My First Craft Fair!

Yesterday I was a first-time vendor at the Dallas Makerspace Holiday Gift Fair!  So many people stopped by my booth and told me how pretty my paintings were.  I was really happy with how it went, especially since I'd never done this before.  I came away with some definite notes for next time, but no real failures on my part. 

One concept that was particularly brought home for me was that I needed more items in the $5-$20 range.  A lot of people wanted to take something home, but weren't prepared to pay the prices for my originals. I think that next fair I'll be offering some smaller options, perhaps made via Dye Sublimation.  I've been digitizing my work as much as possible, and I think that will be a way I can add some smaller items (perhaps with my business information in a not too obnoxious placement) that won't cost me much time or money.  

Another thing that I heard a lot of  is "Are you going to teach a class on this?" A lot of the shoppers were DMS members, and many of them have the mindset that they'd rather make it.  This is actually kind of encouraging because I am already planning to hold classes after the New Year, so I'm certain I'll have plenty of students!  

I'm really glad I participated in this fair. I have been a bit intimidated to sign up for other craft fairs because of my medical/energy issues. I was the only one manning my booth, where I saw several that had two or more people. It honestly meant a lot to be able to go to a craft fair where the other vendors knew and cared about me enough that I felt comfortable leaving my booth alone for a minute to go use the bathroom or get a drink. I was able to pull a more comfortable chair over without any fuss. It was invaluable for me to be able to be in this kind of environment for my first craft fair. I’m still considering if I will sign up for more craft fairs in the DFW area, but I will definitely be participating in the DMS craft fairs as long as I’ve got products to sell.