Peter's Valley Craft Fair!!

This past weekend my family and I went to the Sussex County Fairgrounds and walked around the 40th Annual Peters Valley Craft Fair (http://www.petersvalley.org/) . According to their website, "Peters Valley Craft Center is a national center for fine craft education where people’s lives are enriched through the exploration and execution of fine craft. Located in the Delaware Water Gap Peters Valley offers two to five day workshops in blacksmithing, ceramics, fibers, fine metals, photography, wood and special topics including printmaking, books & paper, drawing, and glass." Every year they have a craft fair. We had never been before, and I had seen a show about Peters Valley on the local PBS station. So we decided to check it out. Great choice! It was only $8 per adult ($7 with $1 coupon), and children under 12 are free. It was so much bigger than I imagined! There were 6 long buildings,

and each one was filled to the brim with vendors selling all kinds of handmade creative items.

Clothing, jewelry,

ceramics,

fiber arts,

sheep,

beautiful flowers made out of clay (!!!)

roaming musicians,

even wood carving.

In fact, the artist in this picture was carving little items out of wood for passers-by. We just happened to be standing there and watching when he had finished a small item for a lady nearby. When he was done, he said, "Who's next?" Naturally, my daughter chimed right in, "Me!!" Much to my surprise. I didn't think the items he was making were free, but he set to work making a 3-dimensional butterfly. He made it seem so easy the way he used his tool with skill, as he described the process of making the butterfly. In moments, he gave my daughter the finished item below:

She promptly said thanks and we gave him a small donation. She was delighted with the little butterfly, and so were we!

There was also an area where artists from Peters Valley were demonstrating their crafts.

Many of the vendors had delicate items, so we cautioned our daughter not to touch them. However, there was an area for the children to create their own crafts, so my daughter spent some time there coloring and cutting.

It was a pleasant day, the weather was nice, and we enjoyed ourselves.

More Church Crafts!

Here are a couple of the ones from this week:

Octopus

Jesus walking on water

I had one more that I did but I didn't finish it in time to take a picture of it. It was a baby Jesus in a manger, made with straw and popsicle sticks. I guess they are starting the Christmas story early this year.

Church Craft Time Again!

It's that time of year again, and I'm busy prepping the crafts for our children's church Bible classes. Here are the crafts I worked on this week (from the Kids Quest curriculum):

a sun mask, a friendship book,

and an angel.

I interviewed Barney & Hip Hop Harry!

I’m happy to announce that I just posted my interview with David Joyner, the man who knows Hip Hop Harry & Barney inside out. He’s the actor who has brought these characters to life for many years, and he has some very interesting stories to share! I hope you’ll take a look at the interview by clicking this link: http://www.creativehelps.com/interviews_3.htm#ANOTHER_COLORFUL_LIFE_~_DAVID_JOYNER . Let me know what you think!

Hobby Lobby Visit

I love Hobby Lobby! Just going there makes me drool with delight about all the crafty projects I could make, and this visit was no exception. Just look at all their wonderful Christmas stuff! Made me get emotional right there in the store:

Aarti Party dinner!!

On Saturday I made my first recipe from Aarti Party, the new Food Network show from the winner of the Next Food Network Star contest! Out of all the contestants I wanted her to win the most, and she did! Yay! Her show is one of the only ones I have tried to make the recipe for; the rest I just watch.

Here's my version of her Bombay Sloppy Joe:

The recipe was very easy to follow, but it took me a little better than an hour to make, since I chopped the ingredients by hand, and I'm a careful chopper. But boy was it worth it. I was surprised to see how much authentic Indian flavor it had, and how light it was! Sloppy Joes can be so heavy, but this one tasted so light! I ate two that night, though I'm sure I could have polished off more all by myself. The whole family enjoyed them. And she was right, they smelled so great while I was cooking them! We will be making them again!

I have to say I was also surprised by the raisins, honey, and cream. I thought it would make it taste too sweet, but after I tasted it while it was cooking, I found myself adding a little more honey to it.