Kent Cornucopia Days - Vendor Spotlight

Today we took the two boys and the double stroller to Cornucopia Days, a festival mid-July located in Kent Washington. It is a celebration of food and harvest. Although most of our vendors are from Washington State, some do come from other parts of the United States. Cornucopia Days was much better this year than it was the last time I went, two years ago.

I was happy to see a lot more originality in vendors, displays and products sold. When I visit vendors, I first pay attention to see originality. Then I look for quality and uniqueness of their booth. I want to see that they care about their product enough to make their booths special and unique. I like to see the artist expressed in details. I do not care to see people selling meaningless crap. If that were the case I would move back to Brooklyn New York.

Getting a booth is not cheap. Last time I checked it was more than $300 dollars. I is certainly higher than that if one reserves a space more than 10x10. The price is high enough to make sure people care about their product and presentation.

Image from Hip Chix Facebook

As this blog is about the kitchen and food, I am going to write about two vendors that I liked in particular. I will not be writing about food. Instead, I am going to write about what you wear when making the food. Ta Da! Just to change things around a bit.

The first vendor is Hip Chix Creations by Diane. ( in case this link is broken, you can find her on Facebook by just searching for the business name) From her facebook page indicates that her business is located in Iowa. I am curious if she traveled all the way to Washington State just for this event. I instantly fell in love with her aprons! I tried one on and it looked fantastic.

She had a great display with items for mother and daughter

I usually do not care for aprons because they usually are, well, you know...ugly. But these ones were shabby-chic, handmade, and just adorable.

When I was younger, I liked things that were uban, sleek, and exotic. Today I am more about shabby-chic, home and hearth. This does NOT mean that I have traded in my New York City platform shoes for a pair of mom jeans. There is no way in hell that will ever happen. What I am saying is, one can certainly be a little country and be cool at the same time.

Her prints definitely reflected something interesting and unique. I can usually sense when someone has style and this woman definitely has style. It is not something that can be learned. I can see a New York mom wearing one of her aprons, and I can see a country lady wearing one of her aprons. When I was younger I would have wanted my apron to be black, with a big Eiffel tower on the front and nothing else. Today, I would love an apron covered in lemons and maybe a red and white checkered boarder. Her aprons contain something both charming, provincial, yet en vogue at the same time.

Some of her mittens.

Her aprons were more than $40 each. If I had cash on me I would have bought one because I think that the price is worth it.As for the oven mittens, I did not check the price on those.

The owner told me that she plans on selling on ETSY soon. I told her to send me a link to her store when she opens it and I will link it in this blog. She also told me that she is not very computer savvy, which will be a problem for her.

I would consider myself to be a social networking expert, and fairly computer savy. So here is my advice to Hip Chix Creations.


One: open a YouTube channel and start posting videos. Introduce your product and discuss what inspires you. Make a new video discussing patterns, fabrics, trends etc..etc... Getting to know the creator personally will create a certain following and loyalty among consumers. Usually it is good to make a YouTube video once every three or four weeks. Here is a sample sewing video...
Two: plug each one of your YouTube videos into your facebook page. Trust me - people love watching and listening. Over the years we have become lazy readers. Youtube is the way to go and has even replaced television for many people.
Three: When you open your Etsy store, link your Youtube channel and your Facebook page into your Etsy store.
Four: when you open your Youtube account link your Etsy store and Facebook page.

If you follow this advice you will bring a lot more traffic to your store and your product.


The second business I came across is Moments in Time and Design Potholders.  I did a quick online search and found that they were listed on the Made In Washington Store. I am very patriotic to my home State and support local businesses anyway I can. I spoke with the store owner, she was very friendly.

I tried these potholders and found that they fit comfortably. She does not make a standard, one size fits all potholder. I tried some that perfectly fit my small hands. (I never would have been a good pianist)

I did not have enough time to check out her prices or designs, so I cannot comment on that. Her website is linked above for anyone who is interested.



 While writing this blog entry about these two unique individuals who both make charming products, I started to think about what kind of pot holders, kitchen towels and aprons I would like to have in my kitchen. I really love the aprons, but even every day cooks would not need more than two or three of them.
While writing this blog, I thought about patterns and prints. The following images reflect some of my ideas about aprons, pot holders, and kitchen towels.

Inspired by Marie Antoinette

I thought this would be interesting for a pot holder

potholder idea

I love anything Shabby Chic

Shabby Chic Prints

How about a Sexy Shabby Chic Apron? They guys would love that. :->

 Merci! Au Revoir!


Please check out my other blogs linked above. I write about cooking, gardening, cleaning, family and my BIG hobby of learning foreign languages.