For Eugenia Bellario, one of the joys of participating in the Holiday House Arts & Crafts Bazaar is watching her granddaughter take pride in her handmade creations. Whether helping arrange hats and scarves or telling customers that her grandmother made the items they admire, her granddaughter has become part of a tradition Bellario first experienced as a young woman. Now, decades later, Bellario can share that tradition with a new generation.
The Holiday House Arts & Crafts Bazaar has been a Lafayette County tradition for more than 30 years. Organized by Mississippi Community Volunteers (MCV), formerly known as Mississippi Homemaker Volunteers, the annual event brings together local artisans while raising money for charitable causes.
The organization, affiliated with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, has been active in Lafayette County for more than 50 years. The bazaar, previously known simply as Holiday House, adopted its expanded name this year.
“This is one of the biggest fundraisers that MCV has for the year, and that allows us to be able to donate to charitable agencies,” said Bellario, media admin for the Lafayette County MCV.
Co-sponsored by the Lafayette County MSU Extension and Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, this year’s bazaar will feature approximately 40 vendors, a silent auction, children’s activities, and a Saturday visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. Visitors are also encouraged to bring nonperishable food donations for the Oxford Food Pantry.
Bellario remembers attending her first Holiday House as a young woman, when the event was held at the old National Guard Armory. She recalls the festive decorations and the excitement of seeing what local crafters had created with their own hands.
Decades later, she is helping organize an event that now includes approximately 40 vendors, with offerings ranging from pottery and handmade jewelry to quilts, wreaths, baked goods, and 3D-printed creations. A silent auction is also planned.
For Oxford potter Michael Satterfield, the appeal of handmade goods lies partly in their imperfections.
“It’s not perfect, it’s pottery,” Satterfield said, explaining that the fingerprints and subtle irregularities left behind by the artist distinguish handcrafted pieces from mass-produced merchandise.
Satterfield, who earned a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from the University of Mississippi, began his pottery business in a two-car garage 15 years ago. What started as an unexpected career change has grown into a full-time operation producing stone dinnerware, decorative bowls, ornaments, and other household pieces.
Although his work now reaches retailers and establishments across several states, Satterfield believes that meeting the person behind a handmade object gives it a different kind of value.
For customers purchasing gifts, he sometimes signs and personalizes individual pieces, turning them into keepsakes made specifically for their recipients.
The holiday season is particularly important to his business. While much of the production begins as early as June to prepare for holiday orders, the final months of the year offer opportunities to connect directly with customers.
At Holiday House, Satterfield plans to display examples of his dinnerware alongside ornaments, abstract bowls, animal figurines, and other decorative pieces.
For Satterfield, those personal encounters are as rewarding as working with clay itself.
That same appreciation for the relationship between artist and customer is shared by jewelry maker Melinda Hitt, whose passion for jewelry began long before she started selling her creations.
As a teenager, Hitt dreamed of making jewelry but did not know where to begin. Around 2010, while still working at a warehouse where she would eventually complete 36 years of employment, she began teaching herself the craft through instructional videos.
Starting with beads and simple necklace designs, she gradually developed her skills, experimenting with colors and styles that complemented different outfits. After retiring in 2016, she devoted more time to what had become a favorite hobby.
Her creativity continued to evolve, sometimes under unexpected circumstances. Following a surgery that required her to keep her foot elevated, Hitt began experimenting with wire rings using leftover beads from earlier projects. The rings proved popular with customers, encouraging her to expand into wire bracelets and other designs.
Today, her creations range from beaded necklaces and delicate earrings to rings, bracelets, and jewelry sets. Rather than limiting herself to one artistic style, Hitt pays attention to the changing tastes of her customers, including younger shoppers who prefer simpler, more delicate pieces.
At this year’s bazaar, she plans to bring wire earrings shaped like crosses and angels, wire bracelets, beaded necklace sets, delicate necklaces, and an assortment of rings.
Yet for Hitt, the satisfaction of making jewelry comes less from completing a sale than from seeing someone genuinely appreciate her work.
“My thing is that what makes me happy and what blesses me is to see other people enjoy the jewelry,” she said.
She recalled meeting a father at a festival in Grenada who was searching for a gift for his 10-year-old daughter. After looking through several options, he selected three elastic bracelets, convinced his daughter would love them.
For Hitt, the memorable part of the exchange was the father’s excitement at imagining his daughter’s reaction.
She also remembered a mother whose young daughter was delighted by one of her children’s necklaces. Moments like those have reinforced her belief that handmade jewelry should be something its owner genuinely enjoys wearing.
Hitt, who has participated in the Holiday House bazaar for several years, believes shoppers who appreciate handmade goods understand the time and thought involved in producing them.
Beyond providing a marketplace for local artists, Holiday House serves another purpose: supporting charitable work throughout Lafayette County.
This year, MCV is collecting nonperishable food donations for the Oxford Food Pantry, an organization its members already support through regular volunteer work. Bellario said the Lafayette County council selected the pantry as a collective service project for the year.
MCV members also help stock community mini-pantries and have supported other causes, including a veteran’s home and a children’s hospital in Jackson.
For Bellario, the bazaar represents more than an annual fundraiser. It is also an opportunity to preserve a community tradition and introduce younger generations to the value of volunteering and creating things by hand.
Her granddaughter, now an honorary member of the organization, helps arrange her handmade hats and scarves and proudly tells customers about the work behind them.
The Holiday House Arts & Crafts Bazaar will be held Friday, November 13 from 10 am–7 pm, and Saturday, November 14 from 9 am–3 pm, at the Lafayette County Arena. Vendors can register for the Bazaar through the YAC website at oxfordarts.com. The registration deadline is November 6.
About the Author
