Even at annual craft shows, trends come, and trends go
The biggest gift-giving time of the year always seems to coincide with craft-fair season.
Coincidence or diabolically clever planning on the part of craft-fair sponsors? What does it matter as long as there are plenty of places to drop dough and emerge with presents for everyone near and dear.
Thank goodness the fairs are nicely distributed over a two-month period from mid-October through mid-December.
There’s also an effort to make sure fairs don’t cluster in the same area, said Mary Jane Lucak, chairwoman of St. Michael’s Woodside Craft Fair in Broadview Heights.
“You don’t want to have a fair when there’s already 10 scheduled,” she said.
Lucak checked the dates of neighboring fairs before she scheduled the St. Michael’s Woodside fair for the last Saturday in October. She especially wanted to avoid competing with nearby Brecksville’s fine-arts sale the second Saturday in November.
For those who have never been to a craft fair, we asked Lucak about the one at St. Michael’s Woodside, which is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Q. What kind of craft will be most plentiful?
A. We’ll see lots of jewelry. Very nice jewelry made of glass and stones mounted in silver or filigree. Lots of homemade candy. Lots of wood items, including Christmas decorations like trees on a stick meant to be put in the yard. For sports fans, there are wooden Wahoos on a stick and a Cleveland Browns sign, too. These are big sellers. And fuzzy winter scarves and holiday sweat shirts.
Q. What’s the most unusual craft at the show?
