Creative Exchange with Misfit Goods

CRAFTS MEET CRAFT BREWS AT GRANDMA’S HOUSE

Grandma’s House is almost exactly what it sounds like. The quaint brewery is styled to look identical to what an elderly relative’s home would look like, save for the fully functional bar in the main room. Grandma’s House is littered with board games, crystal bowls of hard candies, and an ostensibly endless amount of crochet. Not only does this brewery specialize in serving their patrons craft beers made under their own roof, but the brewery also chooses to highlight local Denver crafters through regular events hosted at the brewery.

An ecclectic variety of crafts were sold at discounted prices through the Misfi t Goods Market at Grandma’s House brewery. photo: Nicole Elizabeth • CU Denver Sentry — An ecclectic variety of crafts were sold at discounted prices through the Misfi t Goods Market at Grandma’s House brewery.
photo: Nicole Elizabeth • *CU Denver Sentry*

On April 2, Grandma’s House hosted their premier of The Misfit Goods Market, a bizarre hosting Denver companies like Blade & Knoll Jewelry, Craftbelly Paper and Pattern, and Mutts & Mittens, among other local crafters. The venue itself was homey and ornate with old furniture, vintage board games, and an original Atari to boot. The brewery was filled with the typical brewery dweller, the guy with a scruffy beard and a plaid shirt, as well as the typical bargain hunters clad with oversized totes and eager to peruse the bazaar.

The bazaar catered to the miser in every shopper, displaying things like shirts and jewelry to dog collars and art prints. Visitors could shop while enjoying a brew from the hosts, as well as cuisine from a food truck stationed out front or the small crêpe-maker in the bar. Grandma’s House crafts their own beer as well as hosts other local breweries in their taproom; patrons can sip from the continuously changing tap menu that features their own brews.

The small market was held in the back room of the brewery where customers could freely wander in and out. The goal of the market was to aid the 10 talented locals in doing a tiny bit of spring-cleaning while letting shoppers do some spring-hoarding.

All of the products were graciously discounted as sample products, second batches, misprints, or other miscellaneous items that are not entirely unblemished but still deserving of a good home. There were small canvas pouches with saying like, “I’m Not Sure How I Feel About You,” and an appearance from The Denver Fashion Truck, as well as some vintage clothing.

As a brewery that focuses on the craft aspect of beer, Grandma’s House is the ultimate venue of kitsch and the perfect host for a market focusing on the art of craft and local business that deal in handmade items. The Misfit Goods Market was and perhaps, in the future, will be the perfect place to find a bargain on marvelous handmade goods from Denver’s own local businesses.

Grandma’s house supports small shops, and also cultivates the craft lifestyle that it has refined in their brewery. The concept in and of itself is laudable but seemed less put together than other notable Denver flea markets.

Perhaps it was harboring the local crafters in a dingy back room or the meager amount of enticing goods, but that embodies the spirit of Grandma’s House; an eclectic group of people and objects that doesn’t quite make sense but are comforting all the same.