weekend show wrap up

Before I get into the show details: I got a lot of comments yesterday about people wanting to see my Morton Salt Girl Halloween costume. I will be sure to get some pictures and share them!

I had my first fall craft fair this past weekend. I always plan to write a follow up post about my shows. Until the show is finished, it can be very hard to predict what I'll be discussing.

I know that people always enjoy seeing photos of displays. I have used a very similar display set up for my past few events and continue to be happy with it.

You can see more detailed photos of this set up here and here. This show took place in the indoor portion of a large soccer facility. You can see from the orange booth borders that we have large spaces. We also had ample aisles for customers. So the set up was pretty nice, but the customers just weren't there. We had a fair amount of browsers but very few buyers. I had my second worst sales record at an event to date.

This was a two day event. Needless to say, it was a big time commitment. Normally I would have left an event like this bitter and depressed about how little I sold. There were a couple reasons that this wasn't true this time.

1. This was my first of six fall/holiday shows for 2012. I'm confident that I'll be able to make up the money that I planned to make here at some of my other shows.
2. I had one of the best booth neighbors that I've ever had at a show. We really hit it off, and the show went amazingly quickly considering how few customers we had.

Aren't his products and displays great? It is extremely rare that I purchase anything from craft fairs where I vend. I am kind of cheap and am reluctant to part with the money that I just made. Also, I'm almost always at shows on my own and I've usually been so busy talking to customers, packaging items, and keeping my booth tidy that I haven't gotten to many other booths. But I had to get a couple things from him.

This guy is hilarious. His mustache and general expression reminds me of Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation.

I always enjoy it when Sharla and other people with pets have their pets model their newly acquired items. So I gave it a try. Angel is not big on sitting for the camera and thinks that 99% of people and cat toys are completely pointless so I was glad that she got up (kind of) from her Best Buy bag and checked this out for a few seconds when I had the camera ready.

Not only is this item a great concept, but it has a cartoon-y aspect that I love. For anyone else who grew up watching Looney Tunes and Wiley Coyote, I'm sure that you get that.

You can check out his Etsy shop right here.

While I definitely will not do this show again next year, it was still a great weekend. The mixed blessing of a slow show is that your inventory is still pretty good for the next show. I am going to keep pushing away on some best selling items and some holiday products, namely Christmas cards, but I'm already in great shape for my few November shows.

Did anyone else have a show this past weekend? Share your experiences.

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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.

one of the easiest craft fair ring displays imaginable and other great DIY ring display ideas

One of the new craft fair lines that I'm developing for 2012 is button rings.  If you've spent any time browsing jewelry on Etsy, you have probably seen some type of button ring.  They are fun, relatively easy and inexpensive to make, and completely fitting with my product lines.

As I'm developing my new craft fair lines this year, I'm considering product displays as I go.  As many of you know, creating the items is only a tiny part of the selling process.  I do not want to have lots of products and no way to display them when I start up with shows again.  Creating a hair pin display was one of my first projects.  Obtaining a ring display was one of my next projects.


This is just simply a great idea that I got through Pintrest.  I did absolutely no creating for this.  You can decorate it as you like, though I will most likely leave it as is and simply add a price sign to the bottom.

I'm sure that some of you already know what this is, but for those of you who don't sew, it's a bobbin rack.  You can hang them on the wall or stand them up on any flat surface.  They come in all different sizes.  This is the second smallest one that they had at Jo-Ann.  They're also available online.  It holds 30 bobbins (or rings).  The rings are small enough that you could easily stack multiples on each peg.  For my shows, this should be plenty sufficient.  All of the bobbin racks were 40% off when I went to Jo-Ann, which meant that this only $6.  You can't beat that.


This was the idea that originally inspired me.

Source: uncommondesignsonline.com via Rose on Pinterest

Of course there are a number of other great DIY/simply very inventive (like the one I used) ring display ideas on Pintrest, too.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Source: studio-eleven11.blogspot.com via Rose on Pinterest

How creative is this?  If you don't like the look of the natural egg containers, you could easily spray paint or decorate them.

Source: mrsvolnoff.blogspot.com via Rose on Pinterest

Source: theglitterguide.com via Rose on Pinterest

This is from Jenny of A Bird in the Hand Art!

Source: abirdinthehandart.blogspot.com via Rose on Pinterest

Source: younghouselove.com via Rose on Pinterest

I still have a few $10 ad spots that will run for all of 2012.  Get them while you can!  All of the information about my private ad sponsorship can be found right here.

