Customize Your Booth! Merchandising Your Products at Craft Fairs

Check out lots more craft fair and store displays on my Pinterest Board HERE. 

Leah Duncan packaged her lovely tea towels with her name! This is adorable and a very memorable way of packaging soft goods. You could use your own signature, or a handwriting font to create a similar effect. 

DIY Customize Your Hangers! This is an awesome idea! Wooden hangers look MUCH nicer than those plastic ones. They are uniform, and space your clothing and hanging products out very nicely. 

Giant Dwarf has created custom packaging for an assortment of items. The black and white photo of the girl's hair is awesome, and will match any color product. The coffee cups are super cute ways to show how those cozies are used.

I would imagine that this booth at Craft 2.0 has their name on each and every product. 

A sign at eye-level engages shoppers from a distance. These magnets are packaged so perfectly too! Displayed inside of an old suitcase that's retro-fitted with peg board...genius!

And here is an example of some modern earring packaging. I know it's easy to just attach them to a business card but hang tags / cardstock backing is a great alternative. 

That's all for now :) How do you merchandise your products and package them for a more cohesive look in your booth or shop?

Antique Booths

Wow! I cannot believe I am just now finding photo inspirations for craft booths this way. I know that there are countless antique malls throughout the U.S. and they are filled with great ways to display your crafty goodness!! I am just focusing on one seller today, My So-Called Junky Life. She seems to keep loads of photos of her improvements, and has a designers touch! She uses mostly shabby-chic decor, and since most of her items are white or very light, she can actually put a lot more in the booth than a lot of different-colored items. The whites take up a lot less visual space than a lot of other colors. See for yourself...





from My So-Called Junky Life

Candy Giveaways at Shows

I have been using dishes of candy to lure people into my booth for a while now, and it really works! I often use brightly colored candies in a cute vintage dish. I put a little pink serving spoon in the dish, and people come back repeatedly to visit for more. Whether they buy something or not, that's fine - at least they are viewing my work for a second while they munch.

I wanted to feature some candy ideas for you to use, let me know if this works or you have an opinion on the matter :)

Goodies from Vintage Markets and Beyond...

See more of Contented Sparrow's images on Flickr HERE. Thanks for the inspirations!!

Visual Merchandising

I have been reading and thinking a bit about Visual Merchandising....

Table Displays from Outside Sources

It is a good idea, as Caitlin is NICE says, to carry around a notebook of some sort, and jot down unique display ideas. You can really grab ideas from anywhere and everywhere. And, the more outside-the-box you go, the more appealing your table setup will be to customers. If a customer feel engaged and in a little unique environment, it is likely they will stay longer and hopefully buy more :)

Please comment below and tell us where you find these types of inspirations??


So, I have been using dottie angel as a source of inspiration. She uploads a lot of photos of her home and she is an avid blogger. I LOVE how she sets up these little vignettes of vintage items, sometimes inside, sometimes outside.






Another great inspiration for me lately has been party decorations. Especially when whimsy and vintage appeal are involved. Whether it be for a child's party or a wedding, the decorations and the setup of the food tables and treats themselves. One outstanding example of this would be the New York City Party Planner named Amy Atlas (Events). Be prepared to be amazed at her "Eye Candy". I cannot get over how amazing she and her photographer are!! Also, feel free to read her post about the Behind The Scenes/ Design Phase at her business. Quite interesting!






It's the little things that really catch my eye, and props are very important in setting up a crafty table, or taking photos of your items for online use. I love the way cake stands look as well. Even if you have just one item on them, they look so stunning. Tasty candy in fun bowls are always nice too! Make sure the candy won't melt or get messy in the summer months, though!

Craft Fair Extraordinaire Feature Interview #9 (love.Jujube)

This jewelry artist has quite a sophisticated style :) Her striped table cloths set off her newer jewelry collections, themed on vintage materials and styles. The cute and romantic nature of her items is nice set upon a very dainty display. I would love spending lots of time at this booth! The images below show a very busy craft fair! I hope you enjoy...


1) My little store is ju ju be, I am mainly in Hong Kong but will relocate to Edinburgh very soon.
My store: lovejujube.etsy.com
My blog: lovejujube.blogspot.com

2.) What form of art/craft do you make?
I do handcrafted jewelry with wire and all kinds of beautiful beads



3.) When did you start vending at Craft Fairs? Were you successful at first?
I have started joining craft fair in May 2009 for promotion purpose but it was unexpectedly successful. Such that I kept on doing it.

4.) What is/was your favorite Art/Craft Fair you have ever attended/vended at and why?
5.) Least favorite?
4) & 5) I do not have a favorite / least favorite. I joint upon invitation. I treat every fair as social event to meet my customers / other artists.


6.) Who tends to be your target audience? What tends to be your best selling item(s)?
Ladies, who are relatively older in their 20s or 30s.

