Five Steps for Putting on a Holiday Craft Show

This year, Judy White organized her first holiday craft show, held today and Friday at the Chapel Hill Clubhouse on Ann Arbor’s northeast side. Here’s a quick Chronicle guide to how she pulled it off – we’d also encourage you drop by and check out the final result, where 15 local crafters will be selling wooden bird houses, jewelry, aprons, photographs, scarves, ornaments and other handmade items.

Step 1: Be obsessive

White was diagnosed with cancer in 1997, and though she’s a writer and editor by trade, during chemo “I couldn’t form complete sentences,” she says. In desperation to keep her mind occupied, she started twisting colored wires into paper clips, which turned into a bit of a compulsion. And to her surprise, there turned out to be a market for these little swirls, called Clippits – for years she sold them at stores around Ann Arbor. She has since added to her craft repertoire, making hammered copper and sterling jewelry, and knitting baby jackets and caps.

Step 2: Lose your mind

If you’ve never organized an event like this, it seems like a simple thing. Only when you’ve already made a commitment to do it do you realize what you’re in for. White had never even taken part in a craft show before – that’s true for many of the people who are participating. It’s been a bit of a logistical challenge, and at times she told her husband that if she ever talks about doing it again, “just slap me.”

Step 3: Find a venue, and use cookies as bribes

The clubhouse at the Chapel Hill condo complex is spacious with lots of natural lighting. It’s often used for wedding receptions and parties, and seemed perfect for a small-ish craft show. White didn’t really want a large event. When she went to the popular Saline Craft Show, which draws around 10,000 people, she took one look at the crowd and drove back to Ann Arbor. “I don’t like gingham that much,” she admits.

The clubhouse manager isn’t charging her for the space – but that might change if they do it again, White says. “I’ve been plying them with cookies. But how long can you pay people with cookies, really?” (The Chronicle saw a plate of cookies in the clubhouse while we were there, and the correct answer is: A really long time.)

Step 4: Enlist other crafters, and Moose

White put the word out at the condo complex, which has more than 400 units, but also contacted others she knew, like Laura Wolf, who does handywoman tasks for many residents at Chapel Hill. Wolf uses weathered wood to make her unique birdhouses – some are made from old porch posts. She was setting up her table on Wednesday afternoon, bringing the outside in with sweeping evergreen branches to frame her work.

Don Kenney, who picked up photography when he retired from Concordia 10 years ago, lives in Chapel Hill and is selling some of his photographs, many of which have been artistically altered by computer. In one, Kenney colorized an X-ray of an artichoke. Many of his pieces incorporate images from nature.

Elke Ferris makes intricately woven scarves and belts – including one in a maize & blue color scheme. She’s recently retired from the Ann Arbor Convention & Visitors Bureau, and hopes she’ll have more time now for her craft work.

Then there’s Moose, who on Wednesday was providing all sorts of energy as people set up their displays. When Moose enters the room – Mr. Mouse, to the ladies – he instantly becomes the center of attention. Which is good, because his own attention span is pretty short, even for a dog. Every event like this needs a Moose.

Step 5: Set modest goals

“I would just like to be able to support my little wire habit,” White says. Several people who’ll be selling at the event say they’d be happy if they could cover the cost of their materials. But they likely wouldn’t mind making a little extra, too.

As The Chronicle was chatting with White, a Chapel Hill resident walked by, surveyed the activity and declared, “You’ve done a magnificent job!” We’d have to agree.