Crafty Mart

Crafty Mart // Explore + Shop Locally

December 7, 2016 by Rachel 6 Comments

Thanksgiving weekend was the shortest, long weekend in the history of weekends, friends. We laid really, really, low for most of it. But I did manage to sneak out with Remy Bea on Saturday to go to one of my favorite local events — Crafty Mart. Crafty Mart is Akron, Ohio’s market for all things handmade! It’s honestly just an awesome collection of locally-made eclectic finds.

And I freaking love it!

First of all, it’s at, like, all of my favorite places — Musica, Summit Artspace and the Akron Art Museum! There really isn’t a place big enough to hold all of the vendors here in Akron, so they are split between three, very close, locations.

Remy Bea and I started out at the Akron Art Museum. We left the boys at home and just wandered around. It’s honestly been a couple of months since we visited, so it was nice to see the new exhibits while checking out the vendors. I don’t recall what this big red exhibit was, but you could walk into it. It was fun!

Here are some of my favorite vendors and local artisans from the event:

Norka Beverage. Hand-crafted artisan beverages made right here in Akron in 1924. After being out of the business for over 50 years, this local business has been given a new life! It’s been revived and given a new life!
Whiskertin Lighting. Bringing incredible industrial brightness to new spaces! I absolutely loved all of their pieces — and wish I could purchase them all!
The Social Dept. Graphic designers turned screen-printers turn local midwestern t-shirt makers! Gotta love Blimp apparel in the Rubber City!
Department 100. 3D printers turned artists. Ohio-shaped fly-swatters; Ohio-shaped earrings; Ohio-shaped cookie cutters; and so much more!
Akron Coffee Roasters. I’ve long been jealous of all of the local coffee roasters that Cleveland has. Sure, we’re close to Cleveland, but Akron has been long overdue at having a good coffee shop. They roast their own beans and can tell you exactly where your coffee has come from! Give me a pour over, stat!
Bacon’s Superior Beard Care. Beard oil and mustache was for the special furry man in your life! Made with a blend of beeswax, lanolin, and jojoba oil — and it smells delicious!
Studio KMR Photography. My dear friend Kevin takes amazing photos and turns them into awesome works of art. Ari is a big fan of all of his coasters and magnets (which he insists on taking off of our fridge and hiding…).
BreadAndRoses2. These. bags. are. ADORBS.
France France Kids Shop. Adorable kids clothes, made by hand, right here in Kent, Ohio!

I just can’t stop loving Crafty Mart — or shopping from local vendors! Seriously! Whether you live here in Ohio or not, I urge you to check out local makers in your area. There are so many amazing crafters out there. Just go and explore them. Buy from them. And support the economy in a big way by shopping in small ways! ♥ ♥

crafts, drafts, + food trucks //

May 25, 2016 by Rachel 11 Comments

I have about a gazillion things on my blog to-do list right now. But I would be remiss not to mention this past weekend — regardless of the crazy to-do list!

On Wednesday of last week I sent out an S.O.S. to my mama. It has been a few weeks since I’ve seen her, which is enough of a hardship on it’s own. But I had a helluva week with Remy Bea last week. Without getting into too much (yet), we entered the dreaded 4-month sleep regression, PLUS we had the mega teething issues going on. I cried. I cried a LOT last week, friends.

And Mama (aka, Mimi) saved the day! She, without question, just drove up from Kentucky on Friday afternoon, arriving at our house Friday night. Sure, Remy Bea was asleep; but Ari was awake and ready to snuggle! It was the perfect way to end a crazy week.

Saturday morning we woke up and we hung out. We just… chilled. We were supposed to go up to Cleveland, but the weather was just ridiculous. Not just rainy. It was a freaking downpour! And chilly. So we hung out at home for the morning. And by noon we decided to hit up Crafty Mart‘s Crafts & Drafts event at Thirsty Dog Brewing Company.

When we pulled into the parking lot we immediately saw (and parked next to) another babywearing family. Be still, my babywearing heart! ♥

When we walked in, we were in the bar area of the brewery and there were seriously THREE other babywearing mama’s ordering a beer at the bar. THESE ARE MY PEOPLE!! However, it seemed that my people were being a tad bit ignored for service. Bummer, dudes. Like, we waited 20 minutes to be served whilst others were served who just walked up. Major bummer, dudes.

However, the crafts part of crafts and drafts were the b-o-m-b. We meandered around the brewery and browsed, but I didn’t actually buy a darn thing.

Post-Crafty Mart we headed back home where I promptly took a nap with Remy. Because, Crazy Baby. And I ended up having to go work at the YMCA for a while that evening. So I left Miss Bea with Chad and Mimi for a while. Aaaaand she refused a bottle — again. Super. But I was home in time to feed that fussy butt before she passed back out.

