'Not Made in China' to spotlight local crafts

Courtesy of Cindy Conner

Door swags made from recycled and reused materials will be among the items for purchase at the "Not Made in China" arts and crafts sale Dec. 3-6.

Laurie Edwards

Members of the newly formed Artisans at the Lake Craft Guild will hold an arts and crafts show at Rucker House in Moneta.

Cindy Conner and Mary Johnson are all about recycling. The two friends, both from Bedford County, have banded together to create holiday decorations from castoffs.

They shopped flea markets, yard sales and thrift stores, accumulating for a fraction of the original costs high-quality items like the thrift-store-find artificial Christmas tree that provided the greenery for most of their decorations.

"What it would cost to buy that kind of quality new from a wholesaler would be really expensive," said Conner.

They found silk flowers, fine-fabric ribbons and intricately detailed ornaments. Then the two friends sat down together and began designing the decorations: over-the-door swags, table centerpieces, hearth-side baskets ^-- the list goes on and includes small side-table basket pieces and a 3-foot-long hearth-side basket filled with a variety of silk flowers and greenery.

Conner, a former professional artist and gallery owner, and Johnson, a former floral shop owner, combined their creativity and design skills to develop more than 50 pieces of holiday decor.

Their work will be among those of at least 15 members of the newly formed Artisans at the Lake Craft Guild at the "Not Made in China" arts and crafts show Dec. 3-6 at Rucker House in Moneta.

The event will include a Chinese auction of one $25-plus crafted item donated by each crafter. All proceeds from the $1 raffle tickets will be donated to Lake Christian Ministries.

"We're just happy to partner with Lake Christian Ministries and be able to use our skill and expertise to help a neighborhood cause," said Conner.

All items at the show have been hand-crafted by guild members, including felted purses, hand-painted glass ornaments, pressed-flower notecards, hand-woven baskets, decoupage ornaments, jewelry, hand-sewn throw pillows and teddy bears.

"We probably have been working on this for the last couple of months trying to gather as many crafters as possible," said Jill Pryor, a guild member. "We just know that at this time of year, the hand crafts are more sought after than on a normal day."

Items at the show will run the price gamut from a few dollars to a few hundred, depending on the materials and time dedicated to their creation.

"Most of the folks that are involved with what we're doing are semi-professional or professional crafters," said Conner. "They've been in the business for years and they've developed their own products, style or look."

The show will be held Dec. 3-5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Dec. 6 from noon to 5 p.m. Rucker House is located on Rucker Road across the street from Moneta Elementary School.

For more information about the show or to join the guild, call Jill Pryor at 297-6597.