All about my first craft fair

On September 28th, my sister and I had a craft fair. It was her second and my first. Boy, were we both nervous! I spent the few days before at Jaquelyn's house so that we could get ready together; plus it would make it easier for us just to go together. 

We went shopping, wrote chalkboards, cut fabric... etc. We also worked on exactly how to merge our two shops onto one table and still look organized and lovely. 

We made lists and we packed and packed! We did our best impersonation of Santa Claus and checked everything twice, (maybe three times ;) ). By Friday night we felt pretty ready, still nervous, but ready. =) And I was so happy because I reached my goal of 50 Zoottles!!

The fair was at Mixon fruit farm in Bradenton, so it was only about 20 minutes away. We got there in plenty of time to set up, order lunch, and chill for a while talking to other vendors.

So, what did I learn from my first craft fair?

• A great table cloth {i.e. fabric} is key. Especially when you're mixing two shops with different color schemes.
• Chalkboards are amazing! Did you see those little ones clipped to our baskets? I simply painted some wood squares from Michaels with chalkboard paint and hot-glued them to clothespins. Now we could write prices and labels any way we wanted! We also used a chalkboard made from a mirror {tutorial here!} to write both our names. My colored chalk markers also came in great use!
• Location matters! We thought we had a pretty good spot. Turns out, we were right in peoples blind spot! People would walk all around without even looking at us. Solution? Well... Get a better spot =P Or maybe play music {not something annoying} to catch peoples attention.
• Be confident! I have to admit, even though I love our products, sometimes it is hard to step out in confidence and really sell it. I mean, putting it out there for peoples criticism is hard! {I had one lady say my little baby toys were dog toys...} But really, without being annoying, you have to be able to share with others why they would want to buy your stuff. That is something I am going to work on next time. Sharing my vision, my products, my love for what I do.
• Age. Sadly, the age group of people showing up was not ideal for our products. Something to think about when we sign up for the next one. Who is the event catered to?
• Lastly? This whole handmade business thing is HARD! And lots of WORK! It is not a cake-walk. But it is so worth it!

Our next craft fair is in November and I have big hopes for it! Do you have any advice?

Until next time...