The contest has some criteria to meet including the ornament has to be less than 12 inches tall, it must be 2 or 3 dimensional, and it has to weigh less than 1/2 pound. It also has to include one of the following features from the state park logo: an eagle, Ojibwe floral bead work design, spruce or balsam fir tree, and/or elements of nature found in Minnesota such as lakes, rivers, or ecosystem.
I was able to convince my youngest daughter to design an ornament. I also decided to do it with her since they had an adult as well as a youth category. The prizes were substantial. First place was awarded $100, 2nd $50 and 3rd $25. Those are big prizes for the State Fair. Most creative or educational ribbons only award $8 for first place so this was definitely worth putting some serious effort into. Here is what we created. My daughter's is first (she wanted to wear her Christmas sweater for the photo). Mine is second.
Update: We made it to the display at the fair last week. Here are photos of the winners. I was surprised to see that I got a 4th place ribbon, since only the first 3 ribbon holders were published on the State Fair website, so I thought I hadn't received anything for my piece. It is my first ribbon at the Fair and I am very proud of it!