Fair Days {2013}

Picture-only post simply for documenting purposes!

Fiesta del Sol (6/2/2013)

Del Mar Fair (6/22/2013)

First Street Fair Booth - What I learned...

Just realized I never posted this, after the Encinitas Street Fair in April! haha...(it's 7/12/13...but I'm post-dating!)

Wow.

Cannot believe it's over... kinda like a wedding... months & months of planning all for one day. One day that goes by in a blink of an eye. One day....and it's over. The day/night before, I literally was on ZERO amount of sleep, and an entirely too much caffeine - my heart was racing & I was going about 1500 miles a minute finishing last minute things!

I would've hoped to start this post with something more along the lines of "holy crap I just made 5 billion dollars!!!" - sadly, I did not.

BUT - it was an AHmazing experience, learned a lot of what I would do again...and what I would NOT do again. And it was definitely fun! I had sooooo many people come by my booth & express there well-wishes and/or how proud they were of me...so that felt tremendous and really lifted me up. So much love from so many...I just feel so blessed to have people (family, friends, co-workers) around me that support my love of sewing/crafting! I remember I kept thinking, "wow...I'm a VENDOR - finally....at the same street fair I grew up going to every year, I'm actually on the other side of it now!" I felt really grown up...which sounds odd saying, considering I'm 30 years old, haha!

So - first things first... Our BOOTH!

First apron I've made entirely from scratch...love how it turned out!

Though it was primarily "Custom from Calista" goodies, a portion of it was stocked full of gorgeous hair accessories from my friend Danielle, who owns "Poisies Handmade" - adorbs!

I was so overwhelmed that morning from a combo of annoyances... didn't get into bed until around midnight... missed my alarm by 45 min... then my (& James') bathroom outlets mysteriously decided to NOT work - causing my already panicked mind to freak out. And guess what? The outlets worked just fine the next day...how does that happen?!

We arrived around 6:15am & set up pretty quickly, having 4 people there made that part easy. But then once James left, I felt like my mind was shutting down on me and I couldn't think. I didn't know where I wanted things or how to place different items. I was a silent MESS! Then my friend/co-worker Melissa showed up in the nick of time...She took charge of product placement & made everything look so brilliantly organized....talk about a LIFESAVER!! I could never thank her enough!!

The weather was nice for set up, overcast & cool...and we had a spot just outside a Whole Foods and a brand new restaurant/bar...so I thought for sure that would bring a ton of people our way. Around mid-morning...I started wondering where the HECK everyone was at! I've been to this street fair I don't know how many times in my life (being an Encinitas native), and I know how packed it normally is. You can hardly walk since it's usually so congested with people strolling along, stopping to check out booths. So I knew something was off.

Turns out there was some other events happening that weekend, and maybe the weather turned everyone away. Our booth neighbor told us he's been doing street fairs since the 70's, and this was the first time he'd seen this particular fair so low in attendance. Lovely. So that explains why I didn't walk away with 5 billion dollars, haha!

Anyway, onto 'what I learned' from this whole street fair thing...here's my TOP 10:

1. Get enough SLEEP. I cannot stress this enough. I was so tired, running on fumes the days leading up to the street fair. By the time it was all over, I literally felt like all my life force had been sucked out of me.

2. Make a LIST - a really super detailed one. I'm talking, down to "pens, tape, products, cash, etc". Check off everything the night before. And pack your car(s) up the night before as well. Here's MY LIST.

3. Have proper SIGNAGE. For everything... your biz name on a large & visible banner, product names/prices, etc. Super important. People want to be able to see things, and find info themselves, rather than asking "how much is this??".

4. Bring FOOD! I remember looking at other lists online, and thinking..."nah, there's tons of food at the street fair, I'll grab some yummy grub while I'm there". Nope. I only left my booth maybe 3 times to use the restroom at Whole Foods (& one time I bought a banana on my way out). And luckily, a sweet friend of mine brought me a sandwich, which I almost denied. So that was about the extent of my food intake for the entire day. Oh, and a butt load of coffee, yet again.

