seasonal pot holders,
Back in the day many funds were raised for good or charitable causes by way of Christmas bazaars. One of the definitions for the noun "bazaar" in my dictionary is " a fundraising sale of goods, typically for charity".
Nowadays, bazaars are often called craft fairs or Christmas fairs (in fact, my childhood memories are of a church Christmas fair, rather than a bazaar). These events are often held in October or November with the idea that shoppers can find Christmas gifts or decorations to purchase. I'm sure the one I remember was held in December, and people would often buy fudge, cookies, etc. to serve their holiday guests.
What got me thinking about this again was an article by Leathea Marie Jones in Decorating & Craft Ideas September 1978 featuring ideas for simple crafts one could sell at a Christmas bazaar. It began, “Everyone loves a bazaar and half the fun of planning or attending is browsing for ideas. So, browse away in our Christmas Bazaar to find those ‘just right’ gifts for friends and family and take note of fund-raising items for your own bazaar.”
This brought a memory back to me of how I always made one or more homemade ornaments for my aunt Dot for her December birthday — and how she often borrowed my ideas for her and her friends to make for their church Christmas bazaar the following year. I have a few thank-you notes from her in which she thanked me for sharing craft ideas and patterns with her. It was all such fun — and one time, that I remember, my mother and I, and maybe one or both of my daughters, ventured up to that bazaar, about an hour away from us. We had such a good time.
All of this prompted an idea for me for my Christmas blog, maybe a monthly or a month-long feature of bazaar type ideas. I could feature small sewed or crochet items, along with recipes for fudge and cookies and other salable baked goods.
Who knows if I will go anywhere with this idea, but it sounds fun to me. We will see!
I love the idea of bazaar posts. Here a bazaar was crafts but also some fun games and things to eat immediately. Nowadays it is just crafts no 'full Christmas experience' bazaar
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