All is Fair in ... Idaho

Ah, the Cassia County Fair. Jonathan was old enough to enter a few projects this year. The last two years we have gone to see my projects there, so he was excited to contribute his own this time. He did great! In the 5&6 year old categories, Jonathan got 3rd in woodcraft (painted treasure chest), 2nd in papercraft (Incredibles puppets), and 1st in handmade cards. Not only that, but his card won the overall prize for all 5&6 year old entries! He used my stamps to make his card by himself, and my favorite detail is the crayon stamp. According to the artist, it is actually a light saber. We're pretty proud of Jonathan!

Here I am, at the final night of the rodeo, receiving the award for the Best Exhibitor in Arts & Crafts. That just means that I got the most ribbons. A little background - last year I entered a few projects and they did really well. I won that award without knowing it existed. Cool! So this year I decided to actually try for it and I entered a bunch of stuff in the Arts and Crafts category. I don't know if that's dorky, but it worked, and I won the award again! The lady in charge told me that I can only win the award three years in a row. I guess we'll see if I'm feeling crafty this next year. Here are some pictures of my entries. Some of my friends have craft blogs. Consider this my craft post for the year!

My blue ribbon projects. They got first in each of their individual categories. And yes, there were WAS more than one entry in each. =o) Bunny is tole painting and witch is holiday wall hanging (won overall wall-hanging award). There were a bunch of birdhouses and Ben even said he liked one better than mine but that's why HE isn't the judge! Hehe. I was really excited about the 4 coordinated scrapbook pages - they got 1st for scrapbookpages and 2nd overall for crafts - that's why there's a yellow ribbon in my blue ribbon picture. The two empty plates used to contain peas and my grand prize carrots. Monster carrots. This one is in its own picture simply because I forgot to include it with the others. It IS my most treasured though. This is a plaster hand I made with Nicole's help - caption says "Nicole Rachel Nelson, 1 year old." You can't even tell that I broke off three of the fingers! (Panic, glue, panic, replaster, panic, file, replaster, file, panic, replaster, file, fix nail lines, spray, mount, whew...) The boy's feet molds were WAY easier. Oh, right, they were newborn size. Don't try getting a solid hand mold from a 1-year-old. Seriously.

And my red ribbon projects. The tole painted turkey was in holiday decoration category, picture was a holiday frame, and handmade cards - you should have seen the poster setup of the lady that beat mine. She probably deserved all three ribbons! Then a ribbon necklace and bracelet (yes, I made jewelry!). The last one is my mom's ancient kitchen jar set that I refurbished - for the category Something New from Something Old. I've been meaning to finish that for years - now it's on our kitchen counter!

And here are my losers. Wait, a white ribbon is still third place. So my green beans got third place, and my chocolate wall plaque. But the other three are losers. Apparently my ABC scrapbook didn't measure up against the bazillion full size scrapbooks that were entered. And my little flower pin I made to match my necklace - I knew I should have made it a hair bow for Nicole. Never mind the choking hazard. And then there's the salsa - I could write a whole post on the salsa. Not today. Basically, I entered it so I wouldn't have to eat it. Only 49 jars to go. Want some?

No county fair is complete without a carnival. The boys loved the trampoline castle. They didn't jump at all - they just went down the inflated slide over and over again for five minutes.
Ben took the boys on the Ferris Wheel. I thought Zach would be scared but I could hear that he loved it.
I also thought they would be bored on the Carousel, but nooo. They giggled all the way around, up and down, and I had to peel Zach off his llama when it was done. It was all a lot of fun. If you haven't been to a county fair before, you should try it! I had a great experience with my own entries but I was mostly proud of Jonathan and happy that he was so excited. Plus the fair has the best maple bars you could ever eat! I'm already looking forward to next year.