Donald Daze

So, I finally did it. I got a booth at a local event called Donald Daze in Donald, Oregon. I've never actually done a craft fair before and when I saw their ad on Craig's List I thought, why not? It's a smaller event so there's no huge fee which means no huge pressure on me. And, when I contacted them, it turns out they'd seen my necklaces on Craig's List and were going to contact me to participate! It was a true Sally Field's moment! (You like me! You really like me!) LOL!

(Here's my little booth in all it's glory!)

Well, it was a huge learning experience. I learned a lot about what I needed to get to have a booth. Tables (already had), chairs (ditto), a tent (bought one on sale), pier blocks to hold up said tent (thank you Home Depot), sheets to cover the tables (thank you Walmart), business cards (made myself), order forms (ditto) and bags (I totally spaced this but fortunately, my mom, who was with me all day, brought some).

I did a dry run of my set up a few nights before and realized I needed the blocks and then did my final dry run the night before the event.


I thought I'd spend most of my time prior to Donald Daze creating stuff for my booth. Nope, I spent about half the time figuring out the set up and working on displays for the booth. LOL! I decided on an aqua and white color scheme. I know, huge surprise there, huh? ;)


I dug out my aqua spray paint and some old baskets and an old peg board of my grandfather's and got to work!

(A couple of containers snagged from my scrap room and the afore mentioned baskets.)

I did sell a few cards but not one of the Father's Day ones. Apparently, the folks in Donald have their acts together and buy cards before the last minute. LOL!

(Grandpa's pegboard in it's new aqua and white glory!)

This pegboard was my saving grace. I needed something to display the necklaces but it needed to keep them secure from sticky fingers. The chains were heavy enough that they held up the pendants and by closing them behind the board, no one could walk off with them. Next time, I'll make a little sign for the space on top that has the price and what they are on it.

(All the pretty necklaces!)

I mainly used scrapbook paper scraps, some royalty free vintage clip art and I also designed a class of 2010 necklace for my necklaces. I actually only sold one of these at the event itself. I wound up trading a little girl at the next booth for one, she chose one of the DeLovely ones(good taste!), I gave one to each of my nieces who watched my kids and then my sister-in-law and another of my nieces each bought a necklace after the event. Gotta love family! LOL!

(Channeling my inner Preschool teacher.)

For my custom options sign, I used my Slice! I love that thing!

I think I may offer these up on my Etsy shop. A lot of people do the Scrabble Tile necklaces and most of them offer photo ones but no one's doing kid's artwork yet so I think that's a good area for me. Little Man colored this picture, and as he's only 3 1/2, I can say with authority, that it's his best coloring job ever. LOL! I propped up the sign and the necklace display on a set of matching vintage suitcases. Worked like a charm!

(Hmmm, methinks I should iron the sheets next time. Heh!)

And finally, the other side of my booth, the name frames. I did these one year for Christmas and they were a huge hit! I also painted up these cute little vintage school chairs.

The weather was a lot nicer than what the weatherman had been saying but there still weren't a lot of people there. So, no one really had a great day sales wise. But, one gal who took my card on Saturday, called on Monday and ordered a photo necklace and when she picked it up asked if I wanted to start selling them at the salon she's going to open. Yay!!!

My mom did say that I should look at it more as an advertising event than anything else. Looks like mom really does know best! :D

Thanks for stopping by!

Erica