Such a great little space! We stumbled upon this little craft haven on an alumni visit, and we…read morewished we lived closer to come here more often.

From the owner: At The Makery, we specialize in creative classes, parties and events. With 14 different…read moreinstructors in genres from sewing to painting, creaative writing to floral design, there is something for everyone! The Makery also houses downtown State College's ONLY 100% local artisan gift shop.

The Nittany Quill is a quaint little boutique that's easy to miss... but is a genuine delight in…read morethe downtown area. Most of their selection is stationery, cards, and calligraphy items, but there are also a good number of odds & ends that always make it worth a visit. It's always very peaceful inside, and staff generally leave you alone to browse, until you have a question or are ready to check out. Prices are a little on the higher side, but such is to be expected from a specialty shop, such as this. The extra prices are worth it, given the uniqueness of the inventory. All-in-all, this is a fantastic hidden gem, that is well worth a visit!

For your cutesy calligraphy art or the supplies to make such, this is the place. They recently…read morereduced their floor space, but still carry a decent amount. That said, I remember going there looking for a specific sort of pen they didn't carry, but I suppose they can't carry everything. More geared toward the little old lady/mother contingent than the college crowd, which is unusual in State College, but at least it exists.

Excellent craft store. They always have great sales and coupons and staff is friendly. The framing…read moredepartment is top notch and did great work.

Stephanie, the manager in the framing department, helped my mother and I handle a bit of a framing…read moredisaster that was the result of a previous employee's lack of care. Stephanie was very professional and kind in remedying the situation and improving the work. We're extremely pleased with the results. Josh in the framing department was also very helpful. We appreciate what they did for us!

I've been in this shop several times previously! I keep coming back because the owner is a kind &…read morecourteous woman with terrific taste. Every quilt fabric, every skein of yarn, every pattern is of supreme quality! "Cindy", the owner, also carries tools & helpful aids for your creative outlets. As long as she has this shop open I will continue to give her my business when I am fortunate enough to visit Pine Grove Mills! An important tip: you MUST make an appointment ahead of time!!!! Don't waste your time driving to the shop unannounced! Parking: I parked on the street right next to the shop. There may be additional parking but I'm not certain. Keep local business alive & give this shop a look. You definitely won't be sorry!

Very nice fabric selection, including some incredible Australian textiles for quilting. Helpful…read morestaff and nicely laid out store. Will be back next time I'm in the area.

I really like the store, aside from how incredibly overpriced everything is. It does have openly…read moreleftist items and attitude, but uh welcome to state college folks? I personally appreciate the lack of hate they represent and inclusive atmosphere.

I've lived in State College for a few years now and just never made it into Uncle Eli's until this…read morerecent visit. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, just browsing, but was surprised at their selection. They have a lot of art supplies (good to know I don't have to drive to Michael's next time I need more of them) as well as various gifts, framing, note cards, incense, and other miscellaneous things. The prices were a little high, but I guess that's on par for local shops like this one and they can't match big box stores. I'm totally fine with that but personally can't afford those for my regular shopping habits yet. The incense corner seemed a little out of place and random, but they did have a lot to choose from so I guess go big or go home! The staff seemed pleasant but I was thrown off by their ongoing conversation and complaints about various things. It was hard to tell why they had so many people working (4+ at the front) when they didn't seem to be actually doing any work or talking to customers. Maybe I just hit at a weird time. The store is definitely worth going in and is a great resource for art supplies if you don't mind the prices.

Pros: I very much appreciate what this shop does as far as philanthropy and employment is…read moreconcerned. More businesses should find a way to do the same. I also love that items are donated, which reduces pollution and environmental impact as well as keeps viable things out of the landfills. Plus, depending on factors, there are some great bargains to be discovered. My glaring con, though, is something rather commonplace now among thrift stores and that is the overpriced or limited shipping options. I put a few items in my cart today ($32 worth) and was shocked to see shipping costs of nearly $20 for USPS Priority Mail without other shipping options available. When I removed an item, the shipping cost *stayed the same*. Unless you have particularly deep pockets, I'd consider this place more of an in-store visit only, unfortunately.

The staff were great. We took a gluten free class. I learned a few new tricks and had a really…read morenice night. We would definitely do it again.

