Palette

3528 Chestnut Ave., Hampden

443-682-7523

Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon-4 p.m. Sunday

Just in time for Christmas, Bel Air resident Christopher Bitters has opened in Hampden a cozy gingerbread house full of goodies, gifts and treats.

Palette is a menagerie of distinctive accessories, artwork and things you'll want to buy two of: one to give away, one to keep for yourself.

Bitters, 24, makes most of the items: salt-and-sugar cookie ornaments, ornate wreaths, drapery, pillows, handbags and silk floral arrangements. One blue throw pillow, made out of fabric from a sari and vintage ribbon, sells for $65. A pink toile Christmas stocking with green tassels costs $25. Wreaths cost $60 to $120.

Other items Bitters brings in from local and out-of-state artists, many of them friends. Handmade soaps made by a friend cost as little as $3 a bar. Plaques made by Yorktown, Va.'s Nancy Thomas cost $45. The most expensive items in the store: 200-year-old chairs with handmade slipcovers from Bitters' own collection of antiques and vintage items. It's $680 for the set of four.

"I like to add a little bit of luxury to some casual things," Bitters says.

Merchandise will change with the seasons, he says, but will always reflect "what is on my mind and things I'm creating at the moment."