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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Wanderlust: TEST Holiday Gift Guide for the Travellers and Adventurers

CUTdesignsrt maps of 3 cities
Still seeking that perfect gift for your favourite nomad? You can still buy handmade and vintage local treasures from your Toronto Etsy sellers!

Are they saving up for their next big adventure? Let them meditate on their destinations with a personalized gift of
CUTdesignsrt cut paper art maps of their favourite 3 cities!

Who says the practical traveller can't be stylish? Rest assured your wanderer will have all his or her papers and foreign cash safe and look great with FitzyDesign's Leather Fanny Pack!

FitzyDesign's Leather Fanny Pack!

Or help them keep their valuables close with sewlutionsbyamo's unisex leather wrist wallet!

one of sewlutionsbyamo's many clever unisex leather wrist wallet

Most important is his or her passport. Check out knottednest passport covers!

knottednest passport cover

All jet-setters know that the trick to avoiding jet-lag is a making sure you do get that necessary sleep. Your favourite nomad needs a ArentYouFancy Sleep Mask!

ArentYouFancy Sleep Mask



GraceDesign Kilim Bag
Her go-to boho travel bag can bring back memories of her travels, or inspiration for future ones, with the beautiful textiles incorporated in her GraceDesign Kilim Bag.

What's the quintessential boho travel garment? How about a vintage 70's poncho from FilthyRebena? vintage 70's poncho from FilthyRebena?
FilthyRebena's Sunset 70s Vintage Poncho


You know what packs easy, goes with anything, and makes a great wardrobe staple for your traveller on the go? BirdApparel's Riding Leggings in heather grey and black.

BirdApparel's Riding Leggings in heather grey and black

Send them packing their BonnieClydeVintage Vintage 70s Purple American Tourister Messenger Bag off on their latest adventure!

BonnieClydeVintage Vintage 70s Purple American Tourister Messenger Bag


You can check out the Etsy holiday hub for picks for personalized gifts or our own Toronto Etsy Street Team gift guides for all those unique -and sometimes hard to shop for! Stay tuned for more guides!

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

December 2015 #TESTaroundtown

Apologies for the delayed December post! It's a busy time for all of our team members!

Find our talented Toronto Etsy Street Team members selling their handmade and vintage wares in person. Shop for the holidays locally from your favourite Etsy shops at these December 2015 events:

Event Date & time Location TEST Shop(s)
The One of a Kind Christmas Show & Sale
oneofakindshow.com
Nov. 26 - Dec. 6
Mon-Sat 10am-pm
Sun 11am-6pm
Enercare Centre
100 Princes Blvd.
Toronto, ON
Art That Moves
CandiWare
carolyndraws
CGMonsters
Cubit's
gotamago
Green Bean Things
Handmades by Rovena
Made in Brockton Village
Pip Robins
Queenie's Cards
Sprouts Press Designs
CSI Holiday Pop Up Market
Thu. Dec. 3
12pm-9pm
Centre for Social Innovation
720 Bathurst St.
Toronto, ON
Rong Designs
Toronto Fan Days Holiday Show
comicontoronto.com
Sat. Dec. 5
11am-5pm
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
South Bldg - Hall F
222 Bremner Blvd.
Toronto, ON
Veelightful
Crafternoon Tea
facebook page
Sat. Dec. 5
11am-4pm
Queen Street Presbyterian
947 Queen St. E.
Toronto, ON
Heart's Haven
Lisa Young Design
Nathalie-Roze
Papermuse Designs
Mid Day Mrkt Sun. Dec. 6
12pm-6pm
2nd Floor Event Space
461 King Street West
Toronto, ON
Rong Designs
City of Craft

Dec. 11 - 13
Fri: 6pm–10pm
Sat: 11am–6pm
Sun: 11am–5pm
The Theatre Centre
1115 Queen St. W
Toronto, ON
Rong Designs
Annex Flea: Holiday Edition

Dec. 12 - 13
11am–6pm
Centre for Social Innovation
720 Bathurst St.
Toronto, ON
FoldIT Creations
Papermuse Designs
Rong Designs
Sudsatorium

Christmas Gladstone Flea

Sat. Dec. 12
10am-4pm
Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen St W, Ste 2, B
Toronto, ON
Rong Designs
TEST Christmas Marketplace Sat. Dec. 12
11am-5pm
Church of Saint Stephen-in-the-Fields
103 Bellevue Ave.
Toronto, ON
BonnieClydeVintage
CuriousBirdPottery
Dot Handmade
FashionelleStudio
filthyrebena
FoldIT Creations
Heart's Haven
HoneyThistle
RitualistSkincare
stitchandspoke
thunderpeep
Torched Studio
Winter Folk Fair
facebook page
Sun. Dec. 13
11am-5pm
St.Vladimir Institute
620 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, ON
Torched Studio
Trinity Bellwoods Flea

