Need to snag some new sunglasses, get your watch fixed, and find the perfect gift for your bestie? Scottsdale Fashion Square will save you from having to run around town, with shops that carry everything from basics to luxuries. One shop has henna art, another has objects laden with Swarovski crystals. Scottsdale Fashion Square is home to both Apple and Microsoft stores, and you can get a Hallmark card in the same mall where you buy your Tiffany jewelry. Arizona's only Wonderspaces arts venue sits just off the food court, as does a local theater called Desert Stages, which means there's more entertainment than just watching people go up and down the escalator. Start at Nordstrom, where the cafe is more relaxing than the food court. Then end your mall day with a movie at Harkins Theatres, where you can top it all off with a cocktail or gelato.

Vintage or modern? Buy a gift or treat yourself? These are the tough shopping decisions you never have to make at Phoenix Flea, because the answer is always "both/and" instead of "either/or." With more than 100 artisans, makers, and curators in the mix, this market has something for everyone. And that's a big deal in the run-up to winter holidays, when racing around town in search of unique goodies just won't cut it. Phoenix Flea transcends mere shopping, because it feels more like a community gathering, filled with energy and positivity. Food trucks make it easy to refuel, and the downtown setting means you can top it all off with a fun walk when you're done.

First, Amy Guerrero started teaching macrame classes around town, sharing her love for making things with others. Then, she decided to make a new home for her burgeoning maker career by opening the Sunshine Craft Co in the Melrose neighborhood of midtown Phoenix. That's where she helps others discover the joy of creating textile artworks using knotting techniques. Now, she's in full-on entrepreneur mode, offering a robust lineup of classes in her own space. People can pop in during DIY hours to buy kits and make craft items, or take traditional classes in everything from making felted cactuses to creating alcohol-ink collages. It's a cheerful, cozy space to enjoy a paint-and-sip event with your friends or trade supplies during craft swaps. She's even helping other crafters up their business savvy with workshops on how to start a handmade business.

There's a bead for every personality at Bead World Phoenix, where sorting through trays of intriguing beads puts you in touch with parts of yourself you'd long ago forgotten even existed. It's easy for beginners to navigate, with enough choices for creatives who are experienced with making beaded jewelry or other items. The shop offers classes at every experience level, so beginners can learn how to string beads, while others can learn to realize complex designs. While you're shopping, you can get tips for making particular beads work together, and the staff is happy to help people find beads that reflect their unique interests. Best of all, Bead World Phoenix is a fun, affordable place to find beads that help you tell your story and embrace your singular identity.

Walk into Tempe Yarn & Fiber and you're likely to see a diverse cross-section of people seated around a table learning to knit or crochet together, which elevates this retail store to community gathering space. Fiber art long has been a way of documenting and connecting both individual and group histories. You get the feeling at Tempe Yarn that it's all unfolding before your eyes, and you can be a part of it, whatever your experience level. The store carries a broad selection of yarns and knitting tools, and it never makes people feel intimidated about asking for help with what to choose or which yarns are the best match for a particular project. You might walk in thinking yarn is about as glamorous as a glue stick. But you'll walk out with a sense of wonder – and your very own knitting needles.

During a day and age that seem to value pretty and polished above all, Phoenix maker Alex Ozers is making jewelry that's distinguished by its markings. Ozers creates hand-wrought metal jewelry, sometimes embellished with various types of stones. The metals are distressed with various tools to create a raw, organic feel that plays off the fact that nothing in life escapes scars. The scars are beautiful for this maker, whose work conveys the individuality of each person who wears it. Ozers shares his techniques in affordable art classes, empowering others to create and wear jewelry that reflects their own aesthetic sensibilities and life journeys. If given enough time, he'd make makers of us all.

If she only ever wears black clothing, it's not because Nancy Hill has gone goth later in life. It's because she spends so much time around ink — and boy, are we glad she does. Her dark frocks hide inky smudges, but Hill is out in the open about every other thing about the joys of letterpress. At Hazel & Violet, her Grand Avenue letterpress print shop, students can take Hill's letterpress workshop, where they'll learn to set type and run an antique printing press smeared with an ink of their choice. Hill offers time on letterpress machines large and small, as well as tutelage on the proper use of spacing materials, the right kind of ink to choose, and the proper trays to load it all into. Students print custom stationery, wedding invitations, and event announcements — or just throw caution to the wind and buy some of the gorgeous letterpressed coasters, calendars, and small-run art prints Hill offers for sale. All the joys of Arial Narrow, plus a whole lot more, can be found at Hazel & Violet.

The Latin meaning for the word occult is "hidden." Keeping true to the meaning of their merchandise, Fantasia Crystals is hidden away in a Phoenix strip mall. You can drive down Seventh Street and never notice it. But spiritual seekers, Wiccans, and appreciators of really weird shit would do well to keep their eyes peeled for the store's sign: Fantasia something for all of them. It isn't a large store, but it makes up for its humble size with a dizzying array of items and ideologies for sale. Looking to stock up on chaos magick books and fill the gaps in your Aleister Crowley collection? It's got you covered. Interested in reading up on Nordic mythology or getting a bag full of crystals for your Stevie Nicks altar? It's got stones for days. Whether your interests lie in Western Ceremonial Magic, Wicca, or Eastern traditions, there are books and items available to help you in your practice. And if you need a little extra help, Fantasia regularly hosts classes on a variety of topics ranging from divination to the Kabbalah and beyond.

You can only drive past a shop that reads "Zombi Conjure Co." in a font made of bones so many times before you have to stop and check it out. Opened earlier this year by Oshun priestess Oshun Atilewa, the shop sells supplies for a number of religions and belief systems, including "Root, Conjure, Cuban Santeria, Occult, New Orleans Voodoo, Hoodoo, Haitian Vodou, Palo Mayombe, and Ceremonial High Magic," according to the website. There's lots to see in the small space, and if most of it mystifies you, the staff is welcoming and eager to explain what everything is and how to use it. Tarot card readings are available for purchase, and the store holds inexpensive classes on topics like "Sacred Herbs and Spiritual Baths" and "The Art of Conjure: Mal de Ojo — The Evil Eye."

We can safely say that there is no store in town like Curious Nature. It's like walking into someone's weird uncle's den — and we mean that as a compliment. The small store is packed with strange, macabre, and fascinating items, most of which are nature-themed. Think gorgeous mounted butterflies, a surprisingly wide selection of animal skeletons and bones, and organs in jars. There's taxidermy on the walls. There's a basket of vintage death photos by the door. And yes, the store even sells human skulls, although you can expect to drop more than $1,000 to take one home. In addition to the merchandise, Curious Nature offers taxidermy classes and drawing events where you can sketch the store's macabre offerings.