NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Nov. 14.
PORT ANGELES — Christmas Cottage has been a tradition for 34 years.
And this weekend’s edition promises to be just as satisfying as in years past.
Twenty-five vendors will offer a medley of hand-crafted goods for the holiday season today through Sunday at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St.
The cottage will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is free of charge.
PA, Sequim vendors
All of the vendors, except one jeweler from Seattle, are from Port Angeles and Sequim.
“It’s so we can show that we don’t have to travel over to Seattle,” said Karen Blore, who has worked on Christmas Cottage since its first year in 1980.
“This is for local vendors.”
Their work will be displayed in a “blended” show.
Instead of tables for specific vendors, handmade items from all the craftspeople will be collected into specific sections, such as those for ornaments, jewelry, flat goods like Sea Hawks blankets and aprons, and an area for homemade candies, breads and pies.
“Everyone’s stuff is blended in with everyone else,” said Debbie Stoltenberg, one of the organizers.
There will be a section featuring jams, jellies and syrups, and another full of scrubs, bath salts and scented soaps.
One table will be devoted to gifts for pets, and another to wreaths and table settings.
The children’s section will offer everything from receiving blankets to toys to book bags.
Pricing will range from the few-dollar stocking-stuffer to the cost of that one special gift.
A number identifies the person who made the item so the craftsperson can be paid for it — and also so those who want to request custom-made items from specific vendors can seek them out.
While they shop, visitors can sip free spiced cider.
A food wagon will be set up outside. Shoppers can bring their food indoors to eat at tables set up for them.
Santa photos
Santa will be available for photographs from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. today, from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Children, adults and pets are welcome to pose with him. People can take their own photographs or pay a small fee to have them done for them.
All of the organizers — members of the Christmas Cottage club that meets four times a year to plan for the event — are craftspeople.
Stoltenberg makes “oysterments of the sea,” ornaments hand-sculpted from clay and fired on oyster shells.
Cindy Lauderback, a member of the club, creates tole painted ornaments and paints gourds.
Blore is diversified. She makes a lot of the soft items such as pillow cases, quilts and table runners, while also contributing homemade candy and a few wreaths.
Christmas Cottage members “like to get unusual and different items,” Stoltenberg said.
“We have a gentleman from Sequim who does gnome birdhouses,” she said.
Said Blore: “There are a lot of artistic folks in the club.”
The show has grown greatly since it began “in somebody’s house” in its first year, Blore said, and she has worked with many of the Christmas Cottage members for long enough to “watch each others’ kids grow up.
“It’s like family,” she said.
And that includes those who come to look over their crafts and buy a few things.
“It’s so great to see people come back year after year,” Blore said.
“It’s an enjoyable way to have your artistic talents put out there, making gifts for people to enjoy.
“It’s a lot of fun.”
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
