DIY Fair

I DID finish my Design-it-yourself Patternmaking pencil skirt, and I'll blog about it some day soon. But I want to talk about a different DIY event---The Advent Conspiracy DIY Fair that we hosted on Saturday.

I've posted about Advent Conspiracy several times over the years--here, here, and here for starters. Basically it's a group of churches that have banded together to do Christmas differently. The themes are: Spend Less, Give More, Worship Fully and Love All.

This year my friend, Sarah, organized the DIY Fair. This is not your average Christmas Craft Show. Oh no. There are no finished products to buy. Just a bunch of creative people demonstrating ideas for how to give of yourself this Christmas.

I hosted a table with all the stuff you would need to make felt barrettes, pins, and Christmas tree ornaments. Some people sat down and made barrettes or pins on the spot. Others pitched in a buck for the directions and supplies and took it home to make on their own time. I tried to have projects that were simple and accessible for even a "not crafty" person. A six-year-old girl made one of the barrettes so I felt like I had accomplished my goal.

I always leave the fair with so many great ideas for creative gifts! My favorites included hat patterns, how to make juggling balls out of balloons and kitty litter, and a project that involves burning fabric. Seriously. I'm sure I'll be blogging more about that one!

I took my camera but was too busy talking to folks to ever take any decent shots. Sarah's a serious photographer and she took a bunch of pictures. She let me "borrow" these and posted a few more on her blog.

I'll be posting my simple felt projects here in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear your ideas about how to "Spend less. Give More. Worship Fully. Love all."


P.S. Gratuitous photo of the Sprout below.