Craft Fair Follies ~ When Things Go Wrong

Wrapped up holiday fair season this past weekend at the Gar-Field Orchestra Boosters Craft Fair.  For the first time, I did two winter shows and learned a bunch I want to share!  This first post covers my display and 2nd will show the goodies I made. Set up for the first was so smooth but I hit a few bumps with the second. You don't  find many posts about what to do if something goes wrong, so I am telling you, you can still have a great show if you have a less-than-perfect start.
Having done a couple of shows yearly since 1999, I can say putting the time and effort into a stand-out display yields better results.  This year, having more time to focus on things like booth layout, I knew a backdrop to hang my banner would keep my booth from blending in with the rest.

This is the mock set-up at home before my November show. I ordered the photography stand from Amazon and used two pieces of jersey-like fabric from the trift store to drape over it.   Looks great, yes?  And it looked wonderful for the 1st show. People complimented my display and I sold more than at any previous event.
Then, a week before my December show, life happened.  I usually try to finish up making items at least 3 or 4 days ahead of time.  But, with a sick baby girl home all week, I needed to stick close by her, so I crafted right up until the last night.  Tired as all get out, the morning of the show, I didn't  arrive early enough and rushed in setting up.  I also didn't have my cutie pie daughter to help. Needless to say, I wasn't as organized as before and forgot some key items like the cash box, the CASH, the basket for my journals and that pretty white tiered basket.

So, what did I do?  Improvised!  I used the basket I keep my wrapping supplies in to hold the journals.  I converted one of the black mini suitcases to a cash box and tucked the tins in a little box on the shelf.  Hubby ran to the nearest bank, got more change AND stopped at the dollar store for more basket shred for the larger journal container.  Had this been a couple of years ago, I probably would have melted down, but this time, we just rolled with it.

You can see the display isn't  as neat as the mock up but I made it work.  I kept a great attitude and planted a smile on my face.  A little laughter goes a long way.  Thankfully, a good friend showed up and kept me grinning and enaging the customers too.

No one even knew the display wasn't  what I envisioned :)  

Any funny craft fair experiences to share?

 Thanks for stopping by!