crafty mart Archives

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! ♥ ♥

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!

Crafty Mart // Explore + Shop Locally

Weekend Wrap Up //