So today was the first day of my two-day craft show. It wasn't really that great. The craft show is at a local church, and I realized after I had been there for three hours that there wasn't much advertising done, because the only few customers that were there were from the church. And they weren't buying. The show was not busy at all ... at most I'd say 100 people came through. Which was disappointing! A lot of the crafters were complaining about it. I sold five magnets and one doll. That's it! BUT, I didn't have a horrible time - in fact I had a good time. The show ran from 10-4 and most of that time I was talking with the crafters around me. I got some really good tips on other craft shows to get into. There was a woman sitting next to me who was selling handmade candles. She's been selling them for five years at craft shows. She said this was going to be her last year at this church craft show because they don't get the people to come through.
The customers that did come through were nice enough ... I got a lot of compliments on the dolls and the pendants. I don't think people understand my pendants though, but I really don't know how to make it any clearer. They are handmade resin pendants. Handmade. Yes, I made them. Really. Yes, I did. I'm selling the pendants for $20 each, which includes a sterling silver chain. Which is a great deal. But people don't realize that. I really don't want to sound like a snob, but I just don't really think that people appreciate the quality of the pendants. I think people think: church craft show = cheap crafts. Not artsy modern things. Case in point: the woman sitting across the way from me was selling CRAP. Again, I don't mean to be a snob, but the stuff was just not my style at all. Yet people were flocking to her booth. Her table was a total mishmash of items. She was selling plastic beaded bracelets, scrunchy hair ties (didn't know those were still popular), and baby stuff: bibs, burp cloths, and the most annoying: purses that were made out of CHILDREN'S OVERALLS. They were hideous! She cut off the overalls below the crotch and sewed them up - the handles were the straps of the overalls. AND, she sold THREE of them. I almost threw up. Right there all over my craft table. Bleeeech.
Okay, so THEN, my dolls. I love my dolls. I'm proud of that. You know that. Almost everyone that went by my table told me how cute the dolls were. Yeah, I know. A lot of people showed interest, but only one sold. This cute little pre-teen girl bought one. She was so sweet. There were little girls that were interested too, but their mothers wouldn't buy them for them. They went across the way to buy a cheap plastic bracelet instead. The most aggravating thing is that I guess at the local senior center, the senior citizens were making "dammit" or "slammit" dolls. Rag dolls that, I guess, are sorta shaped like mine, and when they get irritated or mad, they take the dolls by the feet and slam them into the wall or table, and say "dammit dammit dammit." I was told this FOUR TIMES. Four times. Count them, F.O.U.R. Three of those people actually had to demonstrate to me how the dammit dolls are used - I almost cried at the sight of my precious dollies getting their heads slammed into the table. Thankfully none of those people wanted to buy my dolls. I say thankfully because honestly I don't think I'd sell them to them if I knew they'd be victimized in such a way!
The craft show runs from 9-3 tomorrow, and I'm hoping that since it's at a church, that we'll get the after-church crowd. We'll see! I totally don't regret going to the craft show, I think it's good experience for me. I'm not mad that my stuff isn't selling, it's all about exposure. I'm incredibly proud of myself for getting all of the dolls done that I wanted to get done. I feel like it's quite an accomplishment, I worked hard. At the show tomorrow, I'll stay busy by working on dolls that I'm making for the girls for their birthday! And hopefully selling maybe one more doll. I'll let you know how it goes!
Here are some pictures from today:
My table:
Side view:
Dollies!
Dollies! I ran out of room on my table for the dolls, so tomorrow I'm bringing another table to set them on. With a sign that says "Handmade Dolls" (NOT "dammit" dolls people!)
Pendants
And some pictures of my favorite dolls from the batch:
Ice Cream Doll:
Back view, nice labels!
Apple Doll:
Witch Hat & Broom Doll:
Pumpkin Doll (love her star legs)
Love those tags!
Birdie Birdie Doll:
She has birdies on her legs:
... read all of Charlaine Harris' vampire novels! Mike and I discovered the new HBO series called "True Blood" - we watched the first episode and liked it, and he told me that the series was based on a series of books. So I checked the out, and I immensely enjoyed them! I am not a fan of sci-fi or really horror fiction in general, but these books are great. They are cute, if vampire fiction can be cute, and they're believable, which is quite strange because the main character in the book is a vampire. I like the books better than I like the TV series.
