By Kara Thompson
On Saturday, Dec. 10, the city of College Park hosted its first-ever Winter Wonderland outside of the City Hall building.
College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn spoke about this being the first winter celebration held outside City Hall and led a countdown to the tree lighting in downtown College Park.
There was free hot chocolate and coffee for those in attendance, as well as two local breweries from which people could purchase alcoholic beverages. There were holiday crafts for any children, live carolers and a petting zoo.
The event also hosted a Maker’s Market, in anticipation of Shop Made in Maryland, which is set to open on the ground floor of City Hall in winter 2023. Shop Made in Maryland is the newest branch of the retail initiative, which previously set up two stores in Virginia and Washington in an effort to help small businesses in their respective areas pursue opportunities to enter the market and sell their products.
One of these shops was Pinwheel Clay, a woman-of-color-owned shop founded by Ezrah Te and Maggie Land that handcrafts polymer clay jewelry at affordable prices.
“We are familiar with Shop Made in DC, we’ve popped up with them before, so we had heard about the store opening up in College Park,” said Te. “We just wanted to be involved since we’re a Maryland-based company, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to get linked up with them.”
Pinwheel Clay was a pandemic business that opened up in the fall of 2020. Both Te and Land are self-taught jewelry makers.
“We traveled to New England and found this really cute boutique with local artwork and jewelry and there were these polymer clay earrings and we had never seen them before,” Te said. “So we did some research and basically, we [went] to the craft store, did some kind of prototype testers, gave some to some friends, and that kind of was the start of Pinwheel Clay.”
Another shop at the market was MacraMadeByJackie, which sold handmade accessories and art. Macrame is a form of textile art that — in contrast to knitting or crochet — is produced by creating knots within the yarn or material used instead of interlacing separate threads.
“For a couple of years on every New Year’s Eve, I would try and teach myself a new craft, skill, anything and so the first time it was crocheting and it did not stick,” said Jackie Letizia, owner of MacraMadeByJackie, on how she began her business. “The next year I tried macrame and so [that’s how] it started.”
Letzia enjoyed macrame, and that the final products she was creating—like plant hangers—were more than just decorative.
“I really liked how it was like useful,” she said. “I could use it and not just have it on a shelf.”
Letizia typically sells her products through Etsy and Shop Made in DC’s location at Union Market. But as a Maryland resident, she was excited for the opportunity to sell at Saturday’s Maker’s Market and for the future flagship store in College Park.
“They sent me the listing and I was so excited because I live in Takoma Park, and most of the markets I do are in DC or Baltimore or Frederick,” she said. “Having one nearby—especially as a UMD alum—it was just really nice.”
Amanda Ly, another shop owner at the event, is also looking forward to the opening of Shop Made in Maryland. She owns Opalescent Soul Garden Co., a plant shop based in Catonsville.
“When I heard about the opening I was excited because even though I’m not from College Park, it’s very adjacent to where I grew up,” she said. “Once I heard [Shop Made was] in Maryland, in a location that I know how to navigate, I was very excited and looking forward to working with them.”
Ly first started in the plant-selling business on Reddit when she was homebound after tearing her ACL.
“There’s a subreddit called TakeaPlantLeaveaPlant, and you just take cuttings from your own plants or if you want to get rid of a plant, you could put it up for trade,” she said. “So through that I kind of got an understanding of the plant market and how to ship plants.”
She had grown up taking care of plants, but her previous job at a plant shop disappointed her, as she did not agree with much of the advice given to customers.
“I just wanted to create a shop that has a really strong emphasis on not just the high quality plants, but giving your customers the education they need to actually succeed in taking care of that plant and hopefully getting everyone addicted to plants as well,” Ly said.
The four-hour event allowed the opportunity for community members of all ages to come together and celebrate the holiday season, with food, drinks and activities, while also promoting local small businesses.
Featured image: Winter lights decorate the exterior of College Park City Hall. Photo by Kara Thompson.