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January BBA Challenge: New Techniques - DIY Hair Pin Craft Fair Display

As you know, one of my goals for 2012 is to expand my craft fair lines.  This means that I am also continuing to expand and improve my craft fair display.  I am looking for as many ways to make or purchase inexpensive display components as possible.  I decided to use my first new display for the January BBA Challenge: New Techniques.  The hair pins themselves are a new technique for me, as is the display.

I got the idea for this from another vendor at one of my fall shows who, among other things, sold fabric covered hair pins.  She had a larger display with a wood base as opposed to cardboard, but the concept is very similar with the fabric background and ribbon/rick rack display rows.

Supply List

-Several pieces of thick cardboard.  Mine are 7" x 14".  (I cut up a large mailing box from Christmas.)

-Approx 1/8 yard of fabric or enough to cover your cardboard in the color/pattern of your choice.  (I purchased 1 yard of black cotton fabric for $4.00 with the intent of using it for several different projects.)

-At least 3 1/2 feet of ribbon and/or rick rack of your choice.  (I purchased 2 new spools for about $1.00 each.)

-Packing tape. (Obviously I already had this.)

-Tacky glue.  (We had some on hand.  You can buy it at any craft store and most big box stores for $3-$5.)
-Fabric scissors for the fabric and ribbons.  (I already had them.)
 -Table top paper cutter. (optional)  You can use a ruler and regular scissors to cut out your price sign and matte for it, but if you have a paper cutter, please use it.

-One piece of card stock or scrapbook paper for the price sign matte, approx 6" x 2".  (I used a leftover scrap with something on the back that I wasn't going to use.)

As you can see, I spent about $6.00 on this project and will have lots of fabric, ribbon, and rick rack left over for other projects.  You could spend less if you didn't want leftovers, but I bet that many of you reading this already most of these materials and can use these things that are on hand.

Here are my cardboard pieces and fabric ready to go.  I used 4 pieces of cardboard.

I made a couple thin lines of glue around the edges of the first three pieces of cardboard.  I stuck them together and stuck the fourth piece on top.

Make sure that the pieces of cardboard are lined up and pressed tightly together.

I put the stack around one of my button storage boxes for a couple hours while the glue dried to ensure that none of the edges curled up.

Cut out a piece of fabric that has at least one extra inch on each side.  The other projects that I'll be using the extra fabric for do not require specific measurements so I did not make measurements before cutting and just eyeballed it.

Tape the fabric to the back of the cardboard.  Check the front periodically to make sure that the fabric is pulled tight.  I ended up adding one more piece of tape to the right side after I took this picture to secure that loose piece near the bottom.  The tape can touch the sides of the cardboard as long as it isn't visible from the front.

Here it is taped up.

I also eyeballed the ribbon measurements.  Make sure that you cut them long enough so you can tape them to the back.  That way your handy work will stay hidden.

I got out some of hair pins that I've made thus far to check how much space I should leave in between each ribbon/rick rack row.  I did the rows one at a time so I could double check that there was enough space in between each one.  I don't have a picture of the completed back, but I just used more of the packing tape to tape the ribbons in place.

I had enough space for five rows.  Depending on how wide your ribbon/rick rack is and how long your hair pins are, you may be able to squeeze six rows.  I know that those poor pins look a little lonely.  I'll have lots more done soon enough.

You don't have to add a price sign, but personally I would.  If you've done any craft shows, you know how often you get asked about pricing from customers.  The more places you can list the prices, the better.

I typed my price sign in Word.  I centered the text and didn't do any special formatting.  You can play with the font/size as you like.  I cut out both the price sign and the card stock matte for it with a table top paper cutter.  I did not take exact measurements but simply eyeballed it before cutting.  I attached the sign with packing tape.  I made little tape rolls that I stuck to the back.  If you decide to change your pricing at some point, it's easy to enough to remove this and tape in a new sign.

I added the remaining pins that I've made so you can get a better idea of how it will look filled up.

I don't know how many pins this would hold, but probably at least 50.  Most likely you could fit 60-70.

The ribbons and rick rack do sag a little bit in the middle with more weight.  If you don't like this, it's easy enough to add a couple drops of glue (I'd use Tacky glue or a fabric glue) in the middle of each row.

For displaying this at craft fairs, I will most likely put it on an easel (I buy my easels at Michael's for about $10) or lean it against some sort of large display item, like a basket, that is covered in fabric.

Obviously I designed this to hold hair pins, but I'm sure that this design would be useful for displaying other items, too.  Any thoughts on this?  Please leave a comment!

Also, if you make your own display, please leave me a comment with a link to your pictures.

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Where I linked up today:

I used this post for Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday 1/13/12 and Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 1/16/2011.