With Christmas about five weeks away, Lismore's shops are adorned with decorations and gifts as shopping ramps up to the big day.

The annual Anglican Parish pop-up Christmas shop has opened in the old Cruise and Travel building at 55 Woodlark Street.

The Anglican motto is 'Hand Made, Hand Grown or Hand Baked', so you can be sure there are not only good quality gift ideas but a lot of love has gone into creating each item.

The gifts that you buy are not made in a matter of weeks. Dawn Back, Treasurer and a Warden at the Anglican Church in Lismore, said they have already started collecting materials and items for Christmas 2025. So, the creation of some of the gifts for sale began in 2023.

"We've got lots of craft ideas, Christmas decorations, we've got plants, and a lot of the plants are refreshed every day and are reasonably priced. We have loads of cakes, Christmas cakes and Christmas puddings, we have a group of eight or nine people who normally start cooking those by the end of August.

"Then, every day, we get fresh cooking in from a lot of our parishioners. It just depends on what they cook and what they bring in on the day. So, it could be a surprise, but it's usually very, very nice and very tasty. Our lady that does the scones, the pumpkin scones, comes in fresh every second day. And date loaves, too.

"We have lemon butter, passion fruit butter, pickles, honey. We get a shipment from the Little Brothers at Tabulam. They have chillies, honey and jams. They send them to us. We pay for them, then we sell them at the same cost and that helps them out.

"We have coat hangers, we have kitchen towels, we have nativity scenes on blankets. Everything's got to be handmade, hand grown or hand baked."

All the money raised from the pop-up shop goes to the Anglican Church, who distribute it to their missions.

"Our missions are generally Australian missions. We have things like the Anglicare Affordable Building Fund, CMF and BCA (Bush Church Australia), which is an Anglican organisation. They have ministers in outlying places in Australia, whether it's Western Australia, Queensland, outwest New South Wales, in the remote areas.

"We usually pick one local charity and give a portion of the money to them as well. And it's not only our pop-up shop, its also our Op-Shop at Goonellabah (Rous Road). Last year, we distributed $50,000 in donations. Last year, it was Our Kids that got a sixth of all our mission money.

This year's charity will be decided after this Tuesday's parish council.

The Anglican Church is also putting on Bethlehem Revisited, a recreation of Christmas, on Saturday, December 21 from 5:30pm.

"We dress up. We've got all uniforms, angels, Roman soldiers, all different things. And that goes part of it as well. We just try to be a shining light of Christ in Lismore.

"We've got a lot of a lot of parishioners that are helpful and dedicated, and we're all out there for the same reason, which is giving back to our community."

(Deidre, Dawn, Lyn and Narelle, just a few of the many people giving their time in the Christmas pop-up shop)

The Anglican Christmas pop-up shop is at 55 Woodlark Street, in the old Cruise & Travel building. Be quick, as it is open until Friday, November 29.

You will find them open Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 3:30pm and Saturdays from 9:30am to 12:30pm.