My first craft fair…

After weeks of getting ready and making an inventory, I had my first craft fair this weekend. Though I would have loved for it to be a lot better than it turned out to be, I am not too disappointed.

I was really happy with my display and I think that it was a great start. I might have a few things that I might tweak but I felt really good about the way my things were presented.

I set it up the night before on my kitchen table and then took pictures so that it would be easy to set up in the morning…

Once I got to the craft fair, it was easy to set up which was great because my mom was supposed to be with me but not only did she go to the wrong place, she also ran out of gas, so having everything well packed and easy to set up was great!
So what did I have?

The green three shelf box on the right was a Winners find, and though I paid a bit more than I would have liked to, I really like the box and it will be great for other uses. It has a chalk board on the side (or in my case the top as I have it standing up)

The little staircase/shelf is something I found a local Facebook selling group and it was only 3 houses away and 10$. I found some cheap paint in the error paints at Rona for 6$ and gave it a touch up of light blue instead of the dark brown that it used to be.

The three wooden boxes were Dollarama finds and cost 5$ for all three.

The little bench in the middle was my Mother-in-Law’s bench from when she was a little girl and was passed used by Simon and then my children.

The various baskets and bowls were items that I had around the house.

The table-cloth and curtains were cheap table cloths that I sewed and the sign is a Vinyl sign from Vistaprint.

Here is what it finally looked like once set up with my sign and everything…

That glass bowl in the middle was a last-minute addition. My grandmothers punch bowl which has now come to me. I used it to hold my wool so show people and to hold the wool I was using to needle felt on scene.

When there were people, I had really great comments and feedback about my creations and my display. Not only did people see my table when they walked in, but they came to my table, and listened while I explained the needle felting technique and I was able to engage them and get them interested. I loved every minute of that part. I gave out a lot of cards and people were even asking if I gave workshops (I am seriously considering it) and some came to my table 3-4 times during their stay.

The disappointing part though was the lack of people in general which of course meant a lack of sales and lots of time just talking with my mom, other vendors or needle felting. However, I was able to cover my table and make a bit more which was more than some over the weekend. I think it being black friday weekend, a small village, other fairs close by and a lack of advertising all had their factors.

Next weekend I am having another craft fair and this time it is in Montreal so hopefully there will be more people and more of “my people”.