Here come the holidays!

I'll bet most people are still nursing their Halloween candy hangovers right about now, but I'm ready to start thinking about the holidays -- namely holiday craft shows!

Atomic Holiday Bazaar 2009

First up is GLAM Indie Craft Show, taking place Sunday, Dec. 5 from 1-5pm right here in downtown Gainesville.

Each year, GLAM serves up a veritable smorgasbord of handmade gifts just in time for the holidays. We'll even have a few delicious sides for you -- a DJ spinning tunes, tasty treats for sale, and a few surprise guests to entertain you. Think of it as the crafty version of a meat-and-three.

Head on over to the GLAM website to check out the full vendor list, which was announced this week. If you happen to look closely, you may notice that yours truly isn't listed. That's because I'm going to be busy busy busy running around behind the scenes helping make sure that everything goes smoothly for all of the crafters and shoppers. Putting on a craft show is takes a lot of work, and this year I figured I'd be better off focused just on the show and not on selling things in my own booth.

But never fear -- I haven't retired my scissors and sewing machine yet. A week later, I'll be selling my own creations at Atomic Holiday Bazaar in Sarasota. For those of you who don't know, Atomic is the mother of all craft shows here in Florida. It's in its fifth year (wowza!) and has morphed into two whole days of crazy craftiness, music, and all-around fun.

I'll be set up during the day show on Saturday, Dec. 11 (11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), which my dear friend and Atomic producer Adrien describes as the "dysfunctional to well-adjusted family-friendly show." Then my man and I plan to stick around for the night show on Saturday (6 p.m. to 11:45 p.m.), which includes a few live bands, edgy crafters, and even a burlesque show. It's funny to me that the show is scheduled to end at 11:45 -- I guess the place must turn into a pumpkin at midnight or something! Actually, the Sarasota Regional Auditorium looks more like a spaceship than a pumpkin, but I digress.

So anyhow, I hope to see you at one or both of these great events this holiday season!

And if you live farther afield and want to find craft shows in your area, check out the brand spankin' new website Indicative Indie, which includes a listing of craft shows from across the country. It was put together by one of the gals who'll be at GLAM -- Stephanie of Chirping Bird Press. I'm tellin' you, the craft community NEEDS a centralized resource like this. Thanks, Stephanie!

Atomic Holiday Bazaar 2009

Atomic Holiday Bazaar 2009
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

Last weekend was Atomic Holiday Bazaar, and as usual, it certainly did not disappoint. Tons of amazing indie crafters were there selling their wares, including one of my personal favorites, Jessi of Our Lady of Perpetual Pickles. Isn't the name alone enough to make you smile? Since I love her pickles so much I picked up five, yes FIVE, jars of her amazing Dilly Beans. If any of you follow me on Twitter, you may recall the "Dill Beany Martini" recipe that I concocted last December. Yum! I showed a little restraint and only bought two jars of Sweet Heats.

I also finally bought something from Jordan of Opulent Oddities. I've been drooling over her refashioned vintage jewelry for far too long now. I picked out an amazing pair of dangly earrings that she made from some vintage brass beads, rhinestone chain, and a few other interesting bits. If you haven't visited Jordan's Etsy shop, it's definitely worth the trip for the descriptions alone. She creates amazing imaginary (or are they real?) stories for each and every one of her pieces. For example:

"They excused themselves from the women after dinner for a cigar and for brandy. But really all they were creating was an upper hand. A ritual to keep the women with the dishes and the men in luxury in big leather easy chairs and an air of smoke. But little did they know, the women they kept would not have this for long. They could have their smokes and their sauce for now, but soon they'd see just who had the upper hand..."

Sadly, I didn't get photos of either Jessi or Jordan's booths, but thanks to my ever-lovin' boyfriend, I do have photos of my own booth. Thanks, hon! Click on the photo at the top of this post to see my booth in all its chocked-to-the-gills glory. I even have little links on the photo so you can see the items up close and personal.

I did manage to sneak out of my booth a few times throughout the day and on one of my trips, I snapped a few shots of one of the cutest displays I saw. Tina of Working Girl used vintage metal file drawers to display her handmade pendants. Her attention to detail was impeccable -- she even had little tabs on the top of the manilla dividers that listed the prices and described the pendants (e.g., "monkeys"). It was just perfect!



And speaking of Working Girl, if you're in the South Florida area then don't miss the great craft show that she's putting on along with When Bunnies Fly and the Hollywood Craft Mafia. It's called the Odd Duck Bazaar and it takes place March 27 in Davie, FL.