Wheaton Arts

This morning, we braved the chilly, rainy weather to head to Wheaton Arts for the Festival of Fine Craft.  It’s basically a really upscale craft fair.  They had a lot of REALLY nice things from a lot of different vendors.

Daniel wouldn’t let me buy everything, but I could have spent a ton of money there.  I found jewelry, furniture, wine, cutting boards, bowls, and photos that I liked.

Of course, the main reason we were there was for the Glass Pumpkin Patch.  From the moment I heard about it, I knew that I had to have a hand blown pumpkin.  I just wasn’t prepared for the selection!

The Glass Pumpkin Patch was HUGE!!!

There were so many!

They were all so pretty!

These square ones were pretty awesome.

This clear/swirled one was Trinity’s favorite

I had a really hard time picking one out.

There were so many to choose from; I didn’t know where to start.  Really, I wanted to take them all home.  I finally decided that I wanted a traditional orange one with a curly stem to start with.  I informed Daniel that I was going to get a new one each year.  That means next year I can get a cool one.  I saw this really pretty black one with a curly black stem.  I hope they have one like that next year.

So, I picked a darker orange one with a green-green stem.  Some had a blue-green stem that I wasn’t a fan of.  Really, this was a big ordeal.  I spent over a half hour comparing each pumpkin to find the perfect one.

Well, at least I think I picked the perfect one.  It’s a traditional pumpkin but still has a lot of character.  I’m in love.

Isn’t it perfect? It has all the elements I wanted in my first glass pumpkin.

We explored all the vendors, bought a few small things (a glass nail file and some hand blown marbles), and tasted some wine at the Baltic Winery booth.  Daniel bought me some pomegranate wine, which was delicious.

Small Fry thinks it’s delicious, too! (Don’t worry, she didn’t actually drink it.)

Trinity picked these awesome marbles out.

Who wants to come over and drink this with me?  Fun times shall be had by all!

Back to the festival, though.  When it started raining, we headed into the different shops and buildings to attempt to stay dry.  Our first stop was the glass blowing building, where we spent a while watching them make pumpkins.  It was pretty awesome.

This guy made the best pumpkins.

This pumpkin was pretty epic.

We also spent some time in the Museum of American Glass, which was pretty amazing.  It had a lot of amazing pieces.  It was hard to believe that everything was made of glass!  I can’t even imagine the skill, talent, and time that goes into making a lot of the items.

It was also interesting to see all the different types and methods of glass making.

Of course I took a billion photos.

This was entitled ‘Secretly Sexy Toaster Cozy #1.’

These were some pretty awesome Tim Burton-esque skeletons.

I don’t even understand this sculpture.

This is uranium glass, also known as vaseline glass. It’s a really awesome green color and glows in UV light. Of course, it’s not available anymore due to it being… ya know… radioactive.

It was a good day overall.  Wheaton Arts is a beautiful place.  Seriously.  If you’re ever in the area, you should check it out.  Even without the festival, there are still lots of other things to keep you busy.

Even the pollen and algae in the water was beautiful!

We’re definitely going to head back there for some Christmas Shopping.  A ticket is required for the museums and exhibits, but you can enter the shops without one.  They have a lot of really awesome, unique, handcrafted items.

Now I have to decide where I want to put my glass pumpkins.  It will be some place safe, hopefully, some place that the cats cannot knock it over.  They’re the reason we can’t have nice things.

So, that’s how I spent my Sunday morning.  Did you do any awesome exploring this weekend?