33rd-Annual Gingerbread Junction Coming To Hill Middle School: Artisanal Crafts, Arts, and Gift Items

33rd-Annual Gingerbread Junction Coming To Hill Middle School: Artisanal Crafts,

Arts, and Gift Items

This is the time of year when we might find ourselves spending a few minutes browsing Pinterest, Etsy, and other inspiring websites, noting pieces that we ourselves would love to own and display or give and admire. The only thing standing between us and success is the lack of time and/or talent to knit, paint, sculpt, frame, or otherwise create said objets d’art. And we certainly want to support local talent.

That’s where Gingerbread Junction comes in!

The one-day fair, held annually at Hill Middle School in northwest Naperville, brings together almost 70 local artists of all kinds, to offer visitors amazing handmade pieces from art to commodity.

One 14-year Gingerbread Junction vendor will be on-hand showing his handcarved wood items, such as the multi-hardwood cutting board with rich colors of wood inlaid in a checkerboard pattern. Another frequent vendor brings his stained glass suncatchers. Yet another longtime vendor offers her decorated photo blocks to shoppers. In all, 68 vendors will show in the 2014 Gingerbread Junction, displaying their pieces throughout the 1st-floor halls and common rooms (such as the cafeteria and gym) of the school, with vintage designs, wool knit pieces, pottery, painted art and photography prints, quilts, holiday décor, hair accessories, and more, all artistically, meticulously, and loving created by hand.

“The Hill Middle School Gingerbread Junction is truly a top-notch production for vendors AND shoppers,” says Marge Daniele, who is the artist of “Whimsical Designs” handcrafted jewelry, an 8th-year vendor at Gingerbread Junction.

Find hand-painted glass ornaments and magnets. Clothes for your daughters’ and grand-daughters’ American Girl dolls. Colorful garlands to decorate your fireplace mantel. Hand-blown glass serving dishes. Hand-knit slouch hats. Unframed photography of Naperville sights. Boutique-worthy jewelry. Beautiful and fragrant soaps, bath salts, and candles. Handmade hardwood cutting boards and coasters. Handpainted note cards featuring an illustration of YOUR home.

“It’s like an ‘IRL’ Etsy -- a huge variety of artists and crafters in several rooms throughout the building,” explains Event Co-Chair Laura Falk. “And the event even includes a bake sale, all benefitting the Hill PTSA for our funding of student programs and events,” adds Event Co-Chair Rose Baranyk.

Don’t shop online for the artful pieces you’re hoping to find for your wardrobe, your décor, and your gifts; come to Gingerbread Junction at Hill Middle School on December 6!

No advance-ticket purchase; just show up. And whether you leave with only a hot chocolate, or armfuls of holiday gifts, you’ll be supporting Hill student programs, and you’ll love the experience!

WHEN: Saturday, December 6, 2014; 9am to 3pm

WHERE: Thayer J. Hill Middle School: 1836 Brookdale Road; Naperville IL (just southeast of Diehl Road and Route 59)

COST: $3 adult admission; kids free, strollers accepted

INFO: hillgingerbreadjunction@gmail.com