Tag: crafts

Make holiday crafts at San Diego History Center!

The San Diego History Center in Balboa Park is offering a fun family activity during the holiday season!

Let There Be Light invites both young and old to create holiday crafts. The crafts represent different “Festivals of Light” from cultures around the world. Easy instructions and supplies are laid out on tables, in easy reach of small hands.

Make your own Christmas ornament, paper menorah, paper diya, mkeka mat, paper Donzhi Festival lantern, or write a message on a bodhi leaf . . . and more!

Those who participate can also learn about Diwali, Hanukkah, Bodhi Day, Yaldā Night, Dongzhi Festival, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Día de Los Reyes.

Once we pass the winter solstice on December 22, the days will be growing longer. The light returns!

Let There Be Light will be available to the public through the end of the year. Bring all the kids. Admission to the San Diego History Center and this holiday activity is free!

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Balboa Park cottages prepare for holidays!

Christmas Tree ornaments in the House of Mexico cottage.

Many of the International Cottages in Balboa Park are already getting ready for the holidays. And others cottages will soon be decorating. December Nights is less than two weeks away!

I poked my nose into most of the cottages today searching for Christmas and seasonal decorations. These photographs represent what I found.

Hand-crafted holiday gifts inside the House of Sweden cottage.

Hand-painted Christmas ornaments available inside House of Italy’s cottage.

Beautiful candles and greenery inside the House of Hungary cottage.

The House of Scotland Pipe Band will be performing during December Nights.

Santa and elves at work inside the House of Denmark cottage.

A uniquely beautiful wreath inside the House of Ukraine’s cottage.

Here comes Santa Claus inside the House of Finland’s cottage!

As I walked around, I noticed other parts of Balboa Park are getting ready!

The big poinsettia Christmas Tree that is coming to the San Diego History Center has its framework set up. Santa, his sled and reindeer are already taking to the sky between the Plaza de Panama and the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. And the the religious nativity scenes have been set up in back of the pavilion. No Gingerbread House yet!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

The Pompom Project in Civic Center Plaza!

Are those Christmas ornaments hanging from the trees in San Diego’s Civic Center Plaza? No! They are pom poms made of yarn!

The Pompom Project has decorated the Civic Center with many bright spheres of color. Artist Katie Ruiz and the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego produced this cool installation with the help of the people of San Diego. A goal is to bring strangers together in our community.

This public art is a part of Creative City, a cultural planning project of the City of San Diego.

I took these photos during my downtown walk this morning…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Holiday crafts sale coming to Balboa Park!

Mark your calendars! An epic craft sale will be coming to Balboa Park during the holiday season!

The public is invited to peruse all sorts of beautiful creations, many with a Christmas theme, on the weekend of December 16th and 17th. The annual craft sale will take place on both outdoor patios of the Casa del Prado and inside Room 101.

I learned about the upcoming 2023 AgeWell Services Annual Craft Sale when I poked my head into the Balboa Park Senior Lounge today. (They were busy decorating the lounge for Halloween and Thanksgiving!)

Homemade crafts for sale are all created by skilled crafters age 55 and older. I checked out this big event last year. Shoppers will discover tables and tables full of great, heart-warming gifts! You can view a few photographs that I took here.

Are you a senior in San Diego? If you’d like to learn about additional AgeWell activities, click here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

27th Annual Exhibition of 7 Printmakers opens!

The 27th Annual Exhibition of 7 Printmakers has opened in San Diego. The public is invited to enjoy the work of seven master printmakers inside Gallery 21 at Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center. The free exhibition will be short-lived, however. Make sure to see it by September 25, 2023.

The art on display is extraordinary. You’ll observe pieces created using several different processes of printmaking. There’s the woodcut, wood-engraving, collograph, etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint, lithograph and serigraph.

All of these many, often complicated printing techniques boggled my mind, even as friendly artist Angelika Villagrana provided a detailed explanation of various processes.

The seven artists with fine work on display are: Raymond Brownfield, Jacqueline Dotson, Igor Koutsenko, Kathleen McCord, Sfona Pelah, Julianne Ricksecker and Angelika Villagrana. They’ve been exhibiting together for many years now!

