THE ALPHA SALE

With holiday shopping in full throttle, everyone’s scrambling for that perfect deal. For some of us, that means jumping at the chance to score handmade gifts whose creation has helped change the lives of people living with HIV. Alpha Workshops’ Alphaware Sale offers high-end artisan-made goods like tableware, wallpaper, candles, wrapping paper, and greeting cards, all made in the organization’s design studio which since 1995 has been training people living with HIV in 10-week intro and 26-week advanced courses in the decorative arts. The studio employs many of its former students who together generate 50 percent of the operating budget, an achievement that takes thrift to a whole new level. Practice yours on December 15th from 4-8pm on the 14th floor at 245 West 29th Street in New York. Alpha Workshops, 212-594-7320; http://alphaworkshops.org.

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This article is writen by Meghan Edwards is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Interior Design and Metropolis magazines. She has worked in Special Collections at Christie’s and presently holds a full-time editorial position at Interior Design. Born and raised in rural Washington State, she graduated from Brown University in 2006 with a BA in the History of Art and Architecture. Ms. Edwards has studied and worked in France and Portugal and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.