We're seeing the same thing. Jewelry, jewelry, jewelry. And some of it isn't that good. I think they all get the same beads from the same wholesaler.

We do shows with one particular promoter, www.castleberryfairs.com and she posts her schedule in early February for 15 shows. By the second week in February, the jewelry catagory is full for every show. Her link is below.

I keep looking for something different too. Because the old adage is still true. The exhibitor who has something DIFFERENT will be the one who makes the money.

Here is a link that might be useful: Castleberry Fairs

I haven't been to a craft fair in a while because I got tired of seeing the same stuff. What I'd like to see is some nice, good size decorative pieces for the home that aren't imported from China and aren't all copies of each other. I'm willing to pay a higher price for original artwork, but not as high as I would if I had the piece commissioned.

We built this house earlier this year and I'm having serious problems decorating it. I don't like the same look everyone else does. I'd like some signature pieces. I'm not a painter, but I've considered making my artwork just to have something to put on the wall.

Adellabedella check with your local colleges for original art work. If you can't find anyone, perhaps I can help.

Toomuchglass, the last 3 day fair I attended was pretty much as you stated, I would say food seemed to be the highest priority, followed by jewelry and bamboo cuttings. I did sell some of my note cards with reproductions of my paintings on them.

Calirose, glad you sold some of your cards! Hope you had a good time & learned a lot. There is something new over on the Garden Junk forum tonight it's very simple. She got the idea somewhere else but so cute for Halloween. Cute enough that might make into something else for Christmas season. It's a frosted light shade for a fan light & she just painted cute eyes on it & mouth & put a battery votive inside & set on black plate. But I forgot what she called the post so will have to go back & see what it is & put it below. Sorry, Jan

Recycled fan shade is name of post! Oh, I didn't tell you what it ends up being!! It's a ghost!! But I think it could be a caroler or something with a little imagination. The "book or sheet music the caroler would hold would be down almost at the bottom so the votive would light up the face! You get 4-5 of these light shades with each fan light so I have seen them often at TS. Might work with different shaped ones also so start looking at them as possible craft items! Jan

Jan, thank you! I will check it out now. cali

Jan, that is adorable! I actually have some of those shades. You have a great imagination! Wish I could put you in my pocket to keep you close so I could hear all those ideas that must be running through your mind! cali

Thanks for the post next time i will definitely check what popular things at craft fairs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Contemporary rugs

DANG - I hate when I fall for that. I clicked on the contemporary. rugs.... dang!!!

This post proved my point . Someone was nice enough to share what sold good for them -- and people jumped on the bandwagon ready to copy it and sell it . I realize that different crafts sell in different areas . Maybe I'm just crabby tonight ..... LOL ... but I would never - ever .... copy an idea exactly . I'd use it as a base for a brain twister & come up with something new .

**** I think this is menopause talking .....LOL ...I'm really not the crabby lady I looked liked here ! Sorry ~~~ ***

I have been to two in the past two weeks and there was a lot of jewelry, but because of the season, lots of pumpkin stuff. In fact, the one last weekend was nearly all pumpkins, pilgrims, turkeys, and gourds. When I watch tv I can't wait for the elections to be over, and when I go to craft fairs, I can't wait for pumpkin season to be over. I never get tired of Christmas though. Why is that?

Craft fairs are just starting here (ND) so hope to see something new. Mostly baby things, and many of them are not as nice as they use to be (too big of a hurry) and jewelry ( don't need any and even GD not wearing much) and way over prices. Our big one is next weekend so will let you know so if you are in the Bismarck ND area you will know what to look for. Some of the biggest sales is the homemade food items, again kind of pricy.

I haven't been to one in years...I got sick of the same ole same ole a long time ago. I sold for 22 years and quit about 10 years ago...But I will say...I miss those days and I miss the warmth of country decor. I still have somewhat of the country decor...but not the busy look.

getting off what we were talking about but here is a pic of my living room...country fits here...I live in a barn

Anyway back to subject...I'm looking for small things to make for gift giving...if any of you see some of that at the craft shows.

My cousin bought one of those plastic large candy canes that was wrapped in red "homespun" plaid, that had been torn in 1 1/2 inch strips . then had a bow a bit of greenery and red berries on it. I liked that.

patti

Hi all new to this forum,,I am in my first craft show this weekend and it has been years since I did one,,
I also have jewelry too,,yukky,, but priced reasonable,, but my new thing this year and I hope it works is old time rag rugs,,,made 4 of them different sizes,,,with long stripes of sheets sewn together you gals should see how big of a ball that is,,lol kids laughed at it..
Also a rug that is all shaggy looking so very cute but takes 2 days to make it..
Also made organzia little bags put in 8 tiny packets of seeds and used my cricut to make flower cut outs and put seeds on a piece of card stock and put suran wrap over them glued it down added the dec,, so they get one card and 8 baggies of seeds all for $3.00,,whatcha think? Will be making fudge,, and cookies too,, and pot holders,,,I have also scarves,,, think I will throw together scarf kits,, so i don't have to knit any more,,lol
Just wanted to share some ideas with you all,,
Lisa

Speaking of rag rugs - I'll never forget this booth . She had a Great Gimmick to sell her purses - they were made of rags like the rugs ( But I think she crocheted them ) Her gimmick was telling the story -"When I'm ready to make a purse , I buy myself a good bottle of wine & sit in my rocker & begin crocheting and drinking my wine. When I'm done with the purse and the wine - I put the cork in a little pocket of the purse so I know what wine to give the credit to when I'm done."

