Home AT LAST!!!... and with a whole day of "catch - up - sleeping"! YES!!!
In case you haven't read past posts, I just did a two day show at the Georgia Apple Festival. The actual deadline for the show was March 31st but I only found out and tried to get in three weeks ago... and to my shock I actually got in, thanks to some drop outs.
First I'll just say, it costs WAY more than I would have ever paid in the past (I FINALLY made back the cost Sunday afternoon!) but I figured that since I got in it must be God so I bit the bullet and stayed up working 24/7 for the last three weeks trying to make product for the thing!
I am pretty certain that I had THE BEST location in the event...under the "barn". Even though the weather was PERFECT, it got a bit warm.... but never inside the barn, it was cool and a great retreat for folks seeking shade so we were never lacking plenty of folks.
Set up was a breeze, we had all day Friday, and I was able to drive right up to my space and unload!!! DREAM!!!
OK, maybe there was a better location, on the other side of the "barn" where they were able to just back their trailers up to their spots and leave them!!!
Here is a view of where the barn was from the rest of the festival.
This is the side I was on, see, no room for a car/trailer... but TONS AND TONS of space behind the 12x12 I paid for! ... that's where all the boxes and extra "stuff" went (you never have that a shows, it usually has to go under the tables)
Now, to my little space .... I was so excited to go down into my garage and find stuff I had made for past craft shows .... everything on this table came from back then. I was also thrilled that I was able to use my black/white theme again... I LOVE BLACK AND WHITE!
I actually had lots of help... Another friend, Patty, lives in Ellijay (where it was...about an hour away from home), loaned me three tables, brought some of my product from Atlanta to Ellijay, let us spend the night, and fed us!!! It was actually Patty's idea to try selling at the festival. HECK! Patty was the even inspiration for one of the designs I sold! ...
THANK YOU PATTY!!!
And Karen loaned me three of her tables. THANKS KAREN! I so appreciate my good friends.
And, on the left side are the signs that took all of my past three weeks to make! (actually, there are more, I just ran out of space so I had fill in gaps as things sold.
I desperately needed something to hang behind everything so you couldn't see the mess, but...I ran out of time, energy, and "care" to act on ideas for it.
I took this picture from the back of the booth to show the TONS of people that were at the booth next to us....unfortunately it doesn't show it that well.... but trust me there were TONS of people ALL DAY, BOTH DAYS! They sold out of most everything they were selling! It is a company called Perky Moose....and they sell THE BEST instant teas and cappuccinos ... just add water. They have been at the festival for years so folks come in search of them to buy more. Lets just say that it was SO GOOD that this morning as soon as I woke up I came upstairs and place a large wholesale order from them to put in gift baskets, sell separately and give away....soooooo good.... Nancy and I were the official tasters for each new sample pot that they made since their "tasters" weren't like "new users"... Shawn (the guy on the left of the picture) was no dummy, he had me hooked on the first taste!
Finally, here are a few close ups of some of my signs:
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| 9x12 Price Inc S/H within USA. |
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| 9x12 -$35 (Price Incl s/h in USA) |
I love that I sold this one to a male Christian counselor for his office.
I loved seeing teenagers and small kids wanting scripture pictures... and even seeing almost every man that walked by laugh at one or more of the sarcastic things I had. Actually everyone laughed but I loved making the men laugh.... THOSE sold quickly, but thankfully I had more to take their place.
I gave one of the clothes pin frames (not this one)
to a lady that volunteers at a pro-life clinic so that she could hang pictures of newborn babies that lived because the mother was brave enough to go through to delivery. The one she got had the first part of
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart....
So, all in all, while I didn't make any money this weekend, it was a good weekend. I had a great time because I was able to get people to laugh....without actually saying a word.
Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Yes, I think I WILL do it again next year, even if I do just break even, it's worth it. I'll just be smarter with what I try to sell next time.
Looks like you had a wonderful time and your booth set up was great! The coffee sounds yummy.
ReplyDeleteHi Adriann, THANKS SO MUCH! Listen, talk about a last minute, "MAKE IT HAPPEN" throw together booth! I was so excited that the unused, metal, DIY shelves I had from Home Depot worked perfectly for hanging the pictures! God is just so good, I go to sleep with a "how am I gonna make this work" problem and I'll wake up with the answer. The whole thing was a great learning experience of what works and what doesn't.
DeleteSpeaking of coffee... I'm off to make some now, great for this chilly morning!