Shoes + Green Marker = Awesome! http://majikfaerie.blogspot.com/2010/07/faerie-shoes.html
I stumbled across this blog post today, from someone who took a relatively normal pair of shoes, and, through the simple use of a green marker, made them awesome.
Just one simple example of a great way to make things magical!
Crocheted Fairy Wings by Fruppi: http://www.instructables.com/id/Crocheted-Fairy-Wings/
It’s been a surprisingly good month for FaerieCrafts. Keep your eyes open for a post next week about some awesome DIYed shoes, and today I give you a tutorial for making an absolutely lovely set of crocheted fairy wings.
I just can’t say how awesome these are. I’ve seen a lot of different wing designs over the years, but this is pretty darn unique! Fruppi’s tutorial is very well photographed and explained, though she does assume at least some knowledge of crocheting. But even if you’ve never picked up a hook and yarn, there are plenty of resources to help you figure it out!
One of the gorgeous costumes captured by Kristin Nedopak on Outta This World: http://outta-this-world.com/2010/07/19/faerieworlds/
If you’ve not yet checked out Kristen Nedopak’s blog “Outta This World,” I highly recommend it. She describes her goal as being “to share the art and creativity involved in capturing the otherworlds that inspire us daily,” and in my opinion, she succeeds admirably. Star Wars finger puppets, incredible sci fi and fantasy origami, edible Star Wars, and the reason I’m linking to her blog now, a recent post with a gallery with dozens of the most spectacular photos of folks in costume at various FaerieWorlds events through the year.
Need inspiration? Just browse! I know I now have a list of about a dozen costume ideas I want to try… Her photography is stellar, and the costumes are simply amazing!
Wildwose, The BrambleBerry Faery blowing bubbles at the Maryland Faerie Festival.
I stumbled across this article today about gender roles and how as a culture, we’ve made great strides (though we still have a long way to go) in making it socially acceptable for a woman to wear pants and play with power tools, or be a surgeon, or run a company, but if a man does ballet, or wears pink, or likes flower gardening, then he’s obviously gay. As the author asks, “why is it alright for girls to break out of gender roles and embrace their love of tools or cars or spaceships, but when a boy wants to dress up like Princess Jasmine people are uncomfortable?”
It got me thinking about men and boys in the faerie culture. One of the things I love about the “modern” faerie festival is that it’s very gender-neutral. Sure, there are plenty of pastel princesses with shimmery wings and pretty curls, but there are also male faeries and sprites and goblins and elves and greenmen. It’s more about the connection with nature and the other worlds that touch ours than a specific gender role. The gentleman in the photo above, for example, is someone I’ve seen at just about every local faerie and renaissance festival, though I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never actually chatted with him (I did stumble across his website, though – he and his wife are the proprietors/creators of Mythical Masks and Miscellaneous Oddments, and he frequently posts some interesting articles and musings on his blog) – he always looks wonderful in natural, woodsy outfits.
Utilikilt, stripey socks, and a tophat = awesome!
As promised, I’ve finally gone through and uploaded my pictures from the Maryland Faerie Festival last weekend. The weather was gorgeous, though when the sun was out from behind the clouds it was a little hot. Not a bad spring day, though, all told. I wish I could’ve stayed longer, but alas, I had yardwork calling my name…
On to the pictures! Until I figure out how to insert more than one picture without it completely screwing with the page formatting, my favorites from the day can be found over here on my Picasa site.