North Idaho Fair crafty pix

I need a T-shirt that says “I survived a make-and-take craft booth.”

As my mom used to say after a long day working retail, “my dogs are barking.” (Translation: my feet hurt.)

The craft booth we ran tonight at the North Idaho Fair seemed to be a big success. We were slammed with eager crafters from 4 until 8 p.m. The kids were darling—DARLING!—and so excited to be making things. Many of them spent 30 minutes or more going from craft to craft.

I was also thrilled to see some adults taking part, too. I had a great conversation with a kindergarten teacher about raising kids simply and slowly rather than rushing them from one activity to the next. And I cracked up when one mom tried to hire me to be the entertainment at her kid’s birthday party. Heck, as long as I get a slice of cake at the end, I’m there!

Just a reminder—all the materials you see in these pictures were found at thrift stores and garage sales. Most of them were sheets, shirts or dresses that I cut into the necessary shapes for the crafts.

We wanted to demonstrate to people that they can create objects of beauty at very little cost and by using stuff that already exists. If you think your kids won’t wear things you buy secondhand, think again. I can’t tell you how many young girls told me they were planning on wearing the fabric hair flowers they made tonight on the first day of school.

Most of the photos you’ll see in the slideshow above are of the flower pins—one of the three crafts we taught. I didn’t mean to ignore the other crafts, but I simply couldn’t get away from my station long enough to take many pictures! My able partners Shawn and Julie manned the banner and booklet booths and were equally slammed.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and thanks to Shawn and Julie for all your help. I’ll post the flower tutorial soon—once I catch my breath!