Make It!

I’ve been to Make It! in previous years, but this year’s at the PNE Forum was probably the biggest one, with over 250 exhibitors, a beer garden, and several food trucks parked right outside.
We started off by grabbing lunch from The Reef Runner & Mom’s Grilled Cheese. These were 2 of our fave food trucks, so we were happy, energized, and ready to get our shopping on!
Inside, the venue was packed. So many people! We stopped by the Unilocal booth right by the entrance for some Christmas card crafting fun, and scored some neat Unilocal swag.
There were lots of exhibitors this year but my faves were Coconama Chocolate (I’m a great fan of their chocolate. Have to get some every time I see them at such fairs!), Half-​Baked Cookie Company (their shortbread is amazing!), and My Friend Monster (such cute stuffed toy creations).
Glad to have picked up some neat handmade gifts for the holidays here!
Overall a fun experience. But I took a star off from my original 4-​star rating, because of the crazy crowd and bad parking situation. Even after paying for the $ 10 event parking, we still had to walk from a really far lot (close to the Playland side) in the rain, because it was just so busy that all the nearer spots were already filled.

I like some of the selection here. There’s some interesting & unique products, but I mostly appreciate the local works. There is an incredible amount of booths that seem a little too closely stacked together. It’s a little difficult to walk around the aisles & we’ve been bumped into or hovered around several times.
Thus, the beer & wine «garden» tucked in the middle is a sweet reprieve to find center again.
I will hit some more booths since I’ve already found several gifts. It’s definitely worth coming to, but be prepared to get a little squeezed in the aisles ;)

The last time I went to Make It! Vancouver, they were in the Croatian Cultural Centre, and it was busy and bustling. Holy cow have they ever grown! The craft market takes up all the floor space in the PNE forum, both the stadium side and the café side.
It took my sister and me 2 hours to look through everything, at a quite leisurely pace. I saw several exhibitors who were new to me (having attended many local craft markets) and several familiar faces too. I think it was a brilliant idea to have all the food carts stationed outside, but I just wish there was seating provided (or access to the bleachers).
The market was a diverse mixture of clothing, jewellery, homewares, fibre, food, DIY, visual art, and whismy. The décor is not as swish or classy as something like say, Circle Craft, but many of the exhibitors are certainly leaning toward that calibre. The entrance fee was $ 7, and with the quantity and quality of exhibitors, I feel that this was reasonable. I also loved how much aisle space there was, even when it was jam-​packed with parents pushing strollers and wet-​jacket-​and-​umbrella-​toting visitors on Saturday afternoon.

one word … Awesome!
I try to shop local as much as I could. I love craft fair like this, this is probably the best Ive ever been to and the biggest! Thanks to Unilocal for the free entrance ticket, but for $ 7 dollars I would have paid that to get in, and entrance is for the entire weekend. Where do I begin, first off I didn’t really know what to expect but wow I was impressed soooo many booths. From art, food, drinks, crafts, jewelry, name it they probably had it. I wanted to buy everything!!! And food trucks outside if you get hungry. One of the things that really surprised me was the prices, it was so affordable, I always think shopping local /​handcrafted is more expensive but I purchased some awesome deals from handcrafted $ 2 earrings, cute canvas bag for $ 12, the best green tea chocolate for $ 5 and so on. It always feels good to help out local businesses. This fair is amazing, I will be a regular from now on!!! Cant wait for next year! Remember to support local businesses.

Been to Make-​It! for the past 4 years in a row! And to see them grow is just AMAZING, especially when they just started at Croatian Cultural Center with Cyndi (the second Vancouver CM of Unilocal) sitting in a booth. It is so good to see Make-​it to become SOOO big now taking the WHOLE PNE Forum building, I was like OMG! On top of that, there was A LOT more room for me to walk now, and enjoy the event. Back then we were all packed into such a small place, this time, there was ventilation and it went a lot more smoothly.
Finally writing a review for Make-​It Vancouver, and it was great to partake in such an event. I wanted to buy so many things, and it was good to see some old vendors to come back for the annual event. This year their food craft section has GROWN exponentially. So many new food vendors, and more chances to buy food to devour at home without people judging you. Oh, and this year they got a bunch of Food Carts to partake in the event as well!
Every year I have always wanted to buy everything I see at this event, and the vendors have been getting better every year. This year I love seeing all these carpenters, and new art pieces that I just want to add to my collection.
Anyways, I hope to see Make It to become an awesome and BIGGER event in the future! YAY :3

