Weeks before Big Tex donned his mask and State Fair of Texas visitors were relegat­ed to a drive-thru experience, Creative Arts entrant Mary Dambacher made her way to Fair Park to drop off her sub­missions.

A fairy village out of tree bark. A haunted Halloween graveyard. A trick-or treater scene inside a pumpkin. Min­iature houses made out of oat­meal and cereal boxes. These creations, along with many more, earned Dambacher mul­tiple blue ribbons at the State Fair of Texas this year.

Even though she’s lived in the state for four years, this is the first time the Wylie artist/ crafter ever entered the SFOT contest. She won eight first place ribbons for all her entries; one for designer craftsman in the Recycled category, two for scale models in the Scratch Built category, four for Holiday Corner including mantle cover, table decorations and miscella­neous, and one for The Great Pumpkin Challenge – Hallow­een theme.

For the full story, see the Oct. 28 issue or subscribe online.

By Sonia Duggan • [email protected]