First, a big THANK YOU to all those awesome little elves who helped set up! We couldn’t have done it without you! The Moretown Elementary School’s gym has been transformed into a holiday shopping paradise! It’s stuffed with our 24+ artists – including some student artists! – all of whom have set up their booths in a festive manner, displaying their incredible talent and an array of gifts that will bring smiles to the faces of everyone on your list!

My trusty assistant Sidney

The show is open from 10am-4pm today and will feature Fiddleheads Cuisine, serving up ridiculously tasty asian inspired vegetarian food, Lisa Carlson, Flutist along with her students (from 10:30-12pm) and the Julian Chobot Trio from 1-3pm.  (Santa will be here from 12-2 tomorrow!!)

Also, the Hannah’s House Silent Auction and Raffle will open today at 11am (and close tomorrow at 2pm,) and will include stunning artwork generously donated by our artists. Raffle tickets are a buck each or $10 for an arm length. Your purchase and/or bids support Hannah’s House and their mission, so it’s a major win/win!

For more information, check out the tabs on our webpage and we’ll see you soon!

It pretty much looks like Christmas exploded over here at Meg’s Events Headquarters! Over two dozen big wrapped boxes, countless tree ornaments, giant candy canes, colorful paper flags, twinkling lights and tons more. And to really tap into our inner Holly Jolly, we’ve got Pandora’s Indie Holiday station playing – a nice twist on traditional holiday music that’s more “cool” than annoying. To cap it all off we’re drinking hot mulled cider and we’ve got 25′ garlands to deck the halls with so it even smells like the holidays!

And just as bustling as it is here, our 24+ artists are equally as hard at work, each channeling their inner Santa’s Elf, putting the finishing touches on their incredible artwork. This weekend you will have the best selection of locally made quality items that everyone on your holiday shopping list will absolutely love! Check out our UPDATED ARTIST LIST as we have a couple last minute additions and please help us spread a little local fa la la by sharing our Facebook invite with your friends!

Check out our schedule for the weekend and we’ll see you soon! Cheers!

“Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~ Pablo Picasso

Let’s face it: shopping is so much more fun when you know you’re supporting a really great local business or organization. That’s why shopping at the Moretown Artisans’ Sale is so fantastic – all of our artists, musicians and food vendors are all Vermonters working hard to create beautiful things that will make you smile.

But in addition to all the great local art, awesome music and tasty food, we will also have a silent auction and raffle which will benefit Hannah’s House Inc, an incredible local organization with a very important mission: providing families dealing with emotional crises find a sustainable path to emotional well being.

Anyone who was around here last year knows about the Irene flood and the damage it did locally. While visually and physically the signs of the flood are now mainly repaired, the mental and emotional toll is still lingering for many. This is just one of the many ways that Hannah’s House employs their mission, providing assorted therapies and tools to help people overcome their struggles. As a non-profit, they rely on grants and donations to fund their programs. Since the name sake of this organization, Hannah Bedford was herself an incredibly gifted artist, it seemed only fitting that the Moretown Artisans’ Sale could help out a little!

Below is a list of our artists and their donations to the auction and raffle. Raffle tickets will be $1each. Bidding for the Silent Auction will be from 11am on Saturday Dec. 8 until 2pm on Sunday Dec. 9. Santa will be here on Sunday from 12-2 for photos and to find out what you want under the tree. Then he will help us with the raffle at 2pm! We ask that you are present to collect raffle and silent auction winnings on Sunday.

Please check out this great list* of artists donating items to the auction and thanks in advance for bidding generously!

We are still accepting donations to our auction and raffle. If you would like to contribute something to help raise money for Hannah’s House, please contact megsevents@gmavt.net. You can also donate directly to Hannah’s House here.

• The Tiny Tea House – Wellness Basket with all sorts of handmade healing goodness!
• Raegan Hough Metalsmith & Leatherworker  – Copper hoop earrings
• Tea & Toast Designs for Heart & Home - Original Acrylic Sunflower Painting, 2′x4′
• Llama Love – Knit item, to be determined
• Loretta Languet Pottery – Pottery to be determined
• Deborah Johnson-Surwilo – Photography greeting card pack
• Broad Bandits – Belt
• Art by Alix – Framed print of original 8 x 12 watercolor.  A snow scene with barns in the background.
• Cat Illustrates/Mary Hill – Cool & colorful dangly earrings made from giclee print of a watercolor, sterling ear wires and glass beads.
• E2 Creations – One-of-a-kind Ukrainian Egg ornament
• Marsh Hollow – Artisan jams
• Boone’s Fudge – Sweets!
• June Mendell – Jewelry to be determined
• Woodland Knits – Felted merino wool hat
• N3 Pottery – Plate with bird and trees
• Centimes Jewelry - Earrings
• Ornamental Stones – Horse pendant made of pure silver
• Mad Women in the Attic – Stained glass item
• Ellen Howard Handmade - Silk scarf
• DiNofrio Handbags – Clutch bag
• Montalto Pottery – Functional pottery to be determined
• Sam Made – 5×7 print

*This list is subject to change.

