Craft Fair results and pics--wanna buy a birdhouse?

[rippersmom]

We had a booth at the annual Hardyville Days Arts and Crafts show in Bullhead City, AZ. Results were mixed, sales were sporadic. The attendance was down from the previous year, but we made booth rent on Friday,the first day, increased sales on Saturday but Sunday was AWFUL for us.

But, we had a good time, as usual, and enjoyed seeing a few of the old vendors.

As for the birdhouses, and the angels..................I sold a grand total of 4 birdhouses and 2 angels. That's it.

The PVC and garden netting panels that hubby built worked out really great for hanging things. Thanks, Pete, for posting your pictures and drawing. We clamped our panels to the tables and used zip ties to hold them together. Several vendors were impressed with the setup and asked to take pictures to show their spouses. Maybe we should have sold the panels! LOL

I have a few pictures to share. My photography skills aren't too good, but at least you can see our setup. If we get the same spot next year, I plan to use a couple of clip-on lights to show off the fretwork portraits. We learn a bit more each year we do the show.

Nancy in AZ (lots of birdhouses and angels for sale!)

[oily]

Beautiful display!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Max]

Nice display Nancy. You seem to have a good variety of work to offer. I guess it was just one of those weekend where people just weren't buying. I'm sure things will pick up as it gets closer to Christmas. But the important thing is...did you have fun?

[rippersmom]

Beautiful display!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks! We are really pleased with our "walls". And, by attaching the 2 shelf units to the center panel, everything was very sturdy.

[rippersmom]

Nice display Nancy. You seem to have a good variety of work to offer. I guess it was just one of those weekend where people just weren't buying. I'm sure things will pick up as it gets closer to Christmas. But the important thing is...did you have fun?

We had a good time, even though sales were meager. Variety was definitely the key to the sales we did make. Sold everything from crayon trucks to gift card holders to reindeer to a portrait of John Wayne.

[wood-n-things]

Good for you. Nice variety and great presentation.

[DWSudekum]

Excellent job Nancy. Glad you had a great outing. One never can tell what will sell and what will not. Anyway everything looks great. Thanks for sharing it with us.

DW

[fireglass]

Hi, Rippersmon, your setup looks good I like the pvc slelves. It looks like you could hang your bridhouses and angels from them and still use the slelves. I think one would be able to see them better.Lance

[JohnB]

G'day Nancy,
Great display and as you say Variety, variety, variety is the key.
You never can tell how a show is going to go until it's finished and there never seems to be any rhyme or reason to the number of sales made.
One thing I find strange about how you blokes on the other side of the world set up your stalls, so the punters walk into your booth, I think I would find this a little off putting having the seller standing so near all the time.
We set up our displays on the outside so that the punters walk around the booth and the seller stands behind the tables etc. Just an observation.

[will8989]

How did the baskets sell? That could have almost looked like my display with the baskets. I recognize the patterns. Do you make different sizes? I make small ones to extra extra large - 16"+ and sell from $15 to $90. The large ones I only cut the bottom and 3 rings and they go like crazy. How did he angels go? I'm making them for my next show. The gift card holders are always a success. The best part of this buisness to me is the selling. I just love it!

[Janette]

Looks nice. Only thing I can think of about the bird houses is the display - although you have a good way to display them - they don't JUMP out at people. Mine is hanging at the front of the booth so people CANT miss them - even if they tried. the other necessity at any show is LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTS. Unless you don't have electricity available - there is no excuse not to have as much lighting as you can to show off your work. Always a hit and miss at any show - hope you had fun!

[Jim Finn]

Great display! Much nicer than mine is. I had a average amount of sales this past weekend. Mine was a one day sale. I find second days, sales drop off to make it not worth while.

[rippersmom]

Betty,

My baskets were admired, but I only had one sale. Customer bought the larger walnut basket. I had walnut, redwood, oak and poplar ones. Birdhouses and angels were not good sellers. Maybe next time. LOL

We did have a good time, and that's what counts.

Nancy in AZ

[rippersmom]

Looks nice. Only thing I can think of about the bird houses is the display - although you have a good way to display them - they don't JUMP out at people. Mine is hanging at the front of the booth so people CANT miss them - even if they tried. the other necessity at any show is LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTS. Unless you don't have electricity available - there is no excuse not to have as much lighting as you can to show off your work. Always a hit and miss at any show - hope you had fun!

Janette,

I'm thinking that my birdhouse display should be painted maybe a darker green to highlight the wood in the birdhouses. I debated about stringing them, but went with the rotating stands.

I agree 100% on LIGHTS! We were in a corner and there was a big double door and side window on the end of our space, but the lighting on the other end needed some help. Next time, for sure, I'll put a couple of clip-on lights on the display.

We learn something each time.
Thanks
Nancy in AZ

[rippersmom]

Great display! Much nicer than mine is. I had a average amount of sales this past weekend. Mine was a one day sale. I find second days, sales drop off to make it not worth while.

Jim,

We had a part day on Friday, 12-5, and a full day on Saturday, then Sunday was a short day 9-3. It was pretty good the first 2 days, but Sunday was a disaster as far as numbers of customers. At least we made booth rent and paid for the pvc supplies for the "walls", with a little left over for my SIL and I to split. I'm happy, had a good time and bought a tshirt.

There are a couple one day fairs coming up next month that are local and might be worth setting up for.

Nancy in AZ