Crafty bastards like to work with their hands.

It was a requirement that all vendors selling their work at the Oct. 1 Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair glue, sew, string or meld their particular craft using their own blood, sweat, tears or hot glue guns.

The event, presented by the Washington City Paper, is held as a way to familiarize and connect its readers with the voice and vision of the indie craft community.

The cold and rainy weather didn’t deter the nearly 40,000 attendees and 180 craft vendors from pouring in to the fair.

Festival director Kimberly Dorn said she is always surprised by the growth of the artisan celebration.

“We had no idea what to expect…Crafty Bastards just had the luck of starting when the D.C. indie craft movement was gaining momentum,” Dorn said.

To be a vendor at Crafty Bastards, potential vendors must submit their crafts to a jury who then judges the items based on their quality.

The process yielded stands of tents, allowing guests to browse artwork, books, dresses, jewelry and collector’s treasures. Established businesses also occupied tents, including Cricket, Refinery 29 and Etsy.

The festival, now in its eighth year, has spread across the country, not only by attracting guests to the D.C. event, but also by bringing the festival to other cities.

“We hear people talk about Crafty Bastards in Portland, California and even Atlanta,” Dorn said.

Don Becker, a vendor from Alexandria, Va., has been making marionettes for 25 years and showcasing at Crafty Bastards for the past four.

“It’s something I always did as a kid and I was a professional puppeteer for 25 years,” Becker said. “Here are a lot of good crafters, and they’ve been doing this for a while, so people are aware of the quality of this show.”

With a well-established reputation, Crafty Bastards’ organizers mixed in a few new additions to the day-long fair.

“We just put these things out there and see who responds,” Dorn said.

One of the newest sections on the block, Young & Crafty, featured young artisans between the ages of 9 and 18 years old who, with guidance from parents, showcased their work.

A brother and sister trio sewed stuffed animals, made magnets, pencils and pencil toppers.

“We’ve been making crafts for about a year and we came here with 96 items,” 9-year-old Shae Dempsey said.

The young entrepreneurs were able to walk away with cash in their pockets.

“It’s been a good turnout. We made $100 so far,” 6-year-old Evan Dempsey chimed in.