Start Those Creative Juices Flowing!

Start Those Creative Juices Flowing!

School is back in session, the weather will soon be taking a turn from hot to cooler, trees will begin to turn colors, days will be shorter, and thoughts will turn to the Hopkins County Fall Festival and Stew Cook-off, scheduled to begin with the parade on October 17th, and running through Saturday, October 24th .  One of the main attractions associated with the Fall Festival is the Arts & Crafts Show, where you can find one-of-a-kind hand-crafted items to purchase as Christmas gifts, birthday presents, or for yourself!  Applications have been coming in, and it’s going to be a great show.  If you are interested in having a space, be sure to call my office at 903-885-3443, or drop by 1200  W. Houston, Sulphur Springs, for a copy of the guidelines and the application.  More on that later, but I want to focus on another event – The Creative Arts Contest.

Not to be confused with the Arts & Crafts Show, the Fall Festival Creative Arts Contest is an event to showcase your talents by entering items to be judged.  Individuals entering the contest must be from Hopkins County (or be with a relative from Hopkins County).  Participants may enter as many items as they wish as long as they are not entering more than one item in the same class.   Entry fee of $1 is payable upon registering the items.

Registration will be held on Thursday, October 22, at the Sulphur Springs High School Conference Center, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. or Friday, October 23, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.  No entries will be accepted after that time unless approved by the registration committee.  If those registration times don’t work, you make bring items to the Extension Office, 1200-B W. Houston, Monday, October 19th thru Wednesday, October 21st, between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.  Our committee will transport items to the contest area. (Please don’t bring large items to the Extension Office – take them directly to the High School during regular registration hours.)  Labels for each entry will be provided at registration.   Due to space limitations, no professional entries are allowed.

Entries will be judged on Friday, October 23 beginning at 10:00 a.m.  Each entry will be awarded a ribbon, with white meaning “good”, red meaning “better”, and blue meaning “best.”  Best of Show rosette ribbons will be awarded to the top entry in each age category and division.   Items will be on display to the public from approximately 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, and from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.  Pictures of Best of Show winners will be taken at 1:30 p.m. onSaturday, October 24, in the High School Conference Center.

There are 5 age categories:  Children (ages 10 & under); Youth (ages 11-19); Adult (ages 20-69); Seasoned Texans (70 & above); and even a category for Nursing home and Assisted Living Residents.

Entry Divisions are:

  1. Clothing – classic, after-five, children’s wear, specialty, or wearable art
  2. Food preservation – canned vegetables, canned fruits, jams, preserves, butters, jellies, pickles, relish, pickled vegetables, dehydrated foods, miscellaneous

III.            Bake Show – breads, cakes, pies, cookies, candies

  1. Decorated Cakes (will not be cut!)
  2. Handiwork – knitting, crochet, embroidery, needlepoint, sewn items, beadwork, beaded jewelry, other fabric/fiber work
  3. Holiday/Seasonal – Christmas, tablecloths, decorations (other than Christmas), wreath/door hanging, nativity scenes

VII.            Creative Crafts – crafts (plastics, candles, leather, metal), ceramics, stained glass, painted household objects, miscellaneous

VIII.            Art – oil, water color, pen & ink, rub-outs, pencil, acrylic, paper tole, crayon, spray paint art, miscellaneous

  1. Scrapbooks – seasonal, collective, memorabilia
  2. Photography – portrait, scenic, still life, animals, people, floral, architectural, grouping
  3. Quilts – hand quilted, machine quilted, combo quilted, baby quilts, quilted items

XII.            Dolls – cloth dolls, doll costumes, open category

XIII.            Horticulture – agriculture, cut flowers, potted plants, hanging baskets, succulents, dried, gourds, herbs

XIV.            Woodworking – kits (children & youth), inlaid wood, mosaic wood art, furniture, wall hangings, wood carving, yard art, rustic art, birdhouses, toys, miscellaneous

The final division is for Nursing Home or Assisted Living Residents.  Their options include holiday/seasonal items, quilts, plastic art, handmade accessories, needlework, leather craft, metal craft, wood craft, art, weaving, and miscellaneous.

The Family & Consumer Sciences Committee, Creative Arts Committee and Master Wellness Volunteers are looking forward to implementing this contest again this year!  Start working on your entries now, or pull out something you have made during the past year and enter it in the contest.  The more entries we have, the more fun visitors have viewing them!

 

Christmas Joys Annual Holiday Program

This serves as a “teaser” about the November 9th event sponsored by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and the Southwest Dairy Museum.  Watch demonstrations, get great ideas on food as gifts, learn how to add festivity to your home, and sample some delicious dairy products.  Sign-up is now underway for the 1:30 and 5:30programs.  Both sessions are limited to 80 people each, and we always have a waiting list, so check your calendar and give us a call – 903-885-3443.  More information will be forthcoming.

 

Closing thought

“You don’t stop laughing because you grow old.  You grow old because you stop laughing” – unknown

Johanna Hicks Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Family & Consumer Sciences 1200-B W. Houston P.O.Box 518 Sulphur springs, TX 75483 903-885-3443 – phone 903-439-4909 – Fax jshicks@ag.tamu.edu

Johanna Hicks
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Family & Consumer Sciences
1200-B W. Houston
P.O.Box 518
Sulphur springs, TX 75483
903-885-3443 – phone
903-439-4909 – Fax
[email protected]

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