First Fall Event

As promised I am posting about the craft show I had on Saturday, just posting it a little later than I had originally planned. In this post I will tell you when I started preparing, how I prepared, what to plan for (just based on the hiccups I had that almost prevented me from going), and what my turnout and profit was and if anything, what I would do differently.

When I Started to Prepare and How I Did

I first heard of the craft show at the end of July and at first I wasn't sure if I was going to participate or not. It wasn't scheduled until September 16th, with the vendor fee due September 1st so I had time to decide but if I was going to do it, but if I was I needed time to prepare. The last week of July was spent debating whether or not to go and asking my husband for his opinion. After he told me it couldn't hurt to try, I decided I would do it.

Next I needed to determine what I was going to do for it. The first two craft shows I did I had absolutely no sales. I wanted to change things up because I didn't want to have the same outcome. For those shows I had made welcome signs, wood burned plaques, tumblers, car decals, and decor fans without anything but a quick glance. I needed something different to catch someone's eye. My husband and parents suggested taking my crocheted items. Great idea! 

With the craft show in September it would be the perfect time to start selling hats, mittens, scarves, and anything else needed for the colder months. I still had quite a stash of yarn that had been gifted to me so I didn't worry about buying some. I had to decide exactly what I was going to make and how many of each, if multiple, I was going to make. I knew I wanted to offer hats, I've been making them for years. I looked up free patterns on Hobbit for ear warmers and other things I thought would be great sellers. I thought about making cotton face scrubbies, dishcloths, scarves, mittens, hats, ear warmers and more. 

I practiced the pattern I had downloaded for the ear warmers from Hobbii's website. It was a fairly quick pattern and easy, and I liked the final product. I decided I was going to offer them and thought somewhere between five and seven of each item would be a great number to start with for inventory. By August 4th, I had an idea of my inventory I wanted to make and had began making it. For the entirety of August I was making something every day. My kids even helped choose yarn colors for the cup cozies and my husband gave me a great idea for a pumpkin spice themed one. 

Final Preparation 

By the third week of August I had ran out of yarn and needed more so I could make scarves, mittens, and a few more hats. I went to my local thrift store because they sometimes get some craft supplies and luckily a huge supply of yarn was donated. Each skein was only $0.25, so I bought 8 for a total of $2 and found a small cooler for $2. It was perfect because I'd have a way to store water and ice in so I'd have something to drink. I stopped at Walmart to pick up Avery business card template for me to create and print my own at home. 

I wanted simple business cards that were easy to read. So on my computer I went to the Avery website and entered my template number. I selected the option I wanted and started entering my small business information. I proofread, saved it, and then printed 100 business cards and then I tucked them away for the day of craft show.

By September 2nd, I still needed a table and chair since they were not provided for this show so I bought a comfortable outdoor chair from the camping section and my table from Walmart. I also picked up a clear acrylic table signs to display my price sign in. Once I got home the acrylic table display piece went inside so I could place my price sign in it and then it was put in my van so it was one less thing to worry about forgetting. 

The two weeks leading up to the craft show I spent making more items. I didn't have enough time to make everything I wanted. I didn't make any scarves or mittens, or dishcloths. I had five baby ear warmers and two baby hats, 10 toddler and child sized ear warmers and two children's hats and only five adult ear warmers. I did have crocheted potholders gifted to me that was over abundant of what I needed. So I gave some to my parents, mother-in-law, grandma, and kept some for us; while taking the other 62 to the craft show. 

Three days before I set my table up and did a mock up set up for the show. I timed myself so I would know how much time it would take me to do it and so I would also know how early to be there. I found a quicker way of setting up by placing each size in a gallon Ziploc bag, and placing it in my box of inventory. I put 30 of the potholders in a gallon Ziploc bag too so I wouldn't spend as much time counting them out to place on the table. I made sure everything was placed in my van so I wouldn't have to load it the day before or early morning on the day of. 

Be Prepared for Anything

When someone tells you to be prepared for anything, I highly suggest taking this advice wholeheartedly. The day before, the kids and I were loading up in the van to take my husband to work. We were all in the van, my husband had buckled all of our kids in their seats, and double checked we had locked the house. My van did not start, instead the ignition was locked and would not turn. Luckily, my husband had PTO he could use to cover his shift because he didn't have another ride that day. 

Me being pregnant, I was very upset because I had spent so much time on preparing for the craft show. I told my dad I wasn't able to do it because of the van. Not expecting anything, my dad drove down to my house and helped fix my husband's van so we would have a vehicle for a means of transportation for everything and work and I could still go to the craft show. 

The Morning Of Event and Event Itself

I just want to take a brief moment to say thank you to my husband. I didn't ask him to get up with me, to go to the gas station to do what I was needing to do before I left, or to move my stuff from my van to his for me. Thank you so much dear for everything. 

My husband is not a morning person by any means but the day of my craft show he woke up with me and immediately started helping me get things in order. He moved everything from my van to his and then went to the gas station to put gas in, air up the low tire, get some oil for the van, and ice for the cooler. He also surprised me with a Starbucks White Chocolate Double Shot coffee. Once he got home, he opened the ice and dumped it into my cooler and packed the cooler and water for me and then put the oil in. Our oldest son, I'll call him A for the blog, was wanting to go with me so he woke him up and got him around while I got around myself. 

While A played with his friend at the park, I set up my table. I had 30 potholders, five baby ear warmers, 20 cup cozies, two baby (0-3 month) hats, ten toddler and child ear warmers, two children's hats (6-10 years), and five adult ear warmers, and my two decor fans. My table was full but it was not nearly as much as I wanted to have available to offer to anyone that walked by. While setting up, I realized I forgot my notebook to write down any custom orders I might receive. 

Another vendor that had already had their set up ready bought an adult ear warmer  before the craft show and vendor event began. Throughout the day I had many people walk by, ask questions, and take a business card. I didn't have another sale until the end of the craft show, from another vendor. She came over and asked questions, told me about her grandkids, and asked if I did custom orders. She asked for a baby hat and a 12-24 month size hat for her granddaughters. 

The Profit

Only two sales but better than the previous two events I had done so I was happy. I made back my vendor fee, my display piece for the price sign, business cards, and the extra yarn but I was still out on the cost I had to spend on getting a table and chair. The $27 from those two sales did pay a bill, my husband's phone. So going to the craft show was well worth it to my husband and myself. 

What I Would Do Different

There are only a few things I would differently. The first one is making sure I had a backup plan for transportation if needed and luckily, all thanks to my dad, I had a backup. Thanks Dad!! 

Secondly, I need to give myself more time to prepare so I can offer more variety of items such as scarves, mittens, and the other things I wanted to offer but I didn't have time to make. I also didn't have extra time to run to the bank to get cash so I had to rely on Venmo, Square, PayPal, or exact cash. I would have much rather been fully prepared with cash instead of having to heavily rely on exact amount or someone using Venmo to transfer to me.

Lastly, I'd just make sure I have everything packed that I need. I only forgot my notebook to take down custom orders. I was still able to write down the woman's contact information and her order. 

My ending note

To me the event was worth it because it paid for my husband's phone bill in full. No, I didn't break even on my cost of supplies, but I was happy with two sales. 

In the meantime until the next post, happy crocheting!