Post from the Past - Pine-Strawberry Arts & Crafts Festival

Pine-Strawberry Arts & Crafts Festival (Pine, AZ)
May 22, 2012

We drove up to the Pine-Strawberry area, first and foremost because it is a beautiful area. I just love the people; they are so laidback and inviting. They wave when you drive by just to greet you with a smile. You NEVER get that down here in the valley, and I am spoiled since I was raised in the mid west where that was common place. I waved back to every single person!!

I like these little craft festivals, while there are no performers…. Clarification: Once in a while there might be a singer or a local group playing music, but not strolling performers doing magic or those type of shows. There are tables loaded with the talents of another kind. Woodworking, paintings, bird feeders made out of license plates, books made entirely out of fabric, photography turned into bookmarks, postcards and wall paintings.

Some of my favorite crafts include one lady’s version of a child’s crayon and coloring book bag for travel. She’d taken the fabric and folded it over once and sewed tall skinny pockets so that each crayon was snug in its little compartment, and then made a fabric pocket for a coloring book. The whole thing folded in half and had a handle. Brilliant!!

One gal designed a cook book for children in terms they would understand.

One man took all sorts of items from his tool box and re-created little animals and garden goodies. Adorable.

One of the vendors had leather work that was so intricate the details were like a fine paintbrush stroke and each little masterpiece held a story.

I love looking at the jewelry and the glass works, the candles and dog clothes, bags made out of denim and all the recycle and reusable items people come up with, their imaginations are incredible! How one person sees a stack of horseshoes and turns it into a lamp stand I’ll never know, but to see people that have mastered their crafts is beyond awesome.

One thing to watch for in this type of setting is a gift for that person that has “everything”; we found a few really unique gifts this year. When you have someone that collects unusual items or one of a kind item, this is also a great stop.