Her booth was packed - you couldn't even get in . The story was passed out into the crowd & the ladies loved it !I guess it pays to have a gimmick !

Update on craft show. Lots of vendors, nothing new, not as much jewelery, but I did notice alot of decals that appear to be painted on. Did not like the clothing. Nothing special. I was disapointed and only stayed about 3 hours and bough one thing. Good variety, but nothing special

Hi ladies just reporting in,,made 175.00,, not bad at all I thought for what I did sell..It was not very big and not alot of traffic either..sold peanut butter fudge alot of it,,gave out wrapped samples,,6.50 for over a lb..went alot better at the end when I dropped it to 3.00,,lol sold 2 rag rugs 20.00,, dish clothes 3/5.00,,grab bags of jewelry wrapped up for 3.00 alot of them,,seeds for xmas cards at 8 packs for 3.00,, alot..they also commented what a great idea,,m&m cookies 13 for 4.00,, alot of these too.
none of my made earrings,,none of my pretty scarves,,(that are 6' long),,
I seen approns,,pot holders,,crystal glasses,,purses,,dish clothes,,really sell today,,our show was not a big one but this is all I have to go by,, hope this helps any one out..

Congratulations pumkingal on successful selling!

My husband and I did our first craft fair yesterday. It was okay - not a huge crowd of people, but apparently there were three other major shows happening the same weekend.

I sell tile coasters, as well as beaded bracelets. My husband sells handmade soap. Just soap, no other beauty products. I also had art cards to sell for a girlfriend. I ended up selling more bracelets than anything, and was actually disappointed that the coasters weren't a better seller. I've attached a picture of one set, so you can get an idea of what they are.

I'd love to get your opinion on if they're 'different' enough that I should continue to pursue selling them or not. I was able to talk them up a lot and hand out business cards. I made sure people know I do custom work as well. My price is $15.00 for a set of 4 coasters. here's a link to my website (ignore the font in some places that seems 'space like' if you see it. I have no idea what happened and haven't had time to change it yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pink Cow Creations

here is a close up of one of my sets (not sure why the file didn't load the last time)

Its interesting to see this thread revived. I've heard this is not a good year for craft selling, due to the economy I suppose. I am participating in a show at a friend's house on Dec.8. Last year I made $440! Even tho we only got about 60 people, it was 60 people who were there to buy! I made the most, but there were a couple in the $250 range. and then down from there, 8 crafters total.
My main thing is plate flowers, but I made a bunch of mushroom ornaments and flowere brooches too last year. This year I'm also making coffee bag wallets and steampunk i-cord makers. I'll let you know how they go. The guy who posted an instructable on coffee bag wallets said he sells them for $7 and has been offered $10 but that seems unlikely to work to me. So I'm thinking $4. Plus maybe they are passe? I really want to make something matryoshka doll like, but can't quite come up with the concept. My plate flowers are priced $15 to $25, so the other items help fill in the corners and offer something for less.
The great thing about doing a show in a home is I don't have to follow the rule about branding. I can have ornaments on the tree and brooches on the shelf, my stuff doesn't all have to be together and be cohesive. I know they say to stick to one thing, but its just not me!
Good luck everyone.
Kathy

Well -- I see this post is 2 years old ! LOL I'll add .... I went to 2 craft fairs this past week - evetything was jewelry ,knitting or sewing. Nothing new under the sun. *sigh*

I am still selling the Redneck Wine glasses (I etch different sayings like Mr. Right and Mrs. Always Right...) Sold 1200 last year - sales are down this year - last week-end's event only brought in $350 - half of last year... It's still OK with me. Too many jewelry booths at the shows. Weather is a problem here too lately - I have a huge 2 day show in San Luis Obispo this week-end I'm still having fun and it helps me with extra money as I am the legal guaradian of my six year old grandson. I still sell the Microwave Potato Bags along with the wine glasses - No shows after Dec 10th - THEN I can relax

and reasonably priced. The only argument against is that they are impractical (you can really only use in December). I probably wouldn't give up if I were you. Hopefully the cuteness will beat out the impractibility of them!

I saw the red neck wine glasses in a "real" catalog that came in the mail to my home. I meant to notice the name to tell you guys. anyway, they were billed as "The Original" Redneck Wineglasses, how do you like that! Not as cute as Grandma Bonnie's either!
Kathy

hahaha - had a fella selling them at the state fair here. His claim to fame was that his were made in the USA... I told him Paso Robles was in the USA and I made mine from scratch in my garage - lol - he was sputtering... He was selling them for $12.95 each or 2 for $20.00... I sell the same un-etched ones for $7.00... Since I use MS Publisher to maqke all my tags and posters, I can see when I made them and it will be two years in February... That's OK... BTW - LOVE the coffee bag in your blog... BUT my favorite will always be the plate flowers...

