Pre-teen artists, jewelry designers, bakers and other crafters showed off their creativity at The Children’s Business Fair on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Organizers Danielle Such and Mirielle Barker of Flossmoor helped bring the fair to life, the first of its kind in the South Suburbs. The fair drew 36 young entrepreneurs giving them a chance to sell their handmade products.
Kids from Homewood and Flossmoor were joined by others from Matteson, Markham and as far away as Joliet. Several said their inspiration came from YouTube, Pinterest and other social media sites.
Wren Barker, 8, of Flossmoor had three types of dog treats for sale. A mini pie was made with pumpkin, apples, cinnamon and honey, a cookie had bacon and pumpkin, and the third that looked like a dog bone was made with peanut butter, bananas and oats.
Wren said a dollar from every sale she made was going to be donated to the South Suburban Humane Society. Her family doesn’t have a dog, but they have fostered dogs and babysat dogs “and I just like dogs,” she said.
Jason Frazier, 12, and his brother Jaivyn, 6, of Markham learned about the fair from a flyer at the Homewood Public Library. Their display showed off the drawings and paintings Jason had for sale.
Jason guessed that he started drawing at age 5. Rather than color in a coloring book, he started drawing the pictures. Today he has sketches of cartoon characters and drawings of nature scenes. He prefers to work in pencil or acrylic.
Erin Graves, 10, of Homewood was watching a YouTube video about making a flower pattern using small-sized rubber bands. She decided she could do something with her own design. “I thought what would happen if I didn’t stop, and I just kept going. I decided to do that, and it turned into bracelets.”
She uses a crochet hook as her linking tool, so each bracelet has a pattern to it. She can make them in a variety of sizes.
Working together Olivia Crawford-Jones, 10, and Cora Woodbury, 10, of Flossmoor had an array of bracelets for sale. Olivia said their project was a kind of spinoff of Taylor Swift’s bracelets, but “in summer I was really bored and I decided why not make a bracelet.”
She selects bracelet colors from Pinterest, or she makes her own combinations. Cora has made bracelets with shells.
Scarlett Brooks, 11, and brother Banks, 7, were selling natural oils. “My brother Banks is the oil dude,” Scarlett said. The oils use essentials, such as lavender, blackberry, cedarwood, orange and other ingredients into three specials to relieve tension and help with sleep.
“We’re a natural family. Now they’re old enough that they know about the oils and he’s old enough to help with everything. They know what works best. Their favorite is a sleep oil,” said their mom, Nicki Brooks.
Scarlett watched an internet video to learn how to crochet. Her mom signed her up for lessons to become more proficient. Scarlett is crocheting pouches for the oils. She’s also keeping the pair’s digital site current.
Arianna and Abriella Mondlane of Flossmoor had baked goods for sale. The girls work with their mom to prepare sugar cookies from a recipe they found online. They also had vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, but their best seller was chocolate chip cookies that sold out.
Such and Barker deemed the fair a success because it gave young entrepreneurs the chance to sell their items.
“It’s so difficult for them when they don’t have a driver’s license” and all the other children’s fairs have been in the western or southwestern suburbs, Such said. The pair were grateful for the generosity of the Homewood Science Center agreeing to let the fair locate there. The children’s fair had a built-in audience thanks to HSC’s STEM Saturday and the Homewood Farmer’s Market going on adjacent to the center.