The Cost of Crafting

Those of you that own arts and crafts businesses know the costs involved in running your business and it usually isn't cheap. If you do craft shows, you know that getting started in that arena isn't cheap either.

Irv and I are preparing for our first indoor craft show. We did two outdoor shows this summer where we made enough to pay our entry fees and paid off part of the nice 10 X 10 tent we purchased for the shows. We didn't do great, but we did okay. The tent and some white sheets to throw over the tables was really all we spent money on for those shows, but that was enough. $$$$$

Indoor shows are completely different. We won't be using our nice new tent of course, but we do need some type of booth. If Irv and I are going to do something, we have to do it right. So far, we have purchased wood....lots of wood....and white stain and lots of screws and other hardware. $$$$$

Irv working on the 10 foot back wall this morning

Once it's built and we know the structure is sturdy enough to support the shelving and product, then we have to buy boards to make all of the shelves. $$$$$ Then I want to make these cute wood "face" cut outs to use to hang my aprons on so we will need that wood too and paint for those. $$$$$

The back of one one the 8 foot wall sections Not completely painted yet.

The booth space is small...only 8 x 10, so we are trying not to use tables. We are going to display things on shelves instead, but then where do you shove all of your empty boxes and bins? Oh, you run to the fabric store and buy 12 yards of fabric to make skirting for the bottom shelves so you can hide your junk under those. $$$$$

I bought a paisley print to skirt all of the bottom shelves in the booth. If I have time, I might make a very small "ruffle" to attach to the fronts of the other shelves. The solid color fabric will be used to skirt the little white desk I use to check people out. They don't match exactly, but they won't be next to each other either, so I thought it would still work. The shelves will all be white. I thought it was a fun print.

The fabric I bought yesterday for the skirting

Meanwhile, I am still working on new items for the show. $$$$$ I am currently experimenting with some tote bags. So far, one is great and one is not so great. The not so great one won't be going to the show. :(

Yep, it does cost a lot of $$$$$ to get started in an arts and crafts business and in craft shows, but the way I look at it is this.....this is an expense of being in business. Sure I could have thrown a couple of tables in my booth and layed out my wares like a lot of people do and not had any expense but my entry fee....but that isn't me. I need awesome...really cool....wow....Chee Hoo when I do something, and that costs money.

The other thing is, once we have the booth done, we will be able to use it for as long as we do shows, and Irv has built it in a way that it can be assembled for different size areas. We can even use it with our tent for our outdoor shows. It's really a one-time expense.

I can't wait until we have it all done so I can show you how my "vision" turned out. Hopefully the booth will be a big hit and will attract lots of lookers who become buyers so we can pay it all off!!

Chee Hoo!!