Barbara Ferguson initially hand-crafted stuffed bunnies for a bazaar at work. But her bunnies became so popular that the Kent resident decided to start a business out of her home.
Now her holiday-decor bunnies and “snow friends” are among the many handcrafted items for sale at this year’s Kent Holiday Craft Market.
More than 70 vendors will sell goods at the 24th annual event from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 5 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 6, at the Kent Senior Activity Center, 600 E. Smith St. Admission is free.
“People really enjoy the atmosphere,” said Ferguson, who has been a vendor at the craft market for the past six years. “People enjoy variety and they do a good job of that.”
Several groups will provide holiday music. Food is available through the craft market’s Figgy Pudding Cafe and bake sale. A $5 lunch can be purchased from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.
“They always have entertainment so you can really get into the holiday season,” Ferguson said.
The holiday season certainly keeps Ferguson’s B’s Bunnies and Snow Friends home business hopping. She will market her bunnies and snowmen over the next couple of months at bazaars in Bellevue, Issaquah, Des Moines and Longview.
Prior to retiring three years ago, Ferguson, 72, worked 19 years in reservations at Alaska Airlines. About a dozen years ago, she made a few stuffed Easter bunnies out of fabric to take to a bazaar at work.
“It was spring so I made an Easter bunny,” said Ferguson, who once owned a fabric and craft store in Ketchikan, Alaska, prior to moving to Kent 21 years ago. “Before I knew it, I had 10 to 20 orders for bunnies. Things kind of snowballed.”
Now Ferguson also makes snowmen and Santa Clauses, and this year she’s planning to add penguins. The size of the items range from small ornaments to figurines as large as 3 feet. She uses felt, fleece and many other types of fabrics to create the soft, decorative creatures. Her 6-inch snowmen, she notes, always sell well.
“I put a stocking cap and scarf or buttons on them,” she said. “They are my most popular.”
She creates various outfits for the snow friends and bunnies or even puts a snowman on skis. She recently found an old sweater at a thrift shop that she cut up to become a sweater for a snow friend.
“Usually from September through November I’m always working on them,” Ferguson said.
A committee selects the vendors each year for the Holiday Craft Market. Vendors send in sample items and the jury panel selects them or not. Once a vendor is in, they are invited back unless the quality of their product is not what it was, said Cindy VandenBerg, a program coordinator at the senior center and organizer of the event.
Ferguson’s bunnies and snow friends always seem to catch people’s interest.
“The high quality, uniqueness and value of the product is what makes them so popular,” VandenBerg said in an e-mail. “A wonderful display also is very helpful.”
The market is one of the major fundraisers, through vendor fees, for the city-owned senior center.
Vendors will sell such products as jewelry, slate mirrors, candles, glass items, photos, holiday decorations, wood items, knit items and even art made from ghords.
The cost of items range from $2 to $200, with the majority of products less than $60.
“There are items for every budget,” VandenBerg said.
For more information about the Holiday Craft Market, call 253-856-5162.
If you go
What: Kent Holiday Craft Market
When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 5; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 6
Where: Kent Senior Activity Center, 600 E. Smith St.
Cost: Free entry
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