Craft Shows

I set up at the Fairfield High School Craft Show last weekend. I want to detail some of my experiences to give you an idea of what to expect if you decide you want to do craft shows too. After researching the show online to find out who to contact, I called to get an application emailed to me. This one cost $40 to set up at. It was an extra $5 for a table and extra $5 if you needed electric. I had my own tables, and didn't need electric. The application included details that I needed to know for the show. It ran on Saturday from 9 to 4 and I was allowed in to the venue on Friday after 7 to set up. So I got there Friday night with all of my things and got everything set up. As soon as you arrive you will want to locate the people in charge and find out where to go. High school craft shows can be nice because they tend to have teenagers hanging out to help you unload your car and get it to where you need it.

It is relatively safe to leave your things just about anywhere you will be selling at. I just put a tablecloth over the top of my things to keep it hidden. There's always a chance that some things will walk off, but when you are in the situation where you are taking your things somewhere else to sell them, it's just a risk you have to take. I've found that other vendors tend to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior and so do the people that are in charge of the show or festival. This is pretty standard in my experience for all shows I've done.

On the morning of the show I try to get there at least fifteen minutes before it opens to settle myself in. There are almost always a couple things I forget that I have to set up when I get there in the morning. I also bring my cash box with money to make change. This is the one item that you do not leave alone no matter what. Guard it with your life. Also, I don't leave my cash in it when I'm walking back to my car. I have never ever had a problem. But at a really good show, you just don't want to be an easy target. I put the cash in my purse, or send it home with my mom while I'm packing up, or something. Then the cash box is just a piece of furniture like anything else so I don't have to worry about it.

At the show, it's v-e-r-y b-o-r-i-n-g. When you're busy dealing with customers, it's great. But even at some of my best shows, there are times when I'm just sitting around doing nothing. I try to bring a book, or clip my coupons, or something to pass the time.

The other big problem is finding time for potty breaks. Ask another vendor to keep an eye on your booth while you're away, then hurry. Be sure to take your cash box with you.

Once you've done a few shows, you'll have your own routine established, and won't think twice of any of the things I've listed. But having an idea of how the process works can really diminish the stress of getting started.

Small Business Info

Ok, I haven't done a small business post in a loooong time. And I think we'll go with a topic near and dear to my heart. Rent. The last company I worked for (which will remain nameless as they are a list of dirty words that I don't use in this blog!) They just recently purchased a shopping center by my house, so it has me thinking about rent costs and things that go along with setting up a space for a small business.

If your business is tiny like mine, a space in a shopping center might seem like a far away dream. Having worked for a property management company . . . let's just say to think of it more like a far off nightmare. Please email me if you are thinking of getting a shopping center space so I can give you some more information on what to look at in your lease. I have some very specific and very important information on this.

So if you aren't ready for a shopping center space just yet, where else can you sell what you make? For me, festivals and craft fairs have been a great start. The downside, it's a ton of work. But any level of running your own business is a ton of work.

Festivals have been the most profitable for me. Also the most amount of work, and the highest amount of risk. They range in cost from about $65 on up. The top range of festivals that I'll do is $125. Anything more than that isn't worth it to me. That may not be the same for everyone though. A couple things to look for when you are looking over the application is to see if there are any other requirements that are going to cost you. A couple festivals that I've opted out for require the vendors to have their own liability insurance. There are some that require you to have a business grade fire extinguisher. I opted to make that investment since my craft involves fire. Another large expense for festivals is the tent. A halfway decent tent is usually around $100. The tent is a pain and a half. Take a look at the cute little picture on the side that shows how easy is it to pop it up. Then laugh. I almost always take my hubby with me when I have to set up a tent. It is not a one person job. Even with two people, it's still not easy. If my hubby isn't with me, I play the damsel in distress to get some man help from other vendors. Learn to look stressed out and helpless. Against my principles, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Another big problem with festivals is weather. It's very risky. If the weather is bad, there won't be as many customers. And you have to sign up for the festivals months in advance. So there's no way to know ahead of time. An extra bonus is that if the weather is bad, not only will you have fewer customers, you also run a pretty big risk of losing inventory, and possibly even your tent. Last year I lost two tents in storms. I just love it when the tent loss comes on a Saturday so you have to run out Sunday morning and get a new one and rush to set it up and get things ready before the festival opens on Sunday.

But festivals are not all bad. Far from it. Once your set up is done, it's fun. Most customers are in a good mood. Because they are at the festival to relax and have a good time. They usually have money in their pockets ready to spend. And they are happy to look at new and different things. It's a very laid back atmosphere, and sometimes there's beer. And guess what? It's your business. You're the boss. If you want to drink, drink! Personally, I indulge (when I'm not pregnant) but I am usually very discreet with my cup.

