RagsReborn Gifts - Fall/Holiday Craft Show Schedule

 

Hello, all! 👋 I will be participating in a few craft shows this season. Yay! 🙌 Normally, I would encourage everyone to come out and say hello ... but I would rather everyone engage as their comfort level allows. 

If you want to shop in person, I'll be at four awesome local craft shows. 

If you would rather shop online, I am leaving my Etsy shop open during craft show season. My plan is to delete products as they are sold at shows and add new products as I sew them. Please be patient.

If you want to shop in person, but not with crowds, I plan to post product pictures on my social media pages and offer curbside pickup from my place of employment. I'm also debating on doing a Facebook Live type shopping event. Right now I'm leaning toward no, but I will let you know if I change my mind.

Anyway, here are the shows:

Piedmont Founders Day Saturday, September 11, 2021, 9am - 4pm First Baptist Church 15 Jackson Ave NW, Piedmont, OK 73078

This is a super fun family event. There will be a good variety of vendors but I think the main event is the activities for kids. This event is held in conjunction with Junklahoma outdoors.

Prairie Moon Market Saturday, October 2, 2021, 9am - 3pm Prairie Moon Primitives 13256 Lake Road Ave, Wayne, OK 73095

Wayne is only about an hour away from Oklahoma City and well worth the drive. Prairie Moon Primitives is a family-owned wool & embroidery shop. They have the cutest patterns, beautiful hand-dyed wool and also a small quilt shop. There will only be a small handful of vendors at this event but EVERYTHING is handmade... like really legitimately handmade. 😍 No boutiques, no basic candles or jewelry, no boring clothing.

The Santa Market Friday & Saturday, November 19 - 20, 2021, 9am - 4pm State Fair Park's Pavilion and Centennial Buildings 3212 Wichita Walk, Oklahoma City, OK 73107
The Santa Market continues to be the most prestigious show that I participate in. If you want a large variety of vendors including handmade crafts, boutiques and direct sales products, I would highly suggest attending this show. There will be pandemic precautions and social distancing regulations.

Jingle Jam Market Saturday, December 4, 2021, 9am - 3pm Piedmont Intermediate School 977 Washington Ave, Piedmont, OK 73078 This will be my first time participating in this show so I don't have any input. I have spoken with other vendors and they speak highly of it. This event will host handmade crafters, boutiques and direct sales.

As of today, the craft shows listed in the flyer above are all still happening. If any postponements or cancellations come up, I will post updates on my social media pages (Facebook and Instagram). Custom orders are always welcome, too, just email me at ragsreborngifts@gmail.com. Thanks a bunch!

RagsReborn's Fall Craft Show Schedule

Hello, everyone!! 😃
       Two things... 1. It's craft show season again! 😁 and 2. I just discovered how to add emojis on Blogger. Welcome to 2018, Erica.

I am pretty excited to get back into craft shows again. I've actually had an extremely light craft show schedule this year-- only two shows this past spring and four shows in the summer-- so I'm bit out of practice. But, I've been brainstorming new products and have been working on a couple of new things in my sewing room for you guys. I have finalized five shows for the fall season (September & October) and four for the holiday season (November & December). I'm thinking about maybe doing one more in either November or December but I'm not entirely sure, yet. Part of me likes doing fewer shows but the other part of me knows I need to get out there and hustle. Anyway... here is my fall craft show schedule:

Piedmont Founder's Day
First Baptist Church of Piedmont
15 Jackson Ave NW
Piedmont, OK 73078
(I'll be in booth #23)
Saturday September 8, 2018
10am - 4pm
https://www.facebook.com/evvents/358122104666893/ and https://piedmontokfoundersday.org/

Purchases for a Purpose Craft & Vendor Market
(in conjunction with the Czech Festival in Yukon)
First Baptist Church of Yukon
15 S. 6th Street
Yukon, OK 73099
Saturday October 6, 2018
9am - 3pm

University of Oklahoma's Health Sciences Center Fall Craft Fair
Robert M. Bird Library Lobby
1105 Stonewall Ave (on the corner of 10th & Stonewall)
Oklahoma City, OK 73117
Friday October 12, 2018
10am - 2pm
I missed the OUHSC Spring Craft Fair so I'm extra excited to be returning for their fall one. I'll be debuting some new products at this show so you won't want to miss it!

