9; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 10 at the Bolinas Community Center at 14 Wharf Road in Bolinas. Admission is free. Call 415-868-2128 or go to bocenter.org.

Crafts and greens

The Novato Garden Club will be at the Holiday Crafts Faire 2023, with fresh greens and other garden-related items. The event is sponsored by the Novato Parks, Recreation and Community Services on Dec. 1 and 2.

More than 40 other vendors will sell their handcrafted products including specialty foods, jewelry, ceramics, ornaments and bath and body products.

“There will be some fresh wreaths decorated with pine cones and ribbons and decorated fresh swags,” says club member Donna Bellucci Rich.

She says that her fellow members have also created floral centerpieces for dining tables, plant stakes for herbs, birdseed feeders, birdhouses, decorated grapevine wreaths and kokedama plants, which are plants grown in hanging moss balls.

The fair will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 1 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Margaret Todd Senior Center at 1560 Hill Road in Novato. Admission is free.

If you stop by on Saturday, you could head over to Novato’s annual holiday tree lighting event, a tradition since 1928.

There will be more holiday crafts and artisan vendors as you stroll with treats and hot drinks along craft booths, stop and watch the children’s activities and see Santa Claus in person.

The event will be held from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at Sherman and Grant avenues in downtown Novato. Admission is free.

Call 415-899-8200 or go to novatofun.org/events for either Novato event.

Even more fun

Mill Valley’s Holiday Craft Fair will showcase woodwork, jewelry, glass work, ceramics, decorations, knitwear, fiber arts and more.

It will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Mill Valley Community Center at 180 Camino Alto in Mill Valley. Admission is free. Call 415-383-1370 or go to cityofmillvalley.org.

Show off

If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I’d love to know about it.

Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it and a photograph or two. I will post the very best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.

PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.