Nome Preschool’s Holiday Bazaar entices Nomeites to shop local and support artists

Vendors at the annual Holiday Bazaar said that business had been good this year, even as the price of their raw materials has incrementally been creeping up. 
Organized annually by the Nome Preschool, the bazaar is a prime opportunity to buy locally crafted goods. Customers perused tables packed with crafts, artwork, homemade jams and teas in the elementary school on Saturday. A steady trickle of shoppers moved around the gym and looked over knitwear, earrings, and other gifts.
Kate Osborn of Kate’s Jams was selling jam, tea and face masks. She said business has been steady from last year to this one. “I have repeat customers,” she said. “They come back annually. They’ll seek out my table specifically.”
Sister Olson was set up by the entrance to the gym, selling knitwear, oven mitts and pottery. She said that she’s sold more this year, mostly to tourists coming in off the cruise ships. Olson, like a lot of vendors at the bazaar, said that she gets most of her fabric from Sew Far North, the local fabric and yarn shop. “They have the best selection of Alaska prints,” she said. “She has a good price on her fabrics.”
Olivia Smith was selling earrings that were fashioned from antlers. She said that the non-harvested components to her art, like earring backings or hooks, differ in price depending on whether she orders it from somewhere in the United States or from overseas. “I would say my more overseas based stuff is getting more expensive,” she said.
Leesa Jones, selling glassware and wind spinners in a long, two-table wide spread, said that she’s had to move away from making glassware recently and start working in a style of printing called sublimation. It’s hard to get the kind of glass she needs in Nome, and she can order the raw materials she needs to do sublimation in bulk. “I can buy a lot of my bulk materials from Amazon, so gotta capitalize on the free shipping,” she said. 
Paula Woods was selling knitwear. She said that the cost of yarn has been incrementally creeping up but so has everything since the COVID-19 pandemic. Woods said that she had raised the prices of her goods, but only because everyone else was. “Being the bottom guy on the pile is not necessarily a great thing for anyone,” she said. “I don’t want to undercut people if they’re charging $5 more for a beautiful thing.”
Kathleen Patella was using a drop spindle to spin yarn while selling wool dryer balls, skeins of yarn and knitwear. For her, business has been good lately. “Everything from the spinning, the knitting, the products, you know,” she said. “People are much more likely to gravitate toward handmade items than they used to be.”
Patella said she has had to pay some tariffs on wool she ordered from Canada, but it added up to about $4 for her. People have been buying her products, too. “I have virtually nothing here today, because everything is gone,” she said.
Katie O’Connor, a Nome based visual artist, was selling prints, stickers and greeting cards. She said that the cost of doing business went up during the pandemic, but it’s been steady since then. The surprising thing that’s increased in cost? Fur pelts. “I feel like we’ve had two inflations since COVID and for whatever reason, pelts went way, way up,” she said.
Mary Ruud, a fur sewer and one of the volunteers helping run the event, echoed the observation that fur pelts went up during the pandemic and sellers are finally raising the price of fur goods, like hats and gloves.  Ruud said she noticed that seal skin hats used to cost around $400 and are now going for around $550 or $600. “A couple of the vendors I’ve spoken with that are friends, they’re finally noticing, like things have increased,” she said. “So now it’s time to start up charging our items.”
O’Connor said that cost of Christmas presents for kids has climbed significantly. “Everything, even online, everything has gone sky high,” she said. “I’m like, looking at my previous budgets for other years for my kids, and I feel like everything is double.” 
She said that she tries to buy outdoor gear as presents. “For birthdays and Christmas and stuff, I try and knock out a lot of the expensive riding gear,” she said.
Ruud said that the cost of Christmas for her family hasn’t increased because toys have gone up, but because of the kind of things her kids are asking for. “My kids are getting older, and I feel like toys get a little bit more expensive and they want more,” she said.
A group of parent volunteers from the Nome Preschool said that HONEY – Paul Johanson sells honey, knitwear, and other goods at the annual Holiday Craft Bazaar on Saturday,  anticipated spending more at Christmas. Most of them said that they shop at Costco when they’re in Anchorage, or order on Amazon. Dani Smithhisler said that she has to order on Amazon – she’s had trouble ordering from Costco. 
At the bazaar, a least, Nome-made holiday goods were selling. 

For more photos see page 8.