It craft show season! I have myself booked at a few shows this year and each time I set up and take down I think of ideas to make it easier and quicker for the next show. I wanted to share my learning adventure with you so that you can take some of these ideas to apply to yourself if you like. It is all a matter of figuring out what works best for you.
This is me at my booth at my most recent craft show. I used two 6 foot folding tables and put them in an L-shape. (My favorite table is from Staples, it folds in half, has wheels to roll on, AND is lite!) The L-shape gives the crowd room to come up to see my items, but not get trapped in traffic, which happened when I used to set up in a U-shape. My booth buddy, Sara, found purple tableclothes at the dollar store and we used those as a base. Then we covered it with a few purple cloth table clothes that my mom and I had made for my wedding reception and then saved. (Can you guess what my favorite color is?)
To add height to the display I have a few white storage cubes from Micahels. (I was sure to purchase each with a 40% off coupon or comparable sale, because they can be on the pricey side). I store my items inside the drawers as I finish them and then when I get to my show I open the drawers at varied depths to display the items. I love the cubes so much! I originally purchased them as a storage solution for my craft room, but the room is not ready yet, so I use them at my shows for now.
This was the first time I displayed magnets, they are my newest item. For this show I used a display I already had at home, which was my antique milk jug from our family farm. For future shows my idea is to find metal trays that fit in my cube drawers. This will allow me to place the magnets on the tray and slide them into the drawers for transport. Then when I get to the show I just take out the tray and display it. With the current milk jug scenario each magnet is placed on the jug at the show and then taken off when we head home. They trays inside the cube would save me a lot of time if I continue to carry this item.
This white shelf is a wall hanging cabinet that is sold in the bathroom decor area at walmart and target. I use it at my shows upside down because the top of it makes a sturdy base. This is perfect for featured items and small display items. I have a drawer-less cube behind this and it faced me when I stood behind the booth. This gave me organized access to my bags, knuckle buster, receipt books, pens, and such.
In the middle of the display was our card feature. This time we went with purple bins. The bins allowed the customers to flip through the available cards in different categories. We had a bargain bin, Christmas, multipack sets, and miscellaneous. We used tiny clear easels to display a card from each category. We set these on white squares to give them some height as they sat behind the bins.
We used the flat space at one end of a table to set up our hand decorated picture frames. We also used Sara's Christmas Tree to display hand made ornaments.
I would love to hear from you what ideas you saw here that you like best? Also, what other solutions do you use for your craft show display that will save space and time?
