Each year Innocent, who make fruit drinks, support Age Concern and invite people to make little hats to go on the top of the bottles of drink and for each behatted bottle sold they make a donation to this charity to support the elderly. So Becky and I sat down and played - she knitting and I crocheting.
and in no time we had a little collection.
My thanks go to Cindy (Cindy the bee lady from hilltop farm) for her very speedy pom-pom method. It was perfect for these hats although I found our dinner forks too big and the dessert forks more appropriate.
This one was meant to be an orange with leaves but the leaves look more like ears so perhaps I should have put a face on it.
Both Becky and I followed the instructions on the Innocent website but our hats came up very differently sizes and as neither of us had had the sense to buy a bottle to check we're not sure which of us was right. Nonetheless we carried on regardless. As you might imagine I was using the tapestry wool I bought at the vintage fair a few weeks back. (All being well I'll post soon about the other things I'm making with it.)
A couple of weeks ago I did a fair at Devizes and my Mama and Papa Noo-Noos made their debut.
As you can see they look after the baby Sleepy Noo-Noos.
Other newbies to my stall:
As you can see I have really got the crochet bug.
I'll be back at Devizes on Saturday, at Marlborough on 16 Nov, and Hungerford 7th Dec...and that will be it for this year. I haven't booked any fairs for next year yet and am in two minds whether to do so. On the one hand I really enjoy making things and I love the face-to-face interactions but business is slow a little too often for comfort which is very demoralising. I don't think I am unique in feeling this way but in the same way that blogs are always sunny and upbeat when I read about other craftseller businesses it seems everyone else is raking it in. Am I the only one who isn't? What do you think? Should I continue or take a break?
On the house sale side, we actually had a viewing yesterday and I met a lovely couple from Spain - cash buyers at that. They had other properties to see so we have competition. The lady very much liked my Wendy Room and said she used to do cross stitch. Hopefully she could imagine doing it again in our house. Another couple are coming tomorrow and maybe they will like it. Two viewings in one week! The wonderful thing is that No 3 Son is away this week so the house has been cleaned and tidied to within an inch of its life and remained that way. Let's hope it has a positive result.
Have fun!
Philippa x
Well first of all, thank you for the shout out. That was not my original idea. I found it on Pinterest but I couldn't remember where I found it when I went to post it. I am glad you got some use out of it! Those little bottle hats are adorable!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm so glad there is some interest in your house. I hope you sell it soon. The relief from selling it is such a wonderful feeling. Do you already have a place picked out where you are going to live after it sells?
About the craft stall, I have friends who do that kind of thing and here is what they do.
They advertise a lot on social media.
They sell hand made items, but they also sell 'kits' that they make up complete with everything you need to make the item, and instructions. That way someone who prefers to make, rather than buy, will be tempted. (then they can tell their grandchild they made it!)
They add items that are either vintage or hard to find. Maybe some vintage ribbon or material. They sell it for a bit more money than they purchased it for.
They buy items at yard sales and thrift shops and re-purpose them a bit.
They add a bit of a mix into their booths to make them full looking, and try to appeal to a lot of different tastes. Last year I had a booth (only one time) and it was a very popular event. I sold yarn that I had bought and wasn't going to use, plus old flour sack bags I bought at a yard sale. I also sold some items that I painted with chalkboard paint that you could hang up and write on. I sold hand warmers and coin purses that I crocheted.
Oh I just thought of another thing I've seen at shows. People offer little "make it take it" classes. Something they can learn in a short amount of time, and they have a finished product when they leave.
Just some ideas of what I've seen and enjoyed at shows...but you are right about one thing. It's all sunshine and roses on the blogs I read. That's what I WANT to read! I have enough 'downer' stuff in the news.
Cindy Bee