Successful Craft Show!

This past Saturday was my first craft show of the season at St. Timothy’s Catholic School in Chantilly. For my fellow crafters who are always looking for ideas on display or what sells well, I shall indulge you :-)

My set up was a 6 ft. table & a 2 ft. table under one tablecloth. The white shelves are just plastic snap together ones I used in my old dorm room & just rediscovered in my mom's attic-lol. The wire basket stand is one of those "narrow laundry shelves" with the caskets removed. The stand alone card rack I got free from Freecycle.org from Eileen Hull (thanks again Eileen!) who used to do craft shows--so it never hurts to ask! If you can get one, I highly recommend it--I sold more cards than I ever have & that might have had something to do with it. The other items are just dollar store trays or xmas containers I had around the house. The wire basket that the bookmark clips are on I usually use in my bathroom for lotions, etc. I used my kids' play magnet board to display the magnets. I have 2 more fairs to do so I definitely had more stuff than I needed!

Some thoughts on some of my items …I had my nicer cards in clear envelopes in the rack. I was pleasantly surprised the individual Xmas cards did well--the lady said she wanted special envelopes to put money in for family. I did explain to people how to mail in the clear envelopes but they could take a regular envelope if they really wanted (no one asked). I think they did well (first cards I've sold in three years of fairs) because of the rack & the clear envies--just made them look so much more classy & easy to look at.

Card Totes/purses—These fit 4 cards with envelopes & I meant for people to choose cards for them but it didn’t really work out (didn’t sell any). I’m planning on whipping up some generic cards to put in them. I’ll have each set look the same & say they’re a gift set.

Lollipops—I sold 7 out of 18 at 25 cents each. Of course, three of the sales were from my own kids…

Gift Tags (set of 10)—I only sold 4 out of 26 at $3 so I’m going to lower the price to $2.50 & advertise they can be used on cards or in scrapbooks. I heard one lady comment she wished they were bigger so that’s a thought for next year.

Christmas Card Holders (altered letter sorters): One lady commented she wished I had some any season ones so she could use it year round. Another idea for next year.

Post-it Holders with matching beaded pen--Wow, these were popular at $6 each. One teen asked me if I’d take $5.46 (all she had) so she could get one for her mom (I said yes—& an awww inside). Another commented that she liked the ones without sayings because they were great teacher gifts & you never know if the teacher wants to “Live with Passion” (as 4 of mine said) Hee.

So…yeah, I’ve been working every naptime & then some since Aug. for all this stuff. I’m very pleased with the results & I have plenty left for my next 2 shows (not til Dec. 6 &7). The only things I’ll be making more of are the lg. notebook sets & the post-it holders (I’m going to make some magnet ones this time too) & then the cards for the totes. Then, I have a couple of other small projects I just thought of. Anything that doesn’t sell will be Xmas gifts or put on my etsy store or saved for next year.

General tips—try to do a sample set up at home to make sure stuff fits. I had the SU! kid tattoo kits & when a kid shopping with his mom looked bored, I offered to do a free tattoo & they really seemed to like that (I had a stamped sample so they could easily choose which one they wanted). Pretty packaging seemed to help. Having samples of how to use things helped (like the tealight in the candle, the card holder with a card in it, a wine glass with the charm on it). The most popular items in a nutshell: altered domino pin or magnet ornaments, large notebook sets & the post-it holder sets.

This was the largest (& most expensive table fee) show I’ve done in three years so turning a profit & all the positive comments were definitely affirming. Will I do it again next year? I think I’ll wait til my other shows & maybe just pick one to do—as much as I love it, ours is a very time-consuming hobby!

Successful Craft Show!