my first craft show

Well I've been putting off this post for a while now. The show was in the beginning of December! But I knew I'd get to it eventually.

My first craft show. Ever since I started selling my things on Etsy way back in 2006, I've always wanted to try out craft shows too. I'm not really sure what took me so long and how/why I finally got my shit together and made it happen this past December. Either way..it was quite the experience!
I recruited two of my friends to help, and also a third friend and her boyfriend who stopped by for a little while, but couldn't stay the whole time since they don't live very close. The two friends who live near me were a lot of help. We brainstormed, made my banner, made pretend cupcakes. Lots of fun. At the craft show, I had one of them handing me packing supplies and the other taking the money. I can't imagine how people do this alone!

The show was in Philly, which I think was great for people traffic. But it was also snowing that day..pretty hard, so I don't think as many people that would have showed up did. Either way, I had a nice flow of traffic the entire day!
It was really interesting to be face to face with the customers too. A lot of my customers were moms and young women. That's who I've always focused on marketing to, so it was nice to see that it's working.
It was also interesting to see what got the most attention. Out of everything on my table I was surprised to see my bird earrings sold the best. And I was also disappointed that barely anyone noticed my Plini candle holders. I think I just need a better display for them. I'm learning!


The pocket kitties also sold really well. I think they made good little extra add-ons for gifts or "stocking stuffers". I made more for the shop as well.





I was on my feet all day. We had one chair, but I was just so pumped. It was great to meet the other sellers there too. I recognized a few of them from etsy and other places online, which I thought was pretty cool. And my other friend Maria was there selling her artwork with the gallery she helps run. Some other friends stopped by to support and say hello too. I thought that was really sweet of them.

Some things I've learned...

-people prefer pendants WITH necklaces
-getting up and rearranging the table when there's a lull makes people come over
-always at the least say hello to people
-'2 for..' deals work!
-accepting credit cards is a good idea
-talking to too many friends hanging near the table makes the customers leave
-no matter how hard you try to fold your table cover to keep it from getting wrinkly, it'll still be wrinkly as hell

Ok, that's all I have for now. The craft show went exactly as I had hoped overall. It was successful, fun, stressful and it went by really quickly! I can't wait until I do another. I actually had a few customers ask me when/where my next show was. To which I replied, "uh...er, umm...uhhh". I hadn't been prepared for that type of question! I was living in the moment of my first craft show. Hadn't really thought about the future. But now that I know this is something I'd like to do again, it's time to seek out more shows!
I can't imagine doing this without my "helpers" though!

Sundays are for stuffing my face

One of my favorite things to do is use the ingredient search function at allrecipes.com to use up the random stuff in the kitchen. I happened to have a stray jalapeno, half a container of cream cheese, a plain bagel and some mexican blend shredded cheese. Even though I didn't really follow any of the recipes I came across on allrecipes, I did get some inspiration.

I toasted the two bagel halves in the oven (because Lou set fire to our toaster oven when he unsuccessfully tried to toast some bread, ugh...boys). Then I layered a generous helping of cream cheese, diced jalapeno and a mountain of the shredded cheese on top. Might I recommend NOT scratching your nose after chopping the jalapeno. You'd think I'd learn to remember that by now. But instead, my entire nose is on FIRE. Anyways, I left it in a 350 degree oven until the cheese got nice and melty on top. And wow, it tasted just like a jalapeno popper, except it was easier to eat! Am I the only one that takes one bite of the popper and the whole jalapeno slides out and burns my bottom lip? Or I take a bite and all of the cheese squirts out the back and burns my hand? Yeah, those little poppers are live hand grenades if I've ever seen it.

They might not look award winning, but trust me, freakin delicious.



Aside from food experimentations, I managed to finish up most of my craft show table display. Everything is tagged, bagged, mostly packed, organized, printed, blah blah blah, etc etc. I just have a few loose ends to tie up, a few more supplies I need to buy, and everything will be ready to go! I can't believe it's only a week away. Will I be ready???? I hope I don't forget anything.

Spike was more than willing to help with the table cover fitting, which I think came out pretty good! Folding it was a nightmare though. I hope it stays wrinkle free in time for the show! I hate wrinkly tablecloths.

craft fair action

Crafty Balboa....I'm in it. You coming?

craft show research....ready go!

I've been doing a lot of research lately until my eyes fall out of my head and roll under the coffee table every night. I'm trying to get my act together and try my hand at some craft fairs. I've always been so intimidated by the whole thing, but I really think my Plini figurines would do well if people could see them and hold them. I've had lots of customers say their purchase was even better than the photos had showed. I believe em.

So I'm gathering information on where to sell, what I need to sell, how my table should look, yadda yadda. Also, worst-case scenarios and horror story lessons. And god, there sure are a lot of those. I've stumbled on whole blogs dedicated to the horror stories fellow crafters have experienced. I'm trying not to dwell on the things that can go wrong, but it's also nice to see how other people handled difficult customers and situations.

I've been spending a lot of my time trying to build up my inventory now. So my Etsy shop probably isn't going to be updated as often as I'd like in the next month while I work. More like 1 for Etsy, 2 for craft fair, 1 for Etsy, 2 for craft fair.


Even if I'm not adding to the shop as regularly as I normally do, I'm still accepting all custom orders. I can never turn down a request! (Unless there's a time restraint that I can't uphold. So sad. I really wanted to make that second Totoro wedding set, but there just wasn't enough time). Tonight I also finished a custom Plini pendant. Isn't she cute? I made a few more for the shop (or the craft show..I haven't decided) that have the classic tan bottom. I'm wondering if it's better to sell them as pendants only or with a necklace included. Or maybe just with the option to add on. I think the thing I like best about the pendants is they can be used as charms for keychains or zipper pulls or anything else that you can hook them onto. I had a customer that used them with her Blythe dolls too. I thought that was really cool. I've never seen a Blythe doll up close, let alone heard about them until last year, but seems to be that my Plini pendants are the perfect size for Blythe!

I'm also working on an "army" of bird earrings. (finished product w/ wire hoop) Hot pink at the moment. I've also finished blue. I'm curious what other colors people would prefer as bird earrings. Yellow (canary) and red (cardinal) are clear choices, but I'm also thinking black would be nice. Easy to match any outfit. I just have to order more wire and my army will be good to go.



I also plan on using these bows I just finally figured out how to make with some of the bird earrings. And also some ADORABLE cupcake and brass pendants I'm working on (just you wait..). They're so simple, but for some reason I could not figure out how they were made. It took me a pile of ribbon, some burnt hot glue fingers and way too much sewing thread, but I definitely got it! I can't wait to buy myself more cute ribbon and go bow crazy.