My blog readers will likely remember the first year (2024) of the Teen Maker Program at my local Makerspace in the city of Cambridge in Ontario, Canada.  This is where volunteer mentors as well as the helpful staff at the Makerspace assist and guide young crafters for the city's annual Holiday Market.  Well, the city generously sponsored a second year with a table for the children. I again volunteered as a mentor. 

The Makerspace is on the top floor of a renovated historic building, the Old Post Office which backs onto the Grand River. It is part of the city's library system so it is free for all to use although users have to pay for the cost of materials. 


This is the view I captured from the Old Post Office itself which overlooks the Grand River and the city centre.  The Main Street Bridge is where they filmed some scenes from The Handmaid's Tale TV series which is based on the 1985 book by Canadian novelist, Margaret Atwood.


The (mostly) teens were first introduced to the Makerspace and the different machines available there. Over the course of about 6 weeks, they not only come up with ideas for the craft show but learned how to design and make the items. Some of the very talented mentors and staff teach them elements of design, branding as well as guide them in the use of the machines. There is even a session on trialling set ups too. My small contribution was the lesson on marketing and promotion, sales and pricing.

Photo Credit : OPO, Cambridge, ON

The top photo shows the City Hall interior where most of the 100 vendors were located. The stalls were along the hallways as well as the other rooms on several floors. I took the photo first thing on the Saturday morning so it wasn't crowded just yet. The teens were located in the adjacent Cambridge Art Center location. 

I was delighted to see how their table turned out especially the creative approaches to display. This was my haul. As these vendors are all minors, I have not identified them by name. 


The girl who used the OPO's printer to make the Duck the Halls card and the lad who laser cut the cork coaster learned people love humor and puns!

One lass was not sure how to display her artwork but her clever use of an old briefcase worked splendidly. A hand cut and painted corrugated cardboard sign completed her set up. The Makerspace has a large format printer for artwork as well as a Cricut for making stickers. 


One really hot seller were the felt cases which were fairly priced and definitely not underpriced Well done! The girl who made them used the OPO's digital embroidery machine for the tiny decorative touches. She hand sewed the edges. 


A closer look at the display for keychains and ornaments showed it was a painted sturdy cardboard tube with holes bearing small dowels glued into place!  The little lights were a nice touch.


The young lad who made a lot of stickers (and buttons) had a pile of tiny ones which he gave out for free to little kids! "Thanks for not dying" was quite the birthday card design!


One of the mentors suggested to the boy that he did not pre-package his sets of 4 laser cut cork coasters. This was sound advice that gave potential customers the chance to choose. He was also able to quote me the price for a single coaster. He learned a valuable lesson in what customers might prefer and how to make a sale on the spot!


The young participants may never ever do a craft show again in the future. But they have learned so much like how to design, organize themselves, meet objectives and deadlines, work out costs and budgeting and so forth. All skills which they can apply in the future in their other endeavours. 

My daughter was fortunate to participate, and watching her growth throughout the program has been nothing short of inspiring.
That is the biggest takeaway for the program. The kids also learned much about themselves, what they can truly accomplish, and gained immeasurable self-confidence at the same time.  Well done!

Before You Go :

jewelry making supplies


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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM