Sometimes, it’s best not to have a shopping list, according to a pair of college roommates browsing handmade goods April 29 at the Vintage and Made Market at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Hilliard.

“We just like to wander and see what we find,” said Becky Rothstein, of Brunswick, who was shopping with Debbie Wertz, of Worthington.

The two women met while students at the University of Dayton and have continued a friendship that includes once-a-month outings to craft shows or bazaars similar to the Vintage and Made Market.

Organized and operated by Kate Perdew and her mother, Denise Griffith, the Vintage and Made Market made its second appearance at the Franklin County Fairgrounds April 29-May 1, following a holiday event in December.

The Vintage and Made Market returns to the Franklin County Fairgrounds Oct. 14-16 for “A Harvest Gathering.”

In between, the market is to be staged Sept. 24-25 and June 25-26 for “Fall at the Roundbarn” and "Summer at the Roundbarn,” respectively, at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds in Lancaster.

A market is also scheduled for May 21 at BrewDog USA, 96 Gender Road, in Canal Winchester.

This is the sixth year the Vintage and Made Market has staged shows.

Griffith owns FYN & Co. Mercantile, 36 W. Columbus St., in Pickerington, and was a vendor traveling to shows in the Midwest before she and her daughter founded Vintage and Made Market.

“I grew up in the store,” which has been operating in Pickerington for 21 years, Perdew said.

Perdew explained the impetus for creating the Vintage and Made Market was to foster local businesses, especially handmade craft makers and “pickers,” those who refurbish and repurpose neglected or antique items.

About 120 vendors participate in each of the six annual markets and are based in Ohio and some contiguous states.

Among the vendors at the Franklin County Fairgrounds April 29 were Shannon Coconis and Ryan Green, sisters who own and operate Threadgoode, based in Somerset, selling furniture and other antique interiors at antique malls and shows, as well as online.

“We grew up going to auctions (with our family in southern Ohio),” Coconis said, which inspired the sisters to establish Threadgoode with the further goal of opening a storefront in Somerset and offering interior decorating services.

“If it’s something that we would put in our own house, then we buy it (to sell to our customers).”

Aric Diehl, of Defiance, was lured into the antique and art of picking by searching for signs that advertise Diehl Brewery, a Defiance brewery that ceased operations in 1955.

“That’s kind of where it began, and now I look for whatever interesting and strange thing that catches my eye,” Diehl said.

Such things are most likely to be, as he describes it, “something sexy, cool or awesome.”

"The term ‘sexy’ refers to the shape, contour or design of an object," he said.

The objects he typically searches for include advertising signs, cast iron, barn lumber, lightning rods, license plates, chicken feeders, windmill components and other barn-related implements.

"Some are refurbished and others are repurposed," he said.

“I’m looking for anything that is disregarded and not appreciated,” to make it in to something that will be admired, Diehl said.

Among the local vendors at the market was Jill Yegerlehner, owner of Dublin-based Concord Road.

The business, named for the road on which Yegerlehner resides, has a retail store at 6145 Scherers Place, Suite C, in Dublin, but also sells custom-crafted wall signs, plant sticks and other crafts online and at craft shows.

“There is a fantastic mix of products here,” said Yegerlehner, who was participating in her first Vintage and Made Market.

Kim Bobb, of Westerville, and Julie Lafollette, of Johnstown, were among other patrons at the market.

“Today is a girls’ day out,” said Lafollette, whose purchases included caramel apples.

For a full schedule of event dates, vendors, ticketing and other information about the Vintage and Made Market, visit thevintageandmademarket.com.