Kitchener makerspace hosts first-ever holiday market
If you’re still in the hunt for the perfect gift this holiday season, your best bet might be to make it yourself.
In Kitchener, a group of artisans is doing just that.
Kwatzlab, a makerspace in Kitchener’s Rockway area, hosted its first-ever holiday market Sunday.
“We’ve poured a lot of passion and creativity into everything that’s available here today,” says member Elysha Schuhbauer.
“I don’t think you’ll find any of this stuff at a department store.”
Kwatzlab operates as a non-profit collective, open 24-hours a day for its 120 members.
It offers fully equipped facilities for wood and metal working, fabric arts and laser cutting.
“We’re well set up for woodworking projects, metalworking projects. If you need to do it, we’d be able to do it here,” says Kwartzlab board member David Krock.
It’s a place for creators in Waterloo region to turn ideas into reality.
“You get passionate about a hobby, you want to buy all the tools. You collect the things that you end up using for a couple of months and then it sits. Here you have access to a ton of different tools,” Schuhbauer says.
The space is open to the public each Tuesday.
“[You can] drop in and use a lot of our tools. Anything that doesn’t require training,” Schuhbauer says.
Meanwhile, members get full access and fees go back to the group to continue growing a creative community.
“It’s just a passionate group of makers,” Schuhbauer says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
New one-and-done therapy can help curb severe COVID-19 infection: Canadian-led study
A Canadian-led study of a new potential antiviral therapy shows a single dose can help cut the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19.

Are video games good for kids' brains or bad for them? New research suggests the answer is 'neither'
A small new study has found that neither the frequency of daily gaming reported by pre-teen children nor the specific video game genres they chose to play were linked with their performance on a standardized cognitive tests.
Canada deploys military assessment team to Turkiye after earthquake
Canada deployed a disaster assessment team to Turkey on Wednesday in the wake of a devastating earthquake that's killed thousands, as the federal government faced criticism that the window to help with rescue efforts was closing.
'It was a nightmare': 2 children dead, driver charged after city bus crashes into Laval daycare
Two four-year-old children are dead and a man has been charged with first-degree murder after a driver crashed a city bus into a daycare in Laval, Que. Wednesday morning. The driver, 51-year-old Pierre Ny St-Amand, was arrested at the scene and faces two counts of first-degree murder and several other charges.
Alphabet shares dive after Google AI chatbot Bard flubs answer in ad
Alphabet Inc. lost US$100 billion in market value on Wednesday after its new chatbot shared inaccurate information in a promotional video and a company event failed to dazzle, feeding worries that the Google parent is losing ground to rival Microsoft.
opinion | Before you do your taxes, take note of these tax credits and deductions you may not have known about
Many Canadians are experiencing strains caused by the increased cost of living and inflation. In his exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, contributor Christopher Liew shares some of the top credits and deductions that you may be able to claim on your income tax return to help you save money.
Indigo payment systems, online store down after 'cybersecurity incident'
Indigo's payment systems and online store are down after a 'cybersecurity incident,' the company announced on Wednesday evening.
Netflix Canada begins password sharing crackdown
Netflix Canada is rolling out its long-anticipated plans to crack down on password sharing, saying it will begin notifying Canadian users today by email about limitations.
Tyre Nichols documents: Officer never explained stop to him
The officer who pulled Tyre Nichols from his car before police fatally beat him never explained why he was being stopped, newly released documents show, and emerging reports from Memphis residents suggest that was common.