SOLOMONS, Md. — The sun was rising over the pines and the parking lot of Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Art Center, which had been transformed into the monthly Maker’s Market.
Kalli was sitting under a white tent with her small selection of hat pins, earrings and other eclectic finds. Among the merchandise she offered at her shop, Kalli’s Jewelry, was old military medallions and European coins.
“Most of these were collected by my grandpa,” said Kalli. “Most of these things I have found or have been given to me to sell.”
Among all the unique finds at the market were custom birdhouses and locally collected honey by Bird Houses (Different Designs) by Bill and Bunny Clothier. Most of the birdhouses appeared to have been inspired by Dr. Seuss illustrations, and some painted in collegiate colors.
“My grandchildren and daughter-in-law all went to University of Maryland, so of course we have some houses painted with their colors. We started this in North Carolina, selling bird houses with their state school colors. We would take all the profits and donate them to charities and help out senior and elderly folks,” said Bill.
Jamie was another vendor at the market with her shop, JBTENFOUR. Offering upcycled jewelry and other accessories, she mentioned how her husband helps with her creations.
“I will take gift cards and use a guitar pick punch and create earrings out of them. Sometimes my husband doesn’t know what to keep and what to throw out!” she laughed.
She mentioned that some of the hair accessories were created using clean fruit snack wrappers.
“I’ll send my husband those fruit gummy snacks to work, but he refuses to take the Hello Kitty ones to work so I have to put the gummies into like a Ziploc bag for him. He’s really good about collecting stuff for my creations,” said Jamie.
For more information about the vendors and merchandise available at the Makers Markets, check out the art center’s Facebook page and website.
Contact Jacqui Atkielski at j.atkielski@thebaynet.com.