Need some ideas for craft fairs please!

[Bettacreek]

A friend and I are doing at least two craft fairs, one in October and one in December. The one in October is rent-free (just using a housing lot that my mother owns in the area) and the one in December is $20 for a table. I've been trying to get a bunch of soap ready, but I'm inching on impossible with cure times, since the October one (our biggest) is sooo close. But, we're also hoping to make other items. She's making jellies, crochet work and homemade hot chocolates. She's hoping to do bath salts, and I know I can do bath powders and possibly bath bombs (if I can ever get the stupid things to stop fizzing while trying to mold them). We thought about candles, but I'm trying to keep start up costs at a minimum, since I haven't been able to work much lately and I've been putting a lot of money towards hunting season. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[minniechicks]

how about making some easy christmas orn. like crochet snowflakes or crochet bells. them make up pretty fast.

 

[soap&eggs]

it all depends on your talents..crafting does not have to be expensive. most of my business is recycled items..found objects . clothing i cut up for sewing..lumber that once was used for somthing else. my only costs are for things like thread.glues.screws*nails..stuffing..paints. be surpri;ed what can be made using nothing more then your own gift of talent.. each area of country has hot items..but make what you love..what your good at. i do not make things like jewerly mostly because i never wear it..so to even try to make it i would be totally lost....i am folk art painter style..primitive cloth & wood. not cute stuff..but ugly dolls & are big hit for me. each is one of a kind items. which works in my favor no two are alike. repeated customers know hit my booth first or if they dont will miss out on something. i think a bit of yourself goes into each piece you make...heart & soul. for ideas...ornaments are always are inexpensive item for buyers...you can make & sell 10 ornaments for a buck each..or you could put your time into making one item & sell for 10 bucks. time is always my worse enemy !!! candles are useful items..but can be expesive to make..expensive to sell also. the towels with handles for refrig. i see selling like hotcakes at some shows...something i cannot make !! hope there is something in this babblin you can use to help you out......

 

[ranchhand]

This time of year? Christmas ornaments and decor are hot. Gift items representing your area also. Good luck, hope you sell out!

 

[soap&eggs]

im sorry i really missed something to tell you..battery on phone was low & tried to hurry...cure time for soaps personally i would not sell soaps unless cure time is done..but..you can make hot process soaps..can actually be used same day ..BUT...still need to cure..but lye is sponified pretty much thur cooking process..so even if deadline of normal weeks to cure is up safe to still sell these soaps.

 

[Morgaine]

You can use a water discount to get your soap cured a bit faster. If you take a steep one (40-45% lye solution) you can get away with a 3 week cure.

You can also do a hot process soap that requires much less cure time as well.

Sugar scrubs and lotion bar are things that do not reqire cure time as well as lip balms and foot balms.

 

[Siler]

My husband and I are doing a town festival in 2 weeks. We'll be selling his hand-crafted furniture again this year. Mostly people just walked on by without asking or looking too much. A few people stopped and asked a lot of questions. We sold some things, but not too much. This year my mom will be with us and she has crocheted and knitted things. I do expect her to sell at least half of what she has and she has a lot. The booth across from us was a lady selling hand-made candles that smelled divine. She sold most of her stock in 3 days. I'd say candles sell the best especially if they're great smelling and high quality. Hers were soy.

 

[soap&eggs]

Siler......im sorry that the furniture is being over looked..i am guilty of doing it also at shows i attend..knowing it is way out of my cash flow spending...maybe have smaller items also mixed into display to sell..would draw people in....small wooden foot stools..shelves..wooden wall boxes..ect. for some ideas....your mothers items laid on pieces of furniture also.....good luck in next sales.

 

[AllTheseCreatures]

I've seen pine cones dipped in scented wax with to make fire-starters. She arranged them in a gift basket with fall leaves she had dipped in wax as well to preserve them. Very pretty. You could do that with evergreen for Christmas as well.
I use them and they work well, smell nice and look great near the fireplace or wood stove.

You can make hair accessories with grosgrain ribbon. They're super cute and can be priced below $5 so they make a good impulse buy. There are lots of tutorials for those on the internet.

