Monday, November 9, 2009

Craft Fair Mania!

Hello bloggers! Sorry it's been so quite here lately. Between losing Keno, getting sick and preparing for a craft fair, I've been busy and a bit out of sorts. Thank you for all your kind words about my little man. I picked up his remains from the vet office this past Friday, so he's home with me now.

The week after saying my goodbyes to Keno, I fell ill with a nasty head cold. Unfortunately, there was no rest for me as I had to prepare for a craft fair. It's been a couple of years since I've been a vendor at a fair, so getting back into the swing of things while feeling like pooh was pretty difficult. I had a few items left over from a craft fair I had done a few years back plus I had been working on some items before Keno got sick. However, I pushed myself to have a variety of items to sell, so I worked non-stop for an entire week. My craft room looked like a tornado had hit it! In the end, I was so pleased with how everything turned out. I didn't take pictures of all of my stuff simply because I ran out of time, but here's a sampling of some of the items I made and sold.

My "Snowman Poop" packages sold like hotcakes and were gone in less than an hour. I forgot to take pictures of them, but I plan on making a few more this week, so I'll be sure to photograph them when I do. I sold them for $1 each. Another popular item was the Post-It note holders that I made using plastic 3.5x5 photo frames that I got at the Dollar Tree. I sold them for $3 each.

My $1 notepads also sold out quickly. I used PaperTrey Ink's new exclusive notepads which are already pre-cut for you. They were a real time saver!

Throughout the show, I found that people were really intrigued by my hot cocoa/apple cider sliders. I had lots of fun making these! You just untie the bow, pull up on the ribbon and the packet slides right up! I priced them at $2 each and sold about half my inventory.

My lovely friend lent me her two-tired basket to house my sliders. It worked out great!

I also made some fun treat holders. I got the wooden boxes at Michael's for $1, spray painted them different colors, then decorated each one with festive tags and bows. I sold half my inventory at $8 each.

My nugget tins were a big hit as well. I wrapped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey Chocolate Nuggets in holiday paper, stuck them in the tin, wrapped the tin and called it good. I sold out at $5 each.

Speaking of candy, I also wrapped some Kit Kats to resemble little purses. I wrapped some Hershey bars as well and sold out of all of them at $1.50 each.

The binder clips weren't as big a seller as I had hoped they'd be. I sold a few, but that's it. I think they're pretty cute! I priced item at $3 each.

These fun $1 paperclip bookmarks were pretty popular...

...as were my laminated bookmarks. I got this idea from Kerry's blog. I sold over half my stock at $2 each.

The most fun item I had on my table had to be the Rudolph's Spares. I got so many laughs out of these, and they sold well, too, at $1.50 each.

These pencils at $0.25 each were a hot seller, too! These are the only ones I have left.

Besides papercrafts, I also made some of my S.A.M. Charms. S.A.M. stands for "Supporting our Animal Menagerie," and the proceeds not only go to my own critters, but also to various shelters. My mom surprised me on Friday by presenting me with this jewelry tree to hang my charms from. Isn't it awesome?

Hanging from the tree are a few of my holiday charms. I sold a few of these at $10 each. I still have the ones I'm about to show you, so if you want one, let me know!!

Now onto my booth! I took pictures the day my friend and I set up, but I was so busy the day of the fair that I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of my full set-up, but you get the idea.

On this side table I have some wall decor items as well as my treat boxes, nugget tins, comp books, Post-It note holders and some ornaments made by my late grandma.

A quick close-up of the table:

In this picture you can see my S.A.M. Charms along with more Post-It note holders, notepads, bookmarks and wrapped candy.

Moving left, you can see the hot cocoa/apple cider sliders, another two-tired wicker basket with my handmade cards inside, the Rudolph's Spares, the Snowman Poop packages (in the blue bucket), some decorated wood frames and another tree with handmade ornaments.

Last up is my display of picture frames. I sold quite a few, so I was happy about that!

I hope you enjoyed my virtual craft fair tour! If you see anything you want or have questions, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly. I also want to thank all of my friends who came and showed their support! You all ROCK! Thanks to everyone who came, saw and bought :) You made my time and effort totally worth it. Hugs to all!

4 comments:

Vanessa (aka V'ness, Nessa, oldschool) said...

that table looks awesome & I am so happy you sold alot!!! congrads & thanks for the tour!

Anonymous said...

How cool is that tree your mom gave you? I so wish I could have been there! Darn thing called 2,000 miles apart got in the way. :( I'm really glad things were a hit and you had a successful fair. Love the binder clips 0- I will have to try that sometime. Your setup looked fabulous too!

PattiM said...

Wow, you made alot of great items! Glad you did well. I love everything you made. The binder clips, rudolphs' extra's, note pads and the paperclips are my favorites.

Sorry I couldn't make it, I had been to a chiropractor the day before and I was sick for 3 days. And of course now I have a sore throat. (after leaving the chiropractors the 2nd time) Hope you have a great week.

Hugs,

PattiM
(Pattie's passion)

I Scrap So All Moments Are Remembered!

Staci Layne Wilson said...

Oooh. I love it all, but the bookmarks are especially cool. I need a bookmark... I've been using a post-it note or an old reciept for years. (Xmas is coming up... hint ;)

Glad you did so well. You work so hard, but on top of that you produce excellent results (the two don't always go together).