And I’m already feeling nervous. This weekend I will be attending my first craft fair in absolutely ages and while it used to be something I prepared for without any problems, I’m so out of practice, my workspace looks like a bomb went off and I have lists upon lists of things to take, things to get ready and so on.
Back in the day I used to do craft fairs almost weekly in England and it became second nature to me. I loved the excitement of setting up my booth, chatting to the customers and other vendors, making new friends and hopefully a few sales as well. Since I moved to the US I haven’t been as involved in the craft scene, mainly because a lot of the events were so far away from me or prohibitively expensive, or simply because I’ve been concentrating on other things.
But sometimes life has a funny way of bringing things back full circle, and quite by chance I found myself signed up to participate in our town’s Holiday Village on December 2 in the open-air Makers Market. Then within a few days, a friend called and said she was taking part in a Christmas Craft Fair at her local church on November 18. They had no soap sellers and was I interested? The rest, as they say, is history and yesterday found me trawling through my stock supplies to see what I had available and making a list of items I would need to make before Saturday.
Yes, yes, I know I only have this week, but as my husband will confirm, I am very much a last minute kind of girl. If I have a deadline I’ll knuckle down and get it done, whereas if I have plenty of time, I’ll slack off, have another coffee and think about it 🙂
I’ve already done my table plan, so at least I know what I need and how it will all look on the day – white velvet undercloth, teal velvet top cloth, a mix of seasonal items and old favourites, some gift items and some single buy bars, a bunch of my famous $10 mystery bags (what’s in ’em? No one knows) along with my new $5 mystery bags – perfect for Secret Santa gifts.
So yes, there will probably be a few late nights this week, and right now all I am feeling is panic, but I know as the week wears on the old familiar craft fair excitement will start, the butterflies will kick in and by Saturday morning I will be buzzing and ready to go!
Don’t forget, if you are in the Unionville, VA area stop by and say hello – we’ll be there from 9am to 3pm.
Bethlehem United Methodist Church, Unionville, VA