Craft fairs try to spark holiday shopping

The weather may have seemed like summer outside, but indoors it was beginning to look and smell like a cinnamon-glazed holiday.

Snowmen, Santas, quilted wreaths and reindeer peeked around Christmas-laced booths as hundreds and hundreds of vendors from a five-state area took over the city for the weekend.

Three arts and crafts festivals in the area are spread over five locations this weekend, bringing with them everything from hand-stitched quilts and potpourri to painted rocks and homemade pork rinds.

Hoping to spark some heavy holiday shopping, the festivals attempt to offer interesting gifts for everyone, from girly-girl doll clothes to camouflage rifle jackets and manly belts. Tie-dyed clothes for people and scarves and caps for pets are also available.

Handmade toys, furniture, baskets and a buffet of decorations are everywhere. Cinnamon sticks tied in country patchwork fabric were particularly popular, leaving pockets of scent hanging over various booths.

Henry Wolf of Chester, Ill., has long created small, bonsai-like tree sculptures from wire. And at his booth in the A.C. Brase Arena building Saturday, he could be seen doing just that.

However, in recent years he has added carved wooden figures based on various Santa Claus legends from around the world, meticulously researching each historical figure in order to get the painted costumes just right.

"It took me forever to find just the right color of blue for this fellow," Wolf said, pointing to a figure wearing a blue cloak with gold stars.

He also carves what he calls "old world angels," throwbacks to the days when carved angels were placed special places in homes as guardians.

He was one of hundreds of vendors with high traffic and good sales. Aisles in all locations were packed. No numbers were available Saturday, but an estimated 10,500 people usually attend the shows.

Though it dominated, the holiday theme was not the rule with all vendors. In Jim Jones' corner of the Show Me Center, his "yard art" tended to evoke notions of steamier weather.

Jones used to have a "real job," 18 years as a plant supervisor in Springfield, Mo., but he said he's more at peace surrounded by the gigantic bugs, fish and other wildlife that now dominate his life.

A copper artisan, Jones is one of more than 400 vendors in Cape Girardeau this weekend, selling his wares at The Arts & Crafts Bazaar at the Show Me Center.

Jones sculpts his whimsical creatures or plants from copper, then balances each on a slender post where it can move with the wind. His wife, Cheryl, helps with the designs and cutting and the two take the products on the road to sell.

She's a schoolteacher, preparing to retire and turn to crafts full-time.

He just finished a 7-foot dragonfly with a 5-foot wingspan for an art show featuring kinetic wind sculpture. A smaller version hangs from the booth.

"Doing this, at least you can put a smile on peoples' faces," Jones said. "That's something you don't necessarily get with a real job."

abuchanan@semissourian.com

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