Hundreds of craft lover buyers crawled around Sackville last weekend visiting 16 homes of fellow craft lovers who were selling their goods.
Since 2000, the Lower Sackville Gift and Craft Crawl has become one of the first signs of Christmas in HRM. With everything from bird houses, to fudge and pickles, early shoppers have much to choose from for gifts for family and friends and maybe a little something for themselves. Some sellers have been around since day one, but for Jill Wall this was the first time she invited people into her home.
"It's been very busy," said Wall, who handed out hot cider to all her customers. "More than I thought."
Wall wasn't the only crafter handing out treats during the Nov. 2 to 4 event, most homes on the route have sweets and drinks out encouraging people to take their time in looking at the potential gifts.
"Some things are mine," said Wall. "There are also things made by my mother-in-law and mother. We had fun doing them."
Irene Linton was 10th on the crawl list. She has been involved with the event for a number of years, and invites two other sellers to use her home to sell their wares.
"It's better for people to have just one place to go," she said.
Irene Linton shared her home with two other sellers this year. Her specialities include ornaments and pickles. " />
This year 16 stops were included in the crawl - top of the list was Fultz House.
"We're happy to have everything starting here," said Fultz House volunteer Katherine Lapierre. "The house is decorated and the craft shop is full of great items."
Lori-Dawn Krueger set up shop with Irene Linton.
"It's nice to make money for something that you enjoy doing so much," she said.
Jo-Ann Cunningham uses the craft crawl to show off her large selection of plastic canvas items. The only downside is that she is unable to see other crafts on the route.
"I have to stay here," she said, patting one of her six cats. "So I've never been able to get out to see what everyone else has."
More than one craft crawl participant made mention of Judy Church, a longtime Sackville volunteer who died of cancer in 2011, crediting her as one of the event founders that made the crawl such a success.
blhall@eastlink.ca