Oh boy, the Moretown Artisans’ Sale is only days away!! Our organizing team is staying up all night getting everything lined up. Our artists are like busy little elves getting their beautiful artwork ready for you! We have such a great selection of gift ideas this year too – truly something for everyone! Be sure to check out our artist line up to see their work.

This will be our second year at the Moretown Elementary School, complete with a more spacious layout and tons of parking! Here’s the schedule for your convenience:

Saturday, December 8

• Show is open 10am-4pm
• Food from Fiddlehead Cuisine
• Hannah’s House auction and raffle starting at 11am
• Live music from Lisa Carlson and her students from 11am-12pm

Sunday, December 9

• Show is open from 11am-4pm
• Food from Gracie’s Tamales
• Photos with SANTA from 12-2pm – FREE!
• Hannah’s House auction and raffle end at 2:30pm – you must be present to win!

It’s “Cyber Monday,” the third leg of the post-Thanksgiving shopping push that also includes Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. (I don’t know why we skip Sunday. Perhaps people are too busy celebrating Go To Church or Watch Football day?)

The idea of Cyber Monday is to promote the convenience of getting your all of holiday shopping done without taking your pajamas off or brushing your teeth or making yourself look at all presentable to the public. Most commonly we flock to online malls like Amazon.com or Zappos.com. However, the beauty of online shopping is that nearly anyone can have an online store these days, including independent artists, many of whom will also be at the Moretown Artisans’ Sale, December 8 & 9!

You can check out our complete listing of our artists here but if you just can’t wait to buy their art at the Moretown Elementary School in two weeks, see below for a list of our artists with online shops. Thanks in advance for supporting local art and Happy Cyber Monday!

• Raegan Hough – Vermont Metalworks - seriously awesome jewelry and more.
• Charlotte Tyler – Ornamental Stones – Elegant and natural statement jewelry
• Broad Bandits - Really cute and stylish headbands and belts for all the cool kids in your family – young and old!
• Baby K Threads – Adorable and whimsical baby, toddler and mommy clothing!
• Ellen Howard Handmade – Gorgeous wearable artwork from silk scarves to t-shirts.
• Cat Illustrates – Happy Soupe Shoppe – Bright and imaginative artwork of all kinds from jewelry to greeting cards and more!

If you’re looking for more Vermont Artists  to shop with, check out the Team Vermont page on Etsy.com for a listing of almost 150 highly talented and Vermont Strong artists to support!

The line at the grocery store yesterday was long. So long that I had time to learn that Jackie Chan is retiring, Danica Patrick is getting a divorce, and that they might be finally doing an honest repair to that scary bridge on 100 by Lareau Farm Inn. As I pondered the “news” in the check out line, I started to unload my groceries and it suddenly dawned on me how lucky we are here in Vermont to have such wonderful access to local products – food, drink and beyond.

My grocery cart was filled with real good real goods. There was a local turkey, fresh bread, local beer, tons of local produce, local eggs, local cheese and even locally roasted coffee. In fact, without even thinking about it while I shopped, the sole non-local item moving down the grocer’s conveyor belt was a pack of batteries.

Obviously I’m on autopilot when it comes to purchasing locally. But we have such an abundance of options, how could you not? Even making 50% of your purchases locally can have a significant impact on the local community but infusing much need cash right back into the local infrastructure instead of some out of state executive’s pockets.

So here’s a list of great places to get some local shopping done this holiday season:

Great Art shows to check out:

• Women’s Festival of Crafts, November 23-25, 149 Church Street, Burlington. Check out over 50 booths filled with handmade jewelry, recycled art, greeting cards, clothing, and more.
• Waterbury Artisan Holiday Boutique, December 1,2 North Main Street (formerly Five Hills Bikes) Waterbury. Support a diverse and talented group of Waterbury and area artists vending their quality art and crafts.
• Moretown Artisans’ Sale (That’s us!!) December 8-9, Moretown Elementary School, Moretown. – Clearly the best of the best (!) featuring over 2 dozen incredible Vermont artists!! Check out our full line-up of artists here, and enjoy live music on Saturday with performances by Lisa Carlson and her students, a visit from Santa from 12-2 on Sunday and a silent auction to run all weekend, benefiting Hannah’s House. Fiddlehead Cuisine will be serving food on Saturday and Grace’s Tamales will be there on Sunday. With tons of convenient parking, you have to stop by!

