Maybe you’ve sworn off that day-after-Thanksgiving rush. Or was it that second round of pie that kept you from transitioning into the shopping season last weekend? Whatever the cause of your procrastination, there’s still plenty of time to get into the groove, especially if you do it close to home.
Imagine letting go of all that supply chain anxiety and pondering potential gifts while actually holding them in your hands.
In Provincetown, the Canteen Holiday Market is making a welcome return as the go-to gathering place for local artisans. The best thing about the shopping experience, notes owner Rob Anderson, is that it reveals the hidden skills of familiar bartenders, cleaners, or teachers. So many people in town are “spectacularly talented,” Anderson says, “and the market lets you see these people in other endeavors.”
Anderson and his partner, Loic Rossignon, say their comeback event will be more spirited than ever, with over 50 craftspeople — woodworkers, leatherworkers, jewelers, knitters, and others — selling their wares on a rotating basis on weekends through the first of the year.
Of course, shoppers need sustenance, and there will be backyard noshes including grilled sausages, potato pancakes, and soft pretzels. Gather in a tent or around firepits to toast with warming drinks like mulled wine, cider, or hot chocolate.
Provincetown’s big pop-up isn’t the only place to buy gifts handmade by locals. We found two December pop-ups still ahead, one at Cure Wellness Collective in Orleans, the other at Longstreet Gallery in Eastham. Meanwhile, shopkeepers in Wellfleet and Truro are highlighting handcrafted goods, too. Here are some we hope will inspire.
Canteen Holiday Market
255 Commercial St., Provincetown
Weekends through Jan. 2
canteenholidaymarket.com
Leather and brass danglers designed by Cathy Evans Wilson, a scientist by day and jewelry designer in off hours, are real statement-makers. They’re named “the Karen,” but, Wilson says, the name was inspired by her favorite yoga teacher, not those other Karens. $30.
Cardinals rule at Rob Scotts Birds, where Scott hand carves Tupelo wood into bright birds, specially notched to perch right on Christmas trees ($90 each). Other artfully chiseled pieces such as whales ($40 for small versions) are available as well. Stop by to see Scott showing off some mad carving skills onsite at the Canteen market.
Christopher Wilcox uses recycled antique sterling silverware to create some of his imaginative handmade jewelry. The collection includes whale pendants ($100-$200) and rings ($40-$60), cast from spoons made right after the Pilgrim Monument was built. When Wilcox tells you how designer Donna Karan fell in love with his jewelry collection, you believe him.
Florence Mauclere, who is known for her original handcrafted bags and sandals, brings smaller pieces to the market. Her billfolds ($120), envelopes ($55), and key chains ($25) are accessories that just get better with age, she says.
Cap off your shopping with one of Cathy Kucinskas’s coveted ski hats ($45-$65). They are 100-percent wool, lined with a soft cashmere-wool-alpaca blend, in a few designs ranging from one she calls “the original ’70s gay flag pattern” to a bear flag. She also has added a couple of festive designs to the mix this year. She spends the year knitting for this event and says she’s created some 50 caps, so get them while they last.
AROUND THE TOWNS
Cūre Wellness Collective
48 Main St. R, Orleans
Holiday Pop-Up on Dec. 18
curewellnessorleans.com
Ashley Rorro, owner of this health and beauty wellness boutique, is hosting a last-minute holiday pop-up featuring Truro ceramicist Isabelle Souza’s delightful designs — mugs, vases, bowls — alongside Rorro’s own wellness-inspired products.
At the “Sip and Shop,” customers can nibble on baked goods and sip hot beverages while considering giving someone the evil eye (in a good way) by getting them one of Souza’s wheel-thrown evil eye mugs ($60).
ARTichoke
4550 Route 6, Eastham
Daily
artichokecapecod.com
The team at Artichoke is preparing for a winter full of pop-ups, where local artisans will display and sell their crafts.
