Drake Baskets

04/05/2026

Happy Easter!

03/22/2026

We spent today at the historic J.F. Glidden Homestead sharing our love of baskets! Today we made a classic small market basket, and each one was unique! We hope everyone who joined our class will enjoy their brand new basket!

01/28/2026

Thank you for the shout out! I’m glad we had the opportunity to keep the Craft Walk going! It’s truly a highlight of the Christmas season in our community and brings out so many talented crafters and makers. Many many thanks to the other members of the planning committee who can carry on the planning of this wonderful event. Emily and Eva have to step off the committee, but Drake Baskets will continue to host a stop at the Craft Walk! We’re looking forward to seeing you again this year!

Meet the Genoa-Kingston Christmas Craft Walk Committee!! From left to right: Elizabeth Whittenhall, Dorothy Franke, Joni Watson, Elaine Eczuba, Mary Keys and Emily Weil. This was actually Emily’s last meeting on the committee as she has some more pressing matters to attend to, but I really wanted to brag on her for a minute!

The reason we are all standing together today is because when Penny Swanson who used to manage the Craft walk suddenly passed away in 2022, it was Emily and her daughter Eva of Drake Baskets that kept it going, just the two of them! We don’t know how Penny did it all on her own!

Realizing what a big undertaking it was, Emily and Eva formed the Craft Walk Committee in 2023 and all of these amazing volunteers but Elizabeth has been a part of it ever since. We are so grateful that Elizabeth has formally joined us and experienced her first official meeting as a member!

Now, we just need to find a volunteer proficient at helping update info on a Wordpress website and google forms and we will be in great shape for 2026! We’re going to start by asking our previous hosts, but if you are interested or know of someone interested in helping us out, please reach out! We’re looking forward to a great year ahead!

Best wishes to Emily and Eva and thank you so much for everything these past few years! 💕

Also, a special thank you to Mary for hosting us at the fabulous Genoa Guest House! If all the fun we have planning this wasn’t enough of a perk, Mary’s brownies totally make it worth it! She really is the hostess with the mostess!

01/14/2026

Weaving Wednesday! I’m making a few storage baskets for myself for our living room! I’ll be testing out a technique that we haven’t done in 20+ years… let’s see if we remember how to do it!

12/04/2025

Yay! The Genoa-Kingston Christmas Craft Walk starts today! Now through Saturday, stop by our house in Genoa! We have a huge variety of handmade gifts and decor and some yummy treats!

Here’s a little preview for you! We’ve been working hard on our own Drake Baskets, American Cancer Society Cookie Mixes, peanut brittle, and chocolate covered pretzels! We’ve also invited many of our creative friends to our house, including Dee's Patchwork Rainbow and The Crafted Corner. We have birdhouses, gnomes, hats and scarves, quilted table runners, plushies, kitchen towels, ornaments, jewelry, rugs, snowmen, and so much more!

Drake Baskets is located at stop #10 at 309 Hickory Drive! We will be open Thursday and Friday from 9-6 and Saturday from 9-3. We hope to see you soon!

11/29/2025

Today is Small Business Saturday! Our small family-owned business started in 1986 when our grandfather Ed Drake and his daughter Em took a basket weaving class and started making baskets to sell during the Genoa-Kingston Christmas Craft Walk. They taught the craft to all our family members, and we continue to sell our baskets at the Craft Walk and Sycamore Steam Show. We really are a small business - we are able to make only a limited number of baskets each year, and each unique basket is handmade in Genoa, IL!

This year it’s especially important to support your local small businesses throughout the whole Christmas season. Shop at the Genoa-Kingston Christmas Craft Walk and discover gifts and treats from over 100 crafters and local businesses! The Craft Walk starts on Thursday!

11/20/2025

Stop #10: Drake Baskets and friends!

From our hosts:

Discover an incredible variety of handcrafted and homemade treasures, including handwoven Drake Baskets, homemade treats, 'Relay for Life' Cookie mixes, bean soup mix, many other festive mixes, Bell's rag rugs, Handcrafted Holiday decorations and many other unique gifts!

You can visit Stop #10 Thurs 9-6, Fri 9-6 and Sat 9-3! A staple in the Genoa-Kingston Christmas Craft Walk since 1997!

11/18/2025

Check out our local celebrity!

“Emily and Joni from the Genoa-Kingston Christmas Craft Walk were Guest DJs this morning on 94.9 WDKB brought to you by Robin's Nest Bookshoppe! We talked all about the history of the walk, how it started, and what to expect for its 51st year. For three days you can visit 17 different stops throughout Genoa and Kingston and explore. You can eat, you can shop, and enjoy holiday magic. They even have a full map you can follow with all the stops listed and mapped out for you.”

We want to express our deepest gratiude to Peyton from the radio station for having us on the air this morning! We had so much fun and really appreciate the opportunity to share our unique community event!

Check out the audio here: https://omny.fm/shows/guest-dj/11-18-25-guest-dj-genoa-kingston-christmas-craft-walkrnstetirunr r

08/14/2025

Check out more photos of this year’s Steam Show!

08/13/2025