Staff writer
About 15 years ago as a stay-at-home mother, Brenda Reimer of Hillsboro decided it was time to scratch her artistic itch.
Because of that decision, on Sept. 17, she will set up a booth for the 13th consecutive year at Hillsboro Arts and Crafts Fair to sell decorative handmade trees and ornaments.
“I’ve always had an artistic flair,” Reimer said Friday.
She decided to make the trees and ornaments because she anticipated people would want them. She said she has found that people like decorations that they can easily change throughout the year.
Reimer makes the trees from paper-wrapped wire, which she twists together to form the trunks and branches. She feels that each tree has its own personality.
“No two trees look the same, they’re like snowflakes,” Reimer said.
The ornaments she sculpts out of colored clay, then bakes to harden, before drawing in any needed details with a gel or paint pen.
“There’s ornaments for every months, plus others because I ran out of months,” she said. “It’s one of those things that can be endless, I’ve found.”
Among her other ornaments are sets for back-to-school, Christmas, and sports. In a few cases, she has also tried new ornaments someone requested, because she thought other people would like them too. A set of frog ornaments became popular after she made them at a customer’s request, Reimer said.
One of her latest additions is a 25-piece Christmas set, and she said it is one of her favorites.
“It’s very much like an Advent calendar,” she said.
Some of the ornaments Reimer makes are flat shapes cut out of clay with dies like cookie-cutters. She also makes three-dimensional shapes, which take much more time. Footballs are especially tedious to make, Reimer said.
“I have lots of ideas of things to make that I haven’t had time for yet,” she said.
This will be Reimer’s 13th year with a booth at Hillsboro Arts and Crafts Fair. Her booth will be near the south end of the fair on Main Street, close to where it has been in previous years. She said she appreciates that, because she has customers that seek her out to see what new ornaments she has.
“I love the Hillsboro crowd,” Reimer said. “Hillsboro is absolutely the best craft show I go to.”
For more information about Reimer’s ornaments, visit http://www.brendastrees.com.