Lighted wreaths, pumpkins, spooky skeletons and ghosts are all in Gloria Riggar’s Halloween repertoire.
Riggar, 71, of Monroe operates Gloria’s Workshop and creates one-of-a-kind crafts and decorations for all seasons. Since 2021, she’s been selling her handcrafted pieces year-round at the Monroe Farmers Market. The market is open 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays at 20 E. Willow St. in Monroe.
“I’ve been doing Halloween since I started. I like to make huge spiders, witches’ hats, cauldrons with witches’ legs hanging out, big skeletons. All of my things light up,” Riggar said. “I love making Halloween and Christmas (items) the best.”
Most of her work sells for $10-65.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Riggar retired from Little Friends Home Daycare, her in-home licensed daycare, after 27 years. But, she still needed some income and something to do.
“My good friend Jackie Rupp taught me how to make wreaths. She did floral arrangements for Crafts 2000. I took one of her classes. I’ve been loving it ever since. That opened the door for other decorations: gnomes, vintage teacup pincushions, grave huggers, jewelry art, fairy gardens, special little creations. I have some kind of gift for all seasons,” said Riggar, a 1971 Monroe High School graduate.
Since Rupp’s lesson, Riggar has learned even more by watching videos, experimenting and following other crafters.
Now, each night after dinner, Riggar spends about four hours crafting in her basement.
“That’s how I spend my time. I don’t have my daycare. It’s just me and my husband now,” Riggar said.
She and Ron have been married for 53 years. He is retired from Monroe Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM Superstore. The couple has four grown children, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren with another great-grandchild on the way.
Riggar gets her crafting supplies at places like Hobby Lobby, Michaels and local thrift stores.
“I see something at Goodwill or Damascus House and I say, ‘I can make something out of that,'” she said. “A lot of people give me things and I repurpose them. At the Farmers Market, people come in and say, ‘Can you use these?’”
Riggar once made Christmas decorations out of some old birdhouses. She makes a lot of special orders.
“Someone wanted a special gnome: a lady with gray hair, jeans, a flannel shirt, a squrirrel in one arm and a squirrel going up her leg,” Riggar said. “I’ve made biker gnomes, Willie Nelson, John Lennon, Prince.”
Riggar tried selling her items through a couple online stores, and she goes to the occasional vendor show. But, she prefers to sell at the Monroe Farmers Market.
“I love the Farmers Market. I always wanted to be a vendor there. I really enjoy meeting new customers and hearing all their stories,” she said.
“One customer’s mother was in a nursing home. She bought gnomes and brought them up there. Her mother just loved them,” Riggar said. “Customers tell me how much joy my (craft) brings them and that it makes their houses look nice. It makes them smile.”
— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@monroenews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: She learned wreath-making during COVID. Now, this Monroe woman makes crafts for all seasons
Reporting by Suzanne Nolan Wisler, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
