Craft Fair

Last Saturday me, Nora Lee and four other homeschooling families bought a booth at the Topanga Craft Fair and sold handmade items.  Over the last few years I've been learning more about crafting.  I've been particularly drawn to knitting and sewing and have been transforming worn out clothing into something new.  I'm looking forward to learning jewelry making, sewing with a machine, and crochet work.

Up until the craft fair, I had only made things for people I love and I wasn't sure what the general public would think of my work.  The day was a huge success!  It was so fun to spend the day with our friends and watch as they sold things they had made.  The fair was quite small, but we all still sold enough to feel really excited!  All of a sudden, I felt flooded with enthusiasm for selling my crafts!

At the fair I was asked if I had business cards and if I had a shop on Etsy.  The answer at the time to both questions was no, but now it's yes!

My shop is at www.etsy.com/shop/SaraJeanHandmade

Here are some of the things I've been working on lately.

Harry Potter comfort doll

Our booth

We had two tables at our booth.  This was Nora Lee and my section.  She sold all 12 bookmarks that she made!

Charlotte and Aurora wearing headbands I knitted

Nora Lee's 6th Birthday

On December 29th Nora Lee turned 6 years old.  We had just returned from spending Christmas in Florida and planned to have a low key family birthday and then to celebrate with friends two weeks later when everyone returned from their holiday adventures.

Nora Lee's request on that day was to go to Whimsic Alley, a fabulous Harry Potter/fantasy shop in Los Angeles.  They have goodies from Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hobbit, etc.  They have amazing toys and candies and put on fun events throughout the year, such as a Harry Potter Yule Ball.

A few weeks later, Nora Lee invited a handful of her friends and their families over to our house for a celebration.  Her desire was to play games, have snacks, cake and ice cream, and a talent show.  This last request worried me, a talent show?  Do people do talent shows at birthday parties? Would people want to perform?  I realized that even if Nora Lee and Matt were the only two acts, that would be just fine.  When the time came, almost everybody performed!  It was one of the sweetest things I've seen in a long time.  Nora Lee did a magic show, Grandma sang "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty, Dario did magic, people sang songs.  It was such an important lesson to me to trust and let go.  If I would have put the kibosh on the talent show idea out of fear, we all would have missed this incredible sweetness.  Nora Lee and I had been inspired that morning to make bags of popcorn and so when the show was going on, people even had a snack!

Nora Lee's excited, the party's about to start!

Matt is explaining the "dress-up relay"

The relay in process