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.

You can buy sheets of the strike papers in all sorts of shapes and sizes, mostly self adhesive

A couple of years ago I bought a dormouse in York - it's basically curled up with a hit of nose and whiskers and paws, so it's really a palm sized lump but it is adorable.

Tiny bowls, dip bowls, trinket dish, medium bowls. Pretty patterns, nice bright colours. Not sludge coloured.

My girls all have tiny pottery guinea pigs which are very cute

This is Mr Dormouse- he was made by a friend of my mums for me in 1974 - I love him

cat plates/bowls, it’s hard to find pretty little bowl plates for cats to eat from. People love their pets so would sell well at Xmas.

Tea light holder with holes in.

Good point , I spent £12 on a ska cat water bowl at a festival a few weeks ago- I may have been a bit tipsy 😂

I bought my dad some lovely ceramic / pottery herb labelling sticks (no idea the proper name but hopefully you get the gist of what I mean!) last year at a Christmas market. I think they were about £2 each so I bought a bunch of them 🙃

Pet memorial stone.
Unusual tealight holders in shapes of leaves, hearts, snowflakes.
Light Cord pull ends

I saw a stall the other week where they had made some little ‘paint your own’ kits for kids, so a little butterfly, or xmas ornament in a box or you could use organza bags, then a small paintbrush and the little strip of pots with 4 colours of paint. You can buy the pots and fill them from big bottles to make them more cost effective, like theses from Amazon though they are available cheaper via wholesalers https://www.amazon.co.uk/MAHIONG-Plastic-Containers-Crafters-Classrooms/dp/B0CVTLGDFW?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A30YSL9PNFFBR0

As a gardener and with the state of the climate, I have bought some Orlas recently which are clay pots you bury in the ground and top up the water so the roots get a direct water. They sell online for roughly £10 each but more expensive as they get bigger. I have a long desire to do pottery and I honestly think this could be a smalL business idea!

I've been wanting a salt pig (the thing you pinch salt from- rarely a pig shape).

@Janus I looked at orlas online but the were far more than £10, so I made my own. 2 terracotta pots from B&Q and glued together, then sealed the hole in the base.

Santa plates - ones that have a space for Santa's cookie, carrot for the reindeer and a glass of milk x

I use bowls a lot, but small ones are hard to find so pretty small-ish bows (same diameter as a cup, or slightly bigger) would be lovely, maybe in sets.

Those are gorgeous. I'd buy those.

I've made decorations for my tree from air drying clay and cookie cutters. Obviously not as lovely as those, but I've been surprised at how long they've lasted

Yes the £10 hold about 400ml of water so just for house plants really. The good size ones were up to £30! I read it had to be certain type of terracotta, think it may be unglazed to let the water seep out. Went down a rabbit warren of trying to find that type and then gave up!! How’s yours working??

Herb strippers, semi circle with different size holes

Ceramic jam jar frog

I was going to say salt pig and garlic grater but PP’s have beat me to it.

My favourite tree decorations are little ceramic hearts with my kids fingerprints on them and their name and age scrawled across the bottom on their handwriting.

Jewellery, like the brand ceramic ox?

I've been looking for a nice, plain necklace stand that isn't a cheap metal thing.

Lots of people are wearing fine, not exorbitantly expensive necklaces at the moment that tangle if not hung.

Slow feeder bowl for a dog (maybe with an Xmas tree shape in the middle - no idea how complicated that would be, though).

Small plates with a divided section - for "chips and dip" (I'm imagining a small arc shape section at one side of the plate to put sauce/dip into).

Pretty tapas style small plates/bowls?

I bought one of these. I think it was a scam in that it purported to come from a sole trader / maker in the Lake District, but the return address was an industrial unit in Northampton I think. But it did turn up and was as described - I use it a lot.

Memorial jewellery is on my list.. using ashes. Will be niche and obviously custom orders, but I'm making some dog ones for my mum. I'll look into them. Thanks :)

I'm going to have to have a nose at what a jam jar frog is now...