Sorry it's been a week since i last posted but i have been very busy getting my craft fair ready for the 15th. i have been making lots of those lovely sweet bags i did the tutorial on the other week and many more cards for my luxury collection. i wasn't exactly sure what to write about in this post because i haven't really done much photographing of my crafts this week but then i thought why don't i write about how to run a successful craft fair? so here we go...
My Tips for A craft Fair at Home
It takes a lot of hard work getting a craft fair ready yourself normally you would go along to one at a library or school where everything is done for you...refreshments, advertisements and the decorations - all you have to do is get your crafts ready.
But when you are doing one at your home or work and you are the one in charge it can be difficult to get everything into balance. In some respect it gives you more scope: you can match the decorations and advertisements to match the latest card collection or just base it on your favorite colors. You can decide what date and time is best for you and also it saves on the travelling to get to the place the craft fair is at.
2 years ago i had a go at a library fair but it was dreadful so since then i have done my own at my house (also you don't have to pay for a table!)
Each time i do a craft fair at my house (4/5 times a year) i use my checklist...
Date and Time : when is it convenient to do it and how long do you want it to run for? do you have any appointments? do you have a friend who wants to come but is working certain days? - well when you do a craft fair of your own all these things can be catered for.
Advertise : this is the main major thing you have to work on because if people do not know you are doing a craft fair they won't come. I normally design a leaflet that can be use every where like this ->
It needs to tell people when and where it is and what you are selling. i normally print of my own or you could have them done professionally if you are doing it for your work. As i said i print of 2 in A4 and about 40 in A6. i put 1 of the A4 ones in my door window and one in my sisters. The other 40 get distributed around my town to friends and several different stores.
Where and arrangements: you need to decide on an open enough space in your home or at your work. it needs to be big enough to allow room for a table (to hold your crafts) and room for your customers to sit. i choose my front room because it allows for both the requirements.
The Crafts : now you need to get everything ready for the day. make sure you have enough crafts to sell and that you keep back some just in case you sell out of the first lot. Make sure you price everything or make signs so that people know what you are charging otherwise you end up doing a lot of math for 10 different people at a time.
Decorations: Is there any holidays coming up? Easter? Halloween? Christmas? well if there is you can co-ordinate your decorations to the holiday. but if you are just have a normal sale you can choose your favorite colors or the color theme from your favorite card collection. You can keep it simple or go overboard. i like to keep things simple - white table cloth and streamers. i just change the color of the streamers according to the occasion - green and red for christmas, yellow for Easter orange and black for Halloween....well you get the idea. you have a clean slate to work with and you can mix it up anyway that you want!
On the Day: you need to have at least £20 in your cash tub so that you can give change. because you would be stuck if someone gave you a 20 pound note and only having £5 change. Also make sure that you have bags ready for your customers so they don't have to lug everything home. I normally start my day at 9am so i have to be up by 6am to get everything ready. the sign previously on the door goes onto my gate so that any passer-bys can see i have a sale. Make sure you get all your decorations up according to your theme and you should be ready to go - just slip in a CD and away you go.
Well i hope this helps some people when it comes to running your on Craft fair. If you have any questions feel free to leave one in the comments and i will get back to you....Until next time x love Beth x
