Well it looks like that this show will be still lower in sales than last year. It would almost take a miracle day today to catch up with last year. Its still not a bad take for just a 25-hour show, but seeing show sales plummet for just about every crafter I know is just depressing. I was commenting yesterday that there is a little part of me that likes the slump, it gets rid of people trying to craft for a quick buck. These usually are people who buy their "craft" and just resell it, or change one tiny little thing (like adding a scarf to a teddy bear) and calling it "handcrafted". It also gets rid of many of the bad craft shows. It seems like it is the in thing now to raise money with a show: every church, firehouse, and elementary school is putting one on. But this dilutes the pool. Its hard to find good crafters for all these shows, so showgowers go and see a lot of bad crafts, and then don't return the next year. Word gets around that the show is bad, and then fewer and fewer crafters apply, until the show needs to be cancelled. With fewer crafters due to the economy, filling all these shows is impossible, thus culling the herd of craft shows for the rest of us.
One exciting thing is that I was given some really great huge bail jars. I'm not quite sure yet what I am going to do with them but I have lots of ideas. I thought I could fill them with bath fizzys and sell them as a large gift idea, or fill them with popular bath salts and sell a big bulk jar (not sure if it could be picked up when full), or fill them with herbs and use them either here at the house for storage or at the booth for a pretty display. The possibilities are just endless.
B and I decided a few days ago to split a booth at the Allentown Fair. We'll be located in the Agri-Plex (formerly AgHall). The nice thing is that it is air conditioned, so I hope that the days are hot so lots of people come through to cool off and then make purchases. Lots of people come in when it rains too, so a few quick thunderstorms would be nice too. This may be one of the only times I think I've ever wanted it to rain (just a little) at a show (other than last week to end the oppressive heat at Musikfest).
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