RagsReborn's summer craft show review and quick break.

Quick break?? What...no more summer craft shows for RagsReborn? Yeah, you read that correctly. I won't be participating in any more craft shows until September. All of the worthwhile shows in June, July and August are outdoors and I was just not made for the heat in Oklahoma. I participated in a few indoor shows last summer but they were not well received. Not wanting to make that mistake again and deciding that I, in fact, do need a break, I'm giving myself a few months to relax and work on new projects. But never fear if you need something sewn, I am always open to custom orders (ragsreborngifts@gmail.com) and I have pick up & delivery for the metro Oklahoma City area. I also will be posting all of my products on Etsy.

All set up and waiting for customers at The Village Fair. Sadly, none showed up. Notice that the other vendor behind is also bored and reading a book. 

This summer, I participated in only three craft shows. Two were great and one was NOT. The show that I would not recommend is The Village Fair. The idea behind The Village Fair was great - lots of great vendors with a variety of products, food trucks, live entertainment (a talent show), inflatable bounce houses and a fire truck for kids to climb on. But The City of the Village and fair coordinators did absolutely ZERO advertising. Toward the end of the day, a few city workers were tearing down the vendor tents. One asked me how the fair went. I lamented the lack of attendees and the city worker confessed that there was no advertising this year. He stated that last year, the city printed & posted flyers in all the nearby storefronts and had large banners & yard signs. But this year, no one knew that all these great activities were being set up over the weekend so no one showed up. It was RagsReborn's worst show of the year, unfortunately. If it wasn't an automatic donation to the Metropolitan Library System, I would say that it was completely not worth my time & money but I love the library and was happy to donate toward it. What I really felt bad for was the kids participating in the talent show because they practiced for months only to perform to an empty audience. Anyway, you're probably thinking I'm just mad because I didn't have any sales. Nope, not true. Toward the end of the fair, the head coordinator came to each vendor's booth and apologized for the lack of attendees and told us we could pack up and leave early if we wanted to. She knew it was a bust and was giving up on the fair even before it was over! I told her that I appreciate the empathy but wondered why no one knew about this fun event. She had no answer for me when I questioned the lack of advertising. She only advised that I voice my concerns on The City of the Village's Facebook page. I did later that evening but no one ever replied (this was almost a month ago).

The other two shows I participated in was Junk Utopia and the craft show held at OU Health Sciences Center library. Junk Utopia is put on by Revolve Productions. I absolutely love working with Tobi and her crew. They always put on a great show! The problem I ran into this time around is that the show wasn't the right fit for RagsReborn. I thought "junk utopia" was a cute whimsical name for a craft show... nope, it literally was a utopia of junk. LOL Antiques, vintage items and refurbished furniture everywhere! The shoppers weren't in the market for anything else. I still sold some and had a pleasant day (I am in no way complaining or saying this was a bad show) but I think I'll pass on the next Junk Utopia show.

Stuffed baby elephants were the best thing to happen to me in 2017!

 RagsReborn did great at the craft show held at OU Health Sciences Center library! The only reason I did so well is that I finally faced reality and made & brought new items at lower price points. Pillows were great. At first, I only wanted to sew pillows. I would sew other items as custom orders but I had a vision that RagsReborn would be the vendor to buy pillows from. When a shopper wanted a pillow, they'd come straight to my booth and I'd be their girl. Two or three years ago that's exactly what happened, everyone was into decorative pillows. But, that was two years ago... now everyone has already either bought all the pillows their house can hold or they want to decorate with other items. I also started noticing more and more people unwilling to pay $10 for a pillow. Not to be rude but, I have to say that I price my pillows very fairly. The cost covers my materials, booth rent and fee to list online. I do not pay myself a wage for time & labor. Therefore, I am unable to offer any discounts. Sorry guys. Anyway, I quickly realized that I needed to diversify for 2017. I'm still sticking with my handmade and sewn theme but I'm starting to sew other things, such as stuffed animals, which ended up being a huge hit! (And they're priced lower than my pillows!) I brought stuffed elephants, messenger bags, neck pillows, regular pillows and wallets to the craft show held at OU Health Sciences Center library and sold a nice variety of items

So on that note, I will leave you with an open ended discussion. What do you think RagsReborn should sew for the fall and holiday craft show seasons? Here are some ideas I've been toying around with- more stuffed animals, maybe whales and giraffes to go along with my elephants, bows and headbands, bookmarks, any other ideas? I'm open to any suggestions. I can't wait to show you what I create! Stay posted for fall and holiday craft show schedules in the upcoming months.

