Trinket Trading

      I really enjoy renaissance faires and I am glad I finally started going to them. I had never been until this year and then I went to several different faires. Most of them I went to more than once. I think I always wore something different, even if it was just a bit different. This dress I wore once before, but with a different corset. This was the day we went with my friend Aly and her kids. It was definitely a ton of fun. I love going with different people. 

     One of my favorite things at the faires is trinket trading. At the Connecticut Renaissance faire, which was the last one I went to this year (several times) they had organized times for trinket trading. You gather at a specific spot in the faire, at a specific time, and then one of the fairies opens the trading. Some people don't seem to understand how trading is supposed to work and they would try to trade only for things of similar value, or they would say that this thing they had to trade could be for multiples of someone else's things. That's not how trading should work. 

     The basic idea of trading isn't trading at all, it's gifting. You bring little trinkets of some kind with the idea of gifting them to people. If you really like someone's outfit or they did or said something that added to your enjoyment of the faire, that is reason enough to gift someone. And also just trading in general. I collected so much random crap that I have no interest in. But I never said no to a trade, I never said no, your trade isn't worth my trade. I always said thank you (which is appropriate). I had a woman trade me the pop top off a can. I said thank you, added it to my stash and let her choose one of my trinkets. For me, trinket trading is about the connections. Sometimes you get a chat with someone who is also out enjoying the faire. Sometimes you get to see a cool costume up close. Sometimes you get to make a child super happy. All of it is fun to me. 

     These photos are of most of the trinkets I got this year at faires. Elecktra took a few things from me at some point (because she liked them, and for me it's not about getting or keeping the things) but this is most of what I collected. Some of the things will go on my Yule tree, because they are super cool and I think they would be perfect for it. Some of the things I will keep and look through every now and then. Some of the things I will put in a stash to bring to faires for trading in the future. Sometime I may also do a post with some of the trinkets I have made to trade.