Craft Fair
Quail Springs United Methodist Church
14617 N. Pennsylvania Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK 73134
Saturday October 13, 2018
9am - 3pm

Fall Craft Fair
St. Ann Retirement Center
7501 W. Briton Road
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
Wednesday October 17, 2018
10am - 2pm
I know most of you don't fancy spending your day at a retirement center but this is such a good show! I've participated in it annually since RagsReborn's inception. Maria, the retirement community's event coordinator really does a splendid job. And, this show is on the same day as St. Ann's open house. I took a tour the first year I participated and I'm pretty sure I'm moving in here when I become old & frail.

I guess I'm returning to my roots by doing these smaller "church shows." The venues may be small but I promise they are definitely worth coming out to (two of them are in connection with awesome family friendly events... Piedmont Founder's Day and Czech Fest!). And I'm not just saying that because I'll be selling there. 😉 LOL In all honesty, I would really appreciate the support because 1. I haven't done a show in a while and the last one I participated in in August went terribly, 2. three out of the five of my fall shows will be new ones for me (oh, the nervousness of doing a show for the first time!) , and 3. I recently applied to have my products sold at a local shop and got immediately rejected. I really hope you guys can come out and lift a girl up, I would REALLY appreciate it!  And its always a good idea to support local!!

Summer craft shows are done...

... and RagsReborn is officially on break! I am still accepting custom orders (as always) but I won't be participating in any more events until fall craft shows start. I had a pretty good summer craft show season. I participated in the Friends of the Library Book Sale at the Newcastle Public Library, Wanderlust Pop-up Shops at the Wheeler Ferris Wheel and the Made in Oklahoma Fest in Midwest City.

I didn't expect too much in the way of sales for the Friends of the Library Book Sale because the main event was the book sale. The local crafters and vendors were an afterthought. I was placed in a back corner but I was still able to make a handful of transactions. Even if I didn't, I would have been  happy to participate because I love libraries and their cause. I had a couple of vendor friends also participating so it was nice to spend the day with them. The event coordinator was top-notch!  She and her daughter helped me unload on set-up day and checked on me throughout the entire duration of the show. At the end of the show, she--along with her daughter and son--followed me to my car to help me pack up without me even asking them to. All of the other volunteers treated the vendors with much respect and I could tell that they truly appreciated us ... and sometimes that is more important that making sales.

The complete opposite happened at the Made in Oklahoma Fest. Sales were decent but the event's staff was absolutely horrible! The festival had been managed by the same woman for the past six or seven years. I had corresponded with her before I sent in my registration & fees and she was great. About a month before the event, it was announced that she was moving on to another job and the festival would be run by a handful of newcomers. Then about two weeks before the event, all of the vendors received an email with a map detailing everyone's placement. I was placed outside of the vendor area in the back corner of the foyer with the advertising sponsors. I found this very disconcerting since none of the other vendors were placed there. I figured that the main ballroom was probably full and they had to move someone out, but why my booth? I double checked my application to make sure that I had done everything that I was supposed to. Hoping this was a simple mistake, I emailed the new festival coordinators and politely asked for this to be corrected. No response. This was on Monday June 4th. The festival was to be held on Saturday June 16th. I gave it a few days and called the festival coordinators on Thursday June 7th, left a voicemail, no response. Then I called again Friday June 8th, left a voicemail, no response. Finally, on Monday June 11, I received an email that simply stated, here is the new map. No formalities or apologies.  I felt a little disrespected but was glad that I was in the main ballroom with the other vendors.

Vendors were advised to set up on Friday evening since it would be too chaotic the morning of the festival. When Wes & I got to the Reed Conference Center, there were no signs, no event staff, no maps. Luckily, Wes had attended events at the venue before so he knew where to park, where the elevators were, etc. Every show that I have participated in, from small church shows to large renown events, has a check in table with at least one person to show you where your booth is. The Made in Oklahoma Fest did not.  We wandered around the ballroom until I found a table with RagsReborn labeled on it. Then on Saturday, there were supposedly volunteers throughout the day but not a single person checked on me. There was a mother daughter pair that I assumed were volunteers since I saw them walking around the ballroom all day. I once tried to make eye-contact with them because I needed someone to watch my booth while I stepped away. They literally turned around as soon as I  made eye-contact so they could avoid me. None of the event coordinators introduced themselves nor did anyone thank me for my time. The only good thing is that my picture (above) supposedly won one of the photo contest prizes (that I still haven't received, yet). LOL

