Hear Ye Hear Ye: Wareham artisans celebrate 30 years of making jewelry
Adorned in handcrafted stainless steel jewelry, two Wareham residents take on the role of travelling merchants looking for people interested in their wares.
Wareham residents Chirs and Kelly Christopulos are the owners of Mardigan’s Maile, a handcrafted chainmail jewelry business inspired by the couples’ interest in all things medieval and fantasy.
“We played dungeons and dragons back in the 1980s so we started playing with rings and messing with them,” Chris said. “I started working on how to make the rings and Kelly started working on the designs and the rest is history.”
Along with rings, the two make key chains, lanyards and a variety of other pieces of jewelry including a belt featured in the Apple TV movie “Spirited,” a modern version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The belt was worn by the ghost of Christmas future.
“We originally did it so that we could have things for ourselves and it turned into a business in 1995,” Kelly said.
Shortly after the hobby turned into a business, the two set up shop at the King Richard’s Faire in Carver where they have had a tent since 1996. The two have also helped run the fair since 1988. Both Kelly and Chris help sell merchandise and Chris is the director of operations.
“We used to work in a movie theater and the owners of the fair came in one day and we were always into medieval stuff,” Chris said. “I wanted to go and they gave us some tickets and we just started going.”
The couple began to grow with the fair and they have been able to share their love of all things medieval with their son who is a “squire,” or someone who assists in many of the fair’s events.
“Our son has grown up at the renaissance fair so he gets all that experience,” Kelly said. “I think that’s one of my favorite parts of doing it because it’s something we all enjoy.”
The King Richard’s Faire is not the only place Chris and Kelly travel to. They also go to upstate New York for the Sterling Renaissance Festival.
“We love doing it, that’s really what it is,” Chris said. “Every day is a new moment.”
Chris and Kelly both said they have no plans to stop going to fairs to sell their jewelry and may look into finding other places to set up shop.