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Arts & Entertainment

Local Businesses Jumpstart Holiday Shopping Season

Bayport stores hold open houses and offer special deals.

It was a weekend of holiday open houses for local businesses in Bayport.  and welcomed customers with special deals on their merchandise.

At Bayport Flower Houses, Christmas was in the air with the smell of the evergreens, Christmas music and a sea of red poinsettias.  Every nook and cranny was beautifully decorated.  The Christmas trees throughout the store were overflowing with festive ornaments.  There were cookies and hot cocoa to snack on while enjoying the start of the holiday shopping season.

Karl Auwaerter, owner of Bayport Flower Houses explained that they have been doing the Holiday Open House for approximately 30 years.  After Halloween, Auwaerter and his staff start decorating small sections of the store a little at a time to get it ready for the open house.  "Our customers come in to see the progression of the Christmas decorations going up,"  Auwaerter said. 

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Bayport Flower Houses holiday sprit does not stop with their open house, they have more upcoming events – Poinsettia Fashion Show, Holiday Tree Lighting, a visit from Santa and there are special places set up to take photos for holiday cards. 

Colorful Visions in Bayport has been holding their annual open house the weekend before Thanksgiving for 10 years.  The mother – daughter team of Sandy Seff and Kathy Seff are the artists that design and create the glass pieces in their store.  As their name implies, all the exquisite glass pieces they craft are Colorful Visions.

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Kathy said, "Everything in the store is made with glass by us."  And this includes jewelry, dishware, lamps, cuff links, wine stoppers, sculptures and more.  There is something for everyone at Colorful Visions.

The open house had customers strolling through the store enjoying the refreshments while looking at the unique and beautiful glass artwork.  There were many new pieces making their debut at the open house, along with door prizes and special deals.  The Seffs were also giving tours of their studio where they create the glass pieces.

No need to travel far or search online - stay in town to do holiday shopping for many creative and special gifts.

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