I don't miss the Boston weather, but I do miss the DIY.

Bazaar Bizarre was started to help support local independent crafters. As it says on the website, "Dissatisfied with stencils of country ducks and painted wooden slices of watermelon, a hodge-podge of friends started the Bazaar Bizarre craft fair in Boston in 2001".

Each year the bazaar was held in a different place - when I went it was held at a venue commonly used for trade shows and weddings...essentially, we're talking about a BIG space. They fill the space with booths for each crafter, as well as booths for local food vendors, AND they have DJs and sometimes bands (once they had a guy playing the theremin).

The best way for me to describe the booths is to say "The Brick and Mortar Etsy". You can find ANYTHING here, and instead being mass-produced in China, each item is lovingly hand made, usually no more than 1,000 miles away (And the prices are not too awful, either...but then again, most of the time I'm willing to shell out extra cash to support independent artists). I've purchased jewelry, hand-screened t-shirts, decorative housewares, and handmade soaps...but you'd be amazed at what you can find! Need a religious relic/statue made from scraps of metal and rhinestones? They have it. Need a toilet seat cover with a rhinstone skull on it? They have that too.


I bought this for my boyfriend from a vendor called T-Shirt Insurgency.


I bought these little bird hooks for my parents from Beehive Kitchenware.



What girl can resist handmade jewelry?! Made by Twigs and Heather.


Plant in a jar? A surprisingly awesome gift.