Holiday Gift Show.. in the making

Back from Aruba..which was fabulous and I'll post more about that later.. for now..

This has been a busy holiday season. We started with the gallery exhibition, then flitting off to the warm, beautiful Aruba back home just in time for the Holiday Gift Bazaar at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey on the 19th of December.. which is today.

Now this is, will be my first official fair/bazaar. Thankfully the table and chairs are provided, tents were not needed nor allowed since it is an indoor event. So what do I need? Tablecloth, banner, display racks and product of course. So I started off by making a list and checking it twice (I apologize for the bad pun) but I couldn't help myself. : )

 Photographs printed, signed and packed.

 Bought a photo album to create a catalog. 

 Slipped in a little note  between mentioning the price and alternately saying 'Ask me about framing?' and 'Ask me about larger prints?'

I also needed a banner.. I didn't want a ready made one.. nor could I afford one since I had bought display racks.. Methods to display photography are limited. Especially when you don't get a display wall and also when everything you are selling is not framed or matted. Most of my inventory is loose prints.

So I sat and cut out triangles.

Now color combinations. Oddly enough my package of markers included just about every color but red. I didn't really want to do Christmas colors anyway.. 

Now did I want to fully color in the letters or half color them in.. I know what you're thinking.. how very important these decisions were.. life changing. In my defense it has been a good four years since I've picked up a marker.. and have had to think about color combinations and refer to my color wheel.

The result.

As a last moment idea I also decided to offer gift certificates. Figured out how to firstly implement it in my website so that the buyer can easily use it and then tried to quickly but cutely make little gift certificates that people can actually gift.  

I picked up one of those plastic storage boxes  to put everything in.. Easy to transport and keep track of everything. I have my business card, tape, extra clear bags and pens. Email sign up sheet, custom order forms.. I think I've got it all.. now all I need is some shoppers :)

Will report back with pictures and hopefully great stories. Got any craft show stories of your own.. tips, tricks, DONT'S.. Share.