Faire Treasures LLC is a small business based around historically inspired costuming and accessories with the occasional bit of Gothic style mixed in. With a focus on Renaissance, Pirate, and Steampunk fashions, our clothing and accessories can be utilized for costuming reminiscent of many eras throughout history. Currently located as a home-based business in Grand Prairie, Texas, in the heart of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Previous home-bases have included Austin, Amarillo, and San Marcos, Texas. Faire Treasures first opened online on Etsy as “CrystalKittyCat’s Faire Treasures” in July of 2007.
Hey there! I’m Kristin “CrystalKittyCat” Vinson. You may call me Kitty. Faire Treasures started out as my side-project as I worked on my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Photography at Texas State University.
Growing up, my mom taught me the basics of sewing, and I learned jewelry making through Girl Scouts and from my sister, Stephanie. Not going to lie, I wasn’t that interested in sewing when I was younger. My first big project was making a reversible cloak after I graduated high school. (I still have it, and it is still so warm and comfy!)
I’ve always been a nerd or geek of some semblance or other. Pirates of the Caribbean kicked off my passion for historical costuming. So when I found out about Renaissance festivals you can bet I fell in love. My sister and I experienced our first Ren Faire in 2006, and we both instantly wanted to be a part of it. As things go, we weren’t ready for it then.
When we learned of a new festival beginning outside of Austin in 2009, we knew this was our opportunity. Our individual businesses were small, so she and I went in together to start our shop at Sherwood Forest Faire: Iris Adornments & Apothecary. Stephanie created our apothecary items: perfumes, lip balms, massage oils, hair rinses, and essential oils. I created our adornments: cloaks, skirts, and Pirate Hair Jewels. We succeeded, we grew.
Online, I’ve added many items to my selection over the years, expanding my skills as a seamstress and jewelry and accessory maker. Occasionally, I’ve added stunning items made by other companies to Faire Treasures‘ selection. After all, one person can only do so much. Not all of those have stuck around, as markets change, and I have to refocus on what you, my customers, are looking for.
Over the years, I expanded my business and had help creating handmade items from some wonderfully talented ladies: Sabi and Melinda. Sabi worked with me sewing Faire Treasures‘ handmade clothing and would occasionally join our sales team at events, while Melinda is a leatherworker who created Faire Treasures‘ handmade Leather Skirt Hikes. Both have moved on to focus on other things.
2018 turned everything upside down. After completing our ninth season of Sherwood Forest Faire, Stephanie passed away suddenly in an accident. I cannot thank my friends and Ren Faire family enough for the support I received during that time. Even with the support, it was difficult for me to keep on task for Faire Treasures. This website was on pause at that point because, well, Stephanie built and maintained the behind-the-scenes of this website. I’m not going to go into the battle that it was to keep this site that she built for me going. With everything that happened, I put my focus onto keeping the Faire Treasures Etsy shop up to date instead, and made sure it continued to be successful.
In 2019, I learned that the owner of Scarlett’s Corset was looking to retire and sell her business. We started discussing the potential of me taking on Scarlett’s Corset, and shifting how I ran Faire Treasures to merge the two businesses. I worked at her Texas Renaissance Festival location that year, and started learning her style for running her costuming business. But then 2020 happened. Festivals shut down, and we had quite a time dealing with the changes that everyone being stuck at home brought us. Yet oddly enough, the pandemic actually brought about the ability for me and my husband to acquire Scarlett’s Corset. At the beginning of 2021, the sale was finalized, and we expanded into both Scarborough Renaissance Festival and Texas Renaissance Festival.
With the acquisition, I had some difficult choices to sort through. Should I retire the name Faire Treasures and switch to Scarlett’s Corset? Do I do away with the festival shoppe name that me and my sister created? 2021 was a stressful year, with heavy changes and lasting decisions. Many, many things did not go as planned. I connected with a professional sewing team in Dallas to whom I handed over my patterns and work with to create a vast majority of my clothing stock. As a solo seamstress, there was no possible way for me to make enough inventory for three eight weekend festivals. My Dallas team has been a wonderful addition to make sure I have the colors and sizes of my designs that y’all ask me for!
Through this transition, I’ve drastically increased the amount of corsets I offer, and I’m keeping around select Scarlett’s Corset designs as we move forward while creating new corset designs for the future. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I would retire both the Scarlett’s Corset name and the shoppe name Iris Adornments & Apothecary.
I began rebranding our Renaissance festival locations to Iris Adornments & Corsetry in 2022, and I hope to have the rebranding complete by 2025. Faire Treasures remains the main business name, only now, it’s an LLC.
If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You now know waaaay too much about my life story. 🙂 So browse my shop, checkout the blog for my sporadic updates, and send me a message through the contact form if you find anything amiss. <3