Antique Collectors, Artists Bring Out Their Best for Annual Craft Show

Judith Ellison beamed with nervous anticipation Friday as she unpacked two porcelain teapots and a wooden folk art painting and placed them on a table at the  to be appraised.

"I'm hoping they are worth enough to pay for my daughter's graduate school education," Ellison said of the teapots she picked up at a home sale.

Dozens of others attending the  on Friday at the Troy Community Center had scheduled appraisal appointments as early as August to find out of they had a hidden treasure at their home. The appraisals, which were performed by Ernest DuMochelle, of DuMochelle's Gallery in Detroit, were just one part of the show, which offered items for sale by area crafters who are 50 years or older.

"It's my first time here; I just turned 50," said Lori Potrzuski, of Troy, who was selling therapeutic rice bags, which she said help to relieve pain in muscles and joints. "It's a really nice show. There's been a nice crowd of people and they are very well organized."

More than 50 vendors offered items for sale during the show, which ran from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Vendors offered a variety of items, ranging from jewelry, knit items, beaded decorations and other personal and household accessories. Admission to the show was $2, with proceeds going to benefit the Troy Senior Program.

Some vendors, such as Nancy Sprouse and her daughter, Amanda, of Berkley, offered handmade decorations to benefit others in the community. For instance, Amanda crafted toy soldier decorations and planned to use the proceeds to benefit former U.S. Army Pvt. Chris Ochs, of Flatrock, who was paralyzed in an attack in Afghanistan. 

Pat Kulka, of Troy, said she donates 30 percent of her earnings to charity. She sells a variety of purse charms and other items.

Of course, not everything at the show was for sale – specifically the items being appraised by DuMochelle. 

Milly Zaglanis, of Troy, brought an antique zither that she said she and her sister used to play with when she was a child. Friday, she learned the items are more than 100 years old, and likely worth $100-$200.

"I didn't know anything about it, so this is just news to me," she said.

Many of those receiving encouraging appraisals were reluctant to talk about the items afterward, such as the owners of a painting that DuMochelle estimated to be more than 400 years old, whom he referred to the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Others weren't quite so fortunate.

"I was surprised," Ellison said about her teapots, which were appraised at about $100 and $150, while the painting she paid $35 for was estimated to be worth about $400-$500.

"It is what it is," she said, somewhat disappointed with the value of the china. "But this has been so much fun. I love it."