Monday, September 10, 2007

Craft Fair Mania

Well, I said I was going to sell paper bag albums, cards, gift albums, and a couple premade scrapbook pages at the craft fair, since I already had them done. And I am. But.... add to the list a few more things:

  • Accordion albums in a tin
  • Circle mini albums

You see, I made an altoid tin accordion album before I left for TX and I love how it turned out. But we just don't have that big an Altoid addiction. So when I got back last week I thought I'd post on Freecycle and ask if anyone DID have an Altoids addiction and wanted to give me some tins to play with. A couple days later I got an email from someone saying that they had a bunch of tins that Swiss Army knives came in. They're similar in size to Altoids tins, but don't have a hinged lid. They also don't have color or writing on them that I'd have to paint over, just a small logo on the lid. So I went to pick them up and they're PERFECT!! AND he had 45 of them. Jackpot!! So I've been making accordion albums and playing like crazy and loving it. And I've only been using scrap paper, so they've basically been free for me to make. Score! If I don't sell all of them (I've made about 7 so far) at the craft fair, I'll put them on Etsy, since I really need to get busy and put new stuff in there. I've sort of let it lapse so far. Oops.

The circle albums are made with coasters I got at Walmart on clearance. I got 12 coasters for $1 and I can get 3 books out of those, since they're just 4 page mini albums. I got a ton of them - enough for 15 or so albums. Today I've been making some of those. Have I mentioned how much I love my circle cutter? And Staz-on ink? These albums are going together so quickly and I think they're really cute. Hopefully the people at the craft fair will too.

So there you have it. I wasn't going to make new things for this fair... just sell what I'd already made. So much for that. But at least I'll get a feel for what sells and what doesn't and maybe, just maybe, I'll branch out and gain a little confidence in myself for selling the things I make. I hope so.

Now to figure out how to set up my display. Any ideas from you pros?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

sounds awesome! are you willing to "RAK" me one of those swiss army tins... they sound awesome! if you want a new stash of altoid tins, let me know.... my mom is addicted to those buggers and would gladly save some tins for you! ** as for display suggestions, might i recomment small, shallow baskets to hold like items together and then just put the price tag on the basket rather than on each item. also, a few small easles/plate stands to have some of the albums standing upright. if you have small wooden crates, those would help to make things varying heights, as well. seriously, though, vary the heights and use baskets and people should flock to your table (at least those always work at scrapbook garage sales)! also, if you have or know anyone who has a tiered plate holder (like they use at tea houses), those are awesome for varied height displays. HAVE FUN! - tam

Jaime said...

I agree with Tam, vary your heights. I use plate racks and tiered plate holders (man, she hit the nail on the head), too, and they add dimension and height to the table. You can also put upside down baskets under the tablecloth if they don't match and still have a little height.

You have to post pictures! I can't wait to see your circle albums and tins! I hope your craft fair goes great!

Elizabeth Wickland said...

I went to Target and they had black wire baskets in rectangles and circles at the $spot!!! I got several. Thanks for the great ideas, guys!