Great Local Shops to check out:

• Stowe Street Emporium – There are so many great gift ideas from stocking stuffers to one of a kind gifts for everyone on your list – you must stop in have a look!
• The Alchemist Cannery – Perfect for the beer geek on your list, not only can you get some of the best beer on the planet here, but they also have a great selection of beer-themed gifts, featuring the Hoptique line from Alena Botanica
• The Store – Foodies will love this place chock full of kitchen gadgets, must-haves and more. They also have cooking classes in their beautiful test kitchen in the back!
• Red Hen Bakery – One part gourmet food shop, one part bakery, one part coffee shop, this is a great place to find a great gift for the wine lover on your list – or to get a little pick-me-up cup of joe to keep you moving!
• Sunflower Natural Foods – A great place for your natural and local groceries, they also have a great selection of cards, candles and more so you can get your holiday groceries and a couple gifts while you’re at it.
• Prohibition Pig – When the shopping is over, swing by the Pig for a delicious meal and a fine beer. With a new chef in the kitchen, your dinner is sure to satisfy!

Of course there are endless options for local shopping – ask your friends where they go and keep it local this holiday season!

Ho, ho, ho! Halloween is over. The Election is over. And no sooner had it been announced that our President would serve a second term, then all the commercial breaks were suddenly sparkling with snowflakes and rosy cheeked models peddling their holiday sales to annoying jingles.

So are you in the “Holiday Spirit” yet? Sure, it’s still November, but retailers know all too well that that means we will all get together on Thanksgiving and feel all good about ourselves only to head out shopping on Black Friday and spend our hard earned dough on holiday gifts for our friends, family (and inevitably ourselves.) Naturally they would have us think there’s no time like the present to start shopping their “unbeatable prices” in hopes that we will stand in line for three hours and then riot over $2 waffle makers like we were ravenous animals fighting each other to the death for the last remaining scrap of food in the trough.

But this holiday season I challenge you to think before you spend and try to do as much of your holiday shopping locally. Sure, you’re not likely to find a $2 waffle maker at a locally owned kitchen shop. But for every $100 you spend at the behemoths, only $43 of that stays locally. Compare that to the $73/$100 that stays in your community when you shop locally. Don’t like potholes in the road? Shop locally. Want to get your softball team sponsored or charity donated to? No box store is going to give you the support that the local stores will. Want to find unique and well made gifts that your friends and family will love? Want to keep your community’s character intact and not become Anywhereville, USA? Then skip the strip, and spend your money at locally owned stores or at some of the many holiday artisan sales (like the Moretown Artisans’ Sale!)

Here are 10 reasons to spend your money locally:

1. Protect Local Character and Prosperity A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character. Vermont has some of the most talented artists creating high quality one-of-a-kind gifts that you can’t find anywhere else. Supporting these artists keeps our state vibrant, strong and sustainable. We live here for the very reason that it’s not like everywhere else in the country. When our local artists and business thrive, so does our state. Where we shop, where we eat and have fun — all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this place. Our tourism businesses also benefit.  “When people go on vacation they generally seek out destinations that offer them the sense of being someplace, not just anyplace.” ~ Richard Moe, President, National Historic Preservation Trust.
2. Community Well-Being Locally owned businesses build strong neighborhoods by sustaining communities, linking neighbors and by contributing more to local causes. Non-profit organizations receive an average 250% more support from smaller business owners than they do from large businesses.
3. Local Decision Making Local ownership means that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and who will feel the impacts of those decisions.Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, are less likely to leave and are more invested in the community’s future.
4. Keeping Dollars in the Local Economy  Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned businesses, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms — continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community. (Click here to see summaries of a variety of economic impact studies; these include case studies showing that locally-owned businesses generate a premium in enhanced economic impact to the community and our tax base.) Your dollars spent in locally-owned businesses have three times the impact on your community as dollars spent at national chains. When shopping locally, you simultaneously create jobs, fund more city services through sales tax, invest in neighborhood improvement and promote community development.
5. Job and Wages Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community, provide the most jobs to residents and, in many sectors, provide better wages and benefits than chains do.
6. Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship fuels America’s economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.
7. Public Benefits and Costs Local stores in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure and make more efficient use of public services relative to big box stores and strip shopping malls. The sales taxes we pay support our community and county, fixing roads, maintaining recreational facilities and more.
8. Environmental Sustainability Local stores help to sustain vibrant, compact, walkable town centers-which in turn are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile congestion, habitat loss, and air and water pollution. Locally owned businesses can make more local purchases requiring less transportation and generally set up shop in town or city centers as opposed to developing on the fringe. Local stores are also far more likely to carry locally produced foods which supports local agriculture.
9. Competition and Product Diversity A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. Buy what you want, not what someone wants you to buy! A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
10. Service Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers. By being more locally invested, they are more committed to good, knowledgeable service and tend to have a much better relationship with their customers, inviting customer feedback and responding in a timely and appropriate fashion to their customers concerns.

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So there you have it team. Before you rush out to get those bargain priced items in Big Box Store Ville, consider which is more important: a cheap mass produced tchotchke that will end up in the trash within a year or the sustainability of the place you call home?

See you at the Moretown Artisans’ Sale, December 8 & 9, at the Moretown Elementary School!