Pose for photos with Kermit The Frog this Saturday!
An appearance by a human-sized Kermit The Frog, blown glass, and a school bake sale top the ticket at the Dec. 17 rendition of the Flower Avenue Holiday Market from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Located at 8809 Flower Avenue on the huge parking lot at the corner of Flower Avenue and Arliss Street (near Piney Branch Road), this week’s market is brimming with holiday fun and all kinds of local vendors offering everything from vinyl snowflake window decorations and hand-painted Christmas villages to hand-made jewelry, crochet-wear and rare books. (See list below.)
Kermit the Frog, you say? Yes, he will be on site from 10 a.m. until noon — and he might come back after hopping back to the pond for a quick  lunch. Children and adults who would like to pose with the famous amphibian are welcome to make a small donation to IMPACT Silver Spring to support its community building work in the Long Branch neighborhood.
Sligo Creek Elementary School, meanwhile, will offer a huge variety of lip-smacking treats as part of its effort to raise money to send students on a French immersion trip to Quebec next year. Mindful Decluttering and Organizing is collecting hats, gloves, and scarves for Shepherd’s Table and a portion of all its sales will be donated to the charity. Read more about the social good the Flower Avenue Holiday Market is bringing to Long Branch.
Home Grown Glass Art will be on hand, too, dazzling shoppers with blown glass demonstrations
Home Grown Glass Art captivates shoppers every time.
and selling its creations. Visitors will also be able to listen to live music from performers including John Thayer, a.k.a., Nomad, savor the tastes of other local food vendors, and even get their faces painted.
Don’t forget about chances to shop for all kinds of great holiday gifts and decor. The vinyl snowflake decoration vendor is back by popular demand. So are countless other crowd pleasers.
Here’s a list of some of the vendors scheduled for the Flower Avenue Holiday Market on Dec. 17:
Antiques, Collectibles
Orion’s Attic: Antiques, art, collectibles, decorative glass, home décor. www.orionsattic.com
Barrera, Sonia: Antique/vintage, collectibles, furniture, home décor, pottery,
Art and Arts & Crafts
Christ-Life African Arts and Crafts: African arts and crafts including hand-carved wooden animals.
Home Grown Glass Art: Blown glass demonstrations and a wide-variety of glass. https://www.etsy.com/shop/ryaneicher
Huaman, Maria: Peruvian crafts and holiday things.
Kavango!, Kavango sells home accents handmade & fair trade primarily from Africa. Some items are from the Caribbean and from Laos and Vietnam. I work with these women’s cooperatives and select the pieces personally. Baskets, tablecloths, aprons and some jewelry, ornaments, cushion covers, masks
Mitchell, Ida: Original paintings on canvas and prints. Giclee/german etched reprints. https://www.art-ida.com/
Patterson, Keith: Block printed cards and watercolors
South African Bizarre: Beaded animals made by hand along with a neat variety of other crafts made by women in South Africa.
Thai Art: Thai Oil Painting on Black Velvet pictures.
Sizes from 4″x10″ to 28″x50″
Books
Old Book Guy: Wide variety of old and rare books, prints, and massive collection of Life magazines.
China
VintageValues: Vintage and contemporary holiday, collectible, and replacement china and glass for everyday use and gift giving.
Christmas/Holiday Decor
Braden, Mark: Hand-painted Christmas village scenes, home décor. See video: http://youtu.be/MfUh9UpGufc
Window Flakes: Static cling window decorations. https://www.etsy.com/shop/windowflakes
Clothing
Afrochet: Fashionable handmade crochet wear.
Asunder By Ray: Custom-made cufflinks, Raymond Thomas links men with sophisticated taste to cufflinks that express their personal style.
Bold as love: Clothing, all tie dye hats, tapestries, shirts, socks and pants.
Dorjebajra Tibet Shop: Felt bags, wool hats, gloves, statuary, Tibetian products. https://www.mytibetshop.com/
CHO-PI-CHA: Clothing, Ladies tops, Pants, Dresses, Scarves, Hats, skirts and Accessories.
Ferguson, Ann: Independent vendor selling women’s clothing and accessories. Hand crafted semi-precious gemstone jewelry. Women’s tops and sweaters (silk, cashmere, wool, rayon) shoes and boots (leather & suede heels, leather & suede flats) sneakers, leather gloves and travel & cosmetic bags
K Wear Designs: Leather belts and leather embellish bracelets, seashell pendants, ornaments for pants, provocative chokers, clay made pendants and etc
Curtains
Gebreeggziabaher, Zebenay: Hand-made curtains made by her and her brother.
Food
TofuDelights: Barbeque tofu, jerk tofu, steamed rice, green beans and more.
Hodge-Podge
Berman, Mara: Design your own earrings, landscape paintings, face painting.
Case-Ons: Transform old CD cases into decorative building blocks.
go mama go!: Americana, Antique/Vintage, Books, Furniture, Vintage printed tablecloths, vintage kitchen gadgets, outdoor tables (teak and tile), cookbooks
Kiehne, Jacqueline: Books, clothing, collectibles, furniture, home décor, records, CDs, instruments, pottery, arts & crafts, clothing, lamps, and Christmas decorations
My Equisite Scentsy: Candle-warmers with moderns scents and aromas. https://myexquisite.scentsy.us/
Jewelry
Fun to Give, Fun to Get: Hand-worked sterling silver and precious metal clay with natural stones, glass beads and swarovsky crystals.
Jennifer’s Handcrafts: Arts/Crafts, Jewelry, Handmade and import Jewelry for kids and adult.
Lovely To Look At
Tibet Shop: Hand-made silver Jewelry, felt bags, wool hats, gloves, Statuary, Tibetan products. www.mytibetshop.com
Vargas, Mireya: Handmade necklaces of different semi-precious stones in sterling silver and also organic seeds.
Nonprofit Organizations
IMPACT Silver Spring: Dedicated to creating economic empowerment opportunities for communities including Long Branch. https://www.impactsilverspring.org/
Sligo Creek Elementary School: Selling tasty treats to raise money to send students to Quebec as part of French immersion program.
Service Providers
Mindful Decluttering and Organizing: Decluttering and organizing services, workshops and publications. www.clutterfreenow.com
Rossie’s Enterprises: translation service.
Sewing
Long Branch Women’s Sewing Circle: A group of Latin American micro-entrepreneurs sell a variety of sewn items and will take orders for more.
Skin care/Beauty Products
Canales, Yolanda: Perfume
Stiles, Marybeth: Mary Kay. Cosmetics plus table with baskets to display as well as the opportunity for visitors to enter a raffle to win a gift certificate and prizes. www.marykay.com/
