Vendor Spotlight #8

Vintage Paper Parade

Hmmm, this is a little awkward ...but as they say if you can't blow your own horn nobody else will.

Debra Norton (that's me), a paper goods designer, loves vintage paper ephemera, letterpress, and scouring antique markets. Designing paper goods as a business was a natural next step for me after years of doing it for friends and family.  Vintage Paper Parade was born out of a desire to create vintage inspired stationery with a fresh modern twist.

I'll be at the Bazaar on Friday with cards, gift tags and various paper curiosities for you to enjoy.  You can also visit my shop and blog or via email at vintagepaperparade@yahoo.ca ...shameless self-promotion ;)


P.S.


This is the last of our Vendor Spotlight's but there will be more great vendors at the Bazaar on Friday for you to check out. Happy shopping.

Vendor Spotlight #7

Lester's Libations

Lesley McDowell and her family spend every summer up at their northern Ontario cottage. They are lucky to have loads of fresh wild berries on their property. With the help of her "volunteer pickers", these berries and other local farm fresh produce magically turn into delicious homemade jams, jellies and relish.

Lesley will be back at the Bazaar again this year with her yummy homemade creations.
Jars of "Cranberry, Pear, Lemon Jam", "Strawberry Rhubarb Jam"," Zucchini Pepper Relish" and more will grace her table, but not for long. These sell fast. And I have first dibs :)

Vendor Spotlight #6

100 Mile Finds

Meet the creative, local entrepreneurs behind 100 Mile Finds ... Shirley and Susan. 
They have created an amazing resource for finding locally made products and services.  

100 Mile Finds is a great place to search for unique gifts, original handmade items and specialty services right in our own backyard.

Shirley and Susan have spent ages looking for irresistibly beautiful and original items of fabulous quality made with infinite care and love by up-and-coming designers and craftspeople. They have hand picked independently owned retailers that support their neighbourhoods and the concept of buying local.

They have scoured the neighbourhood to find you gorgeous and unusual items, and great businesses to support.

Stop by their table at the Bazaar this week, say hello and learn more about 100 Mile Finds and it's great vendors.

Vendor Spotlight #5

Arte-Facto

Andrea, the artist behind Arte-Facto has been inspired by the city’s urban environmental movement, ethnic diversity and vibrant arts scene. In her latest work she incorporates up-cycled cans, buttons and fabrics.  So creative!

I am intrigued by how Arte-Facto transforms post-consumer materials into fashionable jewelry/art and I can't wait to check out her creations at the Bazaar.

Vendor Spotlight #4

Finding Fimo

Finding Fimo creates cute hand sculpted figurines for special occasions. And, you guessed it - they are made out of Fimo clay.

I found this sweet little collection of characters on Finding Fimo's facebook page.


I know my daughter will love browsing Finding Fimo's collection as she is a big Fimo fan. It is a fun craft for kids (and grown-ups too).

St. Pius Bake Sale Packaging

Downloadable Bake Sale Treat Bag Toppers and Tags!

That's right! Now you can easily label your St. Pius Christmas Bazaar Bake Sale goodies. 

Look on the right side of page for the links. Click on text link, not photo.

These downloadable bag toppers and tags are super easy to use.

Just download, print on card stock or medium to heavy weight paper, cut out and attach to your baked goods.

The bag toppers are approximately 3.25" wide. 

The back is printed with lines so you can list your ingredients easily. 

Just fold the topper in half and staple to the food grade goodie bag.

Vendor Spotlight #3

Ransack the Universe

Ransack will be back at the bazaar this year with their cool t-shirts and a selection of goods from their new storefront location on Bloor Street. 

All their shirts are locally made, sweatshop free and many of them are printed on organic cotton. Love that!


After the bazaar...shop online here or you can visit their new storefront location at 1207 Bloor Street West, lower level just below 69Vintage. You will find an eclectic mix of locally made crafts, art and even some vintage finds!