Sunday morning we all slept in. It was GLORIOUS! I mean, I still didn’t sleep very well; but not setting an alarm was wonderful all on it’s own.

We decided to hit up the Tallmadge Food Truck Festival. 25 food trucks, a live band, and games for kids.

When we got there, parking was an organized disaster. I wasn’t really surprised, considering 2k+ people had RSVP’d ‘Yes’ to the FB event online. I ended up babywearing Remy once again, while Chad pushed Ari in the umbrella stroller. PS. An umbrella stroller is a MUST-have for toddlers. They are small, compact, and super easy to navigate in crowded spaces.

Okay. How did I just go off on a tangent about strollers?? #MomLife, friends. #MomLife.

Anyways. When we got there I had my eye on the prize — Barrio Tacos. I love Barrio in Tremont, but I rarely get to eat there (no lunch hours = bummer for mamas who wanna be home before dinner). My mom ended up getting this killer burger from a food truck I cannot remember the name of.

And we ended up finding a shaded spot under a tree to have a little picnic! It was super fun! And after our picnic Ari ran around and played for, like, 30 minutes straight. We also ran into some friends we haven’t seen in a very long time. It was, overall, an awesome day and a super cool event!

Unfortunately, Mimi had to go home Sunday afternoon. Blah! We hate when she leaves to go back to Kentucky! But it was lovely having her visit!

It was a fantastic weekend. I loved everything about it. Every second of sunshine; every moment of family time; and every single baby smile.

Weekend Wrap Up //

April 5, 2016 by Rachel 1 Comment

After a full week of [part-time] work last week, I was oh-so happy to see the weekend! Not because my week was hard (it was fun and exhausting, but not hard!), but because my Mama was coming to visit from Kentucky!

Fortunately (and unfortunately) by the time Mimi arrived Friday night, Ari and Chad were fast asleep! So Remy and I got some solo Mimi time before our very busy Saturday!

Ari was oh-so-excited to see Mimi when he woke up Saturday morning! And equally as excited to go to our first ever Home Depot for our first Kids Workshop.

We arrived at Home Depot at 9:04am for our 9am workshop — and it was totally, completely, packed already. We checked in and got Ari his workshop apron and we (aka, I) started building our butterfly house!

I have to say, although I had to do most of the building parts (because a toddler, hammer, and nails definitely don’t mix!), I personally had a ton of fun! Ha!

Luckily Mimi was with us… because this mom of two thing is hard work! I don’t know how I would have done it by myself! One kid was screaming and the other needed help with the hammer and nails!

When we finished up we hurried to the Akron Art Museum for the start of Crafty Mart, a local pop up shop that features awesome craft vendors of all sorts.

Crafty Mart is located in three locations in downtown Akron: The art museum, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, and Summit Artspace! I saw many familiar vendors, but I was so excited to see three awesome (new-to-me) vendors at the library.

My faves were Bucha Bill and his mango-cayenne kombucha; my fave barista, Maryssa, and her pottery at Maryssa Moczan Studios (how did I not know this about her!?), and very new crafty mama, Tara, from Baby Got Crafts. The only purchase I made on Saturday was one of Baby Got Crafts baby headbands! But she also makes baby leggings that are available in to-die-for prints!

After we finished browsing + buying at the library, we headed towards our last stop on the Crafty Mart tour — Summit Artspace! Well when we left the library we took an elevator … and got stuck. Very, very, stuck. The elevator jolted and dropped a couple of feet (umm, scary!) and then it refused to move or do anything. I pressed every button for every floor before Ari started to seriously lose it and scream and cry. I finally got through to the Akron police by pressing the emergency button. They no sooner sent someone to help us than the elevator (magically) started to move again. HOLY scary.

But still. We continued on. Dedicated Crafty Mart attendees right here!

Summit Artspace is by far one of my favorite spaces in Akron. Two floors of the building were filled with tasty treats and crafty vendors (including my friend Kevin from Studio KMR!). And this time Summit Artspace had a DJ on site! It was fabulous!

Macarons, crafts, and shrub mixers galore! What a fabulous way to spend a crafty Saturday!

By the time we made it through all three locations, we were all wiped out! We headed home to sit down and relax for a few minutes before Mim and I took Remy to Mario Fazio’s in Willoughby for an anniversary party!

While we were at the party I had plenty of people to hand Remy off too, which was super nice for me. She was being so fussy and there were many, many, willing participants!

Unfortunately all of our weekend antics caught up with us and Ari ended up with a pretty intense fever on Sunday. We literally stayed home all day long, which was kinda perfect after our fun and crazy Saturday!