Erica makes a hanging plant holder.

Happy Monday and ... guess what? I'm finally writing another DIY arts n' crafts blog post!! I haven't written one since last Christmas. 'Bout time, right? LOL This idea comes from a client of mine. She stopped by my Wanderlust show to drop off a shirt that she needed to be sewn into a pillow for a birthday gift. As we were chatting, she asked if I've ever made hanging plant holders. I hadn't so she showed me the quick 30-second Nifty or Buzzfeed (don't remember which one it was so I can't properly cite my source) video from Facebook. These plant hangers are all over Etsy and are super cute for summer home decor. I looked at a few other pictures and told Betsy, "Sure, I can do that!" So here we go... seven simple steps to turn an old t-shirt into a hanging plant holder.

Upcycled T-Shirt Hanging Plant Holder Tutorial-
       Materials needed: gently worn t-shirt (or any other knit or jersey fabric), scissors and sewing machine or needle & thread

1. Cut the t-shirt or fabric into eight 1 -1.5 inch strips.
       *For a plant holder, make sure each strip is at least a yard in length. (It looks like a lot but the strips will shrink as you start tying them into knots.)
       *For a growler bottle holder, strips can be shorter - about 24 inches.
a) If making multicolored plant hanger, cut all the different materials into equal length and sew together for desired total length.
b) If adding separate colored fabric for tassels at the bottom, cut those at 12 inches each.
c) If adding separate colored fabric for braided handle, cut 6 strips at 22 inches each.

2. For tassels ONLY - gather the top of all eight strips of fabric together and place the tassels pieces in between the eight pieces. Sew together by hand (unless your sewing machine is heavy duty and can sew through all of the layers.)

Then tie a single knot at where the strips of fabric and tassels meet. This knot is for decorative purposes only since the pieces are already sewn together. I tied my single knot exactly where my stitching was in order to hide it.

If you are not adding tassels, gather all eight strips of fabric together at one end and tie together in a single knot at the base. Leave a few inches (or any desirable length) hanging loose under the single knot.
This will be the bottom of your plant holder. You'll basically be making the project upside-down.

3. Lay the tied piece of fabric out on a large surface with the knotted end pointing toward the top. Separate the eight pieces into four pairs. Tie each pair into a single knot, i.e, piece A will be tied to piece B, piece C will be tied to piece D and so on and so forth.

4. Separate the middle six pieces into pairs and tie into single knots again, as in step #3.

5. Tie the two remaining outer pieces into a single knot.

Now the project should look like a basketball net without the opening at the bottom. You should be able to fit a round object inside of the project, if not, untie the knots and start over (sometimes the spacing between the knots is too big/small or the pieces got tangled and the knots don't end up in the correct position).

6. Hang the project onto a hook and continue to gather the fabric pieces into pairs and tie the pairs into single knots.

I found it easier to "dress" a household item with the project while tying the knots. This helps with gathering the pairs and tying the single knots equal distance to each other.

7. For braided handles ONLY- tie the handle pieces to the loose ends of the project with a single knot. Then braid the handle pieces and tie together at the top. If you are not wanting to add a braided handle, tie the loose ends together to finish the project.

And there you have it! A fun and trendy project you can make basically for free and in less than an hour. They're great for hanging pots, bottles, planters and bowls of all sizes as the spacing can be adjusted by tying the knots closer together or further apart. If you would rather someone else make a hanging plant holder for you, well, I'm here for ya! I won't be adding these to my craft show project line up but if you want one, please let me know (ragsreborngifts@gmail.com). I can make them as custom orders and I'm only charging $5 each!

Here's the one I made for a client. She's really pleased with it and her plant fits perfectly!