Old-World Market of Antiques, which is coming to downtown Dowagiac this weekend for the Old-Fashioned Christmas Celebration, offers shoppers the opportunity to recreate a nostalgic holiday for their family.

Staged on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and continuing for the next three weekends within the Front Street entrance to Round Oak Restaurant, this antiques show features the merchandise of two local antiques enthusiasts, Ruth Ausra of River’s Edge Antiques and Vickie Phillipson of Cabin Antiques and Gifts.

The four-weekend event opens Friday at 10 a.m., as Dowagiac shopkeepers kick off their holiday shopping season during this weekend’s Old-Fashioned Christmas Celebration. The holiday event also features the Candle-light Christmas Parade on Dec. 7.

“The Old-World Market will be celebrating its third year as one of the attractions of this community’s Christmas celebration,” said Phillipson, who organized Open House Weekend events and raised monies for the two-part celebration.

While antiques enthusiast and Dowagiac resident Ruth Ausra is known to many in the community, her business that is named River’s Edge Antiques, is perhaps more familiar to folks living in neighboring Berrien County, where she sells primitives, furniture and Depression-era glassware as one of several vendors at Elephant’s Breath Antiques in downtown St. Joseph.

Having always had an appreciation for antiques, as an adult, Ausra incorporated into her home many of the treasured family pieces handed down to her from generation to generation.

Her passion grew into a hobby and then into a two-fold business that began 10 years ago, when she began selling her wares at area antique malls.

Four years ago, she t began hosting estate or moving sales, commonly referred to as tag sales.  She also has sold her wares at Antiques on the Bluff, a seasonal antiques show in St. Joseph.

The Old-World Market also presents merchandise from Cabin Antiques and Gifts at Sister Lakes, a seasonal and weekend shop, which is open April through October.

Though small in size, Phillipson said her shop is big on charm, featuring cottage-style painted furniture, cabbage rose fabrics, embroidered linens and pattern glassware from what she refers to as a more elegant time.

Ausra said people who visit this weekend’s Old-World Market can expect to find jewelry, painted and oak furniture, primitives such as crocks, finely-embroidered linens, hand-made floral table coverings, and the pattern and Depression-era glassware.

Ausra will also sell fresh-cut greens and berries for decorating.

Both women anticipate mixing in newer products, as they illustrate how today’s pieces, or those from the 1980s and 90s, can mingle well with pieces of another era.

The market opens Friday at 10 a.m. and continues through this Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., and then on weekends through Dec. 9.

Weekend events in Dowagiac

• Also on Open House Weekend on Saturday, an Old-World Santa greets children at Caruso’s Candy Kitchen, where Antonio Caruso’s legacy and the art of candy making have continued for 90 years. Children will receive a coloring book and can register for a basket of toys and invitation to appear with Santa in the Dec. 7 Candle-light Christmas Parade.

• From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Mrs. Claus will appear at The Red Raven, where children can make jinglebell bracelets. Children can also pick up their entry form for Leader Publication’s holiday coloring contest at Red Raven.

• Families on Saturday can tour the city by horse-drawn wagon and meet Country Reindeer Farm’s Holly from 10 to 2 p.m.  Families can also attend performances at the park by choir students from Dowagiac Union Schools, 10 to 11:30 a.m.; Positively Dance, 11:30 a.m.; Encore Extreme Pom Team, noon; and music students from Southwestern Michigan College, 12:30 to 2 p.m.

• While visiting the downtown, shoppers can meet in-house artisans at Frame of Mind Custom Framing and Gallery, where the children’s author of “Winter’s First Snowflake” will also be on hand, crafting snowflake ornaments with children from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  At Dowagiac District Library a costumed Christmas mouse will portray a holiday children’s tale at 11 a.m.

• At 1 p.m. Saturday, pet lovers are invited to parade their pooch by entering the Holiday Tails Fashion Show, sponsored by Red Raven. Dog-centric fans can cheer on these holiday pooches as they parade the sidewalks from Red Raven to Beckwith Park.

• At one of Dowagiac’s newest businesses, Utopia Coffee Shop and Bakery, owner Kim Haneberg is serving up sugar cookies from 1 to 2 p.m. that children can decorate.

• On Sunday, the Open Houses of specialty shops continues from noon to 4 p.m.