I Made It Market

You can always count on finding something perfect!

I love a good craft fair, and this one certainly qualifies.
There was a good mix of items/​vendors: crafty/​kitchy things, food, soaps and lotions, plus not too much overwhelmingly-​Christmasy-​stuff.
And if you spent too much time there (like me) and needed to grab lunch, they had food trucks too!

Great local crafts. Well organized & planned. Pretty crowded.

I’m such a big fan of I Made It Markets! I remember the first time I visited one in the summer at the South Side Works years ago. I just happened to be at the Works and caught a glimpse of rows and rows of booths with one of a kind items. I was intrigued. I was excited. I was scared… that all my money would be gone after one walk around!
That’s where I fell in love. Fell in love with a little company called Oceanne. This chick hand makes really amazing jewelry. It’s usually gold or sliver with lots of flowers, leaves, birds and my personal fave, anchors! Then there’s also quirky items like records, books, mustaches and a bunch of other little trinkets. They’re just so appealing. I can’t explain it. The perfect accent to any outfit. I’m pretty sure the chick thinks I stalk her because I’m there as soon as the market opens, buying up her booth. At least I provide the mola when I stalk her!
I’ve also recently fallen in love with this other company called Strawberryluna. They make these really fun silk sreen prints and posters. They’re really vibrant in color and have some cutsie little scenes. The print I bought had a black cat wearing red cat eye glasses. Yep, awesome! They also have band posters like Death Cab for Cutie, Belle and Sebastian and My Morning Jacks that are just plain adorable.
Hot Tip: Most vendors have those fancy credit card attachments to their iphone/​ipad, but I’d bring cash just in case.
But that’s just the short version of this wonderful market. I could go on and on. Booths with handmade soaps, candles, clothing and even woodworking. Seriously, forget Bed, Bath and Beyond and just shop here for all your wares! They usually happen seasonally, so check the website out for the next one. Yay for shopping locally!

Local products by local people. It doesn’t get any better!

I really enjoy these sorts of events, so naturally I loved going to this. My only issue is that some of the merchants sell items that are very handmade looking. I mean that it looks like something I could’ve made with no talent or effort and they charge way too much. Outside of that, you can find some unique stuff, or at the very least, support a local merchant.

I’m not super big on holiday sh*t. In fact, I f*cking hate it. But when I hear there’s a market that has hand-​made this & that and beer aaand outdoor grilling… well, now you’ve piqued my interest.
Right off the bat I liked this event because I got a free full-​size Fuze beverage thing before I even walked in the door. I’d never tried Fuze before and I’m also very poor so the idea of being able to get something tasty for $ 0 was, as you can imagine, a pretty big draw for a hoodrat like me. moving on…
On a late Saturday afternoon the market was reasonably packed, but not as bad as some the hand-​made markets with beer that I’ve attended back home. I like that the vendors were set up a bit segregated so anything with or for kids was kind of off to the side since kids are infamous for gumming up the works at crowded fests. The separation helped me avoid any situations where I might have to explain myself after «accidentally» kicking some child who’s not yet mentally capable of recognizing the unspoken but agreed upon social flow of the marketplace, and over all kept the babies and their P’s out of my impatient hair though there was at least one mother (f*cker) who thought the busy and crowded market was the perfect place to teach her 10-​month old how to walk, and for that I mentally sentenced her to death by antique steam-​punk firing squad… which conveniently there was a booth for.
There were a few really neat vendors but because it seemed like most or all were to limited to their area of one standard-​size folding table and the space behind it. I don’t think shops were able to display too many items and I’m going to assuming that because of the table-​size limitation. Vendors had to pick and choose a limited variety of stock to bring/​display and that caused a lot of the vendors inventory to look really mis-​matched and random. As an example, it seemed pretty par for the course to see one single vendor selling art prints of movie stills, knit owl barrettes and steam-​punk business card holders, and while I’m sure there’s a market for all of those things, there was a disconnection in the goods that translated to making the table look less desirable.
On the other hand, because vendors had just a single table space and not an area where they could create a store cubby type nook with multiple tables and curtains, there was no getting grid-​locked into a booth and not being able to get in or out or even see the goods. You were able to walk straight through the three main aisles and pretty clearly see what kind of stuff each vendor offered without having to squish in and fight for a spot to view the table, which was really nice and saved a lot of time, though it did mean that each shopper spent less time looking at a vendor’s goods than the cubby/​nook mock storefront way where you sort of get sucked in and trapped in into looking more and buying more.
My favorite booths were the craft beer candles that smelled fantastic and were in old glass beer bottle that had been sawed in half and smoothed over as well as the super crowded jewelry vendor in the very back. I ended up getting (or being gifted by a very special someone) this bullet necklace I’d been eyeing.
This market was great because while the shopping was all indoor, there was a beer tent outside, a hula hoop station (also a vendor) and multiple local restaurants had brought their goods and set up shop to grill on the plaza outside the market. And while everything smelled like delicious, smoky heaven, the lines were wrapping around the nearby businesses so we opted to wait it out and grab food elsewhere.
I would definitely recommend I made it market to anyone with an urge to shop local and an hour or so to kill. It’s not a destination or all day type thing, but it’s a great mix of quality craft and the community, as well as being far from any super boring Holly Hobby church craft fair type thing. Check it out when it’s in town. It’s totally free to attend and fun way to spend an afternoon with friends, fam, kids or just yourself.

A wonderful way to support local merchants! Tons of wonderful and talented artisans with unique items. I was able to buy holiday gifts from soap to vegan dog treats :)

Great place to find unique gift items! If you’re a jewelry lover, be prepared; varied and extensive selection, AND all local.