This was a test run of the craft show setup. We setup the tent in the front yard.
If you have never done a craft show whether inside or outside I would suggest doing a test setup the week before. This will help you decide what you may need and the best way to display your products. This will help on the day of the show by saving time on setting up your area. It also keeps the pressure down so you are not wondering around trying to figure things out at the last minute before the doors open for business.
We are trying to make due on a very limited budget. We are using what we have around the house or making items as cheap as possible.
We bought our 8 x 8 tent. Unfortunately, we bought the wrong type of tent. We bought a tent used more for family recreation. We should have bought one for the serious craft vendor.
We made our weights from milk jugs.
We used clip on lamps that were laying around the house.
The navy blue back curtain that we are using was once used as dressing room wall at my moms store. We still had a few panels left. All we had to due is hem them for the tent. The navy blue back wall gives the tent some depth which we needed to make the tent look larger.
We setup our temporary cardboard displays for the tables to create a second viewing level.
The table cloths are large pieces of black fabric that we hemmed.
We used our new cart for the second table. We arranged the lights to focus on the tables.
After we got the tent setup with the tables we wanted to figure out how we wanted to display our products.
With this setup we hung the pillows from the top of the tent and displayed a few on the cart table on the right. The front table is displaying the iPad, messenger bag and pet supplies.
This tent setup has come a long way from the first time we sold at PSM. The first setup was the tent and one table with pillows sitting all over it at the same viewing level. We didn't have lights, so we were sitting in a darken cave on a rainy day. No one took notice of us.
We are still making improvements to our tent and displays to make it more inviting to entice the public to stop and look at our products.
One thing to remember when doing a show, you need to find things that break down (lay flat) and are easy to transport.
The other thing to keep in mind is to make your tent a welcoming place. You want the customer to feel welcome to come and look at your wares.
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