Ever since we went for the first time last year I have been super excited about going to The Hoggetowne Medieval Faire again. This year I had even more fun that last year. Hubby and I really hate the drive to and from Gainesville so decided to camp the weekend of the faire so we could break-up the drive. It was a win win for us since we love camping (we got to try out our new tent) and we didn't have to wake up so early to get to the faire. Originally I tried to book at Paynes Prairie State Park but it was full up so I booked us a spot at O'leno State Park. I am now in love with O'leno and hope to return to camp soon, but more on our camping in the next post.
Hubby and I woke up around 8 am on Saturday and had coffee and pumpkin muffins for breakfast. I had forgotten to pack the big griddle we got for Christmas so we weren't able to have a hot breakfast but then again I was glad I didn't have to cook and clean up before we left the site. Our new tent is tall enough for us to stand in so we dressed for the faire and got on the road. The faire was a 40 minute straight shot and we got there just after opening. My mom gave me some mad money to take with us so I was able to get tickets with cash and get in quickly rather than having to wait in the super long credit line.
Within the first few minutes of arriving a faerie visited me and gave me this lovely rose.
One of the things we forgot to pack for the trip (along with the griddle) was Hubby's cloak. A dear friend was a champ and picked it up from our house and brought it with them to the faire.
I'm so pleased with how Hubby's tunic came out, the other one I made him from this pattern was much too short so I lengthened this one by almost a foot. I have a matching outfit out of the blue for myself but I'll wear it another time, I still have several tweaks on it before I wear it out.
From Puppies of Penzance, an adorable show.
I wish I had taken more pictures at the faire but I was too busy enjoying myself. Here are a couple from the living chess board.
At the end of the day we had walked almost seven miles and I was quite sunburned since I didn't even think of packing sunscreen. We left the faire around 5pm and headed back to the park. Instead of heading right back to camp we drove to river to see the bridge that is one of O'leno's most iconic areas.
We had some fun exploring while there was hardly anyone around, and it turned into an impromptu photo shoot. After walking around all day, sunburn, hair and makeup fading, a shoot was the last thing on my mind but many of the photos we took turned out so well I had to share them.
My layers were starting to escape my braids.
I pretty much made this outfit in one day, one very long day with a trip to the fabric store in the middle.I didn't have plans to have one this style vest originally but since I had to switch up my pattern choice making me make a 2 piece gown rather than a solid one I had to have a longer vest to cover the band of the skirt. I lucked out when I found this stretch denim with flocked patterning, it was a perfect texture and color and it was on sale. It was so easy to work with I knocked it out in around an hour rivets and all. I died the skirt and chemise to achieve the saffron color.
This circlet was one of my purchases at the faire, they had so many to choose from but I picked the one that went with my outfit the best. I need to look up the maker's info because I would love to buy another from them in a different colorway.
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| Isn't this tree amazing? It kind of reminds me of the tree from Sleepy Hollow. |
Let me let in you in a little secret:
When I was in middle school I started writing a story about a beautiful raven haired teenage girl that was thrust into a medieval fantasy world and befriends a pint-sized unicorn. She was gifted a saffron colored gown to wear to replace her modern clothes (by a mysterious stranger) and this is always how I imagined the gown would look. This ensemble is very special to me for that reason. Thankfully for the world I never finished the story and the beginning chapters have been lost on a now very dead 3.5 inch floppy disk.
