Renegade Craft Fair – Brooklyn

This past weekend, I hit up the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn with my bridesmaid Jessica. First comment right off the bat? Did not expect it to be so big! We got to the fair around 3pm and stayed until 6 and didn’t get close to seeing everything!

I had heard about the fair on on Brooklyn Bride and was pretty excited to check it out. I used to live a few blocks away from McCarren Park in Brooklyn, where the fair was held, and I’m pretty sure nothing that cool happened while I lived there! But beyond the obvious pursuit (the never ending pursuit) of more cute jewelry, I was excited to see some home made goodies that I could potentially use for the wedding. There were a lot of different kinds of booths; stationary, clothing, hair accessories, jewelry, etc. Of course, I didn’t buy anything (though Jessica did!), but I did collect a couple of cards of sites that I’m thinking about checking out again for wedding stuff.

My favorite booth was probably The Weekend Store. They make these really cool cufflinks out of old typewriter keys. Paul’s father wrote all of his books (about 100!) on Smith Carona typewriters. He passed away recently and I thought it’d be a really nice touch to include. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of showing them to Paul! I was thinking they could be a really neat groomsmen gift as well. But unfortunately, they a little pricier than I’d like, $54 for a set, but I’m going to keep my eye on them. Maybe they’ll have a sale before or after the holidays and I can pick some up. I just hope I can clarify that they have to be Smith Carona keys!

While on the subject of typewriters, we’ve also talked about  using a typewriter as our guest book. There are a ton around, at least two or three just in our house! It depends on the set up though. Don’t want to hear the clack! clack! of typewriters while the best man is giving a toast!

Another booth I grabbed a card from was Sesame Letterpress. They had coasters that they were selling for a $1 each. Now, obviously, I’m not going to buy another person’s custom coasters, but I was considering getting some made for the cocktail hour. I’ve put a lot of thought into the ceremony, the reception, the invites, but the cocktail hour hasn’t even crossed my mind. This could be a nice touch. Depends on prices though.

I also tried on a few headbands with felt and beading from Heart Felt, which were pretty, but I think a little too big for me. It was nice to get an idea though.

There were a few things that were totally not wedding related that I didn’t buy, but really wish I had. One was from Mr. Poncho, which was selling these iPod holders with a thing on the outside to wrap your headphones around. So creative and totally useful, considering usually I just throw my iPod, coverless, into my bag and have to untangle my headphones every time. I also really want a bag from Tinyhearts Design. I’ve been looking for a sturdy, but stylish messenger bag for a long time. I want something that I can use for school, but not feel embarrassed by at the office and I think the Brigette School Bag really fits the bill. But again at $90, it’s a lot. And I would hope that I could just meet up with the seller somewhere in Brooklyn instead of paying $10 shipping to have the bag make the trip down the G line, essentially! (I chatted with the seller at the fair and apparently she lives a few blocks down from my old apartment.)

And, of course, I saw a ton of jewelry I really liked, but can’t afford. I can’t really think about jewelry for the wedding yet anyway, because I don’t have my dress. But I’ve been trying to introduce more jewelry into my daily wardrobe. Mostly earrings and an occasional necklace. I’m so bad about actually pulling the trigger and buying anything though. There was plenty of beautiful things at the craft fair though. If I had unlimited funds, I would be a very happy camper right now.

Anyway, the Renegade Craft Fair is going to be in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago later this summer, so if you live in any of those cities, I definitely recommend you check it out. Just bring some water and budget a lot of time, because there is a lot to see!