More than 150 artists and crafters participated in this years show, showcasing different businesses and products, including items such as candles, jewelry, children’s books, paintings, pottery, clothing and home decor. With 173 booths in total scattered throughout the Union, many vendors were able to display their items and show off their businesses.

Duo Susan Miller and Anne Simonetti own a business called “Green Daffodil.” Their studio and shop is located in Ferndale, Mich, where the two make and sell products such as candles, body soap, body lotion, room mist and lip balm, all paraben-free and vegan.

“Anne and I started this company about eleven years ago and it all started in my basement,” Miller said. “Both of us are big gardeners, I have been making soap for years before that and we decided to come together and then expand from there … because we both are really sensitive to fragrances and we were frustrated with what was being offered out there in the bath and body world … we decided we were going to do it the right way, which is the hard way.”

All of their items are created to be 100 percent non-GMO, vegan and from soy, and the two are proud to offer handmade, honest and everyday products that are good for the environment.

“One of the reasons we use soy is because Michigan is one of the largest soy producers in the country," Miller said. "All our of our soy comes from American farmers … so we not only want to create jobs for ourselves, but for other people too.”

With this being their third year attending the arts and crafts holiday show, both Miller and Simonetti said that the large crowd that's attracted each year draws them back. Also, it gives them a chance to let people who don’t live in the metro-Detroit area check out their products.

“In the Detroit area we’re kind of saturated there, so here, people don’t see our products at other stores and we like to expand our market," Miller said. 

Twenty-five-year returner to the show, Connie Blackwood, makes different items using wood, including her distinct jewelry boxes. Blackwood said she has been doing craft shows since the 1980s and has continued ever since.

“I wanted to do something with my hands," Blackwood said. "I had recently gotten married and my husband wanted to buy tools … we were remodeling an old farm house at the time so I really learned a lot about woodworking."

Something that makes her items unique is the design and type of wood she uses to craft her materials with.

“My biggest item is my jewelry boxes … they are made from both domestic woods and exotic woods," Blackwood said. "The tops of them are very unique because it’s many different kinds of wood put together with different colors, different grains, which really just makes a very unique look to it."

Blackwood, an avid returner, contributes her annual return to the show's success.

“I have been probably doing this show for about 25 years, but it’s the only the show I do,” she said. “I just work up enough stuff to come to this show because it is always good … lots of people, lots of buyers.”

South Bend, Indiana native Michael Connell is a first-timer to the show. He said he started his rejuvenating oil business six and a half years ago. His products are geared toward both men and women, with his most popular items being a hand oil for women and an aftershave for men. 

“When you’re retired, sometimes you get bored and we wanted to make a product men could enjoy shaving with, but was affordable,” he said. “We make a line of men's and ladies' shaving products and moisturizer, all natural.”

Don Lake, from Zeeland, Mich, is also a returner to the show.

“I’ve been here for four, five years now … I do the spring show and this show,” he said. “Great traffic, a lot of people come through and therefore you have a lot of sales, more people, more sales … and it’s Christmastime, these are very unique types of gift boxes.”

Lake said he has been making wooden treasure boxes for about eight years now, originally starting out as a reason to get up every morning and get out of the house, but quickly developing into much more for him.

“I like woodworking and I started making these boxes … it was just a lot of fun, so I just kept doing it,” Lake said.

What makes his wooden treasure boxes different is the multiple drawers, hidden drawers and the type of wood they are all made from.

“They are multiple drawers … certain ones will have a drawer hidden in the back," he said. "It has a lot of character to it, it might have knots in it, it may have insect damage to it, a lot of spatted wood … but there all very unique."