5. Enlist HELPERS! Super critical. You cannot do it all, seriously. One or 2 is good, depending on the size of your booth. I had one, and the girl I shared a booth with had one - space was a little tight!

6. SIT - at least a few times throughout the day. I did not. (except to pee! haha) Baaaaaaaad idea. I don't think I've ever been so exhausted (besides giving birth) in my life...and have NEVER felt the pain in my feet, as I did at the end of the day. Like I said earlier, I was running around like a mad woman the entire week prior, and the day before was on my feet crafting ALL day long. Then standing at the booth from 6:15am until 5pm... that'll do you in.

7. TALK to everyone that comes in your booth. Smile. Be personable. I had some great conversations & met so many nice people - I think that goes a long way when you're a vendor. No one wants to buy something from a grouchy person that barely speaks. Engage with them. Compliment something they're wearing. Show them around - they may see obvious items, but you may want to point out the less obvious as well.

8. Take CREDIT CARDS! I used the PayPal Here card reader & iPhone app. Both worked great! I loved that I could pre-load all of my products, along with photos & prices (either with or without tax included...I recommend adding tax into your costs so you don't have to fiddle with calculating tax on everything...especially for those paying with cash. Total life saver!

9. Do a detailed TRIAL RUN set up a week before. If I could do it over again I would've been more detailed in my trial set up. We set up the canopy & tables out on our cul-de-sac, just to get an idea of how long it'd take to put them all together - but I did NOT figure out where I wanted all my products to go and do a complete set up...that was a fail.

10. And finally...Don't Worry, be HAPPY!...just try not to stress yourself out  :-)

Here's a few other photos of our booth set up:

Street Fair Preppin

With just under a week to go - here's some booth prep I've completed...it's been a LOT of work, but I couldn't be more excited!!

Before/After of our old changing table to use for extra shelving at the fair:

I found this mini faux-bird/water fountain at Michael's for 60% off - score! I thought it'd be perfect to display my biz cards, especially since it has some height to it, compared to most biz card holders:

Bird Cage Display Rack I found at Kohls.com...love this rustic look...came with the clothes pins too!

I had searched all over Pinterest for ideas on a 'directional sign' - I was thisclose to buying one for $30 + shipping... until I realized that I could probably throw something together myself. So I journeyed to Home Depot & picked up two 2x8 pieces of wood. Of course their saw wasn't working that day {*sigh*}... but at least that meant I got a discount, hehehe! While checking out, I sent out an 'SOS' on Facebook, asking if anyone had a saw I could use... exactly .5 seconds later I found my helper - a good friend of ours who lived down the street & offered to come by & help - yay!

He ended up pretty much cutting & putting the whole thing together - which left me with the 'tough' chore of paint...yippee! It took about 1 hour start to finish (including 2 coats of paint) and cost less than $15!

Oatmeal Container Headband Holders - now I've done something like this before, about 2 years ago... but loved this look wayyy more than my past attempt. I made two of these 'headband holders', covered in burlap, glued to a wide-rimmed shallow vase from the Dollar Tree, and glued little 'sola flowers' on the top - so cheap & easy to make!

My vinyl sign from Vista Print:

My bags with labels & "thank you for your purchase" card - made by moi:

My pocket apron:

And finally, a simple preview of our setup when I did my trail-run the other day:

Side note - cute thing Kapri said to me during all this work and prep, taking over our house:

K - "Mommy...I'm proud of you"

Me - "Oh really...proud for what?"

K - "for all your hard work on the street fair."

Me - "aww toots, that's so sweet, thank you!"

Love that kid.

CAN'T WAIT!!!


**Others not pictured in this post, as they are in past posts:

• Mini Chalkboard Stands (for price displays)
• Thrift Store {and other re-purposed items} Makeovers (using LOTS of white spray paint!)
• DIY Tree Branch Display (lots more spray paint!)

