WALDORF — Holiday shoppers looking for handmade gifts, and a way to do some good while buying them, can find both under one roof Dec. 6, when the annual Holiday Craft Fair brings more than 100 vendors to Thomas Stone High School.
The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, and benefits the Southern Maryland Audubon Society, according to an announcement from organizers. Billed as a longtime Southern Maryland tradition, it pairs local makers’ crafts and gifts with displays from area environmental and conservation groups that explain their work and how residents can get involved.
For shoppers, that means the money spent at the fair stays close to home twice: with the crafters selling their work and with the conservation group the event supports.
A thrift store inside the fair
An added attraction within the larger fair is a pop-up thrift store benefiting Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay, a native-plant conservation organization. The store will sell gently used gardening, nature and holiday items, and all of its proceeds go to the group.
Organizers pitch the thrift store as a way to cut waste through reuse while supporting the native plants that feed insects, birds and other wildlife. For gardeners on a gift list, it is also a chance to pick up secondhand tools and nature-themed decor at thrift prices.
Crafters can still sign up
Crafter registration is open. Makers who want a table, and shoppers who want more details, can visit the Southern Maryland Audubon Society events page or contact organizer Tracey Stuller at tmddvm@gmail.com or 301-751-3053.
Purchases at the thrift store support native plants, insects and birds, organizers said, tying the shopping back to the conservation work of both groups behind the event.
The fair lands on the first Sunday of December, the second weekend of the post-Thanksgiving shopping season, giving shoppers a chance to buy local well before the final holiday rush.
