It's a really busy time of year for most of us. My blogging has become pretty non-existent so far this month. I've been getting ready for one of the only Crafty Wonderland, one of the only craft fairs that I do every year. This will be my 5th year and I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing.

I think one of the hardest things to figure out when doing a craft fair is how much inventory to bring. I've gotten accustomed to trying to write down what I sell at each craft fair. It doesn't always work out. Sometimes things are so busy you barely have time to do math in your head while trying to pack up customer's orders. The best you can do is quickly jot down the amount of the sale you made so you can tally it up later.
I do my best to write down a little note about what I sold so I can look back the following year to see what sold. That way I can be sure to bring that item, or multiples of that item, with me. I think this year my plan is to take an inventory of what I'm bringing with me to Crafty, then taking an inventory of what I have left after. That way I can be really sure on what I sold and how much.


It never fails that no matter how prepared I feel, there is always several things that I don't think will sell that end up being my best sellers. I guess the only way to prepare for this is to bring lots of everything.

Behind the scenes!

There are also a lot of things that I have to remember to bring that aren't related to product items at all.

This list includes:
Snacks
Water
Mints
Aspirin ( I never know when a headache will strike and having one at a busy craft fair is no fun.)
Tape
Scissors
Pins
Lots of change in all denominations
Credit Card reader
Pens
Markers
Pencils
A Notepad for writing your sales down
Business card (I didn't bring any one year because I didn't think I would need them and that was a huge mistake. People LOVE business cards, even if they end up throwing them away.)

Doing a mock set up at home is ALWAYS a good idea.

Some other things to consider when doing a craft fair is display ideas. I was really luck to get the acrylic holders from where I used to work. You can also build your own out of wood, use old suitcases or search online. They are pretty expensive. If you're lucky to live in Portland, you can always visit Portland StoreFixtures. I love Portland Store Fixtures. They carry used fixtures and they also carry things like paper bags and tissue paper.

I really want to revamp my display for my next craft fair. So I'll be looking into finding some new cloth material, new displays, maybe a couple of new card racks and I'd love to add a more professional banner.

Well, these are just a few tips. If you have any you'd like to share, please leave a comment in the comments section!

If you're doing a craft fair this holiday season, good luck to you! :)