This weekend I ventured out of the woods and into the big city for a weekend of shopping and culture with my mom and our good friends.  We battled snow and bad roads to make it to Minneapolis- which is arguably the most inefficiently designed city on the planet, one of the reasons I moved out of there immediately after college {there is basically NO public transportation, so everyone has to drive everywhere and traffic is horrendous…but that’s another topic for another time…}  But thankfully we made it there safely and really enjoyed ourselves.

Our first stop upon arrival was the Midtown Global Market, an internationally-themed public {INDOOR, thank goodness} market featuring fresh and prepared foods, and a selection of arts and crafts from around the world.  I bee-lined for the “bubble-tea” stand right inside the front door, which made the sketchy trip immediately worth it {Mike and I met for the first time at a bubble-tea shop in Minneapolis!  I’ve had a soft-spot for tapioca ever since.}

This was my first time visiting MGM, and I was pretty blown away.  We were lucky enough to visit the market on December 4th, for one of the coolest events of the year:  No-Coast Craft-o-Rama.  The Twin Cities’ 100+ best indie designers, crafters, and artists convene in the market to sell their handcrafted goods.  This was far from a run-of-the-mill craft fair…imagine what Etsy would look like if it was a real-life place…yeah, I was kind of in heaven.

 A huge number of the vendors there were selling goods made from recycled materials, so it was a great place to get ideas for future ReuseTues projects.  I kept track of my favorite to share with you!

TONIA’S FAVE VENDORS

#1:

Up first, Julie Meyer.  She makes cute, cute, cute insulated lunch sacks.  No need to pack the kids’ edibles in paper or plastic if you have one of these!

#2:

I usually cringe when I hear the term “stocking-stuffer” because it sounds like an excuse to by a lot of cheap-plastic-crap that no one will ever really use…but Bodylish makes things that would stuff stockings in a perfectly useful and desirable way.  So, go for it.  😛

I really enjoyed meeting Nora at her booth.  She obviously loves what she does, and she actually uses the products she makes, so she can tell you exactly how they all work.  I bought this body scrub bar from her and wish I had bought 10 of them!  Nora uses all natural and biodegradable ingredients in her products.  Itty-Bitty-Approved!

 #3: 

Up next is a vendor with a great name: Old Tom Foolery.  Ok I am cheating a bit on this one…they’re not actually eco-friendly in any way that I can tell, but I enjoyed their booth so much and I bought a few things from them.  Check out their snarky cards and you’ll understand why I’m so entertained by their work {even though I’m totally over the mustache craze…}

#4:

These guys are GENIOUS.  They make baby/kid pants and skirts and dresses out of old sweaters.  Cut the arms off a sweater, cut the neck off a turtle-neck top, sew the arms and the neck together and TA-DA!  Pants.  Really ridiculously cute pants.  I spent waaaay too long at their booth, trying to think of every single child I know so I could buy them sweater-pants.

#5:

Breaksea Upcycle doesn’t really have a logo, their Etsy shop is basically empty, and there’s no other website to visit them at.  In other words, they do things the simple way with a “yeah, dude, whatever” attitude about their business, but it’s totally working for them.  Their booth was MOBBED all day long.  I had to wait in line to get their email address.  Oh, and their business card was printed on the back of a cut-up cereal box.  They’re possibly the most eco-friendly and cool vendor I saw all day.  We bought a pair of mittens from them that were made from a pair of old pants, but they also make these stylin’ baby booties:

#6:

Worker B is awesome because it supports local bee-keepers, and in turn, supports bees.  Their display was super cute and all their products smell delicious.  I’m always a fan of beauty-products made entirely with natural ingredients, but the fact that you’re helping bees out by buying this stuff earns Worker B a definite Itty-Bitty Approval.

Obviously, most of these folks have websites and Etsy shops where you can view and purchase their work, but if you’re brave enough to travel to the market yourself next year for Craft-o-Rama, I would highly recommend it, because as convenient as shopping online is, meeting the artists in person and seeing their creative displays is a lot of fun.

And there’s bubble-tea.

And you should be really excited about the fact that you don’t have to live in Portland to enjoy an event like this.

And you know that deep down even though you make fun of hipsters, you kind of are one. 

And moving on…

Happy Ruese Tues!  Hope you’re feeling inspired for the week ahead.