Pittsburgh the Place for Crafts

In the Chachula Family, the days after Thanksgiving are all about shopping. Some years we have nearly gotten all our Holiday Gifts in 48 hours of shopping. We start super early and don't come home until the stores close.

This year, as in most years, we headed down to the Strip District in Pittsburgh for some deals and fun.

The Strip District is a historic area in downtown where you can find tons of ethnic food markets. There are amazingly good pastries to pastas. It is truly a must if you are in the area.

My favorite part is on the weekends, vendors line the crowded sidewalks selling anything from Steelers T-shirts to handmade items. This year I found some truly beautiful items that I will totally admit, I did not purchase for anyone but me.

Like this coffee mug that I picked up from some artists that were literally glazing them on the street in garbage cans. (you can see it in the background) You could watch them work and pick one hot out of the fire. Bonus was that they gave you hot cocoa in the mug with every purchase. They totally got me on that!

The other purchase of the day was this beautiful crochet bag that my mother in law bought for me for Christmas. The stitching is all hand embroidered in the chain stitch. I saw it from 2 blocks away and across the street. I nearly ran to the vendor, only to find my mother in law already getting me one. Hee hee, guess I'm pretty easy to guess at what I like. Isn't it lovely?

Hope you all had a great weekend filled with little gems like ours!