Buy local — and fabulous and cheap

The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair

Dammit dolls peer from a basket in the Meeting House of the Shaker Heritage Society in Albany. They are made by Barbara Mitchell of Guilderland.

 

Sometimes we hear the phrase “buy local” and think: That’s a good idea, but just not practical. Local goods are hard to find, and expensive, aren’t they?

Well, we recently stopped by one of the many local craft markets that spring up at this time of year — the one we went to was at the Shaker Heritage Society in Albany — and were thoroughly charmed by the high-quality, low-priced items we found made by local artisans.

We may even have bought a couple of items ourselves.

Here are just a few examples of the handmade, locally crafted items we saw.

Dammit Dolls

They look like a basket of owls. But, according to the attached card, they are actually something called “dammit dolls.”

The card explains: “When things aren’t going as well as you wish, and you just want to scream and shout: Here’s a little dammit doll you just can’t live without. Simply grab it by the legs, find a place to slam it; and as you beat the livin’ stuffin’ out of it, yell: ‘DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!’”

Maker Barbara Mitchell of Guilderland explains, “I saw the idea online and I thought they were hysterical.” She sells about 100 a year.

While many other crafters’ dammit dolls look recognizably like people, Mitchell wanted her design to be less clearly human, so that people could feel good about them as stress relievers.

“I have one woman who has cancer, who has bought them for herself and for all her other friends who have cancer.”

Even if you don’t plan to slam them, they have elegance and charm. And each has a slightly different expression.

Mitchell also makes a variety of other crafts, and has a website, www.earthandfirecrafts.com.

Felted toys

Local crafter Stefanie McElhone has a small but well-stocked stand at the craft fair that displays all manner of felted toys, from felted money and pies to a portable fabric play kitchen with utensils, and our favorite, spa sushi sets.

The spa sushi set includes a microfiber headband, a face towel, a bath sponge, a fish soap, and two bath oil beads. It is priced at $7.

She also has a web site, at  www.stefaniemcelhone.weebly.com.

Custom cutting boards

HollyAnn Lenart of Knox runs a small custom woodworking company, Highland Artisans, together with her fiancé, Kurt Vitch.  

 

The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
HollyAnn Lenart is half of a young couple in Knox who make custom wooden cutting boards, jewelry boxes, and cabinetry.

 

The couple makes cutting boards completely by hand, from sanding and planing the different pieces of wood, gluing them together with food-friendly adhesives and clamping them, then sanding them, checking the seals, and conditioning the boards with mineral oil.    

Lenart said that wooden cutting boards don’t hold bacteria and are safer to use than plastic. Her heart-shaped board is marked $35.

Homemade pickles and jams

Elderberry Mary is something of an institution in the Capital Region. The Berne resident has been making and selling pickles and jams for many years. 

 
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Mary Ellen Rees Jannsen of Berne makes pickles, jellies, and jams.

 

Gift shop and craft fair manager Patty Williams of the Shaker Heritage Society said that Mary — whose real name is Mary Ellen Rees Jannsen — has been selling her wares at the organization’s craft fairs for about 20 years.

Items that she makes include garlic pickles, jalapeño pepper jelly, and elder flower jelly. At the current craft fair, her items are all priced at $8.50 to $9.50.

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