Country Bazaar sets tone for season

As the season's first snowfall carpeted Sisters this weekend, setting the scene for some pre-holiday shopping, one nice sleigh-stop was the Country Holiday Bazaar inside the home of Trudy Kalac.

"This is my first year doing something like this and it's been so fun," she said, directing a shopper around the corner to the hot cider in her kitchen. "I have so many friends who make things and are so creative and we thought of doing a more intimate Christmas crafts show here at my house and pulled it together. People love to shop this way, it's more inviting and relaxing. I know I do."

With Gene Autry singing "Up On The Rooftops" on the television and a fire glowing in the woodstove, it wasn't hard for visitors to leap right into the spirit of the season browsing through Kalac's decorated ranch house.

Four twinkling Christmas trees hung with artisan ornaments greeted friends from every room. Shelves and tables filled with wooden snowmen, glass snowflake candy jars, silk wine bags, bundles of fresh cinnamon, handmade greeting cards, candles and housewares from a dozen artists tantalized shoppers with affordable gift ideas.

In the kitchen, Kalac served up samples of chocolate fudge, zucchini bread and Christmas cookies for shoppers needing a quick sugar fix before roaming the rest of the house in search of trinkets or treasures to be later wrapped or stuffed in stockings come Christmas. Homemade granola, baked breads, canned jams, Italian biscotti and star-shaped sugar cookies were available to buy for some inexpensive prices.

Kalac has participated in the Camp Sherman holiday fair for years and always thought a huge draw was its down-home intimacy and casual feel.

"They had a fire crackling and a big tree all lit up and a pot of chili cooking and it just made people want to stay," she said. "We're planning on doing this again here on Crooked Horseshoe next year. This first one is a learning experience. We had a packed house on Friday afternoon and Saturday has been steady too. It really sets the holiday season going and gets people in the mood. I've been decorating already for a month."