Craft Fair

My booth is set up, my warmers, bags and blankets complete. I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

After last year, I'm not as...gung ho...this year. Sure, it'll be fun and I'm really curious how my leg warmers do, but I realize now that craft fairs are not the same as they were when I was a kid.

When we were little, my sisters and I joined our aunt and Mom at craft fairs every December. The booths were filled with mothers and grandmothers selling the fruits of their crafting labors. There were chotchky holiday ornaments, giant homemade cookies, hand painted candy jars and carved wooden toys. Each "booth" consisted of an 8' table with a table cloth covering it. We wandered the community center, eating chocolate pizza and looking our fill. It was wonderful.

Last year, I entered the craft fair with warm childhood memories and a tub full of bit and pieces that I put together. I left with the realization that times had changed.

Today's craft fairs resemble exhibition halls. Most booths have lattice walls, lighting and enough merchandise to fully stock a small store. The vendors are no longer merely crafty men and women, they're traveling boutiques, complete with wholesale prices, discount stickers and websites.

It takes a bit of the fun out of it.

On the other hand, if I didn't have this outlet for my manic crafting that is the winter equivalent of my summer gardening and jamming, my garage would fill and my friends would start to lock their mailboxes to prevent craft unloading.