Make a Wreath, Shop for a Cause, Catch a Show, and Have Brunch With a Sugar Plum Fairy

Snow and freezing rain today followed by cloudy skies but warmer temperatures on Sunday make this a good weekend to do something indoors. Luckily, there are lots of options to choose from. 

1. Niantic Community Church presents  by CBC Productions, and this is not your average Christmas pageant.

The show was written by Tony-award winner William Gibson and takes a musical and slightly irreverant approach to the traditional Christmas story that promises lots of good humor to herald the holidays. The show will be presented December 1 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, December 2 at 4:00 p.m. at Niantic Community Church, 170 Pennsylvania Avenue, Niantic.

And now for something completely different ... Lyme-Old Lyme High School presents its fall/winter theatrical production, Zombie Love, at Lyme-Old Lyme High School Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. tonight. 

2. St. Ann's Episcopal Church in Old Lyme is hosting an alternative gift fair and wreath-making event after church on Sunday, December 2 at 11:30 a.m. You can make an Advent Wreath, and shop for alternative gifts. Perhaps you'd like to give a cow to a Ugandan family, or chickens to help a family pay their children's school fees. Heifer International, Episcopal Relief and Development, and local charities will all benefit from this gift fair.  

3. East Lyme High School holds its annual holiday craft fair, featuring more than 70 vendors at the High School, 60 Chesterfield Road, on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the class of 2013. 

Tribal Crafts Inc., an Old Lyme-based nonprofit, will hold its annual Holiday Storefront Sale in the Old Lyme Marketplace (Halls Road) next to Jessie’s Restaurant (the same plaza as Big Y).

Native Lakota jewelry, crafts, and artwork will be available (including new 2012 items), along with a colorful selection of Haitian paintings and crafts. Hours are Saturdays, Dec. 1 & 8, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sundays, Dec 2 & 9, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

The proceeds from all purchases go directly back to the crafters and artisans of the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota and participating Haitian artists.  

4. The Old Lyme Inn is nuts for the Nutcracker. This Sunday Brunch, you can bring your family to the Old Lyme Inn and meet the characters of Eastern Connecticut Ballet’s Nutcracker. The characters will be strolling the Old Lyme Inn while guests enjoy brunch and traditional Nutcracker music.

5. Six Summit Gallery presents its 3rd annual Holiday Season fine art exhibit in the heart of Ivoryton Village entitled “Illumination of Imagination.” The show is juried by illustrator David T Wenzel, best known for his visualization of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, illustrated in graphic novel format. 

Acclaimed scenic artist and illustrator Magge Gagliardi choreographs another breathtaking exhibition in conjunction with Ivoryton Illuminations, the fastest growing Holiday festival in New England. 

Tara Rose Smith offers an ink drawing of Ivoryton Village entitled “Illuminations.” Chris Gann presents the “Staff of Gan,” an eight foot driftwood homage to Tolkien’s Gandalf, a two year project, hand carved and burned with 1,000 images. Jeffrey Fisher’s (Doubleday, Harper Collins, Smithsonian, Readers Digest, Newsday) “His Dimples How Merry,” humbly sets itself alongside work of the finest living illustrators. 

Steampunk mini sculptures, fine art and photography imported from Italy, and dazzling work and illustrations from alumni of Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, l’Accademia di Belle Arti, Rhode Island School of Design, School of Visual Arts, Paier, Yale and more, complete a show of wonder for all ages, created by artists of all ages. 

There will a grand reception from 6 to 10 p.m. on December 1, when the village will be illuminated and Songbirds singers and the folk band Shinbone Alley will perform at Six Summit Gallery. Prints and personalized gift giving sketches will be available.