Crazy Stable

Twas the week before Solstice, and all through the house...oh, never mind. This is precisely the week when my Christmas Fantasy of Homemade Gifts turns into my Christmas Panic of Reality...no, I have not sewn a million adorable sachets and catnip mice, or made a passle of delicately glitter-dusted star-book ornaments, or even baked a bunch of long-keeping spice cookies.

I have made one rocking calendar of Prospect Park, however, (that's February's shot, left), and there's still time to order some for those novelty-starved urbanites on your list! Or you could buy them "live" (no shipping cost!) tomorrow, Dec. 14, at the St. Boniface Christmas Fair, being held in the auditorium of St. Joseph High School in downtown Brooklyn, on Willoughby Street and Bridge Street from 9 a.m. to about 3 p.m. (a five-minute walk from the DeKalb Avenue station).  There will be other nifty vendors, including fair-trade exotic crafts, antiques, and the famous Oratorian Vegetarian Chili for a warming lunch.

And for more cool hand-made stuff, check out my Sickeningly Talented Pals, who are also showing and selling tomorrow (which should be declared Creative Gift-Shopping Sunday):

Karen Friedland has a home studio sale of her luminous paintings at 190 Marlborough Road (Q train, Beverly Road station). She has a new line of "magical minis" that sound intriguing (and affordable).

Rhea Kirstein, a watercolorist who is gaining a lot of admirers for her luscious and sensual canvases (like these fantastical fruits, below) is also welcoming collectors, in tandem with jewelry designer Sam Tomasello, who creates treasure-laden necklaces, pendants and more. Rhea and Sam's Park Slope home sale is from 1 to 6 p.m. at 464 Sixth Street, Apt. 2R.

Amid all the madness, remember that tomorrow is Gaudete Sunday—the joyous third Sunday in Advent (or, as I think of it in Advent-wreath terms, "Pink Candle Sunday"). Amid all the anxious waiting, it's a chance to whoop it up a little, liturgically and otherwise.