Things I Learned…

This past Saturday was my first time selling at a craft fair. First. Ever. Time. People. Big deal alert!!

I still have a bunch of stuff to clean up from the fair and I’m definitely still processing everything. But today, I wanted to share a couple things I learned.

1. It’s better with 2.

…meaning 2 people. See that pic up there? That’s me and my friend, Chrissy, on the night before the fair. We both sold things together and it was sooo much more fun selling with her than it would have been selling all by myself. That way, when traffic was slow and we had only sold 1 item during the first 2 hours {anti-depressants, anyone?}, we were able to encourage each other. Or wallow in our misery. Whichever the case, we could do it together. I can’t imagine how b.o.r.e.d. I would have been if I were sitting there for 6 hours by myself. {Not to mention what I would have done with my booth during bathroom breaks. But now I’m getting too personal.}

2. Get the facts.

…specifically about the venue and audience that’s attracted to your specific fair. You would’ve thought the name “Senior Center” would set off some sort of alert in my mind, “Hmmm…maybe the majority of the people shopping are senior citizens…”

But no. I mean, the thought crossed my mind, but I had attended the fair 2 times in the past few years and didn’t really pay attention to the age range {or lack thereof} of customers. The majority of our customer base was 65 years or older and since our stuff is geared towards a younger generation {or at least people who are buying for a younger generation}, our stuff didn’t sell super well. Lots of Grandmas came by and said they only had grandsons.

We concluded there must be a shortage of girls in the world. Or at least in Charlotte.

3. Pretty things up.

See this fabric swag?

It’s the one that made my home look like a gypsy camp for a day or two. It definitely got a lot of compliments. Actually, I began to wonder if I should have offered it for sale. But it took me too long to make it, so I decided to hang it in my bedroom instead since my husband loved it so much.

The point is: people were drawn to it. They talked about how they loved it. And hey, if nothing else, it at least got them closer to the table so they could see our stuff and BUY BUY BUY!!!

4. Make it permanent.

Draw your eyes towards the circled item:

That, my friends, is a jewelry tree. It’s a tree branch sitting in a large vase surrounded by sand and rocks.

I made it in September and put all my necklaces on it. It sat happily in my living room until last week, when I de-leafed the tree of its necklaces and packed them away to take to the fair.

The whole 4-5 weeks it sat in my living room, it never even came loose. So I figured it was a go.

I did not anticipate people running into it. A couple hours into the show, a lady backed into it. As you can see, the branch isn’t really sticking out over the table, so it took some talent to run into the branch. Unfortunately, this lady had just that kind of talent.

The branch didn’t fall after its encounter with the talented lady, however, a little later, someone came by to look at the necklaces, and as soon as they touched the charm — *whoosh* — “hello-o-o branch!”

I spent the rest of the time either shoving it down, stuffing a small notebook on top to try to keep it upright, or just standing on the corner & holding it.

I tell you that story for this reason: when making a display, imagine people backing into it & itsy bitsy children touching it. Clearly, we all hope our displays won’t succumb to natural disasters. But plan for at least a couple storms to hit and, for goodness sake…if you make a jewelry tree, put it in cement.

Now that I have imparted these rich words of wisdom to you, I leave you with one last piece of advice:

Go finish your Christmas shopping.