After that terrible experience, let's spend the last paragraph praising Revolve Productions, Tobi, her mom and her son and the wonderfulness of Wanderlust Pop-up Shops. Wanderlust is held twice a year at the Wheeler Ferris Wheel. The first show is usually in the spring but it was rescheduled to summer due to inclement weather. It was an extremely hot day but well worth it. There were customers all day long, I had friends come out to visit me, my tent neighbors were beyond great and sales were really good as well. I would say that it is one of the top ten most well attended shows in the Oklahoma City metro. The entire staff at Revolve Productions does everything imaginable to run a smooth show, from something as important as advertising to the small thoughtful things like giving vendors bathroom breaks. Although the scale of the show is enormous, Tobi and her staff managed to stop by each vendor tent to chat and thank us for being there. I always have a good show at Wanderlust. It pairs the two most important things - vendor hospitality and above-average sales. I have done a lot of shows as RagsReborn and I can say that only about five other shows are as good as this one.

So that's a wrap. Thank to everyone who came out and supported me. You are amazing per usual. I have some fun ideas for new products in the fall. I'll keep you posted and will post my fall craft show schedule as soon as that line up is finalized.

RagsReborn's spring craft show recap

My booth at the heARTs of Yukon show. 

Can you believe that we are a quarter of the way through 2018?? Time is sure flying! I had an extremely light spring craft show season - only two shows! Over all, each of the shows was great in its own way. Here is a breakdown of the shows and their pros & cons.

D.U.C.K Week Junk Show 2018 booth display

D.U.C.K Week Junk Show - I love that Piedmont High School puts on this annual show as part of their D.U.C.K (Doing Unselfish Charity for Kids) Week festivities. Helping to pay for the recipient's medical bills and to take a load off of the family's stress is a great cause! The show is always heavily advertised and therefore, well attended. This year was no different. There was consistent traffic all day ... but hardly anyone was shopping. *sad face* My personal sales were down from the previous two years and after talking to several other vendors, I discovered that they weren't selling as much, either. So it seemed as if everyone was a little short on cash. I can't place any blame on the show for that, but a complaint that I can discuss is how the show was run.

The show coordinator and her staff decided how vendors are treated based on personal relationships rather than quality of product. Leading up to the show, they asked for each vendor to upload some pictures of their inventory as well as provide a website link. The event staff spotlighted several vendors on social media but there were many others who provided pictures and links and were not advertised. On the day of the show, I noticed that the majority of the vendors who received social media exposure were also the ones rubbing elbows with the event staff. More pictures of vendor booths were taken throughout the day, and again, the vendors who were highlighted were the same ones who received the previous social media attention. There were many amazing vendors who's products were not photographed or promoted throughout the day. I also think that the arrangement of booths is also decided on a friendly basis. Part of me knows that sometimes you have be to a brown-noser in order to be successful but part of me also thinks its unfair.

Children's book author, Carly Cartmill. I absolutely LOVE participating in craft shows with her!

heARTs of Yukon - I started my craft show career doing small church shows. I've mostly moved away from those but I still do a few here and there. This show was put on by the United Methodist Church as a fundraiser but it was far from small... it was held in several large rooms and in hallways throughout the church building. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of vendors & the variety of items for sale, and I was also pleased that it was not saturated with direct sales/multi-level marketing companies.

The show was organized well and, best of all for me, I was placed next to one of my very best craft show pals! Attendance was not as high as a large event but there was a decent amount of customers (maybe 150 people came throughout the entire day). That is to be expected for a smaller show. Many church shows are put on as a fundraiser so they do not have a large budget for advertising. Since booth rent is usually under $50, vendors get what they paid for in terms of event coordination and promotion. I think for a church show, this one was above average.

Wanderlust Pop-up Shops - I live in Oklahoma where the weather is oftentimes crazy and always unpredictable. This event was originally scheduled for mid-April and it was supposed to be a nice spring day. Nope. On the morning of the show, it was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit and extremely windy. The forecast called for 30 - 40 mile per hour wind gusts throughout the day and a