Chicago & the Renegade Craft Fair

My boyfriend and I are lucky enough to each live in a super-fun city- I'm in Madison, which is a large town pretending to be a big city, and he lives in Chicago which is, well, Chicago. We're both grad students, so usually we take it easy, avoiding pricey tourist traps and saving our money for occasional sushi dinners and bus tickets to see each other.

Last weekend was a spontaneous adventure in Chicago for us- I unexpectedly got tickets to see Allison Krauss at the Chicago Theater, and it just happened to be the weekend of the Renegade Craft Fair in Wicker Park! I didn't buy anything, but I did grab a ton of business cards, and tried to take as many pictures as I could despite the huge crowd.

Adorable plushes by The Wind & The Sail 

Steffbomb's awesome life-size plush banjo seemed all too appropriate after seeing Allison Krauss & Union Station the night before.

I love cute paper crafts and stationary and Circle Street had a super adorable tent. Plus, creator Lindy Adams is from Appleton, Wisconsin, just a couple miles from my own hometown.

These Sweater Toys are a perfect upcycled project

Geoff was a terribly good sport for taking me to a craft fair, but there were some cool crafts for guys there, too. We found wooden watches by Mistura Timepieces, and wooden ties by Wood Thumb.

We had a whirlwind short weekend, also stumbling upon the Lakeview Art Fair (where we bought nothing except a big pretzel for me), eating ice cream at Just Indulge, and burgers and giant salads at J. Wellingtons, and taking advantage of this less-busy part of the semester- it will be harder to be spontaneous later.

Have you been to the Renegade Craft Fair? Favorite seller? If not, favorite Etsy shop?