Mother’s Best: Echo Park Craft Fair

Just in time for Mother’s Day weekend, the effortless, virtual femininity of Etsy comes to life  in the form of the Echo Park Craft Fair. This bastion of California art and design comes from two mothers, shoe designer Beatrice Valenzuela and textile artist Rachel Craven. Over the past six years, the pair have been nurturing a gathering for and by L.A.’s creative class. Now with a list of over 80 vendors, a wellness lounge from Bash Please and cocktails by The Spare Room, this bazaar contains one of the best-curated samples of high-end artisanal crafts and handmade goods in town.

The market was born from a friendship between Valenzuela and Craven. “We were neighbors and we got along right away,” says Valenzuela. The first fair started as a casual gathering in Valenzuela’s backyard. But the number of vendors and attendants kept rising until the fair had to move to Craven’s garden next door, then to a warehouse in downtown L.A., and finally to Mack Sennett Sound Stage in Silver Lake . Even as the Echo Park Craft Fair has grown, the event still maintains an intimate atmosphere. “It’s really a community event,” adds Craven. “It’s a place for people to get inspired by each other.”

Show your mother that you’re the one who knows best. Here are some gift suggestions from the founders:

Annie Costello Brown

“Annie has been making these really gorgeous Calder-inspired chandeliers, mobiles, and glass plates,” says Valenzuela. “She always makes something special for the fair.”

Pansy 

Organic, cotton undergarments in sweet, soft colors. Not your grandmother’s underwear, but it might as well be in terms of comfort.

Fiele Fragrances

Launching a new line at the Fair, this Santa Monica-based fragrance brand has bottled-up the scents of California so you can carry the sunshine wherever you roam.

Valerie Confections 

A coffee and tea service that also calls Echo Park their home. Valerie Confections will have an assortment of  theiraddictive home-made jams and chocolates at the fair.

Sno con Amor 

Jonathan Gold’s “favorite paladeria” uses handcrafted syrups from fresh fruit and flower extracts for their gourmet snow cones.

Echo Park Craft Fair
Mother’s Day weekend, May 9th & May 10th
Mack Sennett Studios