Kate Nording-Hoel chats with customer Patty Ellsworth at Saturday’s Daily Mining Gazette’s Deer Hunter’s Widows Craft Show at the Copper Country Mall. (Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette)

PORTAGE TOWNSHIP — The dozen “silly little snowmen” Kate Nording-Hoel had lined up at the start of Saturday morning had shrunk to a group of five by 2 p.m. 

The culprit wasn’t a warm snap — just the frenetic pace of holiday shopping. 

Nording-Hoel’s snowmen were just one of the items customers snapped up from the more than 80 vendors at the Daily Mining Gazette’s Deer Hunter’s Widows Craft Show at the Copper Country Mall.

“It was wall-to-wall people,” said Advertising Manager Yvonne Robillard. “I think everybody was happy.”

By the final hour, the show had cooled from packed to merely bustling. 

ShereeLee Nick of Hancock walked past the booths with armfuls of goods — base arrangements will brighten up the house, plus some clothes. The haul also included a Christmas gift (not to be spoiled here). 

She likes craft shows, and Saturday was a good day for it. Plus she likes being able to buy Christmas things early. 

“I also like that it’s locally made things, that are kind of centered on stuff up here in the U.P.,” she said. 

Mary Sivonen’s booth near the center of the mall encompassed handmade crafts and baked goods. 

She’s been taking her goods to craft shows for the past 15 years. But she learned her skills at a young age in both areas.

“You have to learn these things when you’re young,” she said. “When you’re my age you don’t learn anymore, it’s too late.”

Her crafts table included wool mittens, which she makes by reusing and shrinking old wool sweaters. The biggest sellers were her jams — thimbleberry in particular — and he baked goods. She pointed to the spot where her prune tarts would have appeared. 

“I sold all that I had,” she said. 

Nording-Hoel got into selling her crafts about eight years ago. She likes to sew, “and you can only give away so much,” she said. And selling her creations got her the money for more supplies.

The snowmen only take 15 minutes or so. More complicated pieces, like the wreaths or the sheets of fabric ornaments, can take a whole day. 

The most popular item? It fluctuates each year. The thing that sells like hotcakes one year might go untouched the next, Nording-Hoel said. 

She tries to add new items to her repertoire each year. New for Saturday’s craft show were wooden sticks with Christmas trees, “Happy Holidays” signs and other festive items attached. 

The crowds are always big, which Nording-Hoel loves. And living in Houghton, it isn’t far for her to travel. 

“I know a lot of the other vendors, too, so it’s fun to see them,” she said. 

Some of Nording-Hoel’s other wares found a customer in Patty Ellsworth, who bought some hanging towels. 

The visit had been a snap decision. After seeing a sign for the craft show outside the mall, she thought, “I’m gonna go in there.”

Ellsworth recently moved to a home just outside of Houghton from Omaha, Nebraska. 

“They have them too, but this is far bigger,” she said.