St. Philip the Apostle Church, 2111 Millersville Pike, Lancaster, will host dozens of vendors for its yearly holiday craft fair on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The free event will offer food available to be purchased in addition to different handmade crafts. Parking will be offered in the church's upper and lower parking lots, the latter of which is handicapped-accessible.

Fifty-eight unique vendors will sell their crafts at the fair, including pottery, woodworking items, jewelry, candy, gift baskets, stained-glass decor, Christmas ornaments and holiday cards. The vendors will be spread across both the church's upper and lower levels.

Dona Antonelli, one of the vendors, has been participating in the event for over six years. Antonelli fashions jewelry out of recycled materials and items that would otherwise end up in a landfill, such as aluminum cans, credit cards and Styrofoam. "I wanted to do something different," Antonelli said. "My daughter is a strong proponent for recycling and environmental awareness; we came up with the idea together." Antonelli has a degree in studio art from West Chester University and has worked as a graphic designer since graduating. For more information Antonelli's work, visit http://www.desertdreamsdesignstudio.com.

The Lancaster Public Library will also sell books at the fair, and the church's Knights of Columbus will sell breakfast and lunch from the parish kitchen. "It's a nice way to spread Christmas cheer," said Jackie Roberts of the women's club. "(The fair) gets you in the holiday spirit, and it's a great time to buy unique Christmas gifts."

The craft fair is organized by the St. Philip's Women's Auxiliary group, which has been coordinating the annual event for 27 years. "We started (the craft fair) to fundraise for our group and allow us to make donations to the church and different local charities," said Anne Marie Dunn, a member of the women's group. The group itself will operate two stands; one will sell handcrafted items made by group members, and the other will sell baked goods such as cookies and brownies.

Over the years, the women's group at St. Philip's has assisted with several projects within the church, such as purchasing a new refrigerator for the kitchen and funding remodeling in the building. The group also supports the community in different ways by buying flowers and gifts for residents of local nursing homes around the holidays and making meals for the homeless twice a year at St. Mary's Church in Lancaster city. After cooking the meals, members will bring them to St. Mary's and distribute them alongside multiple other churches in the county.

"Our goal is to provide fellowship to women of the parish and financially support the church through its projects and community outreach," said Roberts.