Meet the Makers: Bracken Glen Cottage

Celebrating 50 years of the Chester Festival on the Green. All products are 100% handmade.

Chester's Melody Reed says that her lifelong love for exploring new art forms inspired her to establish Bracken Glen Cottage. For the past 12 years, she has sold her handmade jewelry, accessories, and more at local festivals.

Products: Bracken Glen Cottage offers a diverse selection of handmade jewelry and ethereal home decor. Think soft pastel paintings, pendants, and lavender sachets.

Design Process: Reed has a knack for mixed media to explore time and space. She uses vintage tintype photographs, for many of her necklaces, and tea tins, for pendants.  Her lavender sachets are crafted from vintage handkerchiefs; tote bags from recycled tweed and other fabric. Earrings are set with semi-precious stones and Czechoslovakian glass beads.​

Most Popular Item: Christmas ornaments made from vintage cookie cutters, found rhinestone pins, crystals, and skeleton keys. ​​

Reed's advice for other artisan entrepreneurs: "If you do what you love, the money will follow, but it's always good to have a plan.

Inspiration: 
​"I attended an amazing craft fair in Rhinebeck, Ny in the early 1970s. The craftsmanship blew my mind."

Best "find" at the Chester Festival: 
​"Hand-crafted birch baskets."

"The Chester Festival is outdoors and a well-attended fair in a great location."

Favorite Fall Hobby:
"Traveling all over Vermont to shop at thrift stores and take photos for future paintings."

Connect with Bracken Glen Cottage at Vermont's Chester Festival, September 2024.