Among this collective are two Estonian sisters, Leena and Mari Kimsto, the owners of All through the House and Gnomes by Mari, respectively. At each of their booths, Leena Kimsto’s daughter Jaanika and Mari Kimsto took some time to share some background on these businesses:
How did each of your businesses get started?
Mari: I’ve had previous businesses before in retail. So I knew I didn't want to go with something brick and mortar. But I wanted to work for myself and work from home.
My parents, like a lot of Estonians in our generation, spent time in Sweden. So at Christmas time growing up, we always had little gnome characters made of felt and wood. I wanted to find one for my home, but I couldn't find one that I liked. They were all sort of toy-like with legs, holding various things.
I happened to have Estonian scarf material and put it on the gnome and thought “well, this would work.” Then I decided that I could make a business out of it.
I wanted something that wasn’t so “in your face.” And so I made one. I happened to have Estonian scarf material and put it on the gnome and thought “well, this would work.” Then I decided that I could make a business out of it. I started to use repurposed sweaters and scarves. Leena was a big help because she took some of my products to shows and people bought them. I've been doing this now for about seven years.
Jaanika: Leena’s son, my brother, wanted to make some Christmas money and decided to make some crafts, and my mom thought she would as well. She ended up looking through home magazines and found some angel decorations. She made her own, and they ended up renting a table at the local community centre’s Christmas fair. It went okay, so they decided to do the same thing the next year. This was back in 1994. And it snowballed from there.
One fundraiser for Cambridge Memorial Hospital has been going on for well over 30 years.
Now we’re doing our 22nd year at One of a Kind. My mom also does fundraisers. Sometimes it’s for dance troupes. One fundraiser for Cambridge Memorial Hospital has been going on for well over 30 years.
What inspired your mom to craft these angel characters, Jaanika?
Jaanika: Well, it fits in with the Christmas theme. But other angels that people have on top of Christmas trees, they're made of heavy porcelain. We also wanted to leave the faces blank so that you can kind of picture your own angel. Some people even get them as memorial gifts, to remember someone on their Christmas tree.
What techniques and materials do you use in your handmade decor pieces?
Mari: Apart from the repurposed fabrics (which I can usually only use for six or seven gnomes), there’s a felt body, which is stuffed and then weighed down with crushed clay. Each gnome has a wooden nose and a faux fur beard, which I source from the US because there’s one type from there that looks and feels the best. Sometimes it's difficult to tell, but I could maybe make 20 gnomes in a week.
Jaanika: The angels are made of a cotton muslin fabric. We use an adhesive product to stiffen it, to give it that old-fashioned, starched look. And then once they're decorated, we spray them with horticultural mist, similar to what they spray on poinsettias. It gives it that sugared look. The hair for the angels is made of aspen fibre from trees grown in Wisconsin.
Besides that, some of the wreaths we make are made with Canadian straw. My mom Leena then covers them in batting and then covers them with boiled wool and terry cloth, to make it look like snow. Some of the embellishments are hand produced, some of them not too much. But each one of them has a handmade touch.
What was involved in becoming a vendor at One of a Kind? What is the show like from your perspective?
Mari: There's a jury, so you submit your photos and a booth idea, and then they approve or don't approve it… So, it feels great to be in such a group of artisans.
Jaanika: You see people from all over the country here. But [One of a Kind] has definitely changed a lot over the years. The organization has changed hands a couple of times, I think. You can see that there are fewer vendors. There used to be over 800 and now there's just over 600 this year.
Could you share an instance where customer feedback influenced your business strategy?
Jaanika: We definitely do listen to what customers like. We keep a record of what people ask for. And then at the end of the season, we look through and try to incorporate things as we can. A lot of people have been asking for animal-themed and sports-themed angels recently. So there are a few with a hockey theme, or with basketballs or soccer balls.
If someone wants something custom, they can contact us. My mom tries her best to accommodate this as best as she can. Just hopefully not in the busy season!
My daughter and son (who also made the logo) have been a huge help with getting me used to that, because that's a totally new type of retail…
Mari: Feedback sometimes comes in from Instagram and Facebook. My daughter and son (who also made the logo) have been a huge help with getting me used to that, because that's a totally new type of retail that I didn't deal with previously.
How do you envision the growth and evolution of your brand in the next few years?
Mari: I wish I knew how it was going to go. It's hard to predict retail, especially now with the economy. All retail is down and everyone can feel it here. But I think that's going to change. Maybe not next year, but the year after that.
Jaanika: We started with the angels, in a lot of different sizes. Now we've cut back on the sizes. We try to offer different styles every year, so that people who come back have something new to see.
My mom has definitely spread out more with the home decor stuff, like Nativity scenes and the wreaths, which have really skyrocketed in the last 10 years. She’s really worked hard to make these products part of people’s homes.
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You can view Mari and Leena’s creations by visiting gnomesbymari.com and allthroughthehousestudio.ca
(This interview has been edited and condensed.)
