A Handmade Holiday, From Winston-Salem with Love
With more than 100 local shops and restaurants to browse in downtown alone, Winston-Salem’s local maker community has mastered the art of handmade holiday gift giving. Now you can too.
Our charming downtown shops and unique gallery spaces are brimming with locally made, locally grown, locally produced gifts and goodness just waiting to be picked for your best holiday lists. Better still, most places even have classes, demonstrations and workshops for you to try your hand at being a maker, too. In Winston-Salem, the choices are as wild as your imagination.
Browse Our Local Boutiques
Choose an original piece of art from dozens of North Carolina artisans working in clay, ceramic, glass, metal, canvas, wood and mixed media at the Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery. Want something out-of-the-box? Sample and share the sweetest cookies, chocolate, pastries, expertly baked macarons or freshly roasted coffee. Then wash it all down with an award-winning craft beer, artisanal spirit or regionally produced (nationally recognized) wine. Or how about a vintage Southern holiday from our version of the 5 & 10, Mast General Store? You could even go way back with a host of turn of the century Moravian items, still made in the traditional way and available for sale at Old Salem. Choose from handmade beeswax candles and hand glazed pottery, to linen dolls, gardening tools, toys, furnishings and, of course, classic Moravian cookies, cakes and sweetbreads.
With literally hundreds to list, you’re bound to find something to love. Take a stroll through our online directory to map out your favorites.
Deck the Halls with a Gift from the Sawtooth School for Visual Art
Looking to hone your skills as an artist or just curious about the techniques involved in your favorite handmade items? Visit the Sawtooth School for Visual Art for a one-of-a-kind gift for the art enthusiast, live demonstration or hands-on class. Group sessions are also available for an unexpected evening with friends, family or traveling companions.
Bring the kids to create in clay a whole new way. Get your hands dirty as you explore the art of screen-printing on paper, fabric, canvas or silk in an afternoon. Or listen and learn from an inspiring artist in one of Sawtooth’s many collaborative one-on-one interviews, exhibitions and presentations.
See their class schedule here.
Shop Them All at Deck the Halls: (2020 dates TBD)
The annual Deck the Halls event is the Sawtooth’s largest fundraising event to support arts-based programming. Now celebrating its 30th year, Deck the Halls presents the work of more than 100 local and regional artists and craftsmen in a beautifully displayed gallery-turned-gift shop. Browse uniquely handcrafted gifts and home accent pieces among the array of pottery, jewelry, paintings, ornaments, photography, furniture, scarves, glass, quilts, soaps, cards and more.
Make A Memory, Leave with a Gift at MIXXER
In as little as two hours, you can make-and-take your own 3D printed masterpiece, or hand embossed note cards, or laser cut your own wooden-etched jewelry. From blacksmithing to welding to watercolor, Winston-Salem’s MIXXER, a community maker space for technology and fabrication enthusiasts, has it all. Visitors can cut, weld, print, carve, design, and shape all sorts of things using specialty tools in the community Studio. Learn from other makers at a monthly MIXXER CONNEXXPO or grab a day pass and let inspiration be your guide.
No time to DIY? Gift certificates and memberships make an excellent (and unexpected) holiday gift for your favorite “geek genius.”