A Cottage Industry
The handmade vintage-handkerchief duvet covers, to put over comforters, could go on the rattan chair in the living room. And maybe the chenille bedspreads from the ‘40s and ‘50s should be displayed in her teenager’s rose-hued bedroom. . . .
Decision by decision, Teri McHugh transforms her two-story Santa Monica home into a boutique to sell collectible linens. Like many other part-time hobbyists throughout Southern California this holiday season, McHugh, an insurance company executive, and her partner, Dinah O’Connor, a celebrity personal assistant, open their doors to stage at-home sales of handcrafted goods and artwork.
“[It’s] an outlet for our creativity and a release,” said O’Connor. “We enjoy seeing old clients, friends and neighbors who see the two of us hauling bags of fabric home and wonder what the heck we do with it. Now they can see how we’ve transformed those fabrics.”
Drive along the streets this time of year and you’ll see fliers for these events posted on telephone poles or community bulletin boards. Still, it’s hard to say how many holiday boutiques take place in homes nationwide or whether such sales are increasing, said Susan Brandt, a spokeswoman for the Hobby Industry Assn. in New Jersey, which represents the craft and hobby industries. A 1998 study by the association found that 16% of U.S. households include someone who makes crafts for resale. That number is growing, which could indicate an increase in such sales and could create a problem for shops that sell handmade items, Brandt said.
City regulations for home businesses often do not apply to such boutiques, so shop owners who pay rent, utilities and city licensing fees may not be happy to see customers flocking to neighborhood boutiques that don’t have the same overhead, she said.
“I’m not sure I blame them,” Brandt said. “If you’re losing sales because your neighbors are selling out of their house. . . My guess is, in some communities, it could be an issue if this continues to grow.”
Zoning laws usually prohibit the sale of merchandise from a home. Many cities’ ordinances consider one- or two-day craft sales in a residence to fall into the category of garage sales.
In Santa Monica, for example, households are allowed two garage sales a year with no permits or fees. The city code restricts such sales to household items and personal goods, but “unless we receive a complaint, it’s unlikely we would go out and investigate,” said Amanda Schachter, the city’s acting principal planner. She noted that she has not heard any such complaints.
Long Beach also allows two garage sales a year; the first is free, while the second requires an $8 fee. But a holiday boutique might be different.
“I’m not sure those would be considered garage sales,” said Chris Davis, the city’s manager of commercial services. “There are all sorts of grays. This may be one.
“The whole idea is we don’t want you going out and buying a bunch of television sets and selling them on the sidewalks,” Davis said. “I know that [holiday boutiques] happen at Christmastime . . . but we don’t view them as a problem.”
Crafters offer a variety of reasons for deciding to hold such events.
“For the fun of it,” said Gail Denham of South Pasadena, a stay-at-home mom. “We all had things we wanted to share and wanted to make money for the holidays.”
On a recent Saturday, Denham and nine friends set up card tables behind her house. Under cloudy skies, dozens of passersby dropped in to check out items including hand-sewn baby blankets and home-baked pumpkin bread.
Others say the boutiques give them a chance to show neighbors another side of themselves.
Silvio Ocana of Victorville never thought about selling his hand-painted Christmas ornaments until his garage got a little too full. This year, for the first time, he and his daughter decided it might be fun to have a weekend holiday sale. They basked in compliments from neighbors who couldn’t believe that Ocana and his daughter had made the ceramic ornaments, which sold for $2 to $20.
“You’re selling something that you have hand-made,” said Ocana, a retired accountant. “You have fun when the people say, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful!’ It was great.”
For the past nine years, right before the holidays, Virginia Williams of Northridge has opened her backyard to fellow students of Lois Rainwater, who teaches basket-making. It’s a way for novice basket-makers to sell their work without paying a $500 booth fee at a big crafts fair, said Williams, who doesn’t charge participants.
Williams, a retired city librarian, borrows a big coffee maker, sets up card tables under her orange trees and asks each seller to provide a couple dozen cookies. Neighbors and the anti-mall crowd appreciate the original finds, she said.
“It’s like an old quilting bee,” Williams said. “It’s not for money. You can’t find good baskets anymore--this is a place to find them. It’s very rewarding to see people who have worked very hard over their creations and designed these baskets. They’re not just clones of other ones.”
Renee Tawa can be reached atrenee.tawa@latimes.com.
