Fair Week: Day 8

The county fair had their closing ceremonies last night. Today there was a steady line of campers and stock trailers streaming out of the fairgrounds. It was also pickup day for the Home Arts building. All of my projects are now safe and sound at home. My winnings totaled $26! Not bad for something I did 100% for fun and for the love of crafting.

My final project to share comes from the Wreaths department.

I won 1st place on my diaper wreath! When I picked it up, the ladies at the booth said they received lots of comments on it throughout the week. That made me smile. :)

In case you can't tell, the wreath is made by tying rolled-up diapers onto a wreath frame using ribbon, then adding baby washcloths and other small toys or baby gear as embellishments. I've made these for every baby shower I've attended for probably the last 2 years or so. They're always a huge hit!

I definitely can't take credit for the creativity of this project. I learned about the process from my friend Shannon. She has fabulous posts detailing the instructions and materials. Check them out here and here.

I'm a little sad that fair is over. I love crafting in general and don't need ribbons or kudos to continue doing so. However, there's something about the excitement of entering projects in the fair that I love. I think it's because it makes me feel like a kid again. :)

My sister-in-law said it best on the way back from recovering our projects: "Only 358 days until time to drop off our fair projects."

Here's where I'm linking up with this project:

Fair Week: Day 7

Today's project comes from the Pot Holders department. There's a funny story behind this one.

My sister-in-law and I are both pretty competitive. Okay, we're really competitive. Put the two of us together, entering against each other in the same competition and it gets pretty heated. Fortunately, it's a good-natured kind of competitive spirit. We take competition very seriously, but we're not going to genuinely get mad if we don't win.

Last year we jokingly bantered back and forth about our fair projects, but we weren't entering anything in the same categories so there was no head-to-head competition. My father-in-law said this was a good thing because he didn't want to witness World War III.

Fast forward to Christmas. My mother-in-law pulled out two identically wrapped gifts, handed one to each of us and said we had to open them at the same time. They were pot holder weaving looms, the kind with the plastic square of pegs and a bag full of brightly-colored loops. These particular kits were specifically packaged for kids and even said "For ages 5+" on the box. I'm not sure whether or not my mother-in-law meant them to be gag gifts, but my sister-in-law and I didn't take them as such. We both had the exact same thought when we opened them. "Game on!"

Guess what? I won 1st place! LOL

And in case you're wondering, my sister-in-law got 3rd. I'm going to guess there will be some purchasing of extra loops for a rematch next year. :)

Fair Week: Day 6

Happy Friday! We have a pretty exciting weekend planned. I'm loving the MUCH cooler temperatures and praying the rain holds off.

Ready to see another of my fair projects? Of course you are! :) Today's department is Creative Card Making.

3rd place in the Get Well category. I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it was adorable. It took me about 5 minutes to make.

2nd place in the Christmas category. I actually made and mailed these cards for our first Christmas as a married couple back in 2008. Oh, the memories! I actually learned this design in a card makihng class. I love that it's Christmasy, but with a more non-traditional color palette.

I was a teensy bit disappointed that this card didn't place. I'm excited to actually send it to someone for their birthday, though. (It's supposed to be a vertical card. Not really sure why they displayed it horizontal.)

In the humidity, the adhesive holding the cardstock together on either side of the window let go and it was a hot mess in the display case. This is the picture I took just after completing the work. The saying and the cracker idea originally came from this idea on Pinterest. I guess it's better as a favor box gift than as a card. :(

I submitted a sympathy card too, but I didn't take a picture pre-entry and I couldn't find an angle to take a picture of it in the display case. It wasn't anything super facy so you're not missing out. :)

Fair Week: Day 5

I've been a bit obsessed with fabric flowers lately. I've pinned tons of various ideas and tutorials, but have only gotten around to trying a few. The project I'd like to show you today is actually part of a necklace I made from this tutorial over at The Polka Dot Chair. The only change I made is to do 3 layers rather than 2. I originally tried to enter it in the Jewelry Making department, but they couldn't really find a category. They encouraged me to remove the necklace portion and enter it as a pin in the Home Sewing department.

4th place! This is a really competitive department so I was honored to have placed.

Fair Week: Day 4

Today's department is a brand new endeavor for me: Handmade Jewelry.

I won 3rd place in the beaded necklace category! This is my very first attempt at making beaded jewelry. What's even more exciting than that ribbon is that I discovered how much I really enjoy it. Jewelry making is definitely something I want to learn more about and do more. Like I really need another craft genre to add to my list. :) Still, it's fun to find something new that really excites you.

I'm linking this project up over Sew Much Ado for We Did It! Wednesday.




Speaking of link parties, I'm loving the tutorial that served as my guide for this project. I'm selecting it as my What I'm Loving Wednesday this week.

The tutorial is from Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (ECAB for short). The instructions and illustrations were super easy to follow, even for a novice like me. I love it!

Fair Week: Day 3

I'm happy with all of my accomplishments at the fair this year, but today I'm going to share the department in which I'm most proud: Cross Stitch.

I've been cross stitching since I was really little and it's something I love to do. I remember looking at this department last year and thinking there's no way I could compete with this talent. Imagine my surprise when both of my pieces placed very well!

I won 1st place in the Small Picture (less than 5x7) category! This looks bigger than that, but that's because it's matted and framed in 8x8. If the design looks familiar, it may be because it came from the free DMC brochure in the aisle at Hobby Lobby. :) Or, if you've been a reader for a few months, it may be that you saw my post when it was completed.

Second place in the Medium Picture (5x7 - 8x10) category! It's hard to see, but that's a daisy and it says "Live Simply" across the bottom.

Fair Week: Day 2

Today's department is Scrapbooks.

I love to scrapbook and frequently go to all-day or overnight crops. When it came time to select my fair entries, I discovered that I started a lot of albums this year, but didn't finish any. Instead I decided to enter one that's been completed for a couple years, but that I've never entered before.

This is an album I made to document my husband and I's trip to Washington D.C. in December of 2005. We were just boyfriend and girlfriend back then.

It didn't place. It was still on display, but they had it turned to the most plain page in the entire album. The rest of the album is better. I promise. :)

Fair Week: Day 1

Today was drop-off day for home arts projects at our county fair. The volunteers did a fabulous job of making the process smooth and easy. That's no small feat considering the huge amount of projects that are exhibited each year. All 19 of my projects are now safe and sound in the home arts building for display all week. Judging is going on as we speak. *fingers crossed*

What did I enter? Well, each day this week I'll be posting my entries in a specific department. First up is Photography.

This was my first year for entering photos. I was reluctant to submit anything because this is one of the most competitive categories and I'm really just starting to learn about my camera and its settings. There's no fee to enter so I had nothing to lose other than the time I spent choosing mats, framing the photos and wiring them for hanging.

Here's what I entered:



Color Still-Life



Black & White Still-Life

Color Animal



Black White Animal



Color Landscape



Black & White Landscape



Color Portrait