Indie Craft Shows Blog

Hero Booth: Elise Joy

Kellbot — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:59:37 +0000

Hero Booths is a series featuring booths we love and artists who have done something great with their craft show getup.

Elise Blaha wrote a fantastic blog post about her show set up at last year’s Queen Bee Market.

In her post she talks about some of the things she liked and disliked about her display. Meanwhile, let’s talk about the things we love about it.

Color

This booth grabs you from a mile away. There is no way a booth this bright and bold wouldn’t catch your eye. Her 11×14 rolled posters are grouped by color, making it easy for shoppers to find what they’re looking for without digging around.

Banner

Pennant banners are really popular lately, and this one is really well executed. It’s easy to read and super cute.

Height

Thanks to the card display to the right of the table and the standing display at the back, she’s got more than four feet of vertical space to work with. No only does it give her more room for products, but it makes it easy to see her wares from across the room.

Decorations

The flower garlands do a great job bringing life to the booth without getting in the way.

Dual-duty displays

Many of her fabric-covered displays double as storage boxes, making transportation, set up, and tear down that much easier.

Do check out her original post, it’s a great chance to peek behind the scenes of her booth. While you’re at it, I suggest checking out the rest of her blog. Maybe set a few hours aside, there’s a ton to see and read!

New Pricing options for Square

Kellbot — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:22:45 +0000

Many vendors have already started using Square to accept credit cards at craft shows, and they’ve just introduced a new flat-fee pricing option!

The current per-transaction plan is still available, which takes 2.9% of each transaction, but for those of you who are doing high volume sales the new plan is $275 month and no per-transaction fee.

Which plan is right for you? If you’re doing over $9482 per month in swiped credit card transactions, you’ll save money with the flat rate over the per-transaction plan.

There are some rules on the flat rate plan that are important to keep in mind: if you’re selling more than $250,000 annually or $21,000 monthly, you’ll be charged 2.75% per swipe over that limit. The 2.75% charge also applies to transactions over $400.

For more details on monthly pricing, check out the Square website.

Fabulous Craft Fair Posters

admin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:38:38 +0000

Becky Johnson, who organizes City of Craft, started this tumblr blog full of beautiful craft fair posters. Prepare to have some serious design-lust!

[Craftposters via Becky Johnson]

Craft Show Must-Have: Tent Weights

admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 14:15:00 +0000

The weather is finally perking up, and outdoor shows are where it’s at in the summer. While you’re furiously making products for the summer show season, make sure you have a good set of tent weights! If a good storm comes along, the old “gallon of water tied to the tent leg” trick isn’t going to cut it.

EZUP makes some great tent weight bags. They’re made of thick fabric and each bag holds 40 pounds of sand, which you can get at your local lawn and garden shop. And they’re available with free shipping from Amazon.

If you’ve got time for a DIY project, the Etsy Metal team has posted a great tutorial on how to make tent weights using PVC pipe and cement.

As a last-ditch effort, there’s always a last-minute dash to the home improvement store for 4 cinderblocks. The downside of cinderblocks is that they take up a lot of space for the weight, and can be pretty dirty/crumbly. Still, if it’s 8am on Saturday and looking like a windy day, they’re you’re best bet for a quick fix.

What do you use to hold down the fort?

Cover it Up with a Tablecloth

admin — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:06:14 +0000

A table cloth is one of the basic necessities of a booth, but why settle for a boring white or black table covering when you can have more? Here are some booths that do a great job using colorful tablecloths.

Share your festive table coverings in the comments!

Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts of Craft Shows

luca — Fri, 20 May 2011 12:38:30 +0000

A DIY crafting station courtesy of the Ladies Fancywork Society

Gettin’ Crafty reviews the second annual Crafty Ballyhoo, organized by the Denver Handmade Alliance, and shares the Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts for shoppers. Read all about it, and remember, if you don’t have anything nice to say…

Today’s Shows Nationwide

admin — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:14:18 +0000

Looking to get out to a craft show this weekend? Check out these great shows across the USA!

Soulard Market Park Arts & Crafts Fair – St Louis, MO

9 am to 3pm. This is a recurring event, so if you miss it today be sure to catch it on June 11, July 9, or August 13!

For more information visit http://www.pastecrafts.com/

Craft and Folk Art Museum’s Local Bazaar – Los Angeles, CA

10am to 5pm. For more information visit http://www.cafam.org/shop

The Ballston Arts & Crafts Market – Arlington, VA
Catch this montly craft show right outside the nation’s captial. It runs 10am to 40m, so if you can’t make it today be sure to swing by in June!

Downtown Open Market – Boca Raton, FL

This pet-friendly show is happening rain or shine so come on down between 11am to 4pm

Eco Chic Craftacular – Columbus, OH

Art Star Craft Bazaar – Philadelphia, PA
North Park Festival of the Arts – San Diego, CA

DIY Displays: Antique Ladder

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 21:55:07 +0000

We came across queenvanna's awesome idea for a DIY display using an old ladder and a few boards. It's a super cute idea that's inexpensive and folds up flat for storage.

[via Flickr]

Selling at Wholesale Shows

admin — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:53:15 +0000

Pam over at the Business of Crafts blog has a great post on the difference between selling to retail customers and selling to wholesale customers.

When a retail customer buys a piece that’s been sitting around for months you’re happy to get rid of it. When they walk away from your booth, you probably do a little happy dance of relief. (It’s gone! Finally!) But it’s bad business to sell a wholesale buyer an item that is a slow seller. If it’s likely they’ll end up stuck with it forever you risk losing their trust.

Thanks Tasha for pointing this one out!

DIY Displays: Great Use of Vertical Space

admin — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:08:36 +0000

I found this ultra-amazing photo {HERE}. I love the use of vertical space! This artist seems to really know how to draw the eye to look right at her earrings and other works in the back.
If you wanted to do something similar, you would have to own an EZ-Up Tent and do something like this…

1.) Get or make/embellish 2 Burlap Curtain Panels. Make sure they are only as long as the height of your table. Meaning they should stop a bit under where the top of the table stops. To embellish these, hot glue or sew ribbon/trip to the long edges.

2.) Purchase 2 medium circumference (1/2″ or more so it doesn’t bend) dowel rods and leave them their natural wood color.

3.) Feed curtains onto dowels. Attach ends of dowel rods to EZ-Up Tent Frame with bungee cords or twine/rope.

4.) Punch holes in your earring cards, and fasten them to the burlap curtains by using S-shaped paper clips or mini S-hooks. Feel free to mark where you want these hooks to be with a ruler and T-square with a marker.

5.) Hang all earring cards onto the hooks and watch your sales increase!

You could also use this hook and curtain method with necklaces, hair clips, clothing items, small purses, lightweight paintings/photos, and more! What would you use with this type of display?
**You can also drill holes into each end of the dowels to feed rope through them to create a hanging bar. Then, making sure the dowel is level, tie the ropes to the EZ Up Frame.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Craft Friendly Southern Illinois and has been reprinted with permisison.