Craft Fair Report

Here's my booth at the church craft fair.  This is only my second craft fair ever.  Had fun both times.  Here's a close up of the Fall/Christmas side of the table.

And here's the Sping/Summer side of the table.

The bag containing a Beanie Baby panda was purchased by a little boy who loves pandas.  He was going keep the panda for himself, and give the bag to his girlfriend.  Couldn't have been more than 8 years old.  Too cute!

Halfway thru the show I realized that people were more interested in the fall/winter items, so I switched the two sides of the table - placing those items closest to the entrance.  Immediately my fall/winter stuff began selling in earnest.  Hooray for product placement - or as they say in the real estate business - location, location, location!

Business was slower this year than last year.  I was taken aback, because my prices were at or below cost.  I really wanted to move my inventory.  I'm preparing to sell my house and won't be able to do much sewing and crafting until I'm settled elsewhere - and I don't want to pay money to store all my stuff. 

The church has a children's shopping room where kids can buy items ranging from $0.25 to $2.00 for presents for family and friends - all without mom and dad!  Gift wrap is free so family won't see the gifts.  When I visited that room near the end of the sale, I was saddened to see how much stuff was left.  None of it will go to waste - it'll be boxed up and stored until next year - but still, more traffic would have been nice.

The concensus amongst the vendors I talked to was crafting business is down due to the economy.  I also learned our sale was not in the newspaper this year.  So to be proactive, I took LOTS of pictures of booths.  Next year we can advertise for free, with up to 8 pictures on Craig's List.  And if the church won't advertise in the paper, maybe I'll do it myself.  I'm hoping that will help the church, the kiddies and the vendors!  :)