Finding Craft Inspiration at the County Fair

Our family loves the county fair! One of my favorite things about the fair (besides the food) is seeing all the creative craft entries. I get so much inspiration looking at what others have made and entered. Today I thought I'd share some snapshots of strangers' projects I've admired at county fairs.

When a whole class or other large group all enter the same project, it is a nightmare to judge and a nuisance to display. But boy, are they striking when done right! I was admiring this collection of flowers from across the room. I really love this simple project made from a cardboard tube. I think the flower is from an egg carton cup, with a pom pom in the center. I did a quick search and wasn't able to find a tutorial for this online, so I might play around with it and write one myself. 

Here's another project that caught my eye from a distance. It's big - each of the eight panels is about 12" x 16". It's another group project, though I'm not sure whether each panel was done by one person or many. I'm super impressed with the amount of detail they got in this mosaic. That's not easy. I'm eager to try this, though on a much smaller scale.

This two-by-four turkey is cute, simple, and fun. A quick search reveals that a lot of people have made a project like this. Most credit Craft Goodies with the original idea. If I ever make my own version, I'm going to use washi tape on the tail feathers. 

This is a clever recycling project. I spy a can, bottle caps, nuts and a bolt, a plastic lid, a pop top from a soda can, and I'm not sure what that wire around the eye is. Regardless, it's super clever. 

I like this Pac-Man craft. (Remember my two Pac-Man crafts? I love them.) This craft would be fun as a flannel board activity where you can create your own maze, then move the characters through it. 

I've seen this handprint and footprint perspective project around a lot but have never tried it. I should. There are so many directions you can go with this. 

I love seeing what people do with quilling. There's only one quilled shape in this parrot craft, the tight coil. The design comes from grouping them together and using different colors. I totally want to try this. 

Beast, Belle, and the peacock are all sculpted from nothing but pipe cleaners. That's a lot of talent there. I'm impressed. 

I'm quite fond of these Batman and Robin paper bag puppets. I'm thinking you make these, add some villains, and then put sound effects on sticks (BAM! WHACK! KAPOW!) and you've got yourself the potential for one heck of a puppet show. 

Tons of items on display, but my eye goes right to that friendly lion. It's hard to tell from this photo, but the mane is sparkly gold pipe cleaners. 

It looks like a burger, but it is a painted rock. How cool is that? And where on earth did Carlin find such a perfectly smooth and round rock? I want to paint a hamburger rock!

I want to decorate all my egg cartons like this...

Here's another group project. Students brought in plastic lids and turned them into this gigantic mural. As cool as it is, I don't think I'll be making anything like this. I already save way too many items that most people would consider trash. (But on the plus side, I never need to wait for a cardboard tube, bottle cap, cork, etc. when inspiration strikes!)

I love these dinosaurs and want to make one stat. I have no idea how they make theirs, but I would cut a dinosaur stencil and put it on black paper, add a coat of spray adhesive, pour on colored sand, remove the stencil, then cut construction paper bones to fill in the black space. And then I'd use a spray sealant over the whole thing because I hate sand. 

What do you think? Do any of these projects inspired you?