Craft fairs: Northeast vs. Southwest

Hand-crafted, hand-made, hand-dyed and homespun craft items made of clay, wood, fiber, leather and metal plus colorful art and graphics filled the Hildene Meadowlands in Manchester, Vt., earlier this month at its annual Southern Vermont Art & Craft Festival.

Located on 412 scenic acres in the Green Mountains, Hildene was built in the early 1900s by Robert Todd Lincoln, the eldest son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. The spacious Meadowlands is a scenic venue for a variety of events and the Hildene mansion is a landmark tourist stop that now serves as the Lincoln Family Home.

With Vermont’s unpredictable weather, vendors sell their mostly Vermont-made wares and food products to local and out-of-town visitors in two huge tents rain or shine.

Touring and shopping at this year’s 200-plus exhibitor summer festival there was a vast variety of wares. Some were similar to the pottery and Southwestern jewelry seen in craft shows in Green Valley, Sahuarita and Tubac, while the majority was Vermont-made wares. Buyers and sellers agree there’s a certain cache that comes with “Vermont-made.”

Standout wares included Vermont Nature Creations by David Emmons of Wells, Vt., who makes decorative stained-glass plant rooters. Using cuttings from plants and herbs, the rooter is filled with water and hung.

“When taking cuttings from a plant remove any of the lower leaves that might get in the water. Only the stem should be in the water and be sure you have the correct end of the plant in the water,” Emmons said, adding that since plants live on the nutrients in the water it’s best to use bottled spring water and not distilled, softened or purified water.

Emmons’ favorite cuttings include basil, mint, rosemary, lavender, sage and oregano. Plants cuttings that root well in water include coleus, impatiens, begonias and any kind of ivy www.vermontnaturecreations.com.

Jonathan’s ultra-smooth wild cherry wood kitchen items were a big crowd pleaser. Beyond the variety of serving spoons, the wooden wares are artful in design. The toaster tongs feature a small magnet allowing the user to keep the tongs attached to the toaster.

“A terrific tool for anything too hot to touch,” said exhibitor Neil Claypoole.

The collection includes more than 50 types and sizes of spoons that vary from small spice spoons and coffee scoops to forked salad sets and cutting boards. All utensils are available left- or right-handed. (www.woodspoon.com).

One surefire crowd pleaser was Oriflame Fire Tables that combine an urban sophistication with the ambiance that a standard fire pit cannot offer.

These one-of-a-kind tables are customizable, lightweight, portable, original in design and serve four functions — as a heat source, coffee table, ice bucket and a piece of art because of the variety of colored glass chips set into the design. They may be powered with natural gas or propane up to 54,000 BTU. (www.gasfiretables.com).

Though Southwestern artisans certainly display a colorful variety of handcrafted items at local craft shows it’s always good to see what’s new and different in another part of the country. And what can be more diverse than the Northeast vs. Southwest.

Tempting to buy were beautiful and colorful one-of-a-kind woolen jackets and hats that sell well in Vermont for the long November to May winters. Unique earrings are more practical and easier to carry back to Green Valley.

All that said, the biggest difference may well be that local craft shows are held October thru March while in the Northeast the show season is July thru early October.

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley writing from the Green Mountains of Vermont. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.