Grab Your Wallet and Run: It's a Craft Fest!

Stash your knitting needles and grab the holiday shopping list. It’s time for the annual Craft Fest on Saturday, Nov. 19.

The one-day Walnut Creek mecca of art celebrates local artisans, offering unique handmade goods and gifts along with the opportunity to meet independent designers.

This year, there’s The Oakland Chocolate Company to set your taste buds tingling, Jim Hafft Photography for exotic eye candy shot right here in the Bay Area (Hafft lives in Walnut Creek), and custom invitations and notecards (and maybe even super-large Space Invaders) from Bee Parade designer Corinne Wong.

The buzz is already big for Oakland-based jewelry maker Mark Poulin’s debut at the festival. His funky enamel and silver designs — everything from pups to dinos — have inspired YouTube videos and a voracious tween clientele. A popular vendor all over the country, with write-ups in national magazines, Poulin's bracelets, rings, and necklaces are cast from hand-carved wax models, but what gets the people pumped are his exuberant drawing style and perfect-pitch colors.

Another newcomer, Modify'd, repurposes discarded materials from the apparel industry. No, not like those Barbie doll dresses your mother used to crank out on her Singer, but cozy pillows, quaint mitties and hats, mini blankets and patchwork doggie beds. A percentage of the sales goes to charities and each product comes with a hang tag identifying the beneficiary of your purchase.

Before this slips off your mental radar, get out the Sharpie and circle Saturday on the calendar. Write “11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Bedford” and “Bring wallet!” You’ll be thanking yourself (and sleeping in) on Black Friday, when the rest of the gang is in line at Target.