Posts Tagged ‘Hobbies’

Winning pie entry in the 2010 Pillsbury Pie Baking Contest

Entering your projects and recipes in the Oklahoma State Fair is as easy as pie!  The Fair offers an extensive variety of opportunities to showcase your creativity.  Whether you love cooking, quilting, woodwork, antiquing, or any number of other hobbies, there is a place for you in the Creative Arts contests.  In fact, we challenge you to find a creative hobby that doesn’t have a contest!  There truly is something for everyone.

Step 1: Gather your supplies

To submit an entry, you will need a competition guide and an entry form (or you can register online, but we’ll get to that later). The Creative Arts Program is divided into six different departments, so it’s easy to find the right Guides for each of your interests.  You can download the Guides right here, or you can visit the Oklahoma State Fair Web site and find the Guides there, too.

Cooking—cooking, canning, baking…if you can eat it, you can find it here.

China, Ceramics, and Antiques—this department includes classes for antique toys and dolls as well as china painting and ceramics.

Fine Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies—the crafty catch-all department, this is the place to start if you’re not sure where to begin.  Includes a place to enter your collections, too.

Junior Arts and Crafts—for the 18 and under crowd.

Needlecraft—everything sewn, quilted, embroidered, woven, knitted and crocheted.

Photography—a place to enter your photos and some other interesting photo-based contests.

Read up on your Competition Guides, paying special attention to important dates on page 3 of each Guide.  All contests are free when you register by August 15^th, and there is no limit on how many different divisions an individual may enter.

Step 2: Get inspired!

Did you know that Creative Arts exhibits don’t have to be made specifically for the Fair?  Anything that you have made, painted, sewn, canned, or otherwise fabricated since September 2010 is eligible for entry.  But there are other exciting categories in which you can accept the creative challenge and whip something up just for the occasion.  Contests like Fancy Feet, Ugliest Cake, and the all-new Breast Cancer Awareness: Beautiful Bras! are all designed to inspire individual creativity.  Cruise through the Competition Guides to see what strikes your fancy, then go for it!

Step 3: Apply a generous amount of creativity

Spruce up your quilts and woodworked pieces, get artsy on your craft projects, and fire up the oven for some trial runs of those delicious recipes.  Most importantly, have fun experimenting and preparing to share your work with other cooks and crafters as well as over 1.1 million Fair attendees.

Step 4: Submit your registration

Fill out the entry form with the appropriate information.  You can also register online.  (Here are some helpful tips for online registration.)  All contests are free if you register by August 15.  When you register between August 16 and September 1, a $10 fee will be charged per person (not per exhibit).  When you register after September 2, a $15 fee will be charged per person.

Tip:  Some of our divisions include limits on how many entries we’re able to accommodate.  Check your Competition Guide, and don’t put off registration until the last minute!

Step 5: Show it off

Unless you’re entering a “LIVE” contest, you’ll need to bring your items to the exhibit drop off on September 10 or 11 between noon and 5pm.  Here, you’ll receive a claim check that will work like a coat check—you get half the ticket and the other half stays with your item so it can be identified when you come back to pick it up on the designated pick up days after the Fair.

You can tell the difference between live contests and regular entries by looking at the very front page of your Competition Guide.  If your contest says “LIVE,” guess what?  It’s a live contest!  For live contests, you should follow the instructions in the Guide for your specific contest regarding when and where to bring your exhibits.  If you pre-register for a live contest that’s listed in the Competition Guides, you will receive free Fair admission and a parking pass on the day of your contest.

Step 6: Congratulate yourself and enjoy the Fair!

Here’s your chance to see how your exhibit ‘faired’ against the competition!  The thousands of Creative Arts contest exhibits will be on display September 15-25.  You will have to attend the Fair to see your placing or wait until the contest results are posted online.  We suggest attending the Fair to see your ribbons in person, because you’ll have the opportunity to check out all of your fellow entrants’ work and be inspired for 2012!