It’s the holiday season and with Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and the office-wide Secret Santa, the pressure to buy great gifts is on. Luckily, Queens is up to the challenge, and the world’s most diverse borough is about to host various pop-up markets where savvy shoppers can choose from a wide array of locally made crafts at fantastic prices — or learn to make crafts themselves. A list of upcoming bazaars follows:
- Dec. 5, 12 and 19, Winter Craft Market, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation and the Queens International Night Market host an indoor holiday market showcasing locally made crafts and artisan food products on three successive Saturdays. (Jamaica Market, 159-15 Jamaica Ave.)
- Dec. 6, Winter Solstice Celebration and Tree Lighting, 1 to 5 p.m. Blowout sales along with botanical crafts, live music, garden tours and tree lighting. (Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main St., Flushing.)
- Dec. 6, Local Holiday Market, 1 to 5 p.m. Artists and craftspeople sell such items as ceramics, crocheted clothing, decoupage, hand-designed greeting cards, figurines, jewelry and pottery. (Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.)
- Dec. 9, Holiday Centerpiece Workshop, 11 a.m. Learn how to create holiday centerpieces with varieties of greens, ribbons and decorative materials. $15, includes materials. (Voelker Orth Museum, 149-19 38th Ave., Flushing.)
- Dec. 1 through 24, Tree, Wreath and Poinsettia Sales. Popular varieties and sizes of trees, evergreen wreaths and poinsettias are for sale. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit farm. (Queens County Farm Museum, 73-50 Little Neck Pkwy., Glen Oaks/Floral Park).
Photo courtesy of Fairyland Amigurumi