Today I went to The Fourth Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, NY at McCarren Park Pool (yes, the pool is an actual empty community pool where concerts, free movie screenings, and a craft fair full of renegades all take place — if you are as curious as I was about what an abandoned pool looks, see below).

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Above (left to right): two of the many ivy-grown arches surrounding the empty pool, the entry way to the pool (looking up), a row of crafter tables setup under tents (notice the pool-floor ground).

This craft fair is one of the premier DIY and crafter fairs and occurs four times a year (twice in Chicago, and once in San Fransisco and Brooklyn). So many people want to fill the 200 available tent spaces that the selected crafters have to be pretty wonderful to have a spot. This year, Etsy had a big overall presence at the fair and its own table with magical freebies such as a “passport” to the fair, stickers, buttons, and temporary tattoos.

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Above: mango slices with lemon juice & salt were available just outside the fair, the Treats Truck, NYC’s traveling dessert truck, provided me with my chocolate fix.

While I’m still recovering from the heat, I’m mostly still recovering from the awesome-ness of seeing so many creative people in one room (er, pool). After a full day of oohing, ahhing, note-taking, business card collecting, and wishing “I had thought of that” I am returning to you with not just one post on the Renegade Craft Fair but a fabulous week of posts. I just couldn’t help myself.

Enjoy! (All Renegade Fair 08 posts will be collected here!)

Above: Your intrepid reporter (right) and her intrepid friend (left) at the 2008 Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn.
    Other Posts You Might Like:
  1. Postcard Machine at the Renegade Craft Fair
  2. Drool Inducing Snack!
  3. Renegade Creature Round-up (Part I)
  4. Renegade Craft Fair Round-up: Prints & More Prints (and still not enough!)
  5. Renegade Craft Fair: Artsy Business Cards!