This weekend the talent comes to the table. Make that the 48 tables and six galleries at Market Collective.

The monthly showcase of local, independent artists and artisans is February 4 and 5. It is already a lovefest with shoppers chatting with the talented creators as they trade cash for everything from artwork to jewellery, but this month it gets a little gushier with the All You Need is Love theme. While you shop listen to a rotating schedule of live bands. Sundays showcase features an all female music line-up.

Shopping local doesn’t get much easier. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Admission is $3 or a food bank donation. 148 10 St. N.W., Calgary, www.marketcollective.ca

If you don’t know your knit from your purl or your dart from your pin tuck, Stash Needle Art Lounge can sort your crafting skills out.

The sewing and knitting space offers classes for beginner and intermediate stitchers. Or, if your skills just need a little practice amongst friends, the lounge lets you hang out in their 100-year-old warehouse space, use their equipment, and benefit from their encouraging company (starting at $6 an hour). Settle into a plush chair by the fireplace to get started on a sweater or stake out a sewing table by the window and craft your own couture. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Stash Needle Art Lounge, 1B, 1215 13 St. S.E., Calgary, 403-457-0766, www.stashlounge.com

Sometimes a book is a paperback you buy at the grocery store, devour at the beach and donate when you are done. And, sometimes it is a souvenir to prop up on your shelf and flip through when you want to revisit an old friend.

Dottie Angel is the latter. The second volume of The Suitcase Series from Uppercase is Tif Fussell’s pictorial ode to her crafty alter-ego Dottie Angel, a mother of eight who favours pompoms, custom aprons, crocheting and all things DIY.

Each book is personalized with a scallop-edged card machine stitched and glued to the cover. And it comes with an envelope filled with a swatch of vintage fabric and buttons, Dottie Angel thread and a lucky bunny postcard.

See, one can be both bookish and beautiful. —Jaelyn Molyneux

$35 at Uppercase Gallery, Art Central, 100 7 Ave. S.W., Calgary, 403-283-5318, www.uppercasegallery.ca

We love a good DIY project.

Especially when the recipient is so gosh-darned cute, we’d do anything for her. Happy Sew Lucky  kits come with everything we need to sew our own baby gifts. Our favourite? The dinnertime book. Printed on 100% organic cotton, it requires sewing only in straight lines (bonus!) and stars all the cute and cuddly characters in the Happy Sew Lucky family.

Just B.Y.O.S. (bring your own sewing machine). —Kelsey Dundon

http://happysewlucky.com

You've glued one too many cotton tails to your fingertips to know that Easter arts and crafts are serious business. But instead of cracked eggs and tears, try this Eggs Au Natural activity from upcoming book, Everyday Eden, by Christina Symons and John Gillespie of Roberts Creek, B.C.

Eggs Au Natural
There are many natural dye bases to choose from, including berries, vegetables and spices. Use what you have on hand to experiment.

You can dye your eggs using the boiling method or the cold-dipping method. Cold dipping is best when small children are participating. For either method, first mix and prepare your dyes. For the eggs pictured, use red cabbage, tumeric, coffee, beets and grape juice.

Once you prepare your blend (as noted below), strain out any solids and you are ready to dip! Dip hard-boiled or blown-out eggs into your dyes and allow them to soak for a few minutes or several hours (the longer they soak, the deeper the colour). Try double dipping for cool colour combinations. Affix masking-tape cutouts (flower shapes) or pre-cut stickers before dipping to create a patterned effect.

Alternatively, you can boil raw eggs right in your prepared dyes for ten to eight minutes or longer. The extra heat required to cook the eggs will result in deeper, darker colour.

Red Cabbage Dye Base
Boil 4 cups of chopped red cabbage in 6 cups of water for 30 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp f vinegar and allow to cool.

Turmeric Dye Base
Add 4 Tbsp powered turmeric to 4 cups of boiling water and stir well. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool.

Coffee Dye Base
Brew 4 cups of very strong coffee. Place in saucepan, add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool.

Beet Dye Base
Boil 3 cups of chopped beets in 6 cups of water for 40 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool.

Grape Dye Base
Bring 4 cups of grape juice to boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool. You can try wild or cultivated blackberries (use up those frozen ones from last summer!).

http://everydayeden.com

'Tis the season for art markets, so let the shopping begin.

This weekend, 50 Alberta designers and artists showcase their handmade wares at Beyond, An Artisan Marketplace. From landscape paintings to glass works and pottery to jewellery and wood works, the show includes a diverse of mix of mediums.

A few of our picks include authentic Native footwear by Craving Color, quirky glass works by Deanna MacAulay and teapots by Flying Fish Pottery.

To the market we go.

Beyond, An Artisan Marketplace, Friday to Sunday at The Blackfoot Inn, 5490 Blackfoot Trail SE, Calgary, www.beyondmarketplace.com

If Vogue represents your aspirational style and Dwell your ultimate domestic bliss, then new digital publication http://lapetitemag.com may well spell out your fantasy family life.

With whimsical fashion spreads and gorgeous do-it-yourself kids projects like Sailor Hats and Butterfly Masks there is plenty for the dress-up drama queen.

Their "turn this room into an outfit" column is a double-whammy of style, while their kids hairstyling feature shows you how to create the perfect ballet bun.

Now if you could only figure out where she has hidden her brush, today.

http://lapetitemag.com

Sure she’s daddy’s little girl, but it’s your closet that Little Miss Dress Up raids come playtime.

Spare the Loeffler Randall sandals, but spoil her inner Rachel Zoe, with Dace Paper Dolls. A collaboration with Philadelphia fashion illustrator Dallas Shaw, the doll and the fall 2010 Dace fashions to dress it with are a free download. The first look featuring a knit dress, ankle booties and a billowy jacket is now online, and more will follow in the next couple of months.

Suddenly saying “cut that out” sounds so obliging.

www.dace.ca

Nuclear family, blended family, dysfunctional family…every clan is one of a kind.

Which is why we love the Modern Play House ($20.56) and Modern Play Family ($14.14) kits from MoMA. Your brood can create a miniature house with over 50 design options for walls, furniture, flooring, lighting and décor and a bespoke family (2 adults, 3 children, 2 dogs, 1 cat and a doghouse) with the 150+ mix-and-match hair and accessories pieces.

Now that’s putting family first.

Modern Play House and Family (sold separately) at Amazon.ca

Hot Cross Buns ordered?

Baskets assembled?

Husband’s bunny costume picked up from the cleaners? (Don’t laugh, Ben Affleck has one.)

Now how about dinner decor?

Cotton yarn, glue and balloons are all you need to make these jaunty decorative eggs, and, alas, there will be no need to hide them.

Okay hubby, hop to it!

For step-by-step instructions, click here.