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When we value & celebrate creativity it has a positive impact on our community.
Creativity... Encourages community identity and culture. Fosters social connection & builds bonding. Beautifies and revitalizes public spaces. Connects residents within the community & engages visitors. Boosts local industry & economy. Uplifts individuals and groups within the community. The Marble Falls Handmade Market is an opportunity for community members to explore the arts and creative culture in Marble Falls. We bring together local artisans & makers to showcase their unique creations from art to jewelry to wellness & apparel.
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By Ashley Ward 1. It'll be loads of fun. Our group of artists, makers and bakers are creative, wonderful people whose company makes for a great time. 2. The atmosphere is friendly and welcoming. This is as much about the visitors as it is about the vendors and the members of the SAC. 3. Support the Senior Activity Center. 70% of our vendor fees go directly to the center so just by showing up, you're showing support. The SAC provides enriching activities for Seniors in Marble Falls and they foster meaningful relationships in the community. 4. Explore the creativity of Marble Falls and the surrounding cities! Every artisan lives and works within 40 miles of Marble Falls so our market is a true reflection of our creative culture. 5. Find something great. Every item at our market is handmade so each piece is one-of-a-kind. The items you'll find here are carefully and skillfully made with purpose so you're bound to find something you love! 6. It's almost Mother's Day! So you can bring your mom for a special time together of strolling the market or you can come pick out her gift from a range of body products, jewelry, art, sweet treats and more. 7. We'll be serving delicious homecooked BBQ made by Aaron Alvarez of The Meat Sweats. The flavors are bold, the food is smoky & saucy, and the meal is mouthwatering. 8. There'll be drinks, too. Craft beverages made with fresh ingredients will be served over ice for you to enjoy while you shop. 9. It's an indoor market! Whatever the weather - we'll be here. With our Texas fluctuations you never know if the day will be windy or hot or rainy but you can be certain that we'll be comfortable inside. 10. You might win a collection of handcrafted items donated by our artisans! If you RSVP here and you attend the event in person, you'll be entered to win! The drawing is at 1pm.  By Ashley Ward When you shop local, you’re shopping from friends, neighbors and community members. These are business owners who care about your city and care about you. Local business owners are interested in serving your shared community and making it a better place.
Local businesses owners tend to contribute to the community more than larger corporations. They have parents, children and grandchildren who live in the community so they have a vested interest in helping out. Just think - we had NINE small businesses glady donate to our very first market because they believe in the concept of art + community. See our donors here. When you shop local, you’re keeping dollars in the community and contributing to the health of the local economy. Money spent locally circulates in the community benefiting more than one business owner & customer. Local businesses often use local suppliers which reinvest profits into neighboring businesses. Local businesses create jobs and provide economic opportunities for those living in the surrounding area. In turn, these employees are able to support their families and recirculate money locally. Shopping locally means that you're keeping those delivery trucks off the roads and that's great for our environment. When you combine errands, you lower your contribution of CO2 emissions. And packaging from local shops is minimal (no big boxes for every tiny item). Shopping at a local business means you get to interact with community members. You are able to build relationships and have significant interactions. When shopping locally, you get to know your city and the people in it and you make meaningful connections. For example, the other night I went to get a BBQ plate from a friend who is selling them at the VFW with her husband. Her name is Rayleen and she is a painter who participated in our holiday market; her husband does the BBQ from Nelson’s BBQ. As I drove into the parking lot, I saw the beautiful red, white & blue barn quilt on the side of the building which was made by one of our current vendors for our May market. Her name is Janet Plentl of JaVibe Barn Quilts and she does incredible work by designing and hand-painting every quilt. I was introduced to her work by her son and daughter in-law who I’m in a book club with. These natural connections are only possible by shopping locally. If I were to sit at home and shop online from my laptop, I would miss out on building relationships with people in my community who share my interests (or at least my zip code). This is the power of shopping local. Join us at the Marble Falls Handmade Market on May 3rd, 2025 from 10am-2pm at 618 Avenue L, Marble Falls, Texas. In addition to art & artisanal items there’ll be fresh food, craft beverages and a place for you to sit & relax with friends and neighbors. By Ashley Ward We’ve come so far in efficiency and consistency through the use of technology and machines. Factories can spit out clones of items in seconds, making material goods available to us at incredibly inexpensive cost and quick rate. From water bottles to jewelry, decorations to food - there’s a machine for almost everything.
So why would anyone choose the inconvenience and expense of buying handmade? Items made by hand are done so slowly, with every piece set in place under the watchful eye of the maker. It takes time to design, plan, source and build an object from hand. A creative person is pulling from their own experience & imagination not a computer program or AI. One item differs from the next even if they are made from the same design because humans are dynamic beings that don’t produce outputs like a machine does but rather we infuse our personalities, our perspective, and sometimes our shaky hands into the items we create. We follow recipes that we created through weeks, months or years of experimentation - and even then we’ll get variation. We take inspiration from the world around us or from others who have gone before us but each item that we build and create becomes our own. Each item is one-of-a-kind. Handmade items are often more expensive than their factory-produced counterparts because supplies and materials have been individually sourced by a person who doesn’t have access to huge amounts of capital or large suppliers like a big company would. We often buy ingredients from people we know or people in our community (and even if we order online, it’s done thoughtfully with our values taken into consideration which then translates to the finished product). The durability of handmade items are unique to human limitations. Sometimes machines assemble low-quality items that fall apart easily and sometimes they help us build items made with such precision that they’re indestructible and no human could ever hope to compete. And that’s why we value handmade - because you know that the durability will only ever be as strong as is humanly possible and we connect more when we see our own humanity reflected. P.S. This essay was written entirely by me with no help from AI even though AI may have made a more clear and concise point for you. I opted to write this from scratch even though it took me a half hour and years of personal experience and thoughts on the subject. There are grammar mistakes, sentences that could have been written better and the flow could be better. But this is handmade. Thanks for reading :) And come see all the handmade goods at the Marble Falls Handmade Market! We'll be there on May 3rd, 2025 from 10am-2pm at 618 Avenue L, Marble Falls, Texas. By Ashley Ward 1. More money stays with the maker
Cash helps vendors avoid costly processing fees, which can add up quickly—especially for small-ticket items. Cash means no fees, so more of your money goes directly to the artisan or small business. 2. Keeps things simple Let's face it: tech can be unreliable, especially on a shared network. Using cash helps us avoid tech delays, bad connections and forgotten passwords. Cash is fast and reliable. 3. Promotes mindful spending Paying with physical cash makes you more aware of your purchases, helping you shop more intentionally. Do you really want to part with that crispy 20-spot? 4. Good for the planet Tech-based money exchanges require processes that use energy from servers, devices, apps and networks. Cash is the lower waste option. 5. No Digital Footprint Using cash is a straightforward money exchange between buyer and seller. When using digital payments there are third parties involved that may collect data and use it for targeted marketing. If you want to keep it clean, keep it cash. |