I thought I'd show you what I've been up to the past couple of weeks... it's been a really busy season, but super fun! I sure love what I do! Every time I mention craft fairs, I get a lot of questions about what sells well and how to display your wares to best advantage. This last weekend I had a little bit of time left after everything was basically in place but before the doors opened, so I tried to take a bunch of pictures for you.
Two notes before we begin: First, please don't ask me about prices! I don't comment on them. What flies in my area might not fly in yours, and you should always do your own math and charge fairly based on the time and materials involved. That said, we all know that some cards take a lot more time than others, but I have found a flat rate for single cards to be the best overall for the ease of both customer and seller.
The other thing to note in this pics in that I had a few large pieces left from my time with Mary & Martha, a faith-based direct sales home decor company. I had to let that go to simplify my life due to health issues, but I can still hook you up with my wonderful upline Libby Wistrom if you're interested in a catalog.
There is so much fun coffee and tea-themed stuff in this year's catalog! It always sells great. I had gift card holders, post-it note & pen pads, and regular cards, and I think I sold all but maybe one.
We have a lot of hunting in our state and so after I filled a bunch of treat tubes for Christmas and in school colors, I used the leftover orange M&M's for these hunter's good luck charms! The Cookie Cutter Christmas set provided the deer head and matching punch. Easy! And it got a lot of laughs.
I try to keep all the Christmas items in one area, so multi-packs, single cards, treats and banners (red ticking banners from Target's $ Spot that I personalized with the Large Letters Framelits on my Big Shot) were all together. The double hot-cocoa packets with treat tubes on the side sold out almost instantly. Here's the free tutorial for you--enjoy!
At the fair I did this weekend at Maranatha Baptist University, I know Scripture verse cards and prayer journals are always wanted, so I dug into my stash of retired Bible verse stamps. Loved how many people shared how meaningful the ones they have purchased in the past have been. So awesome to have been a tiny part in someone blessing someone else!
The tutorial for these popular candles is in the 100% Free Tutorial Library here... so easy and inexpensive, and they sell really well especially at Christmas time.
We still have a solid month of autumn, so I have lots of fall goodies, even more so than Christmas. This year I did a lot of Merry Cafe gift card holders and some really cute hot cider and candy crates with the Wooden Crate Thinlits.
I had lots of inexpensive treats in school colors, since we were at the university this weekend. Sports moms and grandmas love little bits and pieces in school colors. One bit of advice--if you sell the Treat Tubes, make a little sign sharing that they are plastic and not glass. I had several people pass on them because they were worried about breakage.
I was disappointed my little quilt card crates didn't sell well. I think they needed to be packaged in cellophane so they were easier to gift. I'll adjust that before the next fair. They are too cute to leave on the table!
Burlap banners always do well for me, typically the smaller ones but also the larger outdoors ones. I had two newspaper wreath kits left from a long-ago Holiday Catalog, but those were my only wreaths this year due to lack of time. I usually have several pinwheel/lollipop style twig wreaths and those have done great in past years.
As always, the biggest seller is just plain cards. I love this holder I found at Hobby Lobby. It's supposed to stand upright, but when you lay it down flat it has 12 card-sized openings each with a great metal label in front for categorizing. They are still selling them as of this fall, if you want to get one! My burlap screen divider also came from there. It provides an easy, foldable backdrop for my booth.
So there you go... a little tour of my booth! Lots of lifts and layers, lots of little vignettes, tables covered all the way to the floor, tall stuff in the back, etc. And everything right up to the very front of my (corner) space, not hidden back in a deep, cramped u-shape. A mix of interesting containers in wood, tin and wicker. Plus, a good variety of items so all my "eggs" aren't in one "basket."
I hope you've enjoyed see my creations and maybe getting ideas for your own school fundraiser or local craft fair!
