Happy Black Friday! We’ve survived the turkey and stuffing and the trip to the photo albums for a blow-by-blow of the awkward years. Yup, it’s the holiday season. Time to break out the ugly hat with the ear flaps and brave the cold for some hardcore American-style shopping! You’ve got to do it, you may even want to do it, but skip the florescent-lit box stores, because the real deals are to be found at the Renegade Holiday Craft Fair.

Think of it as “Renegade, Part Deux”. Which it is. Because Renegade was in Chicago but 3 months ago for an ‘oh man, summer is winding down, let’s buy crocheted mustaches!’ romp. The Holiday fair is a shorter second act, but captures the playful creativity that makes a Renegade fair fun. Mostly, it captures my paycheck.

My friend and serious craft nerd Sarah, and I will be there—meticulously rounding the booths and finding the deals, and succumbing to a few impulse purchases—Chicago map t-shirts, anyone? Rest up now, count your pennies and come out this weekend. Louisvillian and Dearest Inez designer Melissa Liptrap (also owner of The Makery) will be there. And plenty of people hawking high-end paper, posters, and of course moustaches. If I’m tech-savvy enough, there will be tweeting and live-streaming (ooh) from the fun. At the very least, we’ll play around with video, because let’s face it: I’m going to be at Best Buy today too, and I’ve been jonesing for a Flip video recorder. We’ll see. Look for inane posts called “hello world!” if in fact I prove successful.