Buy Nothing Day

Friday after Thanksgiving is Buy Nothing Day. People can make gifts, cook from scratch, or try a new hobby.

How does Arts and Crafts America celebrate this?  It isn't the day everyone buys things.  It's the day everyone makes  things.  Where families here get together and go shopping in mobs, there they pile into the living room, kitchen, and/or garage and create wonderful stuff.

The Fall of Nuclear Families

The nuclear family is down to 1 in 5. The same portion of households consist of unrelated adults living together. Single adults living alone make up 1 in 5 households.

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Welcome to Winterfaire 2020

The Winterfaire spreads out as far as the eye can see. Some booths show streamers of red and green, while others sport blue and silver. All of them offer treasure after shining treasure. Music fills the air with lyrics of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and Yule. From the Wordsmith's Forge comes the bright chiming of words being hammered into literature. Delicious scents of hot chocolate, spiced cider, peppermint, baking cookies, and gingerbread tantalize the appetite. Smiling, laughing shoppers amble from booth to booth with lists in hand. Vendors grin back, calling out, "Come try, come buy...!"

I know a lot of artists, writers, musicians, crafters, and other talented folks who make some of their living from their creative endeavors. I don't always have the money to support them as much as I'd like, but what I can do is set up a virtual faire where vendors can offer their wares to an audience that likes crafts, literature, and small businesses. For those of you doing your holiday shopping, here's an opportunity to buy something made with love, something unusual or unique, in a way that helps make it possible for creative people to go on creating wonders. And there will be no traffic jams, stampedes, or gunfights at the Winterfaire!




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Accessible Transit

This article talks about public transit as a barrier for seniors. It offers some good suggestions. Further thoughts...

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