Just in time for the holiday season, the Holiday Boutique brought locally made art, crafts and gift ideas to downtown Bowling Green (BG).

The Holiday Boutique was set up at two locations, Grounds For Thought and Myla Marcus Winery, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 6.

Vendors from BG sold their handmade items to be sold to members of the community. Some of the vendors sold paintings, bags, jewelry and more.

“I sell original paintings and then prints as well of my paintings. I paint a lot of those scenes where you have brighter colors. I’ve realized just looking at nature, the longer you look for color and look at color, it becomes more vibrant, so that’s where I try to paint in my painting is that vibrancy that you see,” said Andrea Pereira de Almeida, a vendor at the Holiday Boutique.

Having seen all the paintings and hats, Edion Nallbami, a junior majoring in pre-med, wants to come back next year to the Holiday Boutique.

“I like the painting the best. There were also a couple of woven hats and other items that looked really nice to me. I hope to see more next year,” Nallbami said.

Lee and Marge Meserve, vendors at the Holiday Boutique, sell ornaments.

“My wife does encaustic pieces, which are wax on wood. She has lots of birds and there’s a lobster over there. There’s a bee over there somewhere. Lots of different kinds of things,” Lee said.

Marge recalled the moment that first sparked her interest in the craft.

“I saw a piece that someone had done, and I was blown away by just the look of it, the feel of it, because they feel so nice,” Marge said.

Brenda Slagle, a BG community member, loves that BG does this for local artists and the community.

“I love the fact that it supports local artists, and it’s just a huge variety of different things that a lot of people can take advantage of. I’ve been coming here ever since they’ve had it,” Slagle said.