I was at a few craft shows last weekend, as everyone has said, Nothing New.

I did find the vendors quite aggressive, as soon as you went close to their tables they would jump up and start chatting you up. I don't like that, I just like to look and then decide. I think when they do this they drive customers away.

I agree about the nothing new...piles and piles of knitting and jewellery...I have been to about 5 fairs in the past week and have bought nothing...time for some new ideas..one fair had 15 tables of knitting and 13 tables of jewellery.

Same with me mostly jewelry!! Ugh!
Thought I was the only one that was sick of seeing it.

Shame on the show's managers for allowing that - I went to a huge show in Morro Bay the Sunday after Thanksgiving (after doing another huge show the Thursday and Friday after Thanksgiving and don't do three days in a row of shows any more...) There were only 50% of the spots taken and 1/3 of them were Pampered Chef, Avon type businesses... Not as many shoppers either. Too bad - it used to be crafters only - the people in charge are now allowing anyone in. I do up to 30 shows every year and there were only 5 that were limited to crafts only, Sad...

Found this at a Craft Fair in Ocean City, MD. Company is called Plak That

Here is a link that might be useful: Plak that

now that's original! love that!

...and a business advertising here - unusual, but we share how to make our crafts - this is NOT a place to sell items... ..you joined on the 10th and posted on the 10th??? hmmm

My next door neighbor liked the wood image, so he stole the idea. He says it's easy to transfer images to wood. Plak Guy just has a bigger printer, that's all.

Hi, everyone! I'm new to the forum and I'm excited to be here! I haven't done craft shows in quite awhile and I was wondering if the no sew fleece throws and quilts sell very well? I thought they would be fun to make as well as the rag quilts. Any suggestions or experience in that area?

Good morning, Punky123. I know they sell in the winter shows, but people don't want to pay much for them so find things that don't take too long to make up...

This is the thread that won't die. Such a good topic.

I didn't see much that interested me at craft fairs still. Except someone was making fairy wings for dolls, I thought they were awful cute, but didn't buy. Then I wished I had for the little girls down the street for Christmas.
Well I didn't do too well last year. So I kind of stopped making to sell and managed to put all my plate flowers in my own garden, almost. Then people started asking me for things, and I sold some on word of mouth, so maybe I'll start up again. Last fall may have just been slow.
A friend of a friend asked to buy a couple of my coffee bag wallets so I sold them to her. She just emailed me to say that the local coop may be interested in carrying them. Woudn't that be fun.
I've been concentrating on my house this spring/summer (repainting, overhauling garden, refurbishing porch furniture, getting ready to build new garage), but I'd like to try selling crafts again.
I'm planning to start drilling glass so I can make more elaborate flowers and other things and not have to worry about them falling apart.
Kathy

My two cents from the last time I went to a craft fair. As others mentioned there were a number of jewelry and knit/crochet booths that seemed to have the same kinds of things I had seen many times.

But there were a few surprises; some of the items I bought to resupply my gift cabinet were:
chalkboard placemats for toddlers
permanent emory boards made from glass
makeup/organizer/jewelry bags made from repurposed felted wool sweaters
a beautiful and unique necklace
Some notecards with original photographs of nature scenes
There was also one artist with drop-dead gorgeous painted silk scarves, but way out of my budget, :(

The items I was most drawn to were those that were either uniquely functional (placemats and bags) or involved skill or talent I don't posess (nail files, necklace, the silk scarves)

At the other booths I often heard my mother's voice in my head "I could make that" and kept on going. I hope this gives you some ideas...

You would be surprised at how many times we exhibitors hear "I can make that".

One woman had a sign in her booth:
"I know you think you can make this, but you won't, so buy mine".

That was back about 1985.

As everyone has said, I usually see jewelry (and always think my daughter's is much prettier), those crochet scarves (everyone must be swapping the same pattern), jellies, etc. Going to a small apple festival tomorrow, went to last years and same old, same old, BUT I picked up a butterfly house that was really pretty for only $15. I thought that was a good price and I do love butterflies. So I am curious to see what may be available tomorrow. I'll get some apples regardless!

How was the show, Countrygirl? I have to tell you, I tend to basically make the same things year after year with a few new things added for fun. I have been selling the potato bags for years and years and the etched redneck wine glasses for three yrs. Christmas/fall holidys, I sell the microwave popcorn snowmen - a repeat at $3 each and people depend on them for a little gift. This year, I plan on selling the tulle Santa Wreath - different than than other wreaths...I was at a Labor day event and there were few more craft vendors - not many, but I like the trend... Made only $750 in three days, but I had lots of fun and picked up lots of orders and handed out lots of my business cards.... Next week is rodeo! Ye haw!