The Renegade Craft Fair is back in town this weekend, Sat & Sun, 11am-7pm. Walk the perimeter of McCarren Park and wade through mountains of reconstructed vintage goodies, letterpressed notecards, handsewn stuffed toys, and oversized buttons. It takes a lot of browsing fortitude to make it around to every booth (over 200), even in the gorgeous, 75-degrees-and-sunny weather predicted for the weekend. Since it’s easy to come down with Craft Sensory Overload, we highlight a few of our favorite Renegade booths. Read about them after the jump.
Erica Weiner Jewelry: A staple on the craft fair circuit, this New York-based 
jewelry line features vintage-inspired trinkets like silver necklace charms in the shape of letterpress blocks, and antique name bracelets that will brand you as a Phyllis, a Shirley, or a Dorothy.
Mat Daly: Walking around the fair, it seems like everyone and their mom 
knows how to screenprint, but no one can mimic the intricacy and finesse of Mat Daly’s work. His prints, all masterful technical feats, are expressions of nature in warped geometric forms. Daly is based in Chicago, so save on shipping and pick up his prints while he’s in town.
Cake Spy: Jesse Olson paints adorable watercolor images of cupcakes that surf, read, shop at the record store and befriend robots. In addition to her paintings, she peddles notecards bedecked with her sweet images—perfect for birthdays and thank yous. Also, check out Jesse’s blog, where she will win you over with tips on faking your baking and creations like the (genius) Cookie Cake Pie.
Hello Banjo: A Brooklyn-based clothing line for babies, Hello Banjo makes 
bibs and onesies for babies who are too young to know how cool they look sporting screenprinted images of gnomes, ipods and bicycles on their bellies. But the clear winner of Hello Banjo’s collection is the Diamond Bling Bib, which will brand your baby with the identity of either a glamour diva or a total gangster.
Artikal: Who knows if it’s the effect of a more powerful summer sun or the 
popularity of MadMen, but casual blocked hats are back in a serious way. Artikal, a New York City based milliner, creates some of the more modern structures around, with sleek panama fedoras and coy cloches in pastel straw weaves.
Cherrybox Studios: File all of this under “Things I Don’t Need But Kind of Want Anyway.” Cherrybox’s “plushies,” bags, and accessories are all 
handmade and have a Japanese hyper-cute sensibility, with a little extra dose of perversion. Take home a member of the Plushkill Forest stuffed animal taxidermy family to hang on your wall, or a Miss Cherrybox poseable doll to plant beside your dunnys and munnys and other useless (but beloved) collectibles.
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