Craft Weekend - Part 4 {Tree Branch Display}

I love those metal tree branch jewelry displays... but wow - they can be pricey!! I've seen a few DIY branch displays...so I thought I'd put some use to this leaf-less tree in my patio:

I cut a few off...trimmed em up and put them in a mason jar vase that I had sprayed with chalkboard spray:

But I wasn't feeling them in their natural state...they needed some color...

Ahh, MUCH better....don't you think?

I think it works great with all these little baby headbands hanging from it - perfect booth display!

Pretty little things

And there you have it.... your DIY Tree Branch Display!

Linked up to:

Ginger Snap Crafts

Someday Crafts

Craft Weekend - Part 3 {Thrift Store Upcycling}

Wish I had more thrift stores closer to home...I really love finding inexpensive treasures that I can repurpose in my own way, to fit my needs. "One person's junk, is another person's treasure" - right? This particular thrift store visit was during my lunch break... I spent around $25 for 13 items: 2 wire 'displays', 3 multi-height candlesticks, 3 multi-sized wooden baskets, 3 flower-like bowls and 2 small plates.

All of this to be used for my upcoming street fair booth display coming up in April!!

I couldn't wait to get it all home to start priming & painting these fabulous finds...all white. That's my color-theme for my booth, since all my CfC products have bright, vibrant colors. I sprayed & waited...and sprayed & waited literally ALL. WEEKEND. LONG.

But it was so completely worth it!

I knew I wanted to transform the candlesticks into tiered displays...using stove burner covers found in packs of 2 at the Dollar Store. I traced them onto 3 different, but coordinating pieces of scrapbook paper, then mod podge'd the top of the covers & laid on the paper. Then I used E6000 glue to join the cover & the candlestick.

I think they turned out beautifully!

I then turned the bowls & plates into 2 little display stands as well, again just using E6000 glue to join them:

I'll probably use each for my business cards and some fabric button rings:

I had also found this 2-tiered wicker basket at Kirklands Home a few weeks ago, on sale for $8...and sprayed it white.

And this old chalkboard was actually from my childhood...NO idea how or why it still resides with me...but it was collecting mega dust in the garage - so I gave it a facelift!

And do you know what this is??! We donated the other 'half'...forgetting all about this piece that had been put away behind things...forgotten about for many months now. James even tried to put it out with the garbage...but the trash collectors didn't take it, haha! I think it was a sign that it was meant to have another purpose. So... this crib rail will now serve as a perfect display piece, to hang onesies & tutus from at the street fair!

Linked up to:

Ginger Snap Crafts

Someday Crafts

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Craft Weekend - Part 2 {Mini Chalkboard Stands}

So, I don't think I've mentioned on here that I've signed up for the FIRST time, to have a booth & sell my Custom from Calista products at a local street fair in April - I'm SO excited and SO nervous at the same time. It's the last weekend in April, but I'll only have my booth set up on Sat. the 27th - if you're in San Diego...come see me! It's in Encinitas, on Hwy 101.

This past weekend was spent creating a few display items for my booth.

First up - Mini Chalkboard Price Display Stands:

A few months ago I scored a few packs of little wooden 'plaques'...that I knew I somehow wanted to use on  my table. And I knew I wanted to cover them in chalkboard paint.

Then I saw THIS pin {via Little Bit Funky}...and knew my mini plaques would be perfect for this craft! 

So I headed to my home-away-from-home (Michael's) and picked up a pack of wooden wheels and a pack of pre-cut wooden dowels that fit the inside of the wheels perfectly. Kapri was so excited to help me glue each dowel into the holes (some are a bit crooked, but they still work!)

Then I painted them all white, glued on a little jewel on top, then began to glue on the mini plaques. But - they fell over....UGH...fail. I wanted them to be tall :-(

Solution?

Cut about 4" off the top:

Perfect!!

I LOVE THEM! Hope they hold up well during the street fair...fingers crossed!

They'll be the perfect way to advertise the cost of all my items I'll have on sale! And after, they could be great for dinner parties or birthday parties...so fab!

Linked up to:

Ginger Snap Crafts

Someday Crafts