This time of year, craft shows are getting underway. These are great! Not quite as profitable as the festivals, but you don't have to worry about the weather. Most craft shows I've been involved in are around $65 to $100. I've seen some for $25. Setup can still be stressful. But without the problem of the tent, it's not terrible. A lot of the same principles of festivals apply. Customers come in looking for crafts with money in their pockets. The biggest challenge with craft shows is finding ones that are big enough. I've done some that are great. I've done others where no one seems to know about them, so no customers show up. So ask around. Other vendors are a great resource to find out about good shows.

Once you've decided where to sell, the most important tip I have is to just relax and have fun. I've seen vendors get totally stressed out during set up. And I've been one of them too. But if you give yourself plenty of time, have a plan for how set up is going to play out, be prepared for the fact that there will probably be some hiccups, (like finding out that the organizers changed your space as the last minute) and just enjoy yourself. Try not to let things aggravate you too much, and when things don't go as smoothly as you would like, make the most of it. Bad weather is a good opportunity to network with other vendors. You will find that there is a family-like atmosphere among vendors. Most are friendly and willing to share information and experiences. And don't worry, you'll have your own horror stories to share soon too! The horror stories are horrible when they happen, but they turn into bragging rights among vendors! Mine is about how I was out at the Scarecrow Festival in Washington Court House, OH when that freaky hurricane blew though. I had made the hour and a half drive only to find my tent in ruin, and had to hurry up and pack everything into the car while street lights were flying down the street. Even better, it took two trips to get everything there, and I ended up having to leave some things there because not everything would fit in the car in just one trip. But I did have the help of some very nice vendors and people in the community.

Baby's First Picture

Ok everyone, here s/he is! 13 weeks confirmed, and only one baby in there, so happy day! We'll be getting another ultra sound at 20 weeks. Since Dawson was 5 weeks early, this doctor seems to be wanting to do several ultra sounds to make sure everything goes fine. Everything is great so far. They will be watching pretty close later on. I like having an early baby, just not five weeks early. Let's aim for just 3 weeks early, which is still considered term. You hear that Baby D?

Big Coupon Day this Sunday

There will be 3 inserts in this Sunday's paper. Lots of good ones too. One of note is that there a .55 cent off coupon on Hormel Pepperoni. At Meijer, the coupon doubles to $1, and they often have the large slices (found in the refrigerated section of the deli/produce dept) on sale for $1. So free after coupon. Just watch out for them to come on sale. There will also be more diaper and wipes coupons. Save those up for a good Walgreens sale.

What Have I Been Up To?

Not much. LOL. I've mostly been trying to cope with morning sickness and exhaustion still. Knock on wood, it seems to getting better. I'm super excited about my first ultra sound tomorrow. I should be 13 weeks along. I'm somehow convinced that there is more than one tumbling around in there, so we'll see. I think there's something in my brain that's telling me that my past couple months of laziness and sickness will make more sense if there's more than one. But we'll know tomorrow. I'm also hoping that maybe my calculation are off and maybe I'm further along than I think. Please God!!!! I despise being pregnant. Even the actual labor isn't as bad as the 9 months of pregnancy.

Another thing contributing to my increased energy I think, is that I'm back on my anti-depressants! Yay! Happy pills are good! Most people probably aren't quite so open about this, but I've suffered with mild depression since I was a teenager. A few years ago I finally got treatment for it, and I want the whole world to know that if you have a problem, you should get help. It doesn't made you weird or crazy, or unable to handle life. It just means that you have a problem and take a medicine for it. No different than blood pressure medicine or anything else. If you need it to be and feel healthy, then get it. Life is hard enough without suffering needlessly. Without the medicine, I feel pathetic. With it, I feel like me.

Let's see, what else? Dawson is doing great. Some of the new things he's been doing . . . he can use utensils pretty well to eat. He likes spinning around in circles until he falls over dizzy. And he loves watching Sunday football with Daddy. Dave gets so loud and excited (obnoxious) when the Bengals score, and Dawson just loves it. So I've joined in on getting loud and excited over touchdowns too, just so I don't get left out. LOL. He's also got a little football. He throws it at Dave, and then runs to him to get tackled. Adorable. I don't like watching sports on tv, but with Dawson's excitement, I find that I look forward to the games every week now too. Weird, huh? King of bummed that this week is the bi-week. Kind of weirded out that I know what the heck a bi-week is.

So that's my life right now. I will post ultra sound pictures when I have them! And I probably won't get a chance to post again until after the holiday, so I want to remind everyone to go candy shopping on Sunday. Clearanced Halloween Candy can be great for munching on, sticking in lunches, or using to make candy or cookies. Hershey Kisses wrapped in orange foil taste the same on top of a Christmas cookie as what the ones wrapped in red or green do. And if you have a sweet tooth and like to eat candy in general, it's better to have it in a small serving size than to buy a full sized candy bar. Economical and healthier.

