My first "Market Day"

Well, this past weekend was my very first experience having a booth at a craft fair. I learned a lot, and thought I would share a few photos, and some of my "growing pains" with you!

This was a photo of my "display" that I took Friday night while I was setting up. Not everything is finished here... I had not yet hung the burlap banners and no candles were lit, but you get the general idea. I built that backdrop. It was 2 x 4's and a piece of foam insulation. The tabletop is a hollow core door I use as a desktop at home, and I stapled the burlap to it to form a skirt. It was heavy and nearly impossible to transport...

This was the picture I took after it fell out of the back of the truck and I somehow (by myself) got it back in, as my neighbors are driving by rubbernecking... it was NOT a fun experience!

I worked really hard to get enough hand-made items ready for this event, and afterwards, I was totally exhausted! I'm guessing that since this was my first one, as time goes on, I will have a better stock to pull from, and won't have to work my lil fingers to the bone right before!

I am working on getting everything photographed, and listed on my etsy page. So that hopefully I can generate some sales there too! :)

I've also updated some albums on my Classy Columbus Designs Facebook page.

I also set up a table for my Willow House business, and made a lot of great contacts with that!

I was set up in my own classroom and was able to really spread out and have a few tables instead of just one or two. I think though, next year I will request to be in the main worship center where most of the vendors were and activity took place.

I even had enough room for an all Halloween table!

So, what lessons did I learn?

1. Get more portable displays. That backdrop was beautiful but did not stand up well to being transported and was heavy and akward.

2. Utilize vertical display more! I loved my shelving, but didn't take into consideration hanging my wreaths very well. They didn't show like I would have liked them to.

3. Try to keep everything eye-level and above. I noticed that the memo boards I had sitting on the floor didn't get much attention.

4. Network with other vendors! (I made some great contacts and learned a lot from the other ladies there!)

5. Do a giveaway for Willow House. I did this, and collected a lot of email addresses to use in marketing in the future!

6. Go in with no expectations, and you won't be disappointed!

I plan on doing at least a few more of these this fall, but am going to try and coordinate it a little better with my husband's schedule. I ended up having to pay a babysitter which was a little costly, considering that this was an all day event, and I paid her from 7:30am to 4:30pm!

Hope you enjoyed my photos and maybe you can learn a little from my "growing pains"! Have you done any market days? What was your experience?