By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Shopping small doesn’t get any more personal than buying gifts from local artisans who make them.
That’s the experience that the Grounds For Thought Christmas Boutique has been offering for 15 years. This year’s boutique will be presented Saturday, Dec. 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the coffeeshop at 174 S. Main St. in downtown Bowling Green.
Customers will be able to buy knitted and felted clothing with jewelry for accents. All-natural lotions, soap, cleansers, and balms to pamper the skin beneath the clothes. Photographs and paintings — watercolor, encaustic, and pastels — to please the eye. Bowls of wood and ceramic will be on sale as well as handmade books and cards.
Many of the vendors are regulars at the boutique — space is limited and the crowds are good, so there’s a limit to the number of new vendors.
But every year, the boutique finds room to fit in a few newcomers.
This year, for example, Ellen Fure Smith’s Little Bare Furniture will be on hand. Smith will be tucked back near the conference room. For the first time the conference room will be used for vendors.
Sandy Wicks said the boutique started during her time with the Downtown Business Association.
The event was a spinoff from the Black Swamp Arts Festival, which she had helped to found.
“We wanted something in the winter,” Wicks said. “So many of my friends were crafters and artists, and we thought this would be a great event.”
The first boutique had 10 vendors, she said.
This year it’ll feature 26. “I’d say at least half have all been in the Black Swamp Arts Festival. It’s a really nice quality boutique and Christmas show.”
All the work sold must be “completely handmade and original,” she said. The customers who pack into Grounds for the boutique appreciate the quality.
Wicks is joined by artisan Kathy Pereira de Almeida in organizing the fair. She handles a lot of the logistics, Wicks said.
Pereira de Almeida said she had hosted her own holiday crafts fair at her house for several years before joining forces with Wicks.
The downtown location was more convenient for customers, and it meant less foot traffic through her home.
It does mean more foot traffic through neighboring downtown shops, Wicks said.
Pereira de Almeida has made silk scarves and hand-painted tote bags. She’s now concentrating on watercolor and encaustic paintings, which will be on the walls of the coffeeshop during the boutique, and throughout the month.
She said she appreciates having this new chapter in her work showcased during the fair. Her daughter Andrea Pereira de Almeida will be displaying her paintings.
Ann Beck, a painter and jeweler, is a long time vendor at the boutique.
Asked if this was a good show for her, she responded: “Yes, emphatically, with an exclamation point!”
Beck said she always tries to have some new designs for the boutique.
Wicks also wants to have something new at her table. Her crafts always involve material recycled from Grounds for Thought.
Last year, she had Christmas trees made by folded recycled books. “This year I’m actually cutting and shaping the books into the Christmas tree.”
A number of other artists also make a point of having something new for customers.
Wicks said that seeing friends and neighbors at the show is another draw.
The timing works out well, she said. People tell her that it comes at a time when folks are shopping for family and close friends. It makes them think what they still need to get and what they need and what they haven’t purchased yet.
