Puttin' on the Dog!

Every year I hear about the Nutcracker Market, which is a fundraiser for the Houston Ballet. To be honest, I thought it was a market that just sold nutcrackers up until last year. It is actually a huge craft show, selling home decor, Christmas decorations, toys, clothes, food, and more, and has a HUGE following. It runs for 4 days straight, Thursday-Sunday, with different themes each year, this years theme being "Puttin' on the Dog."

My mom posing by the dog artwork

Doggie Decor

Upside-down Christmas Tree

My mother, sister, and I decided to go, and thought we could beat the crowd by going on Friday...boy were we wrong! The market is held at the Reliant Center, and opens at 10am. We woke up early so we could buy tickets, get a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and stop by my doctors office so I could get my H1N1 vaccine. We arrived just a little after 10:00, and it was already packed... Not just a little packed, Black Friday packed! It was chaos, and the hordes of women kept coming and coming. They had lots of booths with beautiful and creative crafts, jewelry, and decorations, but as the place continued to fill the more people you had to navigate through to see anything. I have a little issue with claustrophobia, and the fact that my back is starting to hurt more with the pregnancy made me a little bit of a Debby Downer, but we did have a couple of great finds, making the trip totally worth it.

My favorite booth had picture, plaques, and plates with bible verses that they would personalize for a minimal fee. I am a huge fan of personalization, so I got excited. Here's what I got for our house:

This plate got me choked up b/c it had each of our family members name on it, including our newest member

My sister got the same one for her house

Another booth we found had all food items, and a line of people waiting to walk through the buffet of their samples. We made our way around tasting the free yumminess and I picked up Pecan Pie in a Jar.

They advertise it to be poured into pie crust and baked, but I thought it would be tasty to pour on top of cream cheese and serve as a dip at Thanksgiving. (I'll let you know how it turns out!) Joni picked up an advent calendar & chocolate wine. (I obviously wasn't able to sample this, so hopefully she will save some for me until after Deacon arrives.) My mom found a beautiful centerpiece for her coffee table as well; so we all left with bags in tow.

I know many women who make this excursion an annual tradition, taking off work each year to do their holiday shopping with friends. I was very happy with my purchases, but doubt I will be venturing out to fight the crowds again next year.