The Art in the Orchard Festival will be held July 9-11, 2026, at Way Fruit Farm in Stormstown, PA. It coincides with the other big festivals in the area…the Central PA Festival of the Arts in downtown State College, and the Peoples’ Choice Festival in Boalsburg, PA. So, if you’re in the mood to cruise arts and crafts festivals in Central Pennsylvania July 8-12, you’ll have a lot to choose from! Pack your sunscreen…it’s supposed to be hot and sunny!
I will be at the festival at Way Fruit Farm July 9th (12-8pm), 10th (10-8pm) and 11th (10-5pm). I’ll be sharing a booth with two friends that have their own specialty crafts so come check us out! Last week we did a trial run of setting up the tent…just to make sure we remembered how to do it!
Last year, if any of you remember, I had a single table with the beaded bracelets I had been working on. My display was not terribly exciting, but I think my sign was big enough! Understated as it was, I still made over $600!
Here is last year’s booth:
This year I planned to expand to two tables and now have over 400 bracelets to display.
Last week we set up the tent in the backyard, just to make sure we had all the pieces and remembered how they all went together. Just getting the tent out of the bag was a challenge!
It really takes two people to coordinate and expand the legs of the tent.
We even added the sidewalls so we could see how my new grid backdrop would attach to the frame. I promise, I did leave a little room for Toni and Sue to display their stuff! (smile).
This was a sketch of how I thought my display would look. Since I had not tried to clip the bags of bracelets to the black frame, I was surprised how tall Bert had made it…I could almost not reach the top row of clips. We planned to bring a small stool so we can all reach the tops of our displays.
I think against the white sidewalls, the black frame and tables look pretty good!
Toni and Sue came over to check out the spaces I’ve left for them! They were very kind! I’ll post pictures of how the whole booth looks next weekend when we finally get everything set up.
A final step to be prepared for the festival next week, was to put a tiny price sticker on each item. No small task! With over 400 items, that was my evening entertainment for several days.
Specialty Bracelets
Today I’ve been making proper labels for all the various containers of bracelets.
Below is a list of all the specialty bracelets I’ve made…most in three sizes.
I’ve also made Key Chain Accessories for ten of the specialty bracelets so you can keep the intention close by…on your keys or your purse. Those ten include:
Courage, Fear & Phobias, Fear-Public Speaking, Good Luck, Good Luck-Relationships, Embrace Love, Protect-Pollutants/EMFs, Safe Travels, and Well-Being.
I will wait to make more until I see if folks are interested in them.
Regular Bracelets
Finally, I’ve made almost 200 regular bracelets in three sizes just because I like the stone beads. They often have just one or two different beads and the intention for each bracelet is determined by the beads themselves.
I now have a catalog of the Specialty Bracelets I’ve made, mostly to display at the festival. Because I really don’t have a convenient way to accept online orders, I’ve decided to stick with selling these bracelets at local festivals and fairs.
If you are interested in learning more about crystals and gemstones, I highly recommend The Book of Stones, by Robert Simmons & Naisha Ahsian. available on Amazon.
You can start the way I did and choose a few stones that appeal to you. I started my collection by ordering small polished stones through Sedona Crystal Vortex in Sedona, Arizona (https://sedonacrystalvortex.com) and learning about a few at a time.
Since everything I make is shared and is designed to encourage you to make it yourself, please explore the world of gemstone and crystal beads. You can make a bracelet that speaks to your own needs. There are many how-to instructions available on the internet!
I would be glad to share a copy of my catalog of Bracelets with Intention.
Please request a FREE PDF of my catalog by emailing me at maryjkisner@gmail.com.
If you have comments or questions, please email me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com.