Audra Jennings

For the past several years, we've gone to Canton First Monday Trade Days in January to try to get a deal on some Christmas and other items we need for the next craft show season. It's kind of become a tradition of sorts, so I've marked it on my calendar and planned on it for a while. Depending on when the dates fall, I've been on New Year's Eve or Day. Regardless, usually on a Saturday, but this year, I wanted to get there before all the good stuff was gone, so we went on a Thursday --- the first day. I even worked some yesterday because I didn't plan to work today. I had a list in hand of what I was looking for. We got there and the Build-A-Cross clearance tent wasn't there. This had happened to me before, but kind of thought it was because they moved pavilions, and I just didn't know it at the time. Well, this year, they knew it would be slow following Christmas and just didn't bring much over from Louisiana where they are based. We sc...

We've made it a bit of a tradition to head over to Canton around New Year's whenever First Monday Trade Days falls. We go with specific craft items in mind. There were definitely more people there this year when it was actually warm than when you could see your breath last year.  First we hit the Build-a-Cross clearance tent where there was very little left. Turns out, they didn't restock after last month. We dug around and found some of the small pieces we needed, but not as many of the right things as I wanted. I was really hoping to scoop up on Christmas decorations. No such luck. Next, we headed to where we normally buy hardware (screws and sawtooth hangers). That company closed up shop. Complete strikeout there. We head up the hill to the main shop for MDF. They had a few Christmas things and we found some of the other items we needed. When I walked away, I realized that although they took forever to find our tax ID form, still charged us tax and charged u...

On one side, the week between Christmas and New Year's is the time to catch up and get things done because a lot of people are out for the week. It's quiet, so you can get can things done. On the flip side, no one is in the office, except for the few who are. The few who are expect me to get them books by early next week, and there's not a chance of that happening because I don't actually send them out. There some people who expect me to answer at weird times of the day and night, but they won't answer me during the down time. The requests are right there in the inboxes of those returning to work on Tuesday. They have a ton of emails to process, and when everyone starts answering, it's going to be nuts. I only took Christmas Day and will take New Year's Day, but it will be torturous next week when I was in the office doing work. I didn't come down from work until late last night. I was trying to catch up on reports that are long overdue. To unwind, I...

Many people have asked us "have you ever done Canton?" Canton, TX is home to the huge First Monday Trade Days (and not too much else the other 26 days of every month). Hundreds upon hundreds of vendors set up to sell to thousands upon thousands of shoppers from all over the place (Wisconsin, Nebraska, Arkansas...). There's just about anything you can imagine sold there. At least things you can legally sell. You know what? There's so much going on there, you can probably get anything there. Especially out in the antique alley tents. I never go out to that part, so... Due in part to the fact we didn't find other good options of events to do this past weekend, we decided to give Canton a shot. It was also the biggest event of the year and supposedly when people go to shop for Christmas and Christmas decor.  Because it is always a Thursday - Sunday event, I took two days off of work to take part. (That's kind of a big deal.)  We drove 70 miles eac...

Miss Peyton joined us late last night after her softball game. She decided to join us because it was an overnight stay, we thought we'd have a good turnout in Canton and mostly because she wanted to go on a tethered balloon ride! We'll skip the talk about how the day was long (setting all our merchandise back up to be ready by 10 AM because it did rain and it was a good thing we were packed and tarp-covered), and how well we all endured until we started packing up an hour and a half early (we won't be invited back again for that). I'll just say there are so many things that could have been done better, and believe me when I say people were not there to talk. The balloons arrived later than scheduled. Tethered rides starting at 5:00 didn't happen until more like 7:00. We kept watch until we finally got our chance to take the ride! And we kept watch for a while! If the balloons were kept away due to winds, Peyton would have been extremely disappointed. ...

In case you haven't figured it out, these days, I don't get out unless it's to fair, festival, or craft show.  The Crafty Dad and Daughter  has been looking forward to the Tailwinds Regional Balloon Fest in Canton for a few months now for two reasons. The first is it's a hot air balloon festival. I've never been, and Mom and I have always wanted to go to one. Secondly, it's in Canton, and having an actual job that pays the bills, I can't take time off to go set up over in Canton on First Monday weekends to do the actual Canton First Monday Trade Days. Just the fact that it's in Canton, we hope to have a successful event. So, back to the whole taking any time off work. As I have mentioned, the past month or so at work has been CRAZY. There's been a lot going on, we had the staffing change, and the annual ICRS event is coming up and that's always crazy town with questions and various tasks. My original plan was to take off around noon to go ov...

Anyone in Texas, at least anyone that lives in the eastern half of the state, has heard about Canton and First Monday Trade Days . In all my life, I've only been a couple of times during first Monday weekend. Usually there's tons of people, and I usually have no desire to go. Last weekend Mom decided she wanted to go for something in one booth in one shop that wasn't even there when we finally found where she wanted to go. However, we found a supplier for some of our smaller wood cutouts and found some good deals. We were hoping that the wooden Christmas decorations would fit in the horseshoe Christmas trees (look for tomorrow's post). They didn't, but I ended up selling this whole lot of 45 to my cousin. She decided she wanted more, and we think they will sale at the Mesquite Rodeo Holiday Shopping Expo . So today, I took off work a little early to make it back over to Canton (for the second time in 7 days) before a place closed at 5:00. We searched bins...