The MSLO Employee Holiday Craft Fair
You may recall that a year ago, MSLO hosted a holiday craft fair, featuring many wonderful products created by my talented staff. The event was so much fun and allowed people to shop for really unique gifts, that we decided to organize an even bigger sale this year. I am proud to say that more than 70 people signed up for booths. Some collaborated with other employees, some have established craft business, and others were selling their products for the first time. Marcie McGoldrick, who heads our holiday craft department, did a fine job of coordinating all the vendors. And many thanks to our events team, including Jean Graham, Heather Kirkland, and Erin Furey for, once again, making this event a huge success.
On Friday, December 4th, we had a shopping party for employees only. The next day, we opened our doors to the public, and despite the first winter storm of the season, nearly 2,000 shoppers showed up for some great holiday gifts! To accommodate the crowd, The Bake Shop at Frankies Spuntino sold tasty treats like pretzel sandwiches with brie and butter, olive oil cake, and Stumptown coffee. Bill Pearis from brooklynvegan.com spun festive music to keep everyone in shopping spirits. And our Craft Walk and Sweet Shop raised $1,500, which will provide holiday cheer for the children of the George Washington Carver Residences. This is such a fun and meaningful event and we hope to keep this sale a new holiday company tradition.
1 Here I am looking at Hannah Milman’s gorgeous handmade jewelry.
2 On Friday, at the special employee shopping night, we served Sixpoints Bengali beer. I think it helped people to get in the shopping mood!
3 With Eric Pike - our very own 'Father Christmas'
4 A good place to take refuge from the crowds
5 Lucinda Scala Quinn's booth for her latest book, 'Mad Hungry' - great for households full of men and boys!
6 Adorable animals made from recycled articles.
7 Kelli Bishop's artisanal cheese spread was a big hit!
8 Jim Noonan's Science kits are a great gift for kids!
9 Corinne Gill and Blake Ramsey of Handle & Spout sell handmade silk flower hair accessories and leather jewelry.
10 Our Creative Services department enjoyed getting to check out their colleagues' hand-crafted products.
11 Katie Macpherson and 'Hurray Kimmay' sold clothing and toys for children.
12 Megan Hedgepath's necklaces were a popular seller among our staff!
13 On Saturday, the fair was open to the public. Nearly 2,000 shoppers braved the first snow of the season to join the event!
14 Andrea Corson sells beautiful silver jewelry.
15 Sophie Nicolay crafts sophisticated button-necklace strands.
16 Jackie Blais, Rosanna Panagakos, Laura Coppola, and Anne Marie Clemente are part of the team at the 'Martha.' They donated portions of the proceeds from their recycled-magazine Christmas trees to charity.
17 Aaron Caramanis' gorgeous handmade bow ties are so festive.
18 Our craft editors brought the Holiday ideas from A to Z story in the December issue of Martha Stewart Living to life at the Craft Sale, displaying all of the projects that inspired us this holiday season.
19 A clever memory game
20 Sema Samuel's cookie sales were brisk!
21 The Bake Shop at Frankies Spuntino sold their own delicious olive oil, as well as coffee and pretzel croissant sandwiches.
22 We created our own 'Sweet Shop' where we sold treats in Martha Stewart Crafts food packaging. Andrea DiPasquale and Stacey Spielman, pictured here, did a great job of decorating the shop and selling baked goods to raise money for the children of the George Washington Carver Residence. We’re throwing them a holiday party with the $1500 we raised!
23 Fran Brescia's red chile peppers Santa ornaments were a HOT item!
24 We created a 'Craft Walk' - our version of a Cake Walk - to help with the fundraising for the George Washington Carver Residence kids' holiday party. There were great prizes up for grabs!
25 Jodi Levine's beautiful necklaces were a popular item!
26 Unique cards from Michelle Snyder and Thea Karas
27 Our festive Sweet Shop offered shoppers treats and helped raised money too!
28 Emeril Lagasse and his team generously donated delicious White Chocolate Bark to help out with the cause.
29 The crowds were happy to be in a warm, dry shopping environment.
30 Handle & Spout's beautiful floral hair pins were a big hit.
31 Bill Pearis of Brooklyn Vegan kept spirits up with festive tunes.
32 Attendees checking out the A-Z gallery.
33 Lots of crowds!
34 Unique gifts!
35 Steffi Lynen screen-prints apparel and textiles.
36 Here is another picture of the craft display, which also included cute little elves made from pinecones and pipe cleaners. You can make your own by clicking here http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/pinecone-elves or turning to page 204 of the current Martha Stewart Living issue.
37 Adorable cookie ornaments from Jewels of New York
38 The Craft Walk was a big hit!
39 Striking bangles
40 Erin Furey's pretty wrapping paper
41 Athena Preston, who also helped orchestrate the vendors, busy wrapping up a sale.
42 Chad Wagenheim (on left) & his retail staff, sold Martha Stewart Crafts products, as well as aprons, T-shirts, and a custom-made 'Ford Warriors in Pink' stamp kit.
Here are links to some of the wonderful vendors:
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Looks like a terrific event! Hopefully next year I can coordinate a NYC trip to catch the 2010 Craft Fair.
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Posted by: MMC in San Diego | December 18th, 2009 at 12:12 am
Such talent, do any of them sell their products online? Bet you could raise even more money if you could also put this show online. Wish I lived by your place!! Merry Christmas!!
Posted by: Cathy | December 18th, 2009 at 6:36 am
WOW!!! So lucky I wish I was there, I was looking forward to seeing some pictures of the fair. Everything looks amazing and inspiring.
