Getting into the Holiday Spirit with the Handmade Harvest Holiday Craft Show!

by Laura Kelly This past Saturday, one of my sisters and I returned to our hometown of Almonte – just 45 minutes west of Ottawa – to kick off the holiday season with the Handmade Harvest Holiday Craft Show.

For those who haven’t heard of it, Handmade Harvest is a well curated bi-annual craft show. This amazing show is the brainchild of Almonte locals and shop owners Emily Arbour (Hello Yellow) and Colleen Hewitt (Crush Marketplace), who bonded over their love of all things handmade. They set out to create a show that would “nurture the local independent craft community by providing an outlet for emerging makers of all ages…and make buying handmade items easy and fun to do.”

In 2014, Colleen stepped aside from her organizing role, so now Emily and her husband, Brad Weir, collaborate to create craft shows that are truly great experiences for both the vendors and shoppers.

Since the very first show in 2010, Almonte residents and out-of-towners alike have flocked to Handmade Harvest to find the perfect gifts for friends, family members, or themselves, and this year was no different. Over 3,000 shoppers came by the Old Almonte Town Hall over the two day show. It was a great atmosphere and the venue was abuzz with people shopping, snacking, chatting and laughing, and just generally having a good time.

The super keen were lined up around the corner for more than an hour before the show started. Those in line were anxious to be one of the first 50 people through the door and receive a coveted swag bag filled with goodies from vendors and sponsors. I myself was not one of these people, but I have a friend who was, and who makes it her mission to get one each and every Handmade Harvest craft show. Apparently these bags are definitely worth the wait.

Each Handmade Harvest craft show features tons of talented vendors and their quality creations. This year, the show hosted 121 different vendors over the two days. There were so many products to browse and choose from, including jewelry, clothing, home décor, artwork, furniture, and plenty of items for infants and children. A few of my favourites included:

Blondie Apparel and their super stylish Boot Cuffs

Sweetcheeks Kitchen and their delicious gluten-free treats

Daly Unstructured and their rustic and creative wine rack

These are just three of many vendors I visited on Saturday, not to mention the whole slew of new vendors that set up on Sunday. To check out all the vendors and their products, visit their profiles.

The Handmade Harvest Holiday Craft Show was a highly anticipated event on my calendar, and the show did not disappoint. Attending the show was a great way to support local artists, crafters, and businesses and get a head start on my Christmas shopping! I found unique and meaningful items for almost everybody on my list.

Do you have a favourite holiday craft sale?

Quick and easy Valentine's Day craft

Valentine's Day Craft

I asked the kids this morning if they wanted to do a Valentine's Day craft. This was before I had figured out what we could possibly do. I grabbed some construction paper and scissors and started cutting.

Valentine's Day is all about the hearts, so I cut out different sized hearts in red, pink and white, and handed them over to the kids who were eager to colour them. They went wild and when they were done we attached some white ribbon to the hearts using tape.

Ceiling Hearts

I used thumbtacks to pin them to the ceiling. The result? A very festive living room, decorated with hand-made hearts, making our Valentine's Day and the days leading up to it special. Try this for a quick and easy craft to do with your kids. They'll love seeing their handiwork.

Workshop Safety for Kids

Who says little ones can't help out in the shop? My husband is a woodworking hobbyist. Our house is scattered with his various projects, all beautifully made and handcrafted. This means that he spends a lot of time down in his shop - a place you would normally want to ban kiddos for fear of someone stepping on a nail or smacking their head against a sharp corner.

But our little 4 year-old loves spending time with Daddy in his shop, and he's found ways to get her involved, safely. If any of his saws are on, she wears ear protectors and goggles. He's also taught her how to safely wield a hammer, and she's practiced nailing into wood. Mainly, she likes wheeling around the shop on an old tricycle :)

Do you involve your children in "grown-up" hobbies?

Pinteresting my way through summer vacation

by Lara I'm not always the most creative when it comes to finding activities for the kids.  With them home with me full time this past week I have leaned heavily on Pinterest for indoor activities.

What I love about so many of the pins is that just a photo of an activity idea is often enough for me to run with it (psa: when pinning, remember to pin to the URL to the exact post you're referring too.  Too often I click through to a front page of a site and can't find anything about what I thought I was clicking through to see).

Here a couple of the crafts we tackled this week:

Ours may or may not have turned out as nicely as those photos ;)

This particular pin has me inspired to maybe tackle a bigger project next week:

And in case you didn't know, Kids in the Capital has it's own Pinterest account where we try to share all things kids.  Come on over and join us!

Leave a comment sharing what some of your favourite kid activity pins have been lately!

GIVEAWAY: Crafts at Tag Along Toys

by Alicia E and I had the great privilege this Spring to visit Tag Along Toys and choose a craft to test out. In Karen's post in March welcoming Tag Along Toys as a Kids in the Capital sponsor, she took some great pictures of the many sections in the store. I was really excited to see the craft section in person and for E to get a chance to choose a craft of his choice.

We decided on a paper bag puppet craft kit that was age appropriate for a 3 year old.

E was super excited to take it home and get started! With a little direction, E went through the steps of gathering the stickers and cut-outs, gluing them on to the paper bag and the best part - creating his very own puppet show!

I highly recommend checking out all the amazing craft kits Tag Along Toys has in stock for children of all ages.  Thank you, Patti, for welcoming us in to your store and offering us this fun opportunity. We will be back soon for some more crafts!

Alicia is a mother of two and blogs at I Found My Feet.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Patti from Tag Along Toys has generously given us two Alex Craft kits (ideal for preschool age kids) to give away to our readers!

To enter leave a comment telling us what kind of crafts your kids like to do.  Contest closes on Friday June 15 at 5pm and winners must be able to go to Tag Along Toys (499 Terry Fox Drive, Kanata) to pick up the prize.

Good luck!