Trade Fair

Earlier this summer, when my brother and his family came to visit, they shared a super fun family tradition with us. It's called a Trade Fair. Everyone who wants to participate creates, by hand, some items to trade at the fair. Your offering can be made up of all the same items or a smorgasbord of different treasures. It's a crafter's dream!

I picked up this little brag book at the Trade Fair.

Here's how it works: you make the same amount of items as there are participants. Then you lay your goods out on a blanket and take turns trading with each other. Think open air market style. Then let the trading commence!

At our trade fair, children and adults alike were eager (read that how you will) to get their hands on something they had spied on someone else's blanket. Back and forth the trading went. We had items ranging from metal garden art to origami to clay creations to jewelry to paper crafts to goodies in a jar. It was so interesting to see what everyone came up with. And one of the most fulfilling parts for me was the challenge to create and come up with something new. I made jewelry and clay figurines and I threw in a sketch or two. I look back and realize this was probably one reason I melded jewelry making and working with clay into the hand-crafted jewelry you'll find in my shop.

We're looking forward to next year's trade fair and we're already thinking about what we'll create this time.