Craft Show Setup

I recently participated in my first craft show in 2 years. It was a lot of fun getting back into the groove after taking a craft show haitus after my daughter was born. I made some modifications to the look of my booth, and thought I'd share some of the photos with you in case you are looking for set up ideas. (Unfortunately, the background is very cluttered, as my booth was in a first grade classroom right in front of the teacher's area!)

First off, this was an indoor show, so I knew I'd have a small rectangular space to work with. I chose to stick with one folding table, but also used a new grid wall section that I recently purchased. I used it to hang some of my pouches, my card case key chains, hair clippy caddies, and lanyards. And because I have a lot of color in my items I stuck with using a white table cloth to drape my table.

Once my table was set up I used several different items to create depth and height to my table. At one end was an inexpensive, plastic shelf that you snap together very easily into the configuration you need. I had used a much more elaborate version of these shelves a few years ago for an outdoor show, and after being exposed to my children since then this was about all I had left to work with, so I made do. At the other end was a cute hanging purse display that I used to hang some of my totes and purses. I kept all of the denim totes together for a uniform look, while all of the gray totes sat on the table top.

For my smaller items, I used a diverse group of serving pieces. The ideas was for customers to be able to pick up the plates and trays to look more closely at the items rather than having to bend over to rummage through everything. So rings went on black and white tiered serving dishes, and a festive gift box was available for my smaller zip pouches, and my fabric covered magnets were stuck onto bright blue tins. These I made available as a mix and match bunch so that I didn't have to worry about keeping like magnets together. Then when they were purchased I could put the sets into gift boxes for the customer.

As I'm sure you have experienced, I had tons of folks coming by telling me how beautiful my items were, but not browsing long enough to make a selection and purchase. So my goal was to right away when someone started looking was to offer them a "free bookmark". This of course was one of my Moo cards! The front of my Moo cards have a delightful, colorful photo I took of several of my pencil cases, and on the back had all of my business info. Then I hole punched them, and added a colorful ribbon to make the bookmark. People are always up for a freebie, so this at least got my information into their hands, and hopefully in a form they will be hesitant to throw away. The longer they hold onto their SewArtsy bookmark, the more likely they are to remember my product and make their way into my Etsy store at a later date.

How have your craft shows gone this holiday shopping season? Do you have any great tips for set up ideas, or for getting your business information into customers' hands? I'm pooped just from doing the one show this year, but I'm excited to see what opportunities next year will hold for me. I hope you're taking time to enjoy the season while still staying busy in your shops or doing your handmade shopping!

Happy Friday! Amy