Ideas for affordable handmade pottery gifts to sell at Christmas market

[EllaBella1983]

This is my first post, so bear with!

I'm a novice potter. I'm also an absolute cheapskate but I also love handmade things and supporting locally made goods. In December I'm planning to participate in my community studio's Christmas Market. From a seller perspective, I do pottery as therapy, but I don't want to undermine those who use it as a form of income by undermining their prices. From a buyer perspective, I generally go to markets, look at things and think eek, that's a lot.. (even if I appreciate why it's the price it is) but wish I could support the seller by buying something small but still fab.

So I thought as well as my higher end items (plates, mugs, etc.), I could sell smaller items which didn't really require much in the way of decoration or individual processing, but were still hand made.

I like useful things. I'm not one for random bits of tat (or ornaments- as I've heard they're called), so my inspiration is a bit limited to what I would like to buy and use, and how much I would pay for it.

So I'm asking... if you went to a Christmas fayre on the hunt for presents, what would you want to pick up and what would you want to pay for it?

I'm thinking of a £1-5 section for stocking fillers, a £5-£10 for small gifts, and then £10+ for other bits. Also with a view to doing customisable gifts such as house signs, which could be pre-made and then decorated and glazed post purchase.

Please throw your ideas at me.

I love handmade ceramics - my ideas:

Pie funnel
coasters
brooches
small plant pots
small soap dish
small bud vase(s)
yarn bowl
oil burner/wax melt thingy
Christmas tree ornaments

my favourite - I have a tiny pottery hedgehog, it has a groove on the bottom that sits on the side of a bowl and lots of holes you can put cocktail sticks in - really cute on the side of a bowl of olives.

Round ceramic disk gift tag with a hole and threaded ribbon. Glazed front side with leaf imprinted design. Reverse left blank for the customer to add their message and recipient's name. Sold with a gold sharpie or chalk pen

Love the hedgehog idea!!

I have a tiny bowl for salt flakes which I use when cooking & baking. Don't see them around much.

On an advert I saw a small oval cup with varying size small holes. The idea is you thread a herb stalk (eg rosemary, thyme) through from inside to out and pull.....the herb leaves stay in cup and stalk can be disposed of. I googled trustpilot with company name and it was total scam (I've been caught before so ultra cautious now) so didn't purchase, but if I ever see one at a craft show I'll buy it. Could also promote for home made sage and onion stuffing at Christmas.

This is possibly a bit niche but I love tiny clay houses. Google Glenshee Pottery bothies - that kind of thing.

One of the nicest gifts I got from a potter was a ceramic pendant on a leather thing which was almost like a pebble with a hole in the middle glazed in a beautiful metallic colour. Although I did crack a tooth when reaching down

Soap dishes.

Whatever small thing it’s good to have a business card and wrapping that makes it clear it’s a handmade item. Adds so much value if gift giving. Like ‘Handmade in Croydon with love by Ellabella designs’.

I saw a pottery match striker! Amazing. The top part carried the matches and you turned it over to strike the match. I thought would be a great stocking filler.

Is it possible to make little bells, I’d definitely buy one if you sold them? A little bell on a ribbon would be lovely at Christmas.

Something that seems popular at the moment are worry stones. They are basically a pottery pebble with a dent in them to make them tactile.

I love little pottery ghosts , very simple and yes I would buy a snowflake decorated Christmas one , but that might just be me !

I wonder about very simple pottery Christmas ornaments?

I'm thinking buy some cookie cutters in the shapes of stars, snowflakes, maybe Christmas trees. Cut out clay, poke a good hole through for stringing them up, glaze, maybe a reactive glaze? They would be very low effort I think so hopefully could be quite low cost and would probably fit round other items for popping in the kiln? You could also do pottery initials with a hole in which could either be used as Christmas decorations or to decorate e.g. a child's bedroom door? And maybe also house numbers? Not sure if that would be a thing people would buy, though I probably would!

If you do soap dishes please put holes in the bottom so they drain, and preferably ridges. I hate wet soap with a passion. I also recognise this may make them too annoying to make so also feel free to ignore me 😅

Tiny bowls with ideas for what to use the tiny bowls for are also a good one. E.g. salt as someone said above (also offer a tiny spoon?), olives/dips, jewellery. I think if you can help people see how they can use it in their life they're maybe more likely to buy?

I dunno if they're too much of a pain in the backside to make, but I have a set of what should be saucers for espresso cups, but work incredibly well as tiny plates. I love them for giving to people to pop a few nibbles on before dinner if I am having a dinner party, or to eat puddings off to try and discourage myself from eating too much. I reckon they're about 11?cm diameter, and they're one of my most used pieces of crockery.

I collect Christmas ornaments from different places, so if I walked past your stall and saw something (especially if it is a nod to the location) then I'd buy.

Also love the ceramic gift tag idea.

Edit - specifically ornaments that hang on a tree. Can be simple but effective.

What about a garlic grater? I bought one at a makers market a few weeks ago and it’s great . Works surprisingly well, and I think it’s pretty. Also doubles as a spoon rest and my daughter tells me they’re popular on TikTok at the moment.

What about an option for kids to paint a small pot/animal on the day? I’ve seen this at a summer fayre recently and it was really popular.

Maybe not something that fits what you want to do but just an idea.

I love pottery and porcelain and collect both antique and modern. So am often found mooching about fairs and used to take my DC. One thought i had was that if you are thinking of doing school fairs is that children with small amounts of pocket money often want to buy gifts for parents and grandparents. So £1-3 gifts if possible might go down well. But I appreciate cost of clay, energy and time might make that un-dooable.

I buy decorations for the Christmas tree. So imaginative decs for me.

I was at a pottery fair last Nov and there was a woman selling ceramic tree decorations (as in pic attached) doing a really brisk trade. Think they were about £7 each. Her biggest seller seemed to be tree shaped decorations with an initial stamped onto them. People love things with an initial!

I like these could also do ones that say to Mum/nanny/dad etc merry xmas or whatever

I love a pretty salt pig. Mine sits beside the hob. I bought it Spain - think bright and gaudy.

Salt pig, garlic grater, love the idea of hedgehogs. DD has bought tiny pottery animals incense burners...hippo & squirrel

A small spoon to go in the sugar bowl. It needs a teaspoon sized dimple to pick up sugar and an inch long handle to allow people to hold it but not use it for stirring their drink. I hate when people put wet spoons in the sugar and this stops it. I’ve bought a few of these as stocking fillers for people who share my revulsion at wet spoons in the sugar.

Christmas decorations in the shape of simple stars, tree, gingerbread man, bell. Simply finished, neutral colour, perhaps part glazed or a little metallic glazing. Hole for a ribbon or rustic string. Very “White Company” in styling.