I too know for sure that shows are a thing of the past. I have been in the handmade business for 20 years this year and used to do a big well known show here in Texas. It died about 5 years ago. Meaning all they got were people in dirty t shirts and people who came to copy. Then the import craze began. All you would see is people passing off the imports or buy sell as we used to call it and that ruined the shows. So therefore the public quit coming and paying $4-6 dollars to come see our products. Why when you can get it at any dollar store. Thats another thing. The dollar stores hurt pretty badly. People do not want to pay much for anything anymore. But I have managed to hold on all these years. We work ourselfs to death day and night every day of our lifes for this. We design build and I handpaint childrens furniture. It is very hard long work. Nothing is stained or pegged with buttons. I started my own web site about 3 years ago this past October and this year it finally got noticed and now we are in the top 6 in the search engines without me paying anything. If they only knew we do not get enough sales even though we are better quality and price than the few other sites in our field. We do a once a month Market decorating show here in Texas that draws 100 to 300 thousand people in the good months. Some months we make enough to pay our bills and nothing more and some we make a bit more to buy something else for ourselfs not our business all the time. It is a tough world out there. We still work every day about 16 hours a day and are worn out. We however do something that most would not do or could not do. I think this is always the case. The more ususual or harder the product to make the better you stand a chance of making it out there and selling your product. You cannot copy someone elses product or change it a bit and make any money at it. They must not be able to buy it anywhere else. Also my 2 cents worth on the craft stores. Hobby Lobby carrys very little product to construct anything. They have gone to selling imports and pre made products instead of components to make your own or design anything. It used to be when the first opened up it was all about supplies for the craftsman to make their own product. Now a days you better have a good imagination to put something together with what they have to offer...ha ha anyone else feel this way that has been at this as long as we have. This is our full time business and has been our only sole income for 20 years as well. Connie

Thanks, Christopherh. I had already posted on Craftlister, but didn't realize I should also post on Eventlister. Their site seems pretty thorough, and I'm impressed! I've even gotten a couple requests for apps from there. Didn't know about the promoters in Holly. Don't live close to them; live near Lake Huron. If you don't mind, would you please send me their name. Maybe they wouldn't mind giving some advice? Thanks!

Stacie, how on earth did you control yourself and not buy "something" at all? I could never have done that. Thanks for the info on what crafters were selling. I went to a biggie craft show in my town last weekend and it's just not the same anymore. It used to be super huge with so many crafters doing different homemade things. This year and last, it was jewelry, jewelry and more jewelry. I'm not saying jewelry is not a craft but most of it was not homemade. I did buy some homemade gingerbread felt ornaments I will use in decorative Xmas boxes and a snowman one. And two homemade felt mittens with snowmen in them and some greenery. Very reasonably priced is the name of the game when I buy at the shows. Some crafters go way overboard in their prices. I love country decorating and the one crafter who had homemade primitive country crafts, well, some of it was very sloppily done and not worth the money. I think she could have done a better painting job. Don't get me wrong, some items were fantastic but for what it was, way too high priced (i.e. for an old board and some paint on it with a simple saying). I look for things I can't make myself or things I don't do for crafts. I was thinking of having a table next year and doing a lot of things I didn't see there this year - and keep the prices within reason my first setup and see how I do. Again, thanks for the info, I need to know this kind of stuff. Sal

I've always struggled to figure out what "style" I liked. I tried shabby chic as well but it just wasn't right. Even though I liked the rustic and shabby portion, all that white and pink made me want to scream. I tried French country, which was much better, at least I could have my beloved blacks and reds, but it wasn't quite right either. I took all those "what style are you" quizzes and they''d always say either traditional or cottage, which I guess makes sense now. This didn't really all click until I went to a moving/estate sale that had a farmhouse table advertised. I was still trying to do the country french thing but when I got there and she took me inside to see the table (she had half the stuff out, half inside). I walked in and it was YES, I'm at home!! Maybe a little too heavy on the Americana for me but still, it all felt so cozy and comfortable. I love antiques (and boy did she have some!) but never knew how I wanted it all to feel. I bought the table and a grocery bag of stuff - knick knacky stuff and left a happy camper. I would have loved to grab a couple of cabinets and dry sinks but alas, way out of my budget. The table is so cool. It's not a table made to look farmhouse / barn style, it's actually a table from a really old farmhouse. No faux distressing, this baby has seen some hard days. I love it. Since then I've made 3 trips to the thrift store, each time spending $20 or so, and have a huge stash of cool stuff. I haven't put anything together though because I've been stripping paper and getting ready to paint. It's all piled in my garage just waiting to come inside.