The Christmas shopping season is just around the corner. For those looking for unique, locally made gifts, the GFWC of Tennessee Woman’s Club is offering a variety of options during its annual Arts and Crafts Show.
The Woman’s Club will host the sale 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 7 and 8 in the Elizabethton Parks and Recreation building on Mill Street.
The show will have more than 50 vendors from all around the region. Club member Jo Voigt said the show would include handmade wreathes, Christmas decorations, home decor items, primitive furniture, jewelry, wood carvings, stained glass, knit, crochet and fabric items, gourds, baskets, engraved items and hooked rugs.
“There will be so many different items in the sale,” Voigt said. “We have people coming from all over.”
Santa Claus will make a special appearance 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday.
One of the vendors is Robin Smith, who makes wooden baskets in a variety of sizes and styles.
Smith said she started making baskets when she retired as a teacher around eight years ago. After taking classes and getting some private instruction, she began making baskets as a hobby to sell at local craft sales. Smith makes all of her baskets from the start using oak handles and pliable ash reeds for the rest of the basket.
“These are all my own designs,” Smith said. “I start with the handle and go from there. It is sort of my signature to do a double or triple braid on the handle. It is more decorative that way. I just enjoy making baskets.”
Craig Jones will be selling laser-engraved items made by him and his wife Peg. The couple have a business “Engraving Your Way” that creates different engraved items on a variety of surface.
“We do the design, I engrave them and she puts all the finishing details on them,” Jones said.
During the sale, the couple will have premade items at their booth but will also be able to take custom orders. He said they also have the ability to transfer a photograph into an engraving.
“They do make special birthday or Christmas gifts,” he said. “There are a wide range of materials we can make them on, from log slices and reclaimed wood to metal. It is very versatile.”
Nancy Cornwell, owner of The Craft Cottage, will have a range of traditional crafts in her booth. Cornwell said she will have more than 70 wreathes, scarves, keepsake boxes, decorative wall hangings and wooden herb labels for sale.
“I have been dabbling in this all my life, but not to this extent until this year,” Cornwell said. “I decided it was time to do what I wanted to do. I love doing the wreathes. They’re my favorite.”
The wreathes are made from dried vine and are decorated with holiday-themed items, such as fall, Thanksgiving or harvest themed or Christmas decorations.
Kendall Depner will be offering one-of-a-kind items such as decorative gourds, accessories made with porcupine quills, handmade beeswax candles, pottery and beadwork.
Depner owns the Silver Turtle Trading Company and also has a degree in art. She makes each of the items she will be selling during the show.
“I’ve been making messes all my life,” she joked. “I’ve been doing the gourds for about 10 years and the candles for about the same amount of time. The quill work is something new that I’ve just started doing.”
The sale is the largest fundraiser for the Woman’s Club.