I am proud to report that I survived my first craft fair in fine form. After reflecting on the experience as I drove the 100 miles home yesterday morning, I can say that I had a number of successes and lessons learned. I’ll begin with the good news first!

Successes:

  • I came home without any candy treats to tempt me off my healthy eating pledge!
  • I sold 90 of the 93 gifty items that I made and came home with only 2 coaster calendars and one Holly Jolly M&M treat that my son was happy to take off my hands!
  • I sold my precious little 3×3 boxes of cards that I labored over for far too long. (One thing that made it easier to part with them was the people who bought them were so wowed by them that I felt like they were going to a good home. Silly, I know…)
  • I enjoyed visiting with other vendors and people attending, many whom I knew from when I lived in Brownwood–some even my former students.
  • The sense of accomplishment of having a goal and seeing it through successfully.
  • My table looked pretty professional, if I may say so myself. The woman next to me told me she was shocked that it was my first craft fair–that I looked like a pro. My response: Oh, it’s all a facade! Seriously, I owe that success to Heidi Boos who generously shared information about her own craft fair. I modeled my table after hers the best that I could!
  • I made some contacts for possible Stampin’ Up! classes/hostess events! I was very low key in this regard. I mentioned to people that all my wares were created with Stampin’ Up! products because of the wonderful quality and great color coordination, and I printed business cards that had the Stampin’ Up! logo in the corner. People who were crafty and recognized Stampin’ Up! eagerly began a conversation about whether I would teach a class or host an event. So now they have my card and may contact me. For a tentative, newbie demonstrator, it was a successful way to test the retail waters. Those of you who are successful demonstrators may be rolling your eyes at this success, but I have always been VERY nervous about selling products to people. I never even wanted to be in charge of fundraisers when I was teaching… I am, however, always ready and excited to teach other people things that I know how to do, and my husband tells me that good sales people are really teachers at heart.


Lessons Learned:

  • Relax and just enjoy the people.
  • Take more than one bottle of water for a four hour event.
  • Taking a roll of paper towels and a roll of packing tape was very wise.
  • My best seller was the Holly Jolly packaged treat bag kits for people to make their own. The people who bought the sets also purchased a ready-made one as a model. Next time I will have more of the DYI kits!
  • People who come to evening craft fairs (most with one or two small children in tow) are not in the mood to shop for cards! Most people who stopped at my table spent several minutes admiring my cards, remarking how beautiful they were, but no one purchased one. Questions to ponder: Do many people still give Christmas cards? Is November 19 too early for them to buy Christmas cards? Should I have boxed a couple of designs up to sell as a unit like people see in stores? I don’t know… If you have any thoughts on this dilemma, PLEASE post them in a comment. I would SO appreciate your input!

Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me. Have a wonderful day!