Made in Santa Barbara Gift Guide
Handmade Shopping Ideas for the Holiday Season
Welcome to our Made in Santa Barbara Gift Guide! If you seek wholly original and lovingly handcrafted gifts — a k a you give presents that matter! — this is the best place to start your December shopping routine. We’ve included a wide range of ideas, from arts and crafts to food, drink, and clothing, plus a listing of pop-up boutiques where you can find such creativity in abundance. So, gentlepeople, start your seasonal shopping engines!
Arts and Crafts
Beach-Show Pioneer: Margo von Phul
Thousands of people buy gifts straight from their creators every Sunday of the year at the S.B. Arts & Crafts Show on Cabrillo Boulevard. But the boutique bacchanalia wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for Margo von Phul and friends, who officially established the sale about five decades ago. “In six weeks, 15 of us got 30,000 signatures to put it on the ballot, and it was approved,” said von Phul, an “experimental artist” who’s done everything from butterfly silk screens to whimsical collages of high-heeled shoes. “It’s been nonstop ever since.”
