By Carling A.W. Elder
On December 14th, 2013, Local Color Flowers hosted the first ever Makers Alley - A Pop-Up Gift Market at our studio, and it was a great success!
Waaay back in the summer, as we began planning for the holiday season, the LoCoFlo crew started daydreaming about hosting a small, intimate, fun, & friendly holiday market in our studio. As we brainstormed, we grew more and more excited about the idea of a holiday market where it would be really easy (and fun) for our friends, families, and communities to purchase locally made gifts for the holidays. We decided there really was a need for a gift market where you could buy handmade food and crafts before the holidays, and so, Makers Alley was born!
The first step was to invite some of Local Color Flowers’ talented friends and partners to participate. Luckily, Rat Czar, Priya Means Love, Charm City Cook, Kinderhook Snacks, Snark Machine, Two Back Flats, and Highway to Hill responded to our invite and said they would love to join our vendor list. Needless to say, we were thrilled to have each of these amazing people and their products at Makers Alley!
The weather for the day of Makers Alley was predicted to be snow and “ice pellets.” Luckily, the snow held off and the “ice pellets” were remarkably absent. Precisely at 10 AM, guests started streaming into our studio to shop at Makers Alley. The guests sampled Charm City Cook’s silky caramel sauce, pinned Two Back Flats’ fascinators to their heads, chose a Locoflo wreath for their door, grabbed Rat Czar’s BALT bumper stickers for their friends, munched on Kinderhook Snacks' savory cheese stamps, spritzed Priya Means Love’s fragrant perfume on their wrists, modeled Snark Machine’s colorful rubber band necklaces, delighted at Highway to Hill’s witty graphic prints, and shopped and visited!
One of the best things about Makers Alley was the feeling of support for all the vendors from everyone who chose to shop at Makers Alley. Deciding to spend your money locally isn’t always an easy choice, but it’s an incredibly impactful one. It was humbling to see so many impactful and conscious choices being made at Makers Alley by both guests and vendors alike.
Loved the vibe of Makers Alley -- chill but full of good vibes and community support! Could not have asked for a better way to close out the season... thanks for having me!
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