Greetings Bakers!

Thank you for volunteering your culinary skills to the bake table. As many of you know the bake sale is a very popular table at the Christmas bazaar! It is a table that provides snacks to the kids; and it is also a great source for hostess gifts or your family’s Christmas treats. Below are instructions for those who haven’t participated before and even for those who have, some things have changed this year:

Popular Items
Wrapped candy pops (snip off sharp points), cupcakes and cookies are very popular with the kids. Loaves, muffins, plates of Christmas cookies, pies and cakes are big sellers with adults attending the sale and bring in a lot of revenue.

*note: there is a separate cupcake station for children to decorate their own cupcakes; this is not part of the bake sale and is free for the kids

Packaging
Individual items should be packaged, especially this year as they may end up on the bus to St Vincent de Pius – sticky! Cupcakes can be wrapped individually and cookies in twos or threes. Many items were not packaged last year, and while this is very tempting for the kids, it is not as sanitary as we would like. We will have some extra baggies, but not enough for all items.

Fancy packaging for larger items such as loaves, plates of cookies, pies and cakes really helps sell the items at a premium – Martha Stewart it up for the school!

Sources: 

*McCalls or their local storefront at Bloor & Kipling is a great source for packaging. 

*The Bulk Barn stores also sell food grade bags and other packaging. 

*If you are really keen try Creative Bag online or their storefront location.

We will look after pricing all items.

Allergies
We cannot accept anything with nuts . We have turned away loaves etc with nuts in the past, so please adhere to this request.Given a number of other allergies that children have, we request one label of the ingredients in your baking to post.

Drop Off
The baking drop off is earlier this year as one of the buses for St Vincent is coming first thing to the sale. Items should be dropped off by 8:45. 

• You can drop them off the night before to the gym if they are in sealed hard plastic containers (not plastic bags!). 
• Label your containers for pick up at the end of the bake sale. Maura and Colleen are the contacts in the morning, Mary is the contact at the end of the day.

Thank you again for your commitment to making the 2010 Christmas Bazaar a fantastic event for our kids! 

Vendor Spotlight #2

2 Smart Cookies


Linda and Anna are the baking entrepreneurs behind "2 Smart Cookies".
They offer hand crafted, chocolate covered cookies and cupcakes customized for special occasions.

Their cookies and cupcakes make delicious and charming additions to birthday parties, showers and other events.  Gift Idea: package individually and add a pretty tag for the perfect party favor.
2 Smart Cookies will be at the Bazaar once again with their decorated cookies, yummy shortbread, fun cupcake decorating kits and more.

Vendor Spotlight #1 - Bumblebee Jewelry

Over the next two weeks, we will be spotlighting some of the great vendors who will be participating in this year's Christmas Bazaar. Some you may recognize from previous bazaars - not surprisingly they like us and keep coming back; and some new faces too.


Bumblebee Jewelry
Katherine, from BumbleBee Jewelry will be joining us again this year with her lovely handmade jewelry. 

Bumblebee Jewelry launched officially in December, 2005 - but Katherine has been designing and making jewelry for ages. What started as a hobby evolved into a full-fledged passion (some say obsession) that demands attention! 

Katherine also offers birthday parties and jewelry parties as part of her business. A great party idea for kids or adults.

The Cupcake Recipe!

Attention cupcake bakers!

This is the recipe for the cupcakes 

that you so kindly have volunteered to bake. 

It is a super easy and quick recipe.

Lesley's Famous One Bowl Cupcake Recipe

6 Tbsp cocoa

2 cups flour

1 ½ cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup margarine (melted and cooled slightly)

2 eggs

1 cup cold water

Put first 6 ingredients in a bowl.  Add the rest but do not stir until all are added.  Beat well.  Spoon into paper lined muffin pan. Bake for approximately 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Freezes well.  If you are making the vanilla version just omit the cocoa and replace with additional flour.

Makes about 18 cupcakes.