If you grow herbs you can make themed herb bundles for cooking or bathing. Package them in muslim bags with a cute tag. Like Herbes de Provence, relaxing lavender soak, Bedtime Tea, Chicken Soup . . . I know a woman who makes a killer Pickle Mix that she sells like hotcakes. If you don't grow them, you can find them somewhat inexpensive and fairly fresh in bulk.

My DH LOVES those layered cake and cookie mixes in the jars.

I've seen people selling plant divisions from their perennial garden. They take a picture of it in bloom and stake that in the pot with the dormant root. They include instructions and details regarding the care of the plant.

I like little note cards sets with pressed flowers, ferns, leaves . . . etc. on the front. Include envelopes and seals for a complete set.

I second the fact the ornaments sell well. I know someone who makes these delicate looking, beaded ornaments in a snowflake pattern and she usually sells out of those.

That's all I've got right now.

 

[Whispering Winds]

A couple of pretty Xmas wreaths are nice. I watch the sales after the holidays and its amazing what you can pick up for almost nothing. Be sure to watch your RK stores after Xmas, they mark down dramatically and have really GOOD stuff. I watch the floral shops/craft stores for florals and have picked up some gorgeous stuff for pennies. Thanksgiving wreath would be nice and you can use a straw one or a woven one, or grapevine!! You can get vines at DG for $1 and wrapping a couple of them around and back and forth is a cheap way to get started and just fill in with your own imagination. Another thing that might be an idea is florals for the grave at Christmas time. The grave cradles are very nice, but they aren't cheap to do, and take a lot of stuff. But that might be something to look forward too next year.

A friend of mine made angels out of small coffee filters one year for their Shriner Xmas dinner and they were the sweetest things I ever saw. I think I could tell you how to do it if you pm me. You can sell them cheap, because they are so cheap to make and just so sweet.

Food is always a good one, check out that recipe for "dreaming of a white Christmas Soup" on here. It sounds so darn good, I am going to make it this week-end!! There are a ton of good recipes on here for gift ideas.

If you have any plants you could cut and make small plants in pretty little pots or whatever, that would be another idea.

I saw at an Alpaca show where one farm had packaged dried alpaca poop in nice little "jewerly" type bags and made a cute label and sold them for a couple of bucks to add water too for plants inside and out. My grandma always kept a cow patty in a bucket with water and when it was "tea" colored, she used it to water her plants. If you have cows, you might be setting on a gold mine.

Good luck. I love craft shows, and know from a teacher I worked with that makes some of the most beautiful teddy bears I ever saw in my life, told me everyone she has worked with at shows this year has down sales!! Keeping an open mind and good prices will definitely be in your favor.

Another thing . . . she makes actual mink bears (like the Boyd Bears) from old mink/sable/whatever reall fur coats she can find at flea markets and estate sales. She takes the glue gun and makes a "tear" run down one cheek, and can get close to $100 for one of them. They are precious. When I worked at school in the cafeteria, she brought one in that was about 12" tall and I just fell in love with him, and collected bears anyway (I have a huge assortement in the attic) and went home and talked and talked about that little bear and how it was my BD coming and he was sorta $$, ($85) but that i just would give my eyeteeth to have him. . .in one ear and out the other on DH. Never got the bear and she eneded up giving that sweet baby to her DIL for Xmas.


Edited to add you need to check out making jewerly too. Not for this year, but I have a PTO pres. that makes the Twilight necklaces she orders from that one huge bead company . . . .can't think of the name of it right off hand, but she said to get a lot of people together to ordfer and when you have over 200 items to order, you get the cheapest price. She sells outof those at the craft shows, and also makes the baby hair doo dads that are absolutely precious and grandma's go crazy over those for the GD!
Check out the $1 stores and look at their Teddy Bears they have in sometime. One year I took lace I found at WM in a bin for 50-cents and decorated them in my DD's g.f.'s favorite colors and she gave them for Xmas gifts to them that year. They loved them. I got the little straw hats and put them on, with lace and tiny florals to match and they were cute.