7.) Do you ever do marketing for your upcoming shows, or do you leave it to the Show Coordinators? If you do promotions, how do you do them, and do they seem to work well? Do you ever do giveaways at shows? Give out lots of business cards, etc...
I do minimum promotion. Just blog and facebook.

8.) Have you ever helped put a show together or run a show? Which one(s)?
No.


9.) How have Flickr, Etsy, Facebook, etc helped you expand your crafty business?
These means do help but I discovered the most important is to make more great creations and update my shop regularly.

10.) What do you think the difference is between an Art Show and a Craft Fair? If there is any difference...
People tends not to buy at Art Show.


11.) If you wish, please list your upcoming shows for 2010 and beyond.
March 20, Amor Workshop, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

12.) Any words of advice for people who do not think their setup is as good as it could be? What is your most successful layout for a table or booth. Be as general or specific as you want.
Stuff has to be tidy. Beautifully layout. Do not crowd your table. Make a statement.

Craft Fair Extraordinaire Feature Interview #7 (Paper Pastries)

Yay! This crafter uses quite a scrumptious color palette! She has a holistic approach when setting up her booth at fairs. Her setup reminds me of a charming, vintage bookstore, and I know I would be at her booth for a very long time! I love these pastel shelves that are rounded at top!!

Paper Pastries creates a delightful assortment of paper goods, and stationary. I am very excited to share one of the most unique crafty setups I have EVER seen!! She also has vended at some larger shows and also trade shows, something that a lot of us do not get the opportunity to do. And she is well worth it!!

She was great to tell us a bit about her crafty successes, and we get to learn a little bit more about how she thinks!! Here we go...

1.) Please introduce yourself...

Company: Paper Pastries

Name: Margaret Haas

General Location: Los Angeles

Website/Contact Info:
www.paperpastries.com/
paperpastries@gmail.com

2.) What form of art/craft do you make? stationery

3.) When did you start vending at Craft Fairs? Were you
successful at first?
My first craft fair was in July 2009, Renegade in los angeles.
I got a lot of positive feedback and what I made over that weekend blew my online sales out of the water.


4.) What is/was your favorite Art/Craft Fair you have ever
attended/vended at and why?
My favorite craft fair was indie mart in Nov 09.
I was worried because it was outside, in san francisco, in november. The weather made all the difference.
It was sunny, so tons of people came out for it, there was great food, and beer, so shoppers were happy.
The organizer was so happy to be running this show, that made it better for vendors and shoppers.
I knew she had done a lot of prep work too.


5.) What was your least favorite Fair to attend/vend at?
Why?
The art-a-faire in huntington beach.
It was poorly organized and definitely not advertised. Not my kind of crafts.


6.) Who tends to be your target audience? What tends to be
your best selling item(s)?
Women are my target audience, most of them have been from age 20-50.
Best selling items are the i left my heart in cards, address stamps, pencil sets, and stationery sets.

7.) Do you ever do marketing for your upcoming shows, or do
you leave it to the Show Coordinators? If you do promotions,
how do you do them, and do they seem to work well? Do you
ever do giveaways at shows? Give out lots of business cards,
etc...
I blog, tweet, and tumble about upcoming craft fairs. It can't just be up to the organizers to do that.
From this, I have gotten a lot of family and friends to come to shows, but I'm not sure how many others.
Every show, I make sure to have tons of business cards on hand, and to have my mailing list available for sign up.



8.) Have you ever helped put a show together or run a show?
Which one(s)?
not yet

9.) How have Flickr, Etsy, Facebook, etc helped you expand
your crafty business?
I would say that flickr has exposed a lot of my products to an audience that otherwise might not have seen it.

10.) What do you think the difference is between an Art
Show and a Craft Fair? If there is any difference...
At an art show you can buy a painting, photograph, or illustration at a craft fair you can buy all that plus a scarf, card, ring...



11.) If you wish, please list your upcoming shows for 2010
and beyond.

march 6th- los gatos spring boutique at the history club of los gatos
march 13th Listen, Taste, Touch & See - A St. Patrick's Evening Arts & Crafts Fair! 4-9pm 1313 n. miller st anaheim ca
march 14th Pink parlour festival santa anita race track
april 24th + 25th unique la
july 24th+25th renegade la

12.) Any words of advice for people who do not think their
setup is as good as it could be? What is your most
successful layout for a table or booth. Be as general or
specific as you want.

You need to brand yourself.
it could take a month or a year. It could never be done. Before you buy anything for your setup, you should ask yourself- what does this say about my brand? how does this fit in? Am i buying this because its cute or because its cute AND works?

also, don't have this set idea in your head about how it needs to look- you need to be able to set up your display and product in a 10 x 10 space or on a 6x3 table.



13.) Any closing remarks?
I am so lucky to have been able to start this business with such a supportive group of friends and family.