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CROSSLAKE — The three Common Goods thrift stores in the lakes area each hosted a Christmas Showcase earlier this month as a kickoff to shop for Christmas items and see the stores’ seasonal displays.
Those who shop at the Crosslake store - both residents and out-of-town visitors - keep the mid-November date on their calendars every year - not just to shop, but to see the unveiling of the annual Christmas tree ball gown.
“It’s been really fun because the people enjoy it,” said Andrea Martin, retail manager of Common Goods in Crosslake. “People get excited.
“We actually have people asking, ‘When is it going to be there,’ and people come to show it,” she said.
They’ll ask: “What’s it going to look like this year?” “When can we see the ball gown?” “I’m going out of town - I will miss it this year, but I’ll follow you on social media.”
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This year’s ball gown was unveiled Friday, Nov. 11, in the center of the store. It has a prominent spot on a small stage, lit by strings of lights on white curtains with Christmas ornaments hanging from the ceiling.
The idea originated in 2015, when Common Goods opened in Crosslake.
“That fall, one of my staff members (Faith Swanson) showed me some pictures she had found online of a Christmas tree ball gown. And she said, ‘Oh, that’d be cool if we did something like that here,’” Martin said. “We were determined to make it happen for the next Christmas.”
So the next summer, Martin bought a mannequin at a garage sale, and she and Swanson went to work.
“She’s very artistic and she always has that creative eye,” Martin said of Swanson. “It was kind of our little baby.”
We do it because we love it. We do it for fun. It’s had such a positive, good reaction. It’s like our Christmas card to Crosslake.
A Christmas tree had been donated to Common Goods, so Martin and Swanson made the skirt out of pine boughs and chicken wire. They started storing donated items they thought would be fun to use on the mannequin.
“It’s just kind of a fun twist on the traditional tree,” Martin said.
In 2016, they unveiled their first Christmas tree ball gown with poinsettias.
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“We named it Holly, and so that’s how it was born,” Martin said. “And so then every year after that we’ve tried to change it up.”
In 2017, they created a northwoods ball gown with teddy bears and Paul Bunyan plaid in a window display. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, they believed people needed hope so they created an angel gown with white feathers. They called it the Angel of Hope.
Last year, the gown was a peacock theme, thanks to a bunch of peacock feathers and blue items that were donated that summer. They kept stashing other donated feathers and big, blue Christmas balls that came to the store.
“It’s built off of things as they come in,” Martin said. “We don’t plan it ahead of time. But as things get donated, that’s how we make our tree.”
This year’s dress idea originated a year ago when someone donated a Christmas tree decorating set. The six boxes were full of burgundy, gold and glitter items, poinsettias, ribbons and both big and small ball ornaments.
“I opened the box and said, ‘Faith, this is the dress next year.’ And Faith said, ‘I was going to tell you that this is the dress for next year.’ So we’ve been storing it for almost a year just waiting to use it for the dress,” Martin said.
People can see the seventh rendition of the Christmas tree ball gown through New Year’s at the Crosslake Common Goods store.
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“We do it because we love it. We do it for fun,” Martin said. “It’s had such a positive, good reaction. It’s like our Christmas card to Crosslake.”
This year, the newest Common Goods store, in Crosby, also features a Christmas tree ball gown.
Nancy Vogt, editor, may be reached at 218-855-5877 or nancy.vogt@pineandlakes.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Nancy.
