Jude Wildhaber has been crocheting for more than five years.
Now 14, Wildhaber has gotten really good at the activity, and he turned it into a business.
He and other youth displayed their wares Saturday during the inaugural Young Entrepreneur Day at J Street Market, 615 Jefferson St.
Rapidly churning out products, the teenager sat behind a table covered with his creations - delicate snowflakes, doilies, shawls, tank tops, hanging lantern holders, pot holders, wash cloths, bath poufs and other colorful items.
He quickly produced a number of soap savers.
At 8, Wildhaber began crocheting because he thought it was fun. Before long, he was teaching his mother tricks and techniques.
And, he likes to challenge himself. He pointed toward a black (skull-pattern) shawl that he had crocheted, which was draped over a mannequin.
"That shawl took quite a while," Wildhaber said. "I saw the pattern and I liked it."
He dedicated an entire week to the shawl's creation.
When he was younger, Wildhaber would watch videos on YouTube to learn crocheting patterns, his mother, Vavena Wildhaber, said. Sometimes, when he wants to learn a new stitch, he'll attend a crochet meeting at Missouri River Regional Library.
Vavena Wildhaber's cousin had a set of snowflakes her mother had crocheted for her. They disappeared over time. She was down to one and mailed that to Jude to duplicate.
He did and began producing some for himself.
"I sell them on Facebook and go to craft sales once in a while," Jude said.
They're popular this time of year.
He sells a lot more than snowflakes.
Jude created a small business. Because he thought the name was catchy, he calls his business The Crochet Cage. His work may be found on Facebook at The Crochet Cage.
Eight-year-old Alice Durbin is also trying her hand at a number of artistic creations.
She (with her mother Stephanie Durbin's help) created a display of holiday-themed paintings, filled and painted clear glass ornaments, dreamcatchers and items made with things found in nature.
"Art is the thing that makes me happy," Alice said.
The two collected vines and sticks to see what they could create with them, Stephanie explained.
The items were "fresh," Alice added. And, she doesn't like spiders, so she waited until they were at home before she would touch them.
Alice's painting of a Christmas tree included presents beneath.
"I was worried that the presents were going to disappear because they're so light," she said.
Haley Jarrett designs and decorates cups. The 15-year-old buys bulk stainless steel cups, and uses a variety of painting techniques to customize and decorate them. It's a craft she learned from a friend of her mother.
"I thought they were really cool," Jarrett said. "I watched some YouTube videos, then I started doing them."
She can even order custom vinyl decals on the cups.
"It's expensive, but it's fun," she said.
Jasmine Harlan used molds to bake pumpkin-shaped cake-pops - using yellow or chocolate cake batter.
She then iced the pops with a decorative orange icing and used pretzel sticks as handles.
Harlan is no newcomer to selling her baked goods: She's sold cookies and other items as fundraisers.
Proceeds from the sale of her pumpkins on Saturday went toward "Speed the Light," a student-initiated program.
"Speed the Light is a church organization," she said. "We raise money for missionaries - to help them buy things they need."