On May 7, Occoquan Elementary School hosted its first Spring Craft Fair. Traditionally the PTA hosts a fall craft show, but according to Noelle Hardison, Occoquan's Bookkeeper, this time the school's staff decided to put this one together.
A few vendors were selling products for national companies like Avon and Willow Creek, but most vendors were local crafters who handmade their products to sell at the show.
Handmade jewelry, silk flower arrangements, children's clothes, cards, handbags, Mother's Day baskets, diaper cakes, and quilts were just some of the items that these talented women and men were selling.
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Several of the crafters were moms whose home business revenue enables them to stay home with their kids.
Kristin Mastrangelo, owner of Love, Hadleigh, explained why she has a business named after her infant daughter. "She is the cause of it all," said Mastrangelo. After parenting three boys, she was somewhat unprepared for a girl. "Everything was in blue, you know," she said.
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She began making unique hats and hair bows for her daughter. So many people told her that she should sell them, that she decided to give it a try. The response was overwhelming, and Love, Hadleigh, was born.
In the booth by her side was her friend and fellow mompreneur, Jackie Copus. Jackie designs and makes greeting cards by hand for every occasion.
