Count Me In

It's raining. It is March and, of course, it is raining. This is the time of year where I really look forward to summer: sunshine, heat, late evenings, berries and cucumbers, no coats or scarves, outdoor potlucks and fairs. I start getting restless for all this when the cold drippy rain hinders me from going outside, rather than making me feel cozy being inside.

So two years ago, to help negate the winter doldrums, I decided to host a fair for friends and family.

Thanks to my friend Jim for coming up with the name Count Me In. I am not good at coming up with names. Table Settings, Arts & Crafts, and Baking were the categories for submission. Voting comprised simply of everyone voting for their favorite in each category. I had voted in the People's Choice Awards at the Clackamas County Fair and it felt like an inner circle, picking the one you liked the best. At the Count Me In Fair, the submissions were rich in creativity and kitch: mounted glitter gun, Lego Tardis, plated hair. And besides the fair entries, we enjoyed a crock pot of nacho cheese, homemade pickles and preserves, even live accordion music and singing. My friends and family came with their best fair-foot forward.

Table Settings

Hair Gourmet

Riparian Entertainments

Folklore Forest

Intergalactic ET Mealtime

Elegant Eating

The Winner: I Am Alone

Arts & Crafts

The Winner

Baking

The Winner: Donut Muffins

In the Fair Basement

Sampling Canned Goods

Nacho Cheese

Ickus

A little Edelweiss

Announcing the Winners

The Winners

And the Rest

 It turned out better than I expected. I was impressed with the number of submissions, especially the gung ho attitude toward the table settings. This month we will be putting on the 2nd Ever Count Me In Fair. We are changing things up a bit by having separate kids submissions and we are forgoing table settings for collections. We changed from evening to a middle of the afternoon time, to make it more family friendly. And instead of a basement, the fair will be hosted in a pavilion (aka living and dining rooms). I am looking forward to some creative arts and crafts, inspired or unusual collections, and baked wonderfulness.