My First Craft Show

This past weekend I attended my very first craft show! I had a booth at the Old Port Festival in Portland, Maine. It turned out to be a really beautiful sunny day and there were TONS of people! All in all it was a really great first experience!

How it went/what worked

My friend Lia was gracious enough to help me with set up which was awesome! Set up all together went super well, mostly because I had my booth set up in my living room aweek prior to the show (it's nice to have my living room back now!). Also, I had done all my inventory and tagging before the show and I'm so happy I did. At no point did I feel rushed, panicked, or unprepared.

Once the show got started I wasn't really sure what to do with myself-I had hurry up and wait syndrome. At that point I was really eager to have some one come in my booth and buy something. Thankfully, I brought my spinning wheel a long so instead of just hovering and fearing the worst, I sat down and did some spinning. Turns out bringing my wheel was a great idea! Not only did it keep me unbelievably calm and comfortable the entire time- it was a huge hit with the crowd! I really feel like it brought a lot of people into my booth who might not have come in otherwise. And the kids really loved it which was really fun! I forget how foreign a concept spinning wool is to most people considering how every day it is to my life. It was really interesting to see peoples reactions to seeing someone spinning. I will most definitely bring my wheel with me again!

I did have to make a quick re-arrange to my booth after about twenty minutes of foot traffic. I was noticing that people were looking into my tent from outside and not going in. So I re-arranged and put my bangles in the front entrance to lure people in. That turned out to be a very good decision and soon the sales came rolling in!

What I will do differently

For the next craft show I do (not sure where that will be yet), I will surely be tweeking some things. This time I brought one 6 foot table. Next time I will ALSO bring my 4 foot table to put all the jewelry on and leave the fun fibery supplies on the other table. I think that will also help draw people into my booth and help create a flow. I also need to find a better way to display my knits and have more knitty goods, knit in my yarn. Not sure on the solution for display yet, please comment with suggestions. And lastly I will bring more skeins of "art yarn" because the couple that I had got a lot of attention and sold quickly!

And Finally

I was accidently super smart and invited all my friends who came to see me at the festival to meet me back at my booth at five, so that we could get a drink. This eneded up being super smart because break down became fast and easy with five friends to help! We were seated and drinking at the Sebeago Brewing Co. by 5:30! There I enjoyed a most amazing burger and some delicious Lake Trout Stout! YUM! After I filled my belly and quenched my thirst I made the long haul home and unloaded.

All in all it was a great day, and a great experience! I can't wait to do it again!