I love the trend right now toward repurposing and making unique handmade products. It feels so natural to find ways to further the life of items by finding another way to use them. And I’ve always been a fan of the handmade gift or decorative piece. When I saw a notice about the first ever Hip Handmade Market coming to the Joplin area, I knew this would be my first for today.
As life would have it, stopping by the Market worked in perfectly with my schedule today, as I was showing property at 2:00 pm, starting with a house in Webb City, MO. And conveniently, the Hip Handmade Market was located in the same town. I was able to visit the market before beginning an afternoon of showing houses to buyers.
This was a cool event. Located in The Clubhouse on N. Madison, vendors had set up booths on both floors of the building. I enjoyed walking around and looking at the wide variety of handmade items for sale. There was everything from jewelry to framed and unframed prints to robot figurines! I saw one vendor that I’ve seen in other shows….the rest were new to me.
One of my favorite booths featured small wooden peg people. She had the coolest company name also, “Wooden Leg Named Smith”. For $8.00 – $10.00 one could purchase figures that looked like the Disney princesses, the Star Trek cast, super heroes, and other well known characters. These were really cute, reminiscent of the old-style Fisher Price people. I confess I could have spent a fortune here.
I also enjoyed browsing at a booth selling framed and unframed prints of the vendor’s creation. I selected one that states, “Remember it’s okay to be happy with a calm life.” I love the sentiment and the simple design. I’ll frame this print and hang it where I can see it daily, and smile in agreement.
I’d love to see this event expand and attract even more vendors offering their wares. However, this was a great start to what I hope will be an annual offering. We can all use more hip, handmade items!
