I did a candle making event here and it was murder mystery theme based. It was so much fun. Our…read morehost was Karen and she was so sweet. Karen made everyone felt welcome. She offered cookies, sodas, fruity sangria. I made one of the amazing smelling candles - thanks to Karen for her recommendations. It was fantastic experience and this is great place to do more activities and highly recommend for a date activity with your partner.

The R n B candle making was fantastic. The experience is unique and not what I expected. I was very…read moreimpressed with the interactive aspect of this event and highly recommend. I plan to come back for another event.

For my daughter's first Halloween, I decided we should wander the AVille-O-Ween, since I've never…read morehad occasion to attend whilst living in the neighborhood. She's too young for candy, so I took the opportunity to wander into some of the shops and the first of those was Vase & Vessel. I've wanted to stop in but haven't had the chance, and I'm glad I did today. The proprietors were friendly, one giving out candy and the other helping customers. They have some nice home decor here as well as very healthy plants. I almost bought a parlor palm to replace Bertha, the one that I killed several months back. I might actually be back because they had some nice full ones that maybe I would be less like to kill quite as soon--or at least, maybe it would grow more before I do. I bought a candle called a Locality Candle. They're kind of cool! There are different scents for various neighborhoods. I chose the Lincoln Square candle since I live in the "Is it Uptown or is it Lincoln Square?" section of Ravenswood. Whilst ringing it up, the owner asked if I picked it for the scent or the location. It was actually both, but probably more the scent; it has a nice fall smell of apple and spice, in recognition of Apple Fest, which is one of Lincoln Square's most popular festival. Whether you're on the lookout for a plant, a nice gift, or something for yourself, this is a good place to stop.

From the owner: Vase & Vessel offers a curated collection of home accents, gifts and works of several local artists…read moreand makers. We also carry a great selection of houseplants, planters and plant care supplies.

What a cool place!!! So many rooms and floors of cool art and specialty items. It's bigger than it…read morelooks. Rooms lead to more rooms. Really unique gifts, clothes, honey, jewelry, candies, soaps, bags, housewares, artwork from local artists, and more. I definitely recommend checking this place out!

It's been a long time since I've been to Andersonville Galleria. It's a great concept, having…read morespaces for lots of different artists, stores, creators, and so on to sell there wares here on Clark Street. You'll find all kinds of stuff here: clothing, jewelry, artwork, food, and so on. There are two floors, a mezzanine level between the first and second floor, and then a little "loft" area above the second floor. One thing I really like about AG is that you aren't making individual purchases with each merchant; there's a single checkout at the very front of the store and then they sort it all out on the back end. The merchant stalls don't usually have the creator there unless they're restocking or maybe they're doing some sort of special event. There's a small changing room since there are several booths that have clothing. It can be a little cramped in here, so I'm not sure how easily someone with mobility issues/wheelchair users might be able to navigate it, but there is a lift (though I think it requires help from the staff to use). There's no parking dedicated to this business, so it's all street parking or you can use the bus, of course. And it's Andersonville, so parking goes really quickly unless you are here in the morning.

People are so dramatic on Yelp. This place is cute and the lady was nice and the selection is good…read moreand there's nothing to be complaining about here. Also it's very close to the train AND ice cream, so win-win.

I went to this botanica last Saturday and was not impressed- at all. First off, the name of the…read morebotanica throws you off-Botanica LUCERO would make you think that the store would cater to practitioners of palo mayombe. WRONG! The minute you walk into this store (which by the way, is literally next door to a CTA stop, and there's no store parking so good luck finding a crappy parking spot on the street and pray that your parking meter works!) you are "greeted" by the sight of La Santisima Muerte. ALL OVER the entire freaking store. The place should be called Botanica Santisima Muerte instead of Botanica Lucero. After getting over the shock of seeing 50 million Santisima Muerte dolls, statues, and VELVETEEN PAINTINGS (yup you heard that right, I thought they only made Elvis velveteen paintings!), I wondered why no one personally greeted me. Instead they just stared at me for five minutes and then went back to ignoring me. Some time later, a woman showed up and anxiously asked me why I was there. I told her that I had "heard" that her store had things relating to palo. She immediately tried to sell me an herb that was called "contra de palo". I told her that was NOT what I had in mind, and she tried for the next 5 minutes to convince me that she knew what I wanted. This was very aggravating, to say the least. I then proceeded to ask her if she had any candles for Papa Candelo (a figure from the 21 Divisions). She proceeded to try to sell me a candle that clearly said "HORSESHOE" on it with an accompanying picture of a horseshoe. When I voiced my displeasure, she immediately tried to sell me a "BUENA SUERTE" candle, and then a "CLEAN HOUSE" candle. Then she tried to convince me (yet again) that she knew what she was talking about, and that the candles she suggested WERE for Papa Candelo. Meanwhile I pointed out to her that the little statues that were collecting dust on top of her television were actually statues of Papa Candelo, so I had no idea how she could confuse a HORSESHOE with an elderly Black man. This woman claimed to know about the 21 Divisions, but clearly knew nothing. This woman (who also called herself an espiritista) also pretended to know about Santeria, when clearly she didn't. She tried to tell me that a statue of Chango was actually Papa Candelo. I bought a bracelet for my daughter and when I turned my head, one of the storekeepers pulled out a paint brush and swiped some kind of perfumey smelling liquid onto the bracelet-WITHOUT my permission. The vibe in this botanica is totally "wrong", the statues are overpriced, every book they had for sale was strictly based on either : La Santisima Muerte or brujeria or how to put an amarre on someone. Needless to say there were only 4 copies of the "Santa Biblia" (Holy Bible). This place was full of negativity and I will never go back there again. Stay away from this establishment unless you like being lied to and have a serious thing for La Santisima Muerte.

I have never been to the store, although the pictures look like a great time. I order the monthly…read moresingle batch candle subscription -- you all, I'm almost afraid to leave this review because I don't want them to know how nice of a deal this is! A fun, limited run unique concept candle (old library books, salted pomelo, coffee), they have always thrown in a second sample candle (another typically unique scent with decent burn time, this time was birch black pepper - you could take like two baths on this bad boy), and a charming book of matches, and they write "thank you Amanda" by hand in cursive on the packing slip! How thoughtful, and it's $18 (free shipping). I sign up for it and the scent is a surprise so it really is like surprising yourself with something nice once a month. Support small businesses!

Not only are the candles extremely sophisticated and thoughtfully made, the business is also a…read morepillar of the community. They always give back and are a safe space for the LGBTQIA community. I absolutely love everything I have purchased from here. This is a wonderful place to buy gifts or something for yourself. They have a rewards program, which is really nice. They constantly are coming up with new unique scents every month. I recently smelled one. That was cool ranch Doritos scented- it sounds weird, but it really worked! Of course they have amazing classics and seasonal favorite scents as well. If you ever have an opportunity to take the candlemaking class, I highly recommend! It would be a great group activity and you get to make custom scents using their expertly crafted oils. I can't say enough nice things about this company. You have to check it out for yourself, you will not be disappointed!