Sat. Dec. 19
9am-5pm 
Bathurst & Dundas
Toronto, ON
Citchen Candle Co
FoldIT Creations
jool
Rong Designs
Sudsatorium
TerraSoapCo
Trinity Bellwoods Flea

Sun. Dec. 20
9am-5pm 
Studio Bar
824 Dundas St.
Toronto, ON
FoldIT Creations
I.M.Wyred
Rong Designs
Sudsatorium

Got a January 2016 event or TESTy to add to our listings? Drop Lynn a line through her shop Lynn's Lids.


Sunday, December 6, 2015

TEST Holiday Gift Guide for The Foodie in your Life

Get Maple Fudge from TheSweetMaple
Still lots of time for those of you who want to get your local Etsy goodies. You can check out the Etsy holiday hub for picks for personalized gifts or our own Toronto Etsy Street Team gift guides for all those unique -and sometimes hard to shop for! - folks in your life. We're starting with The Foodie, cause thoughts of holidays make us think of yummy treats.



Our mouths are watering just thinking of it... TEST's own TheSweetMaple makes traditional Québecois maple fudge, freshly made to order with only contains 3 ingredients. 






Modern cozy for coffee bodum French press by FlockOfTeaCosy


DomistyleAprons' Men's Will Cook for Beer Apron
You know your foodie needs the perfect coffee, made with a French press, so why not get them a  simply elegant modern cozy for their bodum by FlockOfTeaCosy? 






Why not encourage entertaining with a cheeky apron from DomistyleAprons, like their men's "Will Cook for Beer" apron? Add some carefully selected beverages for a thoughtful gift/broad hint!










Heirloom vegetable seeds from Cubits
Do you have a purist foodie in your life, who might like to grow his or her own food? How about the rainbow of heirloom vegetables seeds from Cubits?















gotamago's 2016 Dim Sum Calendar
Keep your foodie happy year-round with thoughts of delicious dim sum! "Complete with pronunciation guides and informative dissections of some of the most beloved Dim Sum dishes," gotamago's beautifully illustrated 2016 wall calendar is a match for the most exacting dim sum-loving foodie!



















NellyWithWings has all sorts of pretty tortilla warmers!
You know your foodie needs to keep their tortillas warm, right? Get NellyWithWings' authentic yellow Aztec tortillero, a tortilla warmer, for the foodie whose kitchen is already stocked with all the appropriate tools for all of the (other) foods!






Download a BlissfulSew pattern to make a casserole or pie carrier




Is your favourite foodie also crafty? Someone you might encourage to bring you a pie? Or perhaps you would like to make a handmade gift which will result in gifts of pie? Check out BlissfulSew's pattern to make a casserole or pie carrier!






Chocolat Mint Cupcake soap from BakedSoapCo
Want to find a stocking stuffer to let your foodie pamper her or himself? How about some good-enough-to-eat soaps from BakedSoadCo







Our Christmas Market is almost here!


We're only 1 week away from our Second Annual Christmas Market, and the TEST elves are hard at work making sure everything is ready for you!

This years event is a festive and intimate event taking place at the Church of St. Stephen in-the-fields church located on the corner of Bellevue Ave. and College St. Yep, that's the same spot we had our last Christmas show. It's a great opportunity to come out, meet some local makers and vintage purveyors and to support Toronto Indie businesses.

We'll be opening our doors at 11am and of coarse we'll have our notorious Swag Bags for the first 50 eager shoppers. Filled with goodies donated by our vendors, sponsors and members.

We're really excited about this years lineup of amazing vendors. We've got 30 of our members ready to meet you and show off their goods. Everything from soap, jewellery, knit and textiles, stationery, vintage clothing and jewellery and so much more. In fact, we're so excited about our vendors that we made this fancy lookbook to help showcase them. You can scroll through and do some pre-shopping, make that list of wants and gifts and it'll be up on the blog forever so if you miss out on anything or forgot one of the vendors you liked you can come back to the book and each image links directly to the vendors Etsy shops. You're welcome!



You can also follow along as the vendors get ready for the market by following the Hashtag #TESTxmas15.

And as if that hasn't gotten you super excited, we've got the one and ONLY Santa Claus coming in to hang out with us. You can come and have your photo taken with him, make any last attempts to get yourself on the Good list, or just to say Hi.

See you on the 12th!