I love that it’s called a craft market, but truly the products that are sold at Make it! are better than any crafts that I do at home! lol. The vendors make their products with such care and their branding is top notch. I love that we get to talk to the owners who make their living making wonderful things for us to wear/​eat/​play with.
This year I bought a muppet. Yup. I totally did and not as a Xmas gift, but because I wanted her. She’s adorable and I named her Molly. :D
The venue this year is much better. Way more spacious than previous years and plenty of rooms for strollers. The increased admission price is definitely worth it as it gets you in for the whole weekend. I only wish there was better lighting, but the vendors took it upon themselves to really make their booths fun and bright.
See you next year!

I always look forward to gong to Make It and loved that it has moved to the PNE this year. The new location offers much more room and makes it a lot easier to peruse and check out all of the booths without feeling like a sardine. I love just wandering and looking at all of the crafts.
There are so many great crafters that come out year after year which makes it a great place to find unique Christmas gifts for all those special people in your lives.
I went Saturday morning and got there right when they opened to get a jump start on the prime free parking on Hastings Street. That is the only downside to this location, there is not much for free parking. You can find it if you arrive early or want to walk the distance. However, if you want something close you aren’t going to have much luck and will find yourself paying for parking at the PNE itself, in the lot across the street or paying on of the locals to park in their driveway.
This is a must go to craft fair each year!

Take all of my money!!! Take it!
I am both surprised and pleased that this year was my first exposure to this wonderful festival. It was in new digs at the PNE and honestly, i’m not sure how they operated under a smaller room in the past — holy heck busy.
But when it comes to shopping local, finding unique gifts and staying within budget — this is hands down the best platform available during the holiday season. Within the first two days, even WORKING the event, I managed to cross everyone off my Christmas list and still have $ 40 in the budget for extra doodads.
The standouts:
My Friend Monster — these hand-​made monster creations for the young and young at heart are just the cutest things imaginable. I picked up two «tooth fairy» monsters for the little ones in the family for a mere $ 15 a pop.
Give A Little Giggle — not only are these the most passionate and hilarious crafties you will ever meet — but they make a mean puppet… toy monsters are apparently a «theme» for this year’s Auntie presents but I won’t lie — I played with this puppet all the way to the day he shipped to his new home. SO. Much. Fun.
The Lonely Pixel — I nearly handed her my wallet and spent the better half of the weekend trying to barter random things off to her — my old bag, my left shoe, my first born child. She makes exquisite prints, jewellery and cards from doctored photography and it’s Dali-​eske goodness. At $ 5 a card, it’s well worth the price — I have four framed in the house and a half dozen more going out as interesting Xmas cards.
Dolly’s Treats — I bought the Habanero/​Tequila jelly to send to a friend. I don’t like Tequila. It lasted four days in the apartment before I had to buy back up. I had to ship back up the same day to resist temptation.
The Journals From Used Books Place Whose Name I Have Misplaced — I am jealous you thought of this first.
From a both a consumer and vendor perspective — this is one of the best organized craft fairs in the city. The food trucks out front were a bonus touch. The bar is just genius. All in all, this is a fabulous platform to fall in love with local/​Canadian made goods.
Next time you get the chance — experience this.
But pro tip: head down on a weekday if you are able to and avoid the massive entry lines!

This year they moved the fair to the PNE which means more stalls and bigger venue = awesome. I am so glad that this craft fair has bloomed and grown. Finally something to compete against the pretentious Circle Craft fair. This craft fair hits the modern market without excluding any tastes and or generations, something that Circle Craft went off track with in the past 8 years. This I feel is becoming the new «it» major craft fair in the lower mainland for the holidays. Go early on Thursday and or Friday as it gets very busy very quickly. Most vendors take credit card which is appreciated. You pay once and you can enter all weekend.