Buying a Craft Show Tent

The tent is the first important item you are buying for your craft show business. The right tent makes all the difference.

We made our first mistake when we looked all over the place for an 8x8 tent and found ONLY one. The wrong one! We found this one on sale for $80.00. It was in our price range and we thought we had it made. Unfortunately, the tent has slanted legs instead 
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DIY Tent Weights

We recently purchase a new event tent for this year out at Portland Saturday Market. We were pricing out weights to purchase for our new Event Tent
and found that they are very expensive. Each tent leg is required to have 20 pounds to help stabilize the tent. We found a few weights that we liked but they were outside of our budget. We took

Teal Towel Wrap with Butterflies

This is a new towel wrap design. This one was created on a teal terry towel. I've added a pink
casing down the front with a matching rose ribbon around the top. I created a new design with butterflies and swirls in various pinks.

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New Towel Wrap IV - Final

I thought after a whole month and a half
I would show you the final version of the first towel wrap. 

This towel wrap was finished the day before we took it out to Portland Saturday Market. PSM approved towels wraps as a new product for us out there. It was approved in the morning and it was sold by afternoon along with two other towel wraps we took out there that day. 

Never fear, I've already made another one similar to this one.  

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New Towel Wrap Part III

As you can see we have added an Eiffel Tower to the bottom of the towel wrap. The Eiffel Tower was embroidered in black.

After we got the Eiffel Tower embroidered onto the towel wrap we felt there was something missing. We need to add something that links the Fleur de Lis design at the top of the towel to the Eiffel Tower at the bottom. We are not sure what exactly but we will figure something out, I'm sure. ;)

Up next Our First Completed Towel Wrap

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New Towel Wrap Part II

In our last posting we showed you the pink and black towel wrap we started making for our Portland Saturday Market product line. 
Now we are starting the embroidery. So far we have the Fleur De Lis at an angle in the upper corner. We are keeping to the black theme with the embroidery.

Up next is finishing the embroidery

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New Towel Wrap

We have been working on a towel wrap for the past two weeks. This is our first one for our new product line for Portland Saturday Market. As you can see this one is in dark pink and black. We are using a plush pink terry towel. So far we have black binding on each of the edges and a pretty ruffle ribbon for the top. The bottom is surged and hemmed. There is sewn in-cased elastic in the back to make this wearable for a few sizes. This one will fit a size 6 - 14. The towel wrap has a Velcro, hook and loop closure.

Up next is the embroidery

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Craft Show Checklist

So you decided to do a craft show. You applied, got accepted and paid for your space... Now What???

What do you need to setup your space to make sells. This is a list of some of the things we take.

I've listed things you may need for either an Indoor or Outdoor Show.
 
Tent - straight legs, avoid slanted leg tents, white top is the best
Tent sides / walls
Weights 20 pounds each leg - can make these with milk jugs and sand $20.
Curtains or fabric to display area
Lights - clip-on is the best 10" Work Lamp are the best for lg light area
Light Bulbs 150 - 200 watt best light Sunlight or Clear bulbs
Extension cords 16 gauge or better
Surge Protectors 16 gauge or better
Long 3 prong electrical plug (5- 10 feet long) 16 gauge or better
4' or 5' tables
Table Cloths
Cart / utility / Flat beds - to transport everything
Rope
Bungee cords
Company Banner - Company name sign w/wo URL
Displays to show off your products. Tier your products on different levels
Plastic Storage Boxes with locking lids
Seat Cushion - saves on the bottom/back ache
Chair - folding and comfortable
Small step ladder - if dealing with tents or displays to hang items
Customer price list / inventory to see what you sold at the end of the day.
Product tags - Either for tagging prices individually or in groups (baskets)
Product description pages- explain your art process or what it does
Business Cards
Money box or waist pouch
Money - to make change 
The square or paypal reader to accept credit cards via cellphone
Bags for the customers
Heaters - propane, auto shutoff - outdoor shows
Heat lamps and bulbs - if heaters are not allowed
Electric Blanket is another idea to keep warm
Food / Water - craft show food can get expensive.
Lunch tote to hold food and water - craft show food can get expensive.
Therm-us for hot drinks


Clothes to Wear
Extra set of clothes to leave in car
Socks - extra set
Mittens / gloves
Sunscreen for sunny days
Sunglasses

Tips to stay warm
Body Oil helps insulate your body for cold days before dressing 
Shoes with thick rubber soles. keeps cold from the body and cushions the floor


I have a few previous post on craft shows. Lighting, carts, weights and our experience.
 
