Toilet Paper Proclamations by Thara Bedford

Toilet paper: it isn’t always employed for what it was designed to do!

 

This year, I met and struck up a conversation (and an eventual friendship) with Thara Bedford, whose sense of humor and faith in God matches  my own. (Actually, her faith in God exceeds my own, I’m thrilled to say, which is a near impossibility!)

 

I met Thara at a B&G Sponsored Events crafts bazaar earlier this year. We reconnected this past weekend when we both had tables at the latest B&G Sponsored Events bazaar.

 

(Just FYI: The next B&G Sponsored Events Bazaar will be December 14th from 10 am to 5 pm at The First Christian Church of Tacoma at 602 North Orchard Street, Tacoma. Be there or be square! See my earlier blog about last week’s bazaar here. There were many outstanding vendors there, none of them corporate, so it’s an old-fashioned bazaar with local artisans, and lots of fun without the intrusion of corporations! That’s a huge plus to those of us who love to support the local economy and local entrepreneurs.)

 

(Side note: I wish corporations would stop intruding into the few places where they don’t already have a stranglehold. Seeing them at crafters’ bazaars and Victorian Country Christmas really ticks me off. And they invaded Facebook like a scourge as soon as they saw its potential for making a fast buck.)

 

My first indication that Thara has a terrific sense of humor was when she approached me, introduced herself, and presented me with my first toilet paper proclamation. She said simply, “As soon as I heard you would be here, I knew what I had to do.” (Turns out she’s a Star Trek fan, too!)

 

 

I thanked her profusely and asked her where her table was so I could stop by when I got a chance to wander a little bit. She pointed the way and then left to finish setting up.

 

Later, when I saw several walls of toilet paper on display at her booth from a distance–her main attraction, not a sideline–my first reaction was, “Seriously?!”

 

I quickly discovered “seriously” was entirely the wrong term.

 

Yes, she’s serious about selling her embroidered toilet paper creations (without being in the least bit pushy. Her friendliness is 100 genuine, not a sales pitch.) But that’s pretty much where the seriousness ends.

 

She has a seriously great sense of humor… and nearly every vendor in, and visitor to, the bazaar stopped by to smile, laugh and take a roll or two home.

 

She had lots of renditions of “IN CASE THE SEAHAWKS (or any other sports team of your choice) PLAY LIKE CRAP TODAY.”

 

 

I simply can’t remember all the great messages she has embroidered onto fabric that cozily fits around a roll of toilet paper.

 

I’m the happy owner of several of them myself.

 

(Sorry for the flashback on this image)

 

I’ve just commissioned her to create two new ones for me that I can display at my book signing booth (in part, so I can help point the way to Thara!) to show my sense of humor when it comes to DeForest Kelley and (oddly enough) Star Wars!

 

Eat your hearts out, Star Wars fans!!!!

I told Thara she should make several of them so she can display them at her table, too, in case the people who see them at my table (or just love De, whether they see them at my table or not) can buy them if they want. (They sure aren’t gonna get MINE!)

 

Local crafts bazaars like B&G Sponsored Events are THE place to be if you’re looking for unique gifts that you can’t find anywhere else this holiday season. There are a lot of very talented, fun people in the Tacoma area who display their wares at these events (the same is true wherever you live in the US and around the world) and not stopping by to see what they offer is a real shame.

 

Big Box stores can only offer you duplicates of what everybody else has; they capitalize on cheaply made, cloned products. Crafts bazaars are a whole different animal… and very affordable.

 

You need to check them out. Seriously!!!