Craft Fairs??

When I started getting a hang of making bows I finally gained enough confidence to start looking into doing craft fairs. I rarely went to craft fairs so I wasn't an expert on which fairs to focus on. I didn't really know how to choose between a good and a bad craft fair. All I knew was that I didn't have unlimited funds so I budgeted $50 the most for sitting at a booth. The cheaper the craft fair the better for my business or NOT! I learned very quickly that cheaper isn't always the best. By the 5th hour of sitting I was just hoping to break even. It was truly a terrible feeling. I felt discouraged of the bows I was selling, double thinking the prices I set, and just feeling like a failure. To be honest I felt ridiculous, staying up practically 3 nights in a row for what? I barely covered my fee. Although I didn't show it, my insides were in knots. Thank God I had my most loyal people with me, my best friend and my fiance at the time. They definitely tried to make me feel better and both commented how it just wasn't a good fair for your products. I guess I shouldn't have been so tough on myself being that my nearest booth neighbor was selling 300 thread count queen sheets for $15 bucks a pop!




That wasn't the one and only sad fair I had 2 more miserable fairs to look forward to that were already booked. The valuable lesson here was LOCATION LOCATION!! Even though they were the saddest fairs for me, I learned a lot from it and it was good practice. I got ideas on how to set my booth up better, learn from other vendors where my products would sell better, never went back to those fairs again.



After that, I didn't do fairs for another year, I was super busy from moving into my house and planning my wedding I still was determined to make this Hair Bow business work. I focused more on my product, learned more bow techniques, learned to make tutus, got into womens headbands, focused on my targeted audience, and built my website www.mygirlygirlbowtique.etsy.com.

So when this years list of fairs came out, I was ready. I knew what I needed to do. This past summer I did 3 fairs all ranging from $125-$150 sitting fees. I picked the best location where I would find moms and girls who I knew would be interested in my products. I made a variety of products for girls of all ages. I had my husband make me a display screen for my bows, my best friend make all my price signs, I sewed a hot pink table cloth with big white polka dots on them, I had a big banner made with my logo on it. When we set up our booth this time around, we were so proud.