weekend show wrap up

Thank you for all of the well wishes about my Sunday show!  This was a brand new show for me that I found out about through the Wisconsin Arts and Crafts Fair Directory.  The directory shows have a good reputation, and this was a small juried show, so I was optimistic.  But you never know how these things will go.  Thankfully it did not disappoint.  We had steady traffic all day, and I had steady sales as well.

For my 2011 shows, I used three card tables, which is about 8 feet across.  For 2012, I decided to add two smaller tables in the front, making an open square.  For anyone who may be considering this type of set up, the booth sizes for this show were 8"x8" and it JUST fit.  I had enough room to sit behind the display, but that was about it.  Many shows have 10"x10" booths so it will work for most shows.

I know that my sign was drooping a little bit.  I did fix it early in the show.  It's just a tiny bit taller than my tables so I really have to secure it well from above to get it at the right height.

I didn't feel like doing a mock set up at home with the new tables, but I didn't want to invent it all on the spot either, so I drew up a plan ahead of time.  This worked really well.  I didn't have to think about how to arrange inventory on the new tables at all when I got there.  I put my new flowers, pins, rings, hair pins, and magnets on this left side.

Remember how I wanted to base my card displays?  I did, and it was so much better.  I did not tape down these displays or my easels, which I normally do even for indoor shows, but I will next time.  There was only one minor incident with a tip over, but it's better to be safe then sorry.  Also, remember how I talked about building up my card tabs so you could see them over the card sleeves in the display box?  I did, which was a tedious task, but it was worth it and will be even more so for future shows as I create more cards to fill all of those tabs (I only have about 8 filled categories right now).

I did sell the 2012 card.  I would like to make more with this design in the future.

Overall, I was really happy with this set up.  I loved the extra room with the new tables.  It wasn't too crowded, which was good because I'm planning to add boxed card sets and possibly some small canvas button art for my holiday shows.  All of the vertical displays really helped draw people into my entire display.  I have talked about vertical displays before, but I really can't stress this enough.  The more of them I add to my booth, the more people look.

I'm sure that I'll get questions about this so I'll put it out there now: the music note boxes are just overturned Dollar Store plastic crates covered with fabric.  I didn't glue the fabric down or anything, just tucked it into the crate.  It worked really well.

I got a lot of compliments on the new flowers.  I didn't sell too many of them, but it added a lot to my display, so I think that I'll keep it.

It feels good to have a successful open house and one successful show done already for 2012.  Here's hoping for more successful shows this year!

Has anyone else done a show recently?  Share your experiences and tips!

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I included this post in Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 5/14/2012.