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PSM Experience - Week #11

September 2nd, our 11th day of selling.

We signed in today at 84 on the fill-in list. Our number didn't change this week.

This week we decided to finally try the ramp. Our space was #428. My mom and I both really liked this space. We talked about the space and considered the weather and how many people walk up the ramp. The people that use the ramp are families with strollers and bicyclist.

Early during the morning we had a couple walk up and sneak a picture of our table full of products. Then the man said it is made with good quality fabrics. No this didn't reek someone going to steal my designs at all. Now I just know I'm going to find my products being massed produced in China and sold all over the place. There isn't anything I can do about it.  =(

We had one sell today. We sold an iPad today. The lady that bought it for a gift for her nieces birthday party. I hope her niece likes it. =)

That is all for now!!!!

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PSM Experience - Week #10

August 26th, our 10th day of selling.

We signed in today at 84 on the fill-in list. Our number didn't change this week.

We chose a different spot again today. This time we chose #412. We were across from the corner space we were at in July. The 300 and 400 row seem to get a lot of customers roaming through. Row 100 was very dead for us and we stayed there the first 4 times we were out there. We were going to try the ramp today but it was full by the time we were allowed to chose.

We had a lot of customers stopping by. We noticed that a lot of the customers wanted to feel the kindle or ipad covers to see if they were padded and soft. We also noticed a lot of customers looking at the cup cozys. The red pirate messenger bag, ipad cover and cup cozy all seem to attract the customers attention.

Mom and I decided we were going to start working on a new product that may sell out there. We haven't decided what exactly.

We didn't have any sales this weekend.

That's all for now

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PSM Experience - Week #9

August 19th, our 9th day of selling.

We signed in today at 84 on the fill-in list. Last week we were at 86. Our number keeps moving up inch by inch.

Today we chose a different spot again. We are still in the search for the perfect space for our booth out there. We chose under the bridge in isle 300 for this weeks trial. One of the suggestions we received from various vendors when we first started is to try different spaces out. What works for one vendor doesn't for another. 

One of the vendors next store decided to move to a brighter space since they didn't bring any lights. We decided to open one side of the tent up so the customer could see our products better. It also allowed for a nice summer breeze.

 We had a lot of people stopping and looking at our laptop and kindle covers. There was a lot of interest in those. We pasted out a lot of business cards to customers that stopped by. Customers would wonder over just to feel the laptops sleeves. The need to feel and touch is a selling point out here. I think we pulled down the messenger bags at least 10 times to show customers the inside. I'm not complaining. I'm just glad they are looking.

We talked a little bit about what our next step should be. We decided to try and get another product approved for sale out there before winter break. We would like to work on getting a bunch of them together before March opening. I will wait to tell you what it is until we decide for sure what product we will be working on.

Yay!!! Our fourth sale..... We sold an Eiffel Tower pillow cover in pink and black. We probably would have sold the rose pillow twice today, except we noticed that it was miss marked right before we broke down to go home.

That's all for now. 

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Carts and Craft Shows

The cart is the best way to transport your craft show belongs such as tents, chairs and plastic boxes full of products to your assigned station. 

We looked at quite a few types of carts and decided that this one is the best one for us. All of the sides can be folded down to use the cart as a flat bed. This cart can hold up to 1000 pounds. The handle can be removed and the cart can be hooked up to an electric lawn mower.

Cart Fully Packed

This cart does double duty as a table to display our products for the show. We don't have to take it back out to the truck while the show is going on. We use our plastic boxes for table height. We place a peg board on top to make a level table top. Then a table cloth over the top of that. This also keeps the plastic boxes up and out of the way during the day.

