Look to craft fairs to find that Christmas present with a difference
ARE you short on Christmas gift ideas and dreading doing battle with the shopping hoards while negotiating an uncooperative umbrella in a gale force wind?
Craft fairs are a cosy and calm alternative where you can find something unusual that’s been conceived, designed and made in Ireland on a small scale so you’re unlikely to see the same thing elsewhere. They’re also the places where shopaholics and shop-a-phobics can be equally at home and you get to meet and chat to the makers which all adds to the experience of a stress-free day out shopping, helped by coffee and cake breaks.
To get started, the Glucksman Craft + Design Fair is in full swing today and tomorrow. Located in the rarefied surroundings of an award-winning building in the grounds of University College Cork. Admission is €5 but you can download a free entry ticket from www.glucksman.org.
This fair has textiles, jewellery, willow, ceramics, glass and woodturning, as well as a graduate showcase of emerging Irish designers presenting work in a dedicated gallery space. There’s a huge price range available depending on the scale of the piece, but if you are spending on the lower end of the price range there are many options for under €50.
If you’re on a particularly tight budget, Helen Faulkner’s ceramic bowls start at €10, finished in beautiful glossy interior glazes of yellow and blue with earthy brown exteriors to offset servings of olives and nuts.
Watch out too for Alan Horgan’s wooden spaghetti stirrers (€15) which are punctuated with holes of various sizes to mete out correct portions per person. Hang them on the wall when not in use as attractive kitchen art.
Delicate white porcelain mugs to go with other table wares are made by Chloe O’Dowd (€19-€25) and can be bought individually or in a set for a more substantial gift. But if you’re faced with the dilemma of buying for friends living abroad and have to consider the cost of posting and packaging which bumps up the overall cost of the gift, a lovely idea comes from Lily Reilly whose giclée print of the map of Munster is based on the aesthetic of Cork lace which lends itself beautifully to a modern frame (€45 mounted).
If you’re tempted by some more crafty retail, Cork’s City Hall Craft & Design Fair is on from 26th to 29th of November, admission €5, with plenty of affordable gift ideas like Limerick-based Homeland’s candle starting at €8. Brightly coloured and fragranced with essential oils, they come beautifully presented in eco-friendly brown paper bags with red detailing and ribbons so you have a gift ready to present.
An unusual tea-towel can work as a stocking filler for a friend who loves pottering about the kitchen. Something like Grand Grand’s ‘You Wash and I’ll Dry’ might even drop a tongue-in-cheek hint to a washing-up shy loved one (€10).
With the current trend for coloured glass continuing, it’s being incorporated into table wares as well as drinking vessels. Finely wrought bowls and plates feature vibrant colour and painted floral details from the Kinsale-based Anna’s Gift Gallery (from €14).
For something more of a collector’s item, Bianca Divito is one to watch. This Dublin-based artist creates glass and crystal works with gem-like qualities, designed to be hung in windows to play with light. Her Layla-Boo is a petal-like piece made of clear crystal set in a copper framework (€115) and comes in a presentation box ready to hand over.
The following week the National Crafts & Design Fair is at the RDS from 2nd to 6th December and set to be a significant event with 500 craft makers and designers selling their wares. Admission is €10, €8 for OAPs, and under-16s go free.
Eye-catching hand-painted cotton cushions (€29-€33) from Olive Murphy Designs feature ethereal seascapes and landscapes on covers that could easily be stripped off the cushion pads and framed. If you visit her stand ask about her matching lamps.
Let’s not forget something for the outdoors even though we’re now well and truly hibernating and hardly casting a glance at the garden.
The Sail Barn birdhouse by Bevel Furniture is made from a beautiful warm redwood which is sourced in Ireland and constructed to look like a little leprechaun house (€65).
Book binder Barbara Hubert’s notebooks makes for an unusual gift at a time when we spend more time tapping on screens than writing, but these are so beautifully made they’ll make you want to start keeping a diary.
The Marbled Bound range include notepads, portfolios and stationery boxes (from €10-€45) to help keep track of ephemera, recipes and notes, and maybe even addresses and lists for next year’s Christmas cards and presents.
Decorating for Christmas with online video on how professionals set a festive table and deck the halls.
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