Shadow Box Display Tutorial

As promised from yesterday's Sneak Peek, I have a fun tutorial for you today! I have my first Spring show this weekend and I'm working on new displays. It seems each season I have so many new items that I have to reconfigure my displays and set up. Displaying post earrings is one thing that I've found to be tricky. I normally put my earrings on folded cards and hang them on a display. Well, the posts tend to poke through the card backs when I'm transporting them. So I created a new display for them :)

I started with a shadow box I've had around for a couple of years. I bought these thinking I was going to make scrapbooks out of them and just never got around to it. It was high time I put it to use.

I cut a sheet of wood with my laser to fit the bottom half of the box. I took into account for the dividers and cut holes for the posts to go through.

I then painted it to match the rest of the box. I like the look of the bare wood, but with my earrings also being wood, I wanted to make sure they stood out.

Finally I glued the cut wood to my shadow box to complete my new display. I left the top three compartments uncovered for other items like cuff links and rings. Both the rings and cuff links are new items I'll have at this show, so I'm glad to have my display worked out for them as well!

I printed some price tags that I'll attach to the display so I don't have to individually mark each item...another bonus. I'll be sure to get a picture of the display in use this weekend :)

Fall Show Prep

My first fall craft show is just 2.5 weeks away! How the heck did that happen! From September to November, I am signed up for 4 shows and it's time to start getting ready NOW!

As I make more and more new items, I also have to come up with new ideas for displays. Last year I took some of my Wood Wine Bottle Stoppers with me to shows, but they looked like the image above...a mess! So this year I wanted something to help them stand out and be seen easier.

This is what I cam up with. I took a coaster holder (that they were in originally) and cut holes in the bottom with my laser.

Now they look more organized, but I'm still not sure they stand out much. I'm thinking of painting the coaster holder so the stoppers stand out more and then putting a little sign on the front of the box that says what they are and their price (so I don't have to price each one individually!).

 What do you think? Good display or keep working on it?

Thoughts on Spring Craft Shows

I had my third Spring show on Saturday and I've noticed some similar outcomes and thoughts from each show.

*The weather is a big factor. If the weather is bad, people don't want to get out of the house. By Spring, we're so tired of bad weather, we don't want to endure it any longer. But if the weather is too nice, people want to get things done outside. It may be the first time they're able to work in their yards.

*There is no special reason to buy. Unless they need a graduation gift, Mother's Day gift, etc. they are only buying for themselves. People have a harder time buying for themselves.

*Most of my items are purchased for gifts. I notice this both on Etsy and at local shows. I heard on Saturday..."my sister would love this" or "this would be a great gift for so-and-so's wedding in a few months". Fall tends to be a better time of year for me because of this. Everyone (or mostly everyone) needs holiday gifts.

*Having a website is both a blessing and a curse. People love knowing that they can get ahold of you later when they do need a gift, but it keeps them from buying that day. If they only brought a certain amount of money with them and they know they can buy your item later, they might hold off.

I'm not totally discouraged from doing Spring shows, but I may reconsider how many or which ones I do next year. We have heard that a few shows require you to do the Spring show if you want a spot in to the Fall show. If the fall shows are good enough, I'll stick with the Spring show the next year. Time will tell. And if a lot of the custom orders that people were interested in come through, then it is worth it to be there to get my name out. Most of the time I don't know how successful a show really is until a few months later when orders start coming in.

How have your shows been going this Spring?

Day 2 Show Review

I would have to say that yesterday was just as successful as Saturday at the craft show :) The day was a little slow, but I sold 3 custom albums right off the bat! And a few more albums later in the day :)

I was so happy to have my new display!!! It worked like a charm, was easy to load/unload, easy to set up and looked great!!! Thanks Dave!!!

And this is only half of it! We were limited on space, so I wasn't even able to use the entire display. There is actually a whole other section like this and then I can put shelves in the middle to stretch it out to almost 10'!!! I'll definitely have to get pictures of it all set up in full display!

I don't have another show now until September. But I have lots of custom work to do between now and then! I even came home to two orders on Etsy as well yesterday :) After all the custom work is done, I hope to stock up on my inventory for several fall shows and work on some new ideas I've had floating around in my head for quite some time!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend :)

Day 1 Show Review

One successful day down...one successful day to go :) Yesterday's show went really well! I was so excited to use my new display! (pics tomorrow) And I met some really great people as well!

I shared a booth with my crafting friend again and that makes it so nice for the slow times! We had a 10'x10' space this time, so it took us a little longer to set up since we had a square instead of a rectangle like we're used to, but it all worked out well :)

We both did really well and are anxious to see how today goes! We heard that Sundays can be better than Saturdays when people get out of church...keeping our fingers crossed! We are also excited to be doing this show again in the fall. We were told the estimated # of attendants for this show is 3,500 and the one in September will be almost 20,000!!! Super excited!!! And we learned about two other shows that sound wonderful! I had another vendor just fall in love with my albums :) She does lots of other shows and gave us information on those and thought we would do really well there too! It's all about connections!

I want to send out well wishes to others doing shows this weekend :) Sprinkling sales dust on us all!!!

New Diplay and Craft Show Overview

I had my second fall craft show yesterday. The results were about like my first fall craft show...good...but could have been better. I would still call the show a success because I made money and handed out tons of business cards :)

The best part of the show was the fact that I got my new display done!!! I made a sign to put up behind my display and I made some longer shelves that I think really made the display come together! I love how it turned out!!! I made the sign to match my business cards and avatar and banner.

And here is a before and after photo of how my display used to look and how it looks now. I would still like to make lots of changes to my display, but for now...I'm pretty happy with how it looks :)

I found several things interesting at yesterday's craft show:

*I sold three pet themed albums

*I didn't sell ANY Family Word Albums

*The Friends Word Albums are selling better than the Family Word Albums this year

*I didn't sell a single baby themed item

I guess it just goes to show that you can never guess what is going to sell! That's why I offer a wide variety of themes and styles of albums...that way there is something for everyone :)

I hope everyone participating in craft shows is having much success :) And if you're in the area...I'll be doing my third fall craft show in Atlantic, IA on Dec. 4 and 5. Hope to see you there :)

Successful Craft Show Today!

I had a great craft show today :) I thought I would share a few pictures of my booth with everyone and see what you think. It is still a work in progress, but it seems to be working out well for now. I added the display boxes on the card table to put things more at eye level and create more areas to display albums. I also added the card tree to put my wedding invitations on. Last year I had them in an album they could look through, but I really like them being out and visible this way.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear suggestions of how you think I could make this better :)