My First "Real" Fair

Yesterday was the Birth & Baby Fair, my first "real" fair in the sense that it was the first time I'd actually paid for a table. I was there with my Baby Friendly Beads, and the results were decent -- I sold enough to pay for the table, gas & parking, and somewhat beyond. I also gave out tons of cards.

Most of the folks were first-time mommies, with no breastfeeding experience yet, so they don't realize the challenges they might encounter. I didn't want to scare anybody, but I did find myself talking a lot about all the unpleasant habits nursing babies can develop.

In a fit of inspiration, expecting this sort of situation, I'd put together a little display including this clever Baby Blues cartoon. "Never breast-feed with your hands full," says the caption, and the pictures show Wanda being pulled on in all sorts of ways. My little card said, "If only Wanda had a Baby Friendly Beads nursing necklace!"

It was nice to be able to point to something from a fairly "mainstream" source that illustrated why my Baby Friendly Beads can work so well. (And I was careful to credit the source!) So hopefully when all those as-yet-unborn babies are about 6 months old and pulling hair, my business cards will be found and will lead to sales. We'll see!

I am happy to say that I was generally pleased with the table setup -- I've lots yet to learn, but it's a huge improvement over previous events (all two of them).

I had more visual interest by far, and the display I made worked well. This was the project I mentioned that I've been working on: I'd turned a wooden tray and stool, found at Goodwill, into a display that I could break down for storage and transport.

I figured out how to attach them together, painted everything, and put in a bunch of cup hooks. Not too bad for a thrift store find!

It was a gorgeous day in San Francisco -- which was perhaps why the traffic at the fair was lighter than it has been at previous ones, or so the other vendors said. Sunny and high 80s, just lovely. This was the view from behind my table.

So I understand why folks might have wanted to be outdoors doing other things.

It will be a relief to have a break from beading so much. I've been working a good deal on inventory and I ended up having more than 70 necklaces and 16 bracelets made to bring to the show. I have plenty of new items left that didn't sell (alas!) -- now I can work on photos to get some new stuff in the shop!