BY KAREN BOSSICK
In the market for unique gifts you won’t find on Amazon? In the mood for the experience of celebrating the Christmas season European style?
Then you’ll want to take part in two holiday markets being held today and Sunday—Dec. 9 and 10—in Hailey. And, when you’re done with those, indulge yourself in Hailey’s Shop the Block.
THE HOLIDAY MARKET AT THE WOOD RIVER SUSTAINABILITY CENTER in Hailey will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at 308 S. River St.
Sip spiced wine while you peruse the arts and crafts offerings of a dozen local artisans. And Chef Al McCord will have hot lunch options for sale, cooked to order.
Pride of Bristol Bay will offer wild Bristol Bay Sockeye salmon for $11.99 a pound today only. Matt Luck will also have a limited number of Jumbo Alaska Spot Prawns for sale.
Anne Jeffery will offer her unique photographs inspired by the Sun Valley landscape. Marie Stewart, puzzles and paintings; Billie Leigh, her wine-inspired jams, sauces and homemade soaps; Debra Thomas divinity, caramel pecan logs and other holiday confections, and Lisa Horton, bronze and moonstone double wrap bracelets and turquoise and yellow opal necklaces.
Jane Dettweiler will have her latest line of fairy houses on the market. Jytte Mau, her knitted hats; Sean Peterson, bowls hand-turned from local woods; Elise Stelling, fine silver and bronze jewelry; The Chocolate Moose’s Mary Jones, gingerbread houses and cookies, plus edible jewelry, and Kira Gray, Wood River Naturals’ body and bath products.
TARA BELLA’S AUSTRIAN-INSPIRED CHRISTIKINDL MARKET, which started 15 years ago, is being held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10.
The market is located in Tara’s Red Cottage at Galena and Second Avenue in Hailey where Tara Matteson clears out her house so vendors can move in. There’s a large, heated tent in the backyard for additional vendors and this year the market has expanded to include a Holiday Annex at Burnsie’s across the street.
Food and refreshments will be available, including homemade Gluhwein.
Fill your belly with sushi as you check out Narda Pitkethly’s Glassy Globes. Julie Molema will have JAM Design’s line of handmade skirts, scarves, fingerless gloves, ponchos and jewelry.
And other artisans will offer ornaments, jewelry, birdhouses, body products, fleece wear, watercolor cards, scarves, antler accessories, garlands, wreaths, fresh flowers and holly for sale.
Meanwhile Hailey merchants are having a Shop the Block event until 9 p.m. tonight.
Start at the Hailey Coffee Company, mention Shop the Block and get 20 percent off your order. Then make your way to other participating bricks and mortar vendors.
There also will be vendor tables offering Stoked hats, Lacie’s LipSense/skin care, Kathie Webb Ballantyne’s Chic Antiques and more. And Jennifer Biondi is opening her Upcycle shop in the alley between Walnut and Pine streets for T-shirts and unique items made with bicycle parts.