Irene's Gift Shop

Our first market since our move, so excited to be part of this one, it will be our regular one every fortnight, bringing our range of handmade items. Hope to see you there 💕

New to my store is a Handmade Tooth Fairy Pillow, Each pillow has a special pocket for a tiny tooth and a ribbon loop for hanging on a bedroom doorknob. Made from cotton print fabric with a soft white flannel back. Approx. 10cm × 8cm—a sweet keepsake and gift for children.

There were very few customers through the market and, unfortunately, very little promotion beforehand. I wasn’t alone either—several other stallholders went home without making a sale.

I even had a little whinge to the organisers! After getting up early, packing the car, setting everything up and paying a stall fee, you do hope people will actually know the market is on.

But that’s the reality of being a market stall holder.

Some days are fantastic. Some days you just cover your stall fee. Some days the wind tries to take your gazebo away…

And occasionally, apparently, you sell absolutely nothing. 🤣

After 15 years, though, I know there will always be another market and another story to tell.

For now, I’m taking a little break from the market scene because there are some big changes happening in our lives.

We’re moving!

We’ve decided to downsize and move closer to our family—and most importantly, closer to our beautiful granddaughter. ❤️

Our current home has simply become too large for us to manage, and we’ve realised we just don’t need all the stuff we’ve accumulated over more than 40 years.

And believe me, there was a LOT of stuff! 🤣

A lot has been donated, a lot has been sold, many, many plants have been given away, and now the packing has begun.

It hasn’t been easy, particularly while dealing with my shoulder injury, but thankfully we have a wonderful family helping us through it all.

So Irene’s Gift Shop isn’t going anywhere. My handmade baby gifts are still available online—I’m simply taking a break from those ridiculously early market mornings while we get ourselves moved and settled.

And once we’re settled?

I’m sure there will be new markets, new people and plenty of new stories to tell.

After all…

There’s always something happening at a market. ❤️

“I turned up. The customers didn’t.”

Well… not every market story has a happy ending! 😅

After 15 years of doing markets, last Sunday I achieved a first.

Zero sales. Not one.

There were very few customers through the market and, unfortunately, very little promotion beforehand. I wasn’t alone either—several other stallholders went home without making a sale.

I even had a little whinge to the organisers. After getting up early, packing the car, setting everything up and paying a stall fee, you do hope people will actually know the market is on!

That’s the reality of being a market stallholder.

Some days are fantastic. Some days you just cover your stall fee. Some days the wind tries to take your gazebo away…

And occasionally, apparently, you sell absolutely nothing. 🤣

But after 15 years, I know there will always be another market and another story to tell.

For now, I’m taking a little break from the market scene because there are some big changes happening in our lives.

We’re moving!

We’ve decided to downsize and move to another area, closer to our family — and most importantly, closer to our beautiful granddaughter. ❤️

Our current home has simply become too large for us to manage, and we’ve realised we just don’t need all the stuff we’ve accumulated over more than 40 years.

And believe me, there was a LOT of stuff! 🤣

A lot has been donated, a lot has been sold, many, many plants have been given away, and now the packing has begun.

It hasn’t been easy, particularly while dealing with my shoulder injury, but thankfully we have a wonderful family who have been helping us through it all.

So Irene’s Gift Shop isn’t going anywhere. My handmade baby gifts are still available online — I’m simply taking a break from those ridiculously early market mornings while we get ourselves moved and settled.

And once we’re settled?

I’m sure there will be new markets, new people and plenty of new stories to tell.

After all…

There’s always something happening at a market. ❤️

Tomorrow you will find us at Luddenham Showground markets.

We’ll be there with our range of handmade baby gifts, bibs, burp cloths, teething rings, p*e p*e teep*es and more – all lovingly handmade here in Australia.

If you’re visiting the markets, we’d love for you to stop by, say hello, and have a browse. There’s nothing better than meeting customers and chatting with fellow market-goers.

See you tomorrow at Luddenham Showground! 💕

Today we’re at Mt Hunter Public School Markets. It’s a tiny school with only 40 students so they run a quarterly market to raise funds for the student’s. there are 80 Stallholders, food trucks & the sun is shining so should be a good day.

This is where we’ll be on Sunday. Super excited as it’s the first time we have attended this market. I have been told that it’s a good one. Hope to see you there. Although I am not looking forward to setting up in a 4 degree morning.🥶

Tomorrow is the big day for our new shopping centre. Irene’s Gift Shop will have a stall there, so come along for the fun.