We started out short little walk over to the Clubhouse at around noon on Saturday (the Highlands Art & Craft Faire opened at 10am). Before we even got close, there were cars lined up on both sides of the street. The signage that had been put up, and the word-of-mouth advertising, really seemed to be working!

After passing the wonderful Highlands Greeters at the door, we strolled through the beautifully-decorated Great Room, where the boxes for the donated toys were overflowing! Lots of big and generous hearts made that happen.

Then, as we entered the Ball Room where all the tables were set up, it was immediately obvious that there are a LOT of very creative folks in the Highlands! All kinds of amazing displays of sewing and quilting artwork, beautifully-turned woodwork pieces, glass and jewelry pieces, irresistible jams, jellies and fruit toppings. There were also dolls and stuffed animals, scarves, fabric buttons, hand-printed cards, aprons, and artwork created from recycled and reclaimed materials, and so many other things!

The Holiday Cookie Bar was also amazing, the whole counter simply overflowing with trays presenting an incredible assortment of tempting treats. All kinds of cookies and cookie-bars, and some guy here in the Highlands makes some amazing biscotti, too. The price for these treats couldn't be beat, either: whatever you wanted to donate! The jar indicated that here, too, the visitors were very generous, and I expect that the Cookie Bar was able to generate some nice donations for the local charity and food bank.

A really wonderful selection of items, all of which went off to become great gifts (I hope!).

- Rob M.