A. Botts Willis and some artisans from the Maker's Mart
A. Botts Willis and her Nashville friends brought the Makers Mart to The Arbors. (Photo by Gabriela Izquierdo)

Pulling into the Southside of The Arbors, you find a can’t-miss cluster of white tents with a painted blue sign reading Nashville. When you’re walking under the sign to enter and walking through the tents, it’s not all that hard to mistake this little plot of Round Top for the capital of the country music world. Especially if you squint a little. The music and creative energy is definitely in the air.

Hat maker extraordinaire A. Botts Willis has been to Round Top more than her fair share of times and this year she decided to bring along some artist friends from Nashville. Thus the first-ever Makers Mart was born.

“I have so many friends in Nashville that are amazing makers, artists and designers and we do a lot of local stuff together,” Willis tells RoundTop.com. “Ever since coming to Round Top, I’m like ‘God, I need to bring these guys here because they’re awesome.’ “

Willis reached out to her friends to see if they were interested in making the trek down to Texas. They were — and now the creative group is showing at The Arbors.

In essence, the Makers Mart serves as its own little venue with vendors selling everything from paintings to jewelry to leather goods and, of course, hats.

With its distinct vibe sticking out, shoppers found a wide array of handmade goods browsing through the u-shaped plot of tents. Plus, they could get to listen to live music and get to know the creators behind the goods.

Running through October 30, the Mart was a laidback oasis with live music during happy hour from an array of Nashville-based artists.

“I’ve been coming for the past few years and I have a lot of clients in Texas,” Willis says. “Hopefully, it’s something that we continue to do and get a lot of these artists out here and seen in Texas. I think it’ll be fun.”

With the first-ever Makers Mart in the books, Willis is already planning for more Round Top Marts in the future.

Alongside A. Botts Willis, this inaugural Makers Mart was brought to life by Hunker Goods, Nancy Mayer Allan Fine Art, Rancho Sueno, Three Wolves Trading and Vintage Social Club.

“Hopefully, it’ll continue to grow and we have a lot of other friends that are wanting to come and do it and a lot of other musician friends,” Willis says. “I think the next show it’ll just even be bigger.”

Keep up with The Arbors to get the early word on future Makers Marts.