1/16/2009 I Love a Street Fair!

I just love a good street fair! Today I attended the one in Casa Grande with friends Donna and Bill. Bob had no interest in going so he stayed home and continued plotting our adventure for this summer.

I love the sights, sounds and smells of a street fair.

Booth after booth lining the streets beckoning to me to come check out what’s for sale and begging me to reach into my pocket for that hard cold cash. Yeah, like that’s going to happen!

The sound of pan flutes being played by those who really know how to make those instruments sing. The sound of the local bands playing on the bandstand. The sound of people greeting each other as they pass friends within the boundaries of the street fair. I know this particular sound well as I believe half of Quail Run was in Casa Grande for this event today.

Ahhh, the smells of a street fair. The aroma of Kettle corn and hot dogs perfume the air and make tummies rumble and mouths water.

We stopped by one vendor who had denim jackets and shirts for sale and stood near a husband and wife who were also looking through the merchandise. The lady found a jacket she wanted to try on and wanted her husband to hold the jacket she was wearing and her purse while she tried the denim on. Now hubby had no problem holding her jacket but wanted no part in holding the purse. He just wasn’t having that. After some kidding from us he finally relented but even that was after his lovely wife wrapped the purse in the jacket so it couldn’t be seen.

Just a little ways down the street we heard the sweet, sweet sounds of a pan flute. Now I could listen to this all day. I stood for several minutes and watched in awe as this musician played his magical instrument.

You can buy all kinds of things at a street fair. We saw everything from metal work to funky homemade craft projects to pillows that guarantee a great night’s sleep to flowers made of wood to vintage clothing to incense to ,.,..well, you name it.

Here are some of this fair’s offerings.

We watched art being created right before our eyes. Of course this artist had many of his painting for sale and there were quite a few blank spaces on the walls of his booth so I’m assuming business was brisk.

Have a hankering for a southwest themed switch plate? Do you just have to have a kokopelli adorn yours? No problem in finding one here!

The next booth we stopped at attracted a lot of lookers. It was all about an optical illusion. It looked the ball was moving up and down the turning wire cage but it was in fact staying in the same place.

I don’t know the PURPOSE of the things sold in this other booth but they caught my eye. I do recall seeing ZEE GLASS on the sign.

This glass globe is quite sizable the there doesn’t appear to be any kind of opening in this one or the others displayed so I really don’t know what you DO with them.

The glass artist didn’t make just pieces like above, he also made THESE!

As I mentioned earlier, we ran into a lot of friends at the street fair and it was especially nice to run into Dona and Darrell. We worked with them last year in the Activity Department. This year they are in a different RV park but still in the area.

I don’t have a clue how these flowers are made as they are wooden roses. Yes, you read that right. Wood!

They come in all colors and even have a rose scent added to them.

I mentioned metal work earlier too and there was lots of that at the street fair. Here are some examples of this craft that caught my eye.

We saw something today that we hadn’t seen before and I have to admit I was really intrigued by it. So much so that I reached into my pocket for that cold hard cash, I just had to have some of this! Take note of the colorful beads in the vase.

This is the strangest thing. There was a bowl with a sign that read TOUCH ME so, of course, I did. It was such a strange sensation. It was wet, but yet it wasn’t, it was very soft and squishy and cool to the touch, These beads come in several colors and you GROW them! They can be used to hold cut flowers in place, as the top of the planter so that you don’t see the dirt, put into a container surrounding a candle, placed in a vase with silk flowers, layered by colors into a brandy snifter, the ideas for use is endless.

I bought this small packet of tiny beads and will grow them in a few days.

There was one booth that attracted lots of attention. Before we could actually “see” what it was we heard things like, “Are they real?” “They must be drugged to lay there like that” “How does he make them stay?” When we got closer to see we understood these comments.

In the picture above the first dog is NOT real. All the others are. They slept. They moved but not much which gave people the idea they were drugged. With all the noise it did seem strange that these dogs slept through all this. Just a few doors down a live band was playing, loudly. As you can see, the vendor was selling dog hats. Oh, don’t even get me started on this one! I didn’t see any bought while we were in the vicinity. I’m not surprised.

Art comes in all forms. Some people use clay, some use metal, some paint, some use yarn or material. Today we met a lady, Edna Harris, who uses, are you ready for this,,,,candy wrappers in her art.

In fact, she calls her work Candy Wrapper Creations. If you’d like to see more of her work go HERE.

I am the first to admit that I’m not talented in drawing or painting, creating masterpieces in metal or even have the imagination to create something like this out of everyday items……

…….so when I had the chance to help Edna Harris in creating a piece of art, well I just jumped on the opportunity! I mean really, how often does one get to help an artist with their creative endeavors?

So what did I do? What could I possibly do to be a part of the next artistic creation? I ate a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. In fact, I ate TWO of them!

Never let it be said that Snookie Quinn doesn’t support the arts!

Did you ever think about HORSE HAIR being used in the making of a candle holder or a vase or piece of pottery? I hadn’t and this was all new to me.

The process is called Horsehair Raku. When the pottery piece is baking in the kiln, it is pulled mid-way through and horsehair is applied to it. When it is returned to the kiln for baking the horsehair is burned off leaving lines of black carbon. It leaves a very attractive and distinctive pattern.

There were some very colorful paintings for sale.

As much fun as a street fair is….some just can’t hang. This little fella just couldn’t hold his eyes open any longer.

So there was our day at the street fair. Lots of sights, sounds and smells. It’s what its all about.