The Prisco Community Center in Aurora had a decidedly holiday shopping flair over the weekend during the second annual Fall Craft Fair.
For three hours on Saturday, nearly 40 vendors offered a variety of items including homemade crafts, beaded items, jewelry and more.
Sarah Lozano, recreation supervisor at the Fox Valley Park District, said the craft fair was launched as a way “to bring crafters together and also encouraging and promoting local crafters and bringing the community together, especially before the holidays.”
“This is definitely a pre-Christmas shopping opportunity, absolutely,” Lozano said. “I think instead of going to big-box stores it’s nice to shop locally, especially with a lot of these small crafters.”
Crafters were said “to be coming from all over” including both Aurora and non-Aurora residents.
Lozano said craft fairs are always popular. She said their continued success is tied to the “crafters themselves and taking on their entrepreneurial spirit and being able to make things with their hands.”
“One of the things I keep hearing again and again is people saying they enjoy making things with their hands and that they get great gratification from making it themselves and then selling it and interacting with their customers on a first-hand basis,” she said. “It’s very personal.”
Shoppers at the fair said they were looking to continue or get a head start on holiday shopping for friends and family or merely looking for ideas.
Many, like Jenny Mayton of Aurora, also spoke about the importance of shopping locally and supporting businesses in the community.
“I’ve not been to this venue before but I think this is great. It’s very open. There’s lots of room to move around and there is lots of variety,” Mayton said as she visited some vendors. “It’s exciting to see everybody’s crafts. I love finding things that are different and there are a lot of people with exciting, different crafts that I haven’t seen before and it’s exciting to take a little pocket money and spread it around and support some local vendors.”
Mayton visited vendor Candi Rakow of Aurora who said she was selling “unique crochet and drawstring bags.”
“I’ve been crafting since about 2008 and I generally do about three or four shows a year,” she said. “I brought about 30 bags and about 20 unique items. On a good day, I should be able to sell at least half a dozen items.”
Kayla Malone of Aurora said she “has been trying to come to craft fairs more often and grew up going to them before I stopped in my 20s.”
“I stopped but I’m having a reawakening. I’m a crafty person,” Malone admitted. “I like hand-made items and I think people being creative and see what other people are making is fun. There’s not necessarily any one thing that I’m drawn towards. I like the community feel of this.”
Malone’s friend Georgi Beck, also of Aurora, said she tries to go to craft fairs as much as possible “and bought all of her Christmas presents local this year.”
“I think it’s more important to give back to the community when I can and it’s more personal,” she said. “You’re supporting the small artists and that’s important.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
