Craft Show Essentials

Craft Shows, your chance to show off your hand-made treasures to thousands of eager craft seekers. The big day is finally here. Your tables are filled with your hand-crafted items, the aisles are filled with young and old customers and you are ready to make your first sale. You're excited and probably a little exhausted because getting to this point was a little tougher than you had imagined. First of all you had to ensure you had enough of your crafts made to last the weekend. Also, ensuring that last minute details have been taken care of, packing, travelling and finally setting up has been a whirlwind of activity. Finally you hear the announcement "The Doors Are Now Open", now the real fun is about to begin! Although there are many, many details to be finalized leading up to craft shows, here are 3 very important ones. Along with your crafts, ensuring these 3 details are taken care of will help determine whether you have a great show or leave you wondering if it is all worth it. 1. Tables Most of the crafters I know use tables to display their crafts. Tables must be sturdy, safe, and of the proper size for the booth. They should be (and are sometimes required to be) covered on top and on all sides, down to the floor. How you arrange your tables within your booth will be determined by the size of the booth. Some booth layouts will work for one crafter but may not be suitable for others. One thing you must determine prior to the show is whether tables are provided by the craft show producers or whether you must supply your own. Most craft shows we attend supply one table with the booth and more can be acquired for a fee. When you book the show, ensure you determine whether or not tables are supplied. 2. Money/Change One of the most embarassing times during our years of selling at craft shows was running out of change during the show! Imagine running around on a Saturday afternoon during a busy Craft Show trying to find a few hundred quarters! We learned our lesson quickly on this one. Take enough change! We find it much simpler to have all our crafts end in multiples of .25 cents. This way we need only take quarters as change along with some bills. I realize this may be a bit difficult when trying to figure in taxes, however a little forethought and planning should help you to set your prices so that making change can be kept to a minimum. If you remember just one thing, it should be that it will be easier to take extra money back to the bank after the Craft Show than it will be to try to find change during a weekend Craft Show. 3. Fire Extinguisher I know what you are thinking! What the heck does Fire Extinguishers have to do with Craft Shows? Let me tell you that a lot of crafters had their eyes opened on the first morning of a recent Craft Show. Shortly before the doors opened, the local Fire Marshall came to each of the booths and asked each crafter to show him their fire extinguisher. If they did not have one they had to get one before he left or close their booths. Talk about a shock. We have always carried a fire extinguisher with us to Craft Shows so we had no problem. However, many of the crafters had to go out to local hardware stores and purchase one that morning. You don't need anything too elaborate, just one of those small household fire extinguishers will do. Do make sure it is UL (or equivalent) certified. It's always a good plan to have an extra one around the house anyway! Although it is a good plan to carry a fire extinguisher, it is an extra thing to pack and carry. Instead of just leaving it home, you should first check with the Craft Show producers to see if it is necessary to have one in your booth. Those are just 3 of the many preparations leading up to a Craft Show. Preparing for the next show actually starts (for us) before the current one is even over. Having all the preparations done well before hand can help ensure you have a successful, stress free and fun Craft Show. We like to get all of our show preparations done early in the year so we can concentrate on our crafts without worrying about things like hotels, booths, supplies, etc. We also find that having a checklist is a great help and time saver. Here's hoping that your next Craft Show will be fun and profitable.