'It's like visiting old friends': Home for the Holidays Craft Show returns Saturday
NEWTON TWP. — Carol Hicks often feels as though she's living out the plot of a Hallmark movie.
For more than a decade, she's opened up her home — and her 90-foot-by-30-foot barn — to area crafters, hosting the Home for the Holidays Craft Show on her farm at 11318 F Drive South.
"We have a craft show at our house; who does that?" Hicks told the Enquirer with a laugh Wednesday. "It’s been very exciting. I’ve felt very blessed that I could be part of something like this."
The 14th annual show will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, with more than 20 artisans selling their wares. Stained glass, natural soaps and lotions, soy candles and baked goods will be among the wide variety of items available for purchase.
Festivities will also include food trucks and live music.
"We’re just trying to continue to be fresh," Hicks, who makes soy candles under the name Swinging Gate Farm, explained. "It’s been really a fun journey."
The inaugural Home for the Holidays Craft Show was spearheaded by Michelle Lake, a soapmaker and friend of Hicks. A little more than 100 people came through Lake's home that first year to peruse offerings from four crafters. When Lake indicated she wouldn't be able to host the event the following year, Hicks jumped in and offered to move the show to her property, clearing out the furniture on the first floor of her farmhouse and welcoming crafters with open arms.
Since then, the show has grown incrementally, in part due to word of mouth as well as through a strong presence on social media, Hicks said. Inspiration to take the show to a new level came in 2015 when a patron asked, "Is this it? Or do you have more out in the barn?"
"At the time, that barn was not in any shape to house anybody," Hicks chuckled. "Over the course of a couple of years, we started transforming and emptying and cleaning the barn, uncovering some of its beauty and treasure."
The show transitioned to the barn in 2017. The coronavirus pandemic subsequently prompted Hicks to expand the show's footprint further in 2020, moving vendors outside in an effort to accommodate social distancing.
The change has stuck, as the craft show now encompasses vendors both inside and outside the barn.
"In case of rain, we have two buildings, our farmhouse and then another barn, that we (can) put the outside (vendors) in," Hicks said. "Rain or shine our show happens."
Reflecting on the substantial growth of the show through the years, Hicks can't help but smile.
"There’s a lot of work that goes into it, but when the crafters come to set up, it’s like visiting old friends," Hicks said. "It’s not uncommon to see people just lingering and talking to each other. ... I’m just so thrilled people take the time to come to my house."
For more information about the Home for the Holidays Craft Show, visit facebook.com/swinginggatefarm.
Contact reporter Greyson Steele at gsteele@battlecreekenquirer.com
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Home for the Holidays Craft Show returns Saturday