If you’re looking to purchase some very fine art, swing on by. There’s much that you can choose from.

An opening reception will be held in Gallery 21 this coming Sunday, September 17, from 4 – 7 pm.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Beautiful silk art in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village!

Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center is now hosting a show full of very beautiful silk art, created by members of the San Diego Silk Guild.

During my visit to the gallery this afternoon, I was interested to learn about the different types of art that can be created using silk. I was shown clothing, scarves, paintings on silk, wax batiks, Japanese shibori, botanical printing, unique sculptures . . . far more than my astonished brain could easily comprehend!

As you can see, this silk artwork can be very colorful. Some of the techniques produce a degree of subtlety and complexity one might not expect.

Looking for something beautiful to take home? Most of the pieces are for sale.

I’m afraid I forgot to take a photo of the sign in front of the gallery, but I believe the show continues until mid-August. You might want to drop by next weekend!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Beautiful garden railway runs in Balboa Park!

Perhaps you remember the Centennial Railway Garden, which was built in a small outdoor space at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in 2015 for the centennial of Balboa Park. (You can see it here.) That model train layout is now history. Those 3D printed models of Balboa Park buildings have been replaced with beautiful handmade buildings that represent the late 1800s Victorian era.

Check out these photographs of the new Freight and Flora: A Garden Railway Exhibit!

A company called Applied Imagination constructed and donated the awesome little buildings. You can view other similar garden railways on their website!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Design In Wood at San Diego County Fair!

I must confess that my favorite part of the San Diego County Fair every year is the Design In Wood exhibition of fine woodworking. The amazing creations of woodworkers around the San Diego region always blow my mind!

Check out some of the creations you will see. You’ll find beautifully crafted furniture such as chairs, tables and cabinets. There are extraordinary carved sculptures. There are imaginative works of art made of wood that you can hang on the wall. There are surfboards. There are clocks. There are fantastic guitars. There are elaborate, very detailed model ships. There are wooden toys. There’s even an Addams Family pinball machine made almost entirely of wood!

What’s really cool is that several woodworking organizations from around San Diego County provide expert demonstrations, too. Small items that you can buy for a donation such as spinning tops and writing pens are fashioned while you watch.

Design In Wood is presented in association with the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association. You can find this awesome exhibition at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the Mission Tower next to the Gems and Minerals exhibit.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

A peek into the Japanese Friendship Garden gallery.

The Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego’s Balboa Park has more than beautiful trees, plants, waterfalls and streams. The garden is home to a gallery containing Japanese cultural artifacts.

Not to be confused with the Exhibit Hall, which houses rotating art exhibits, the museum-like gallery that I visited today is located near the outdoor courtyard in the Upper Garden. You’ll find it inside the Deborah Szekely Activity Center.

The diverse pieces you can admire in this gallery are very fine. Anyone can take a close look at several colorful kimonos, an exquisite Mizuya Tansu (kitchen chest), the elaborate model of a Japanese-style cargo ship, and a jinrikisha dated circa 1868-1912. You’ll also find traditional works of Japanese craft and art.

The next time you walk through the breathtaking natural beauty of the Japanese Friendship Garden, remember to enjoy this great gallery!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Beaded horse and animals at the Mingei!

I love this carousel horse! It was created using thousands of glass beads! Visitors to the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park can’t miss it!

The beaded horse and several smaller animals occupy a large display case on the museum’s ground floor, which is free for visitors to enter.

Look at all the colorful designs made with tiny beads. The patterns and figures on these animals are full of cultural symbolism.

The horse itself was created in the mid-1990s inside the museum by Rosendo Carillo de la Rosa and his family, who traveled to San Diego from the Huichol community in Jalisco, Mexico.

The large carousel horse is made of fiberglass, glass beads and beeswax. The smaller animals, like the snake and jaguar, also representing the Huichol Sierra Culture, are formed using wood instead of fiberglass. Several different artists crafted these amazing bead animals.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!