Other vendors use different types of carts to transport their wares. There are many types of carts out there. Other vendors use flat bed carts, dollies and rolling cages.

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Making Inexpensive Tent Weights

Milk jug bungee corded to the tent leg.

I hear you asking yourself if tent weights are necessary!  I asked myself the same thing. Let me ask you this. Are you doing a show outside? If yes, then yes you need weights. I have seen a tent flip over. The breeze caught the tent just right and flipped it. If you would like to keep your tent grounded, over your head and not blowing down the isle then you need weights on each leg. Not to worry thou, weights don't need to be expensive.

Here is an inexpensive idea how to build your own weights.

We use 4 milk jugs (one for each leg) filled with sand as tent weights. We purchased the sand at the locale hardware store. We were able to buy two 60 pound bags for $10. Some vendors use bleach jugs filled with water. We choose sand because we didn't want to be hauling water around. We had concerns about obtaining water at outdoor shows. The facility may not offer water stations or faucets. Tie rope around the handle and up around the top rail of the tent just under the canvas top. Then bungee cord the milk jug to the leg to keep it in place. We spray painted ours blue but the paint seems to flake off. I would have preferred to leave them clear or white.

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PSM Experience

Our first day... Ended up not being our first day. We were completely oblivious to fact that when other activities happen at Waterfront Park it directly effects PSM. Our first experience coincided with "The Shamrock Run" This run closed bridges and streets in and around Waterfront Park. Now I don't have anything bad to say about the Marathons and other activities that happen at the park but as a beginner to PSM it is definitely a learning experience as a vendor. Our first day was a complete BUST! We got up and got the car packed and was out the door at 7am. We drove all the way to downtown Portland and got stuck in horrible traffic just was we crossed the Morrison Bridge. We sat in Traffic for over an hour and only moved about 10 feet. It was very reminiscent to driving the freeways in downtown Los Angeles. The only difference was that people were getting out of there cars and running to the starting line or sign in area. After an hour the PSM sign-in time had past and we were still no where near getting there. We ended up making our way to a left hand turn lane and after another 30 minutes finally got out of the traffic and headed home. This became the first day that never was but we learned a very important thing for being a PSM vendor. When there are extra activity days at Waterfront we reassess whether or not we want to sell that weekend. The other thing we have learned from other vendors that during certain activities means slower sell days. Rose festival brings more sells but marathons brings less.
Lesson learned... Some Waterfront activities means more headaches and less sells.

PSM Experience - Week #8

Today is July 29th, our 8th day of selling.

We signed in today at 86 on the fill-in list. Last week we were at 87. One more down. 

We have been trying to get into different spots to sell. This week we got into a 10x10 corner under the bridge. This spot is just off of the ramp. There is a lot of people that walk through this section. We set up with to one of the side walls up today. We have two open sides. We lined up the table and cart to corner in the front. I also made the new price list to be placed in front of each item. I still need to update them with the new information for next time.

We noticed when we got there today that the beer festival was all setup across from PSM in the park.  There were a lot of people carrying beer mugs around today.

YAY! We had our third sell today. We sold a black and red rose kindle case. We had a lot of interest in our kindle covers today. Last time it was the ipad cases. The other thing people picked up and looked at was the bike laptop sleeve. 

That's all for now.

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** Update... This was schedule to be posted at the time it happened but it didn't post properly. **

PSM Experience - Week #7

Today is July 22nd. Our 7th day of selling.

We signed in today and we moved up on the fill-in list from 92 to 87. We decided to try a different row this week. We were able to get a spot two rows over under the bridge. This is suppose to be a great spot for sells.

We have been waiting for our member letter all week and still have not received it. I guess we have to sell 7 days before receiving the letter. 

We bought a 10" lamp last week. we also bought a 100 watt and 200 watt bulbs. This week we have a lot of light in the tent. We decided we will buy two more 10" lamps for the tent and get shiny objects for the reflective properties.

Unfortunately, we didn't have any sells today. However, we did notice that we had a lot of people stopping and looking at our products and asking questions. This is a good row to get in. 

That's it for now.