Festive meets ’fleetian with this oyster-wreath design ($32) from Artichoke, screen-printed by owners Katie and Liz Escher at their onsite studio in Eastham. It’s soft, breathable, and slouchy — perfect for fireside lounging, or for layering against the winter weather.
Longstreet Gallery
4730 B Route 6, Eastham
Weekends from Dec. 4 to 19
longstreetgallery.com
It’s a last hurrah in this space for gallery owners Christopher Kelly and Keith MacLelland, who are presenting their second “Holiday Hustle.” On opening night, draft beer from Devil’s Purse will be on tap. Prices range from $20 to $1,000, as the pop-up brings together works by all the artists the two worked with this year, with an array of gift items from screen-printed posters to hand-bound notebooks to ceramic ornaments.
Slip cast and glazed by hand by Jess Baer and Zack Hastings, the couple behind Baer Ceramics, these match strikes are like small sculptures ($20).
Drift
3 W. Main St., Wellfleet
Thursdays – Sundays
www.driftwellfleet.com
Shop owner Susann Leigh Bonn is stocked up and holiday ready, and will stay open Thursday-Sunday until Christmas. Offerings here include everything from utilitarian lobster claw kits to kitschy thermos lamps ($128 each) to just for the smell of it bacon-scented fire starters ($16 for 10 pods).
Remember those shapely Playskool blocks? Carolyn Corrente, an art teacher who is fond of her stays here, has collected them to use as canvases for the detailed wave, dune, and cottage scenes she paints of Truro and Wellfleet ($85-$170).
Farm Projects
355 Main St., Wellfleet
Holiday Pop-Up on Dec. 11-12
farmprojectspace.org
Artwork for all is on view here, where designer and curator Susie Nielsen celebrates the artists who have shown in her gallery and adds a pop-up-worthy collection of handmade objects, too. Prices range from $20 to around $1,000. Printmaker Walker Mettling’s 18” x 18” The Oldest House, Provincetown postcard revisited ($50) will surely inspire some double takes.
Jewelry Studio of Wellfleet
15B Bank St., Wellfleet
Tuesdays – Saturdays
jewelrystudioofwellfleet.com
Owner Jesse Mia Horowitz makes the jewelry here, and you do not want to miss that. But Sasha La Point’s porcelain ring perches caught our eye on a recent visit. La Pointe learned ceramics when she was at Nauset High School, and the ring dish she made for her mother back then was a hit. Further inspiration came this fall in a ceramics class at Castle Hill. The results, made of porcelain and shown in celadons and blues, are both beautiful and practical.
Newcomb Hollow Shop
275 Main St., Wellfleet
Thursdays – Sundays
ofearthandocean.com
Ever tried to rewrap a ball of yarn after a kid or cat gets ahold of it? Look no further for the perfect gift for knitters: Judith Stiles’s yarn bowl is designed complete with holes for your knitting needles.
Stiles stocks artisan crafts from all over the Cape and the country. But locally made stocking stuffers include Cook’s Organics soaps and Cape Cod Cutlery oyster knives.
Truro Vineyards
11 Shore Rd, Truro
Thursdays – Mondays
trurovineyardsofcapecod.com
Truro Vineyards is, natch, overflowing with great gifts in the wine and spirits category, but their shop is also stocked up with items created by local artisans like Nicole Gelinas. Her cottage shingles, upcycled into wall hangings ($58), and her “oystergrams” messages, hand painted on Wellfleet oysters ($35), are favorites.
Pizza Barbone’s wood-fired oven will be parked onsite to fuel hungry shoppers. Check the vineyard’s website for hours.
Arcadia
131 Commercial St., Provincetown
Daily
arcadiaptown.com
Artisan-made is always the watchword at this shop. But ask owner Jay Gurewitsch and he’ll point you to goods that are both handmade and local. The knives from Cape Cod Cutlery ($80 to $175), made by Thomas Davenport and Fred Carpenter, are hard to find outside farmers markets and craft shows.
Abigail Dwight contributed reporting for this article.