Check out this video

I found a link to this on Hip 2 Save. But this is a neat little video that aired on Good Morning America about how one woman is able to buy groceries for her family of 6 for less than $4 a week. I'm not that organized. But using The Grocery Game does help me keep my bill very low. The highlight for this week for me was free Snuggle fabric softener and 99 cent All detergent at Kroger!

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/mom-feeds-family-week/story?id=8463295

Dining out with baby

I came upon this money saver by accident. I've been patting myself on the back ever since because it was PERFECT for my family. We went out to eat on Friday, and had a wonderful time. There was a yummy looking appetizer I wanted to try. It was around about $6.50. Then I noticed that the appetizer I wanted was also part of a larger appetizer sampler that was about $9.50. The sampler came with chicken tenders as one of the sampler items. Then a quick glance at the kids menu showed me that the cheapest thing on the list was about $3.50. So instead of getting the single appetizer, we got the sampler and fed the chicken tenders to Dawson for his meal. So, aside from the fifty cents in savings . . . .

We got the appetizer I wanted, along with potato skins which are always yummy.

We were able to feed Dawson the bulk of his meal while we were at the "just snacking" stage of our meal. He didn't get fussy waiting on food. And he was done and happily playing with his fork when our entrees came out. We were able to enjoy our meals like normal people instead of letting it get cold while figuring out how to feed a toddler and ourselves at the same time.

It was a lot more food than would have been included in a regular kids meal. So we had enough leftovers for an additional meal for him the next day.

And does it annoy anyone else that kids meals are the simplest, most basic foods, tiny portions, and they want to charge you like 4 or 5 bucks for them? I'm sorry, but a grilled cheese sandwich is not worth $4 when you can get a regular sized and quality entree for $8. The standard chicken tender kid meal was $5 and included two tenders. And I'm sure if we had ordered that, it would have been a whole different quality. For just the $3 extra on an appetizer we would have already bought, we got 4 delicious tenders that Dawson just LOVED, and like I said, the four potato skins. He enjoyed one of those too.

I have to say, after doing it this way once, I will ALWAYS do it this way. As he gets bigger, and with another baby on the way that will eventually eat kids meals too, we might need two appetizers. But I found it very enjoyable to have the extra options to munch on. And forget the cost savings. LOL. Having the food there so early and fast to get Dawson fed was spectacular!

Sharpen Your Scissors

Two inserts in the paper tomorrow. I haven't looked really closely, but I did see that there are a lot of diaper coupons. If you need diapers like I need diapers, you might want to grab a few papers.

Extra Extra

After stockpiling for almost a year, there are some items in my stockpile that I know I'll never use. All are things I got for next to nothing. Like Head and Shoulders shampoo. Great product, but I prefer the girly and fruity smelling shampoos, and hubby prefers the man smelling stuff. And since I can always find great and/or free deals on those, no sense in having the stuff we don't like take up space in my closets. Or I've found out that hubby will only use the gel deoderant stuff that squeezes through the holes. (Or I have to listen to him complain everyday when he puts on the other stuff.) So I may as well free up the space.

This is actually a really good time of year to go through your cupboards and closets and clear out unwanted items. Many charities are in need of things for the holidays and winter season coming up. Another thing I like to do is put together gift baskets. I may not use the full size St. Ives face wash that I got for 49 cents, but it goes great in a gift basket for a teenager paired with some lotions and makeup. If you've been a super couponer for any time at all, you probably have some things to get rid of. Be creative, and remember, it can do someone else a lot more good than it will ever do you if you have no intention of ever using it.

I actually read earlier today that some person had stockpiled 120 cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup. Wow! Evidently this person got the soup for just pennies after coupons, and took it around to her neighbors. What a great idea! How nice would that be to just grab a package of lunchbags, stick a couple cans of soup in it and maybe a pack of crackers or something, and pass them out to your neighbors, just to be nice? Or stick the can inside a large mug with some decorative packaging filler, then create your own little blend of spices to add to it. Put it in a little bag with a cute little label and one of those cheesy poems about how to make a happy home by adding a cup of love and a dash of kisses, etc. That would be a nice little Christmas gift for teachers, people at church, neighbors, coworkers, whoever. And all you would really have to pay for is the mug. Find a good deal at Oriental Trading Company and buy them by the dozen, and there you go.

Check your car insurance

I switched companies for my car insurance today and am now paying almost half of what I used to. Huge savings. Better coverage. Crazy that I didn't do it sooner. Check around. I used Progressive this time. I'm going to make it a habit to compare rates about once a year now. It's easy when you can just answer questions online to get a quote. And what does the commercial say? Ten minutes could save you. It's true. Be sure to cancel your old policy after the new one is in effect. And I've seen commercials for Allstate where they'll cancel your old policy for you. Lots of neat benefits out there right now. I like Progressive because they'll cover vet bills for my puppy dogs if they're in the car during an accident too! Costs them very little, but they get huge happy customer points on that one. It's just a nice thing to do.