It was an extra busy Community Market at the Nolan Center on the Saturday before Christmas.

In addition to staying open additional hours, the market attracted 34 vendors, more than the average of 20 to 30, said Nolan Center Director Jeanine Arnold.

The vendors were a mix of first-time sellers and those who have participated more often.

One first-time seller was Luba Lofftus, who had a table filled with T-shirts and stickers with her own Alaska-theme designs. While she primarily works at the nail salon, she hopes this first foray as an entrepreneur will lead to other outlets.

“It is fun to create my own designs, and I will be trying to market them to tourists this summer.” She also displays her merchandise at the nail salon.

Lindsey and DJ McConachie filled a table with jars of pickled vegetables, jams, jellies, salsas — even vanilla extract aged for eight months. Customers were sometimes three-deep, and people rarely bought just one thing.

“People wonder what makes it taste so good,” Lindsey said. “It’s just because it’s fresh, and we don’t experience fresh foods that much anymore.”

She began canning because she learned it from her grandmother, and believes it is becoming a lost art. “It really is just a giant science experiment,” she said.

People will come looking for something they bought at a previous market, but it’s rarely available because she loves experimenting with different combinations and flavors. “Food is my love language,” she said.

Lindsey uses locally sourced produce as much as possible, from her garden and berry picking. She does have a couple of sources who will send her fresh fruits through the mail. “One man picks cherries right into a box and sends them that day.” The hope always is that the box doesn’t get lost in the mail.

Darian Burley and Amber Hommel were also first-time vendors Dec. 20, offering sealskin and beaded hair clips, and a variety of candles and scented wax melts. “It’s fun seeing all the people,” Hommel said. “We don’t get out all that much, so this was a great community connection, especially around the holidays.”

Jeffrey and Trisa Rooney displayed a variety of earrings, created from cedar, seal and sea otter skins they harvested.

“It began as a hobby, to craft regalia for the family,” Jeffrey explained. It’s been fun playing with the materials and expanding products to offer to the community.”

They are planning to include hats, headbands and games at future markets. “We’re hoping to develop enough to go to AFN (the Alaska Federation of Natives convention).”

Heather and Millie Howe, a mother-and-daughter team, said this was their third market. Millie, a 10-year-old entrepreneur, crafted festive bead ornaments that included wreaths, Christmas trees and snowmen. She said making them is a fun project, and she is saving her sales money for a trip to Disneyland.

Heather went to a class on making enameled earrings at the Irene Ingle Public Library two years ago and wanted to make more. Selling her earrings is a way to pay for her hobby.

“My favorite thing is seeing people out and about wearing my jewelry. That makes me very happy.”