Thousands come out for arts and crafts shows in Cape Girardeau, Jackson

Good prices, art and crafts, holiday gift ideas and possibly the sweet-smelling kettle corn drew thousands of people to the annual collectibles shows held in Cape Girardeau and Jackson over the weekend.

More than 300 exhibitors filled the Show Me Center and the Osage Community Centre for the 40th annual Christmas Arts and Crafts Extravaganza. Admission to the shows benefited the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri and the programs it provides.

At the Osage Community Centre, Ann Gifford, chairwoman of the council, said Sunday she saw larger crowds browse the booths this year than last but couldn't provide an exact attendance number.

"We've just collected more money at the door, so we know we've had more people attend," she said. "It's really a great regional show."

Local exhibitors, like Mozaic Art Studio of Cape Girardeau, set up at the show, but vendors throughout the central U.S., like Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, Nebraska, made up the majority of artists showcasing their work.

Most vendors had participated in the Cape Girardeau show before, calling their time here successful, but some said this year has been their best yet because of a busy Saturday and steady Sunday.

"We really enjoy doing this show," said Marti Wingo of Mozaic Art Studio. Wingo and Leslie Compass own the studio together creating glass and mosaic plates, coasters, vases and other items.

The pair, handing business cards and fliers to people interested in their work, said their hometown show has been a great way to advertise the studio.

Jenna Jones of Harrisburg, Ill., creator of Random Cargo, was pleased to call her space at the Osage Community Centre "bare" about an hour before the show ended Sunday. "I've done much better than I expected," Jones said of her first Cape Girardeau craft show. Jones designs items for a younger crowd, mostly handbags in an assortment of colors and designs. They're made of feed sacks, which she said she gets from shopping flea markets, or burlap, which she orders online.

"I've had five different businesses tell me they'd like to have my stuff in their store," Jones said.

Browsing collections at the Osage Community Centre, like Owen Sloan's spoon rings, Cape Girardeau resident Ann Marshall Yuede found herself remembering her grandmothers, now deceased.

Sloan, in business creating rings and bracelets out of spoons since 1965, created for Yuede a silver ring with a daffodil and a second ring out of a spoon that had grapes at its tip.

"I see stories here," Yuede said, sifting through Sloan's ring designs. "They're unique and they'll mean something to me. I'll wear these proudly."

At the Bavarian Halle in Jackson, more than 100 exhibitors were set up, many of them home-based businesses like lia sophia, Tupperware, Pampered Chef and Your Very Own Basket, ran by Dee Kesterson-Booker.

Kesterson-Booker said it was her third year at the Jackson location selling themed gift baskets. She keeps up with the trends, like what coffees, cosmetics and books are popular, in order to create baskets for people of all ages.

Still, she encourages customers to make suggestions and said she will personalize a basket, even do the shopping.

"This is a good place for me to see people, meet my customers," she said. "This is the best year I've had here. It's been steady."

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