What a wonderful cause, the Craft Walk and Sweet Shop to raise money for the children.
God Bless
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | December 18th, 2009 at 7:30 am
cleaver gathering! Are there web sites for any of the artists? Happy holidays to you and all your wonderful staffs and family!
Posted by: Vicki Dinsmore | December 18th, 2009 at 9:45 am
MARTHA---When does your retail store open? It would be SUCH a hit!!!
Posted by: Jonathan Brown | December 18th, 2009 at 10:05 am
It looks like a lot of fun!
Posted by: how it grows | December 18th, 2009 at 10:25 am
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get it all online next year! I would have gone crazy spending with everything at your show!!! Or at least post if they have items on Etsy!!!!!
Posted by: Lisa in Huntley | December 18th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Hi Martha,
So many beautiful things for sale and all for a good cause too. Those kids at the George Carver Residences are going to have a great Christmas because you and your employees care. If this is going to be a yearly thing, you might need a bigger place next year and the years after. People will come from all over and not just the New York area. Well, maybe they came from all over this year. If I lived closer, I know I would attend every year. Btw, I liked the necklace you were wearing. It looks so nice with that navy top.
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It was good to see Eric Pike too and he definitely has a proper title, Father Christmas, because he certainly knows how to decorate for the holidays. I’ll never forget the Martha Stewart Living issue, (Dec. 2002 – I looked it up), where he showed us how to trim branches off a tree before decorating it. When he finished sawing up the spruce tree, I thought well why did he cut so much off and make it look bald! But then the next page was amazing. He decorated that same tree in gold, white and metallic green and had room for what looked like a hundred ornaments because of the way he put them on. It was so beautiful. There were no bald spaces!
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Thanks for sharing your Craft Walk with us! Trish
Posted by: Trish | December 18th, 2009 at 10:57 am
A great idea serving Beer.
Posted by: ann | December 18th, 2009 at 11:16 am
wanna to be there...NYC
Posted by: cartycalia | December 18th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I just watched your 12/18/09 show when you decorated cookies with your talented staff gal. The cookies looks marvelous but what I really would like to know is where on earth I can find a pattern to make that super crocheted vest she was wearing! If I can locate it, I think I could whip up one or two for some fabulous holiday gifts! Thanks in advance for any assistance!
Posted by: Irene | December 18th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Would LOVE to see a list of your employees' Etsy shops!
Posted by: Kaitlin | December 18th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Oh, I so wish I could have gone! It looks like so much fun! Maybe next year!
Posted by: Andrew Ritchie | December 18th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
...Fabulous!...just fabulous, Martha! What a well-planned and fun event! The monies raised are just wonderful, and the Lord'll definitely bless all involved for their generous and selfless hearts!
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I think it's safe to say that all of us as your adoring fans will surely look forward to this event each and every year going forward as MSLO's new tradition. It just amazes me, too, how God gifts different interests and skills in each of us that make us unique from one another such as is shown here today!
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Hope you're able to be home-bound with holiday tasks this weekend, as another snow event is on the way for us in the northeast/mid-atlantic region. I'd feel better knowing you were safe-n-sound at home versus having to be out in it traveling. (Um - no picture-taking of the snow, either, out in your nightgown, please!... [giggle] )
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Grace and peace always, Martha!
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=^..^=
Posted by: Cindy Bricker | December 18th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
What a wonderful event, wish I would have know about the public opening. The jewelery all looks remarkable and love the silk hair flowers.
Posted by: Kristen | December 18th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Hey, Martha:
You, the domestic diva, and an incredibly brilliant and talented staff put on a little sale, and it's a success. Well, what did you expect? Of COURSE it was a hit--and raised money for charity too. A win-win situation is ALWAYS a good thing!
Keep that new tradition alive, and maybe other companies will follow suit. We have food and toy drives at our company.
And one day, just maybe this feline will show up too.
Thanks for sharing!
Amy
Posted by: Amy in Houston | December 18th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Martha everything looks great! I would like to see some pictures of your farm after this big snow strom hit. Hope your out ther with your camra. I'll bet it's beautiful. Rose
Posted by: Rose Garren | December 20th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
In case I don't get back here this week Martha, I wish you and all your little Elfs that make your show and blog so wonderful a very Merry Christmas.......
Merry Christmas,
Kathy
Posted by: Kathy :) | December 20th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Hi Martha, Many kudos to your wonderful employees! Not only are they fantastic workers, but they are so creative and I love to see the results of their creative endeavors. The fact that they raised $1,500 for that charity is fabulous! Loved the photos! I forgot to wish a happy birthday to Cindy Bricker, Rowaida, and of course your fantastic editor, Kevin Sharkey. I hope you all had a wonderful birthday and will have many, many more. Martha, how was your trip to the new New York City Costco? I hope you had a wonderful time there. Did you try their delicious rotisserie chicken?! It is the best one I have ever eaten! Missed your Friday TV show and will watch it online. I'm sure your next blog will be about this past weekend's snow storm in your area. Can't wait to see the photos. Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | December 20th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Merry Christmas from Marblehead Ma.I really enjoy your t.v. program,especially the older one`s from Turkey Hill.How can I get one of your apron`s?It would be a great hit when I have friend`s over for a small dinner party.
Posted by: Gean Bronson | December 22nd, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Hi Martha,
Today's the 22nd - your show was superb as always - I "know" about "Upstairs Downstairs." I think that I saw every episode - so special - never attempted a jelly roll - you make it look so easy and I can't wait to try it. Have a wonderful holiday.
Posted by: Roni | December 22nd, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Oh how I wish I could of attended.........
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