JoAnn Clouse has worked lots of jobs over the years. She’s been a college bookstore manager, an accreditation specialist, a grant writer and, notably, a home economics teacher.

“My husband and I lived in Goodland, Kansas, before we moved here,” the Lawrence transplant recounted earlier this week. “So, you have to wear many hats when you live in western Kansas.”

Clouse, 66, is wearing fewer hats these days. But she has a lot more time to make hats, if she so chooses. The former schoolteacher in her retirement years has carved out a bit of a side career for herself as a purveyor of handcrafted baby blankets, burp cloths, bibs, toys and stuffed animals, making good use of the sewing skills she learned from her mother as a young girl.

She’s a regular on the northeastern Kansas arts-and-crafts circuit, and on Sunday will make her fourth appearance at Lawrence’s 40th annual Holiday Bazaar. Organized and hosted by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, the event, slated for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., will bring more than 100 exhibitors and a variety of handmade gifts to the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St.

This year’s event marks the 20th consecutive Holiday Bazaar to sell out completely in terms of vendor space, says Duane Peterson, who also wears a great many hats as Parks and Rec’s special event/recreation/facilities operations supervisor. He expects between 4,000 and 5,000 people — shoppers included — to pass through Lawrence for the sale Sunday.

“It’s the beginning of the holiday season, and this is a great opportunity for people to actually get their Christmas shopping early as we get into the Thanksgiving holiday,” Peterson says.

What really makes the Holiday Bazaar an enduring success year after year, he says, are the handcrafted items for sale. Unlike other arts-and-crafts shows, which may offer the occasional manufactured stuff, Sunday’s event is 100 percent handmade, Peterson says, and “at a reasonable price, too.”

Among the items for sale this year: everything from pottery, purses and furniture to leather goods, photography and jewelry. And plenty of cozy quilts, blankets, scarves and other wearable crafts.

Clouse likes to keep her merchandise practical. Most, she says, is priced less than $35. And, although the mother and grandmother — Clouse spent years hand-sewing clothes for her children as well as teaching the skill in her Home-Ec classes — makes a point of using durable, kid-friendly fabrics such as flannel and fleece in her designs, she also enjoys color and whimsy.

Animals are one of her favorite recurring motifs, and Clouse frequently integrates zoo critters into her appliqued blankets and, of course, her handmade plush toys. Giraffes, owls, sheep, elephants, bears, ponies and the more ubiquitous puppies are some of her signatures.

“It really gives me a chance to be creative,” says Clouse, who named her business Lucy’s Cottage, after her mother, who taught her to sew. “Since I’ve retired, I do this as my volunteer work, because I donate 100 percent of my net profits to children’s charities.”

Sewing, she says, “fills my time.” It’s also provided her with a more personalized way to give back, she adds, that doesn’t involve office hours or toiling away on a fundraiser, even though Lucy’s Cottage has become something of a fundraiser anyway, Clouse admits with a laugh.

“It’s just a different approach,” she says.

Proceeds from Sunday’s Holiday Bazaar will be donated to the Pregnancy Care Center in Lawrence and Operation Breakthrough, an early education center and social service agency in Kansas City, Mo.

While doing good, Clouse also makes a habit of keeping up with the latest trends in the baby-products world. This year, it’s car seat canopies, which pretty much entail what their name implies. (Basically, protecting babies from the elements while they’re riding around.)

The next big thing? Clouse says she’s intrigued by the concept of ponchos — not the clothing item, but an extension of the car seat canopy, for toddlers. The product, online vendors say, provides warmth without the bulk of a heavy winter coat or snowsuit for slightly older little ones who still use car seats.

Clouse might try out that idea next.

In this industry, she says, “you have to stay ahead of the game.”