A fun and delicious activity! We visited Tastebuds Kitchen…read morein State College to participate in one of their adult BYOB cooking classes (we had gift certificates). We had no idea what to expect, but had so much fun we are still talking about our evening! We registered for the Indian cuisine course (Samosas, Tikki Masala, and naan bread) that took place from 6:00-8:00 on a Saturday evening. This is a fun, lighthearted, and more of a social activity than a hard-core cooking lesson, which we enjoyed. Upon entering the establishment, we were very pleased with the bright, colorful, and simplistic decorations/equipment. Everything was very clean and no extra clutter existed, which is what one would want in a food prep area. For this class there were 3 stainless steel tables (4 people per table) set up with stools, parallel to the demonstration area. We were given aprons to wear and introduced to our assigned station and group members (We had the best and most fun people at our table!). After everyone had arrived and introductions completed an overview of the course and food was presented. Efficiency is best to describe this course. While we were watching the demonstration for one component of the meal, the assistants were placing the necessary equipment and supplies to make that component at our table. After the demo of each course/food we returned to our stations and worked as a group to prepare/cook that item. After we completed an item the assistants would take them from the station to hold for later and we returned to the demo area for the next presentation (the assistants would also clean the area during this time). This process repeated for each menu item. I wish I had this type of set up while cooking at home! After the last item is prepared, the assistants bring each table place settings and then serve all the dishes we prepared family style. I loved the family style where we actually were able to sit and enjoy a full meal of all items we prepared throughout the event instead of just tasting pieces along the way. We had a great time and are looking forward to taking additional courses in the future. Yes, the cost is a bit steep $55pp, but for 2+ hours and a full meal etc, I would go again for a date night/group outing.

Ed chainsawed carved two bears for us. They were both very well done. We gave them to my Aunt for…read moreuse at her camp. We were all very pleased with them.

From the owner: Crows Nest Arts specializes in custom meaningful handmade gifts. Janise's sentimental, keepsake,…read moreand eclectic jewelry collections are one-of-a-kind works of art. Ed's chainsaw carvings are life-sized fish, animals, natures, and tributes to veterans. Customers often bring their ideas, memories, photographs, etc to us and we create something special for them to wear, put in your garden, furniture, home staging with keepsakes, or a custom version of something saw elsewhere. We do what we do for the personal connections with our clients and stories we can help them celebrate with our creativity.

I went on to get blanket yarn for a throw i was making. I checked the website they said what I…read moreneeded was in stock at the store, I went to the store and they only had 1-3 skeins of every color on display. I asked 3 different team members to check for more and all of them dismissed me, didn't check and got nasty when I tried to explain that I needed more. I spent over an hour until I found ANY colors in the quantity (10) that I needed. At check out the clerk argued with me that they rung it all up with the sale price and they ended up getting another person to rerung it up because they didn't do the sale. $50 is what I saved by MAKING them correctly ring it up. Overall bad experience, it should've only taken a few min and instead was over an hour. Not helpful and rude.

I have no idea what any of the other reviews are talking about but then I never need cutting…read morecounter help. I do cross stitch, and do model airplanes and other "hobby" stuff. I also have the App on my phone (which has fine print that tells you what you can and cannot use the coupon on just like any other coupon with stipulations does). Everyone there has been helpful to what I've come to expect from other stores (and MUCH more helpful than their major competitors in the area (walmart or Michaels) where you're lucky to find someone who knows anything about the department you're in and by the time you do you're roughly an hour into your experience). Sure you might get quick directions if they're busy doing something....."oh you know where the floss is...turn around and it's about 3 feet to your right near the top i think....if you can't find it come back and i'll come help you look". If I'm going to give a down side to this place (and kept me from going 5 stars) it's that they don't have models (which i really can't blame them for since there's a model store in the very next plaza over) and the parking situation is TERRIBLE now that perkins is in there. Sometimes they get busy with only two checkouts as well. If you've ever worked retail you know that this happens though and invariably if they added another checkout it'd sit empty a good 80% of the time. If i'm going to guess I'm going to say that these other people have never worked a day of retail in their lives (something EVERYONE should experience), and just can't relate to someone trying to do their best given a situation.

What a great find on Happy Valley. Truly farm to table. We split the rainbow trout, I could have…read moredrank for sauce. My daughter had the hamburger which was delicious. The mac and cheese was super cheesy. The staff and chef were so friendly and welcoming. We will be back!

Beautiful food, friendly staff. Felt the ambiance could be a little more fitting to the food. Lower…read morelighting and tablecloths perhaps.