August is the time to get out the glue gun and do some crafting for the fair. This division of the exhibits has been thin in participants since covid shut down the fair in 2020. In 2021, there were so few entries, practically every entry got a ribbon. In 2022, it was a bit better, but still not as many entries as there is space to display them, so it looked sparse. I plan to do my part this year to help this division have more items to display, entering 10 categories. I hope more competitors will do the same, as it is more fun when there are lots of entries. Many of these will have quilted items, table runners and such. But a few categories need something else. One of those is the Natural Materials category where you have to use nature found items. I pulled out a wooden disc sliced from a tree that fell in our forest some years ago, along with my bag of pine cones. Both nicely dried out and clean. I spray painted some of the cones gold, then glued small pearls on the sides and a star shaped bead on top of each one.

These were hot glued to the wood base, then faux red berries and real pine boughs were added for a holiday centerpiece. I will put fresh pine on it before it is taken to the fair, but this experiment will tell me how long the green will last.

The crafting bench was covered in pine cones as I got all of them out to sort by size. I have a box of Christmas trims too. Now I need an idea on how to use these to make a holiday decoration, maybe a door spray of pine cones?

At guild, the free table had a bunch of ribbon spools, so I picked up a selection. It isn’t fabric at least! This might come together for something for Thanksgiving. The Holiday Decoration category can be any holiday, not just Christmas. I’ll work on this later in the month.

A floral arrangement can go in Holiday Decoration or Silk Flower Arrangement. I began with a wire basket base. The floral foam is wired onto the base so it will stay put while it is transported. Around the sides, I hot glued artificial leaves to cover the foam on the sides.

From the outside, the leaves fill the space.

Red and white silk flowers with artificial pine needle sprays are added.

I put a red rayon ribbon on a corner, but it didn’t look right.

This striped thin ribbon was just the right size for an accent. I put gold painted pine cones inside the basket in the corners as an accent. Then I tied bows on all four sides.

All done, and ready to enter.

Then, I pulled out some styrofoam balls, and spray painted them green.

When that side was dry, they were turned for the rest of the painting. We’ll see what I can come with for these over the weekend.

I have encouraged my local guild to enter more things, and showed them recently in a presentation how to enter the fair. I went through the categories other than quilting where things can be entered and encouraged them to enter more. After all, you are going out there for turn in day anyway, just take a few more items with you. I hope they will make the crafting category full this year, competition is much more fun with a lot of entries. I still have a wreath to finish, cards to make for the Paper Crafting category, and a beaded ornament to do for the Ornament category. If I can finish a quilted or sewn holiday decoration, I’ll move the floral arrangement to the Silk Flower category. There’s just over three weeks left to get everything finished. We’ll see!