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** Update... This was schedule to be posted at the time it happened but it didn't post properly. **

PSM Experience - Week #6

Today is June 24th and our 6th selling day.

We took a spot back in our comfort zone. The last row at the end of the food trucks and under the bridge. Mom and I both decided we need to start trying other areas out to see if we increase customers looking and maybe selling. 

We added a lot of our ipads and kindles today. All of them were made this week and placed online at Mischyf Couture for sell.  

Today was pretty uneventful. 

We didn't have any sells today. Fingers crossed maybe next time.

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** Update... This was schedule to be posted at the time it happened but it didn't post properly. **

PSM Experience - Week #5

Today is June 17th. Its Father's Day today. Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there.

Today started with our fill-in number moving up again. YAY! we moved up from 100 to 92. We almost made it to the 80's! Since there wasn't a lot of vendors out there today we were able to change our place to the mezzanine. We get to try one of the primary spots out today. These spots are usually the more expensive and held by long term members at PSM. As one vendor put it "Someone has to die in there before the rest of us can fight over it!"

We were able to get our Company Name banner done this week. We now have it hanging on the back wall. My mom and I both decided that we need to get a lamp to throw some light on the banner.

The jury also approved us to sell ipads, laptops, kindles and nooks. Now we can get started on making those. More new products. We are hoping something will catch on.

We were sitting in our tent and all of a sudden the noise level increased. It was loud with whistles and drums, loud musics and fans screaming. We walked out front to see what was going on and we found the most colorful people walking around. It was the Guy Pride Parade! It was fun to see all the amazing and fun things people were wearing all day. I wish I had my camera. Some of the customs were just to cute!! There were poodles died in rainbows. It looked like everyone was having a lot of fun.

We didn't have any sales today. Maybe next time.

That's it for now! =)


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** Update... This was schedule to be posted at the time it happened but it didn't post properly. **

PSM Experience - Week #4

May 27th, Today is our 4th selling day at PSM. 

When we signed in today our fill-in number moved up from 102 to 100. We almost broke the three digit mark this week. 

We are hoping that there will be a lot of people out today with it being Memorial Day Weekend. Unfortunately, I think everyone left town for the weekend. This weekend also marks the weekend of the Rose Festival. Across from PSM the City Fair is all setup. I can see the dragon swing ride right on the end closest to us. 

At last we finally made our second sell today. We sold another cup cozy. This one is hot pink with a black paw print. Hmm! people seem to like to stop and look at the cup cozies.

That's all for now.

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** Update... This was schedule to be posted at the time it happened but it didn't post properly. **

PSM Experience - Week #3

So far this week leading up to today we did a test setup with the tent and products. We bought a cart to move our equipment to our assigned spot for the day. Lastly, we are finally starting to use the van to transport our stuff. It was a good thing we choose to use the van. The day we put the insurance on the van my mom's car broke down and had to be towed home. We had been using her car to transport all of stuff to the market. I guess at times, timing is everything!

With everything going on we made it to May13th our 3rd day at PSM.  Today also happens to be Mother's Day. Happy Mom's Day to all the Mother's out there. We expect it to be a slow selling day with the holiday. 

When we assigned in this morning we had a wonderful surprise. PSM just finished the April Reallocation and that brought our number up on the fill-in list to 102 from 125. That was a big jump for us. =)  

We chose to stay in the same area as we had the last two times. We chose the last aisle at the end of the food carts under the bridge. It is an area that has a walk through from one section of the park to the other side of the park. A lot of dogs come through this section of the market. Last time were were here, we thought about adding a few pet items to see if they would sell. Our main concern this week is still the display, tent setup and finding our item niche to sell. We were approved to sell messenger bags and leash bags today. These can be found at our online shop Mischyf Couture. I was disappointed that we didn't get approval for the paw towels. We may reapply for the paw towels at a later time after we make changes. 

YAY!!! We finally sold a cup cozy today. The cup cozy was brown with a pink paw print.  We got our first sell at PSM!!!

That was about it for the day!

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** Update... This was schedule to be posted at the time it happened but it didn't post properly. **