Boston's best: Offbeat holiday markets

Here it comes again. The holiday season, we mean. If you are the sort of person that loves spending hours buzzing around malls looking for that perfect gift, anticipation for the holidays probably puts a big smile on your face. However, if you’re more like us, then the thought of being forced to enter an alien environment of crowded escalators, predatory parking lots and hours of waiting in long lines sends chills down your spine. There is hope, though. Starting in early December there are a number of independent holiday markets opening where you can find strikingly original gifts, and actually have fun shopping.

MIT Glass Lab Holiday Sale
How about a cup with seven handles? This annual event—now in its 20th year—is a chance to sample the experimental creative endeavors of eggheads who will probably later go on to invent supercomputers and rule the planet. None of these kids are banking on blowing glass for a living, so anything goes. How about a vase that resembles a pickle standing on end? Or a massive paperweight shaped like a giant squid? There’s also more practical fare, like starfish ornaments in the $4 range right up to exquisite quality cups and vases made by faculty members that top out around $500. Dec 6, 10am–8pm; Dec 7, 10am–5pm; Lobby 10, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Kendall Square/MIT, Cambridge (617-253-5309; web.mit.edu/glasslab)

Boston Sculptor’s Gallery
Combine shopping and art appreciation with Sculpture Scoop II: A Small Works Holiday Show and Sale. Thirty-six of the gallery’s most prestigious—as well as unusual and eclectic—sculptors will be showing their wares. Here’s a preview: Anthropomorphic stone heads and moons by Joseph Wheelwright, wilted wax spines by Hannah Verlin and weirdest of all, apples grafted with nipples from Ellen Wetmore, a pregnant mother of a toddler. Her work is influenced by Gauguin and an interest in the biological horrors of frankenfoods. Most works under $300 and prices go as low as $20. Dec 15–24; 486 Harrison Ave, South End, Boston (617-482-7781, bostonsculptors.com)

Holiday Handjobs
Get your mind out of the gutter—we’re talking about handmade crafts. There’s nothing filthy going on here. Okay, actually there is: obscene gingerbread cookies, penis-shaped pens, customized bags for sex toys, perverted cards. This could be the perfect thing for that hard-to-buy-for-aunt who hangs out at Machine a lot. Co-organizer Aliza Shapiro explains where they’re coming from: “If we’re going to have ‘The Holidays’ shoved down our throats, at least we can have a sale where the concept, entertainment and products are as cheeky, geeky, and sexy as we all are.” Dec 10, 7pm–11pm; Dilboy VFW, 371 Summer St, Davis Square, Somerville (holidayhandjobs.com)

Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair
Hang out, listen to live music, and shop at a hip Somerville loft. Audrey Ryan likes to occasionally open her space to perform for friends, but once a year she throws crafts into the mix. Her specialty is taking vinyl records and melting them into bowls and bracelets that she sells for $5. Among the entertainment will be singer/songwriter Dan Blakeslee who will sell his etchings and drawings. Also: knitting, jewelry and homemade marshmallows, bread and cookies. If that’s not enough, two words: free wine (for those over 21). Dec 5, noon–8pm; 438 Somerville Ave, Loft 4, Union Square, Somerville (audreyryan.com)

Boston Bazaar Bizarre Winter Fair
These are the folks who started the whole cool Christmas crafts thing, back in 2001. They’ve gone on to inflict Bazaar Bizarres on LA, Cleveland and San Francisco. “I was dissatisfied with stencils of country ducks,” says founder and craft artist Greg Der Ananian. This is a duck-free zone: Punk Rock Santas, mittens with a skull and crossbones, facepaint, strange and provocative buttons… you get the idea. The organizers are all pros and many are involved in local crafty stores like Magpie, as well as online orgs such as Craftster.com and The Sampler. Dec 5, noon–7pm; BCA Cyclorama, 539 Tremont St, South End, Boston (bazaarbizarre.org)

Fort Point Artist Community’s 12th Annual Holiday Sale 
Out of a bazillion-and-a-half people making art professionally in the Fort Point, thirty of the best have been chosen for this whirlwind one-stop-shopping weekend of consumer-oriented creativity. Over three days, the following items have been promised: jewelry, paintings, pottery, sculpture, artists’ books, photography, handcrafted clothing, furniture, lighting, prints, holiday ornaments, cards, and even more crafty goodness. It’s like a miniature mall for those with taste. Dec 3, 4pm – 7pm; Dec 4–5, 11am–4pm; 12 Farnsworth St. Fort Point, Boston (617-423-1100, fortpointarts.org)

SoWa Holiday Market
The SoWa market features over 80 artists, and takes its talent from all over New England. The event is held in the spacious Cathedral High School gym, and puts the focus on the indie and the edgy: stylized teapots, Wonder Woman mugs, T-shirts featuring bear wrestling and paintings and cards depicting penguins and zombies by artist Greg Stone. $5; Dec 11, 10am – 6pm; Dec 12, 10am – 6pm; 74 Union Park Street at Washington St, South End, Boston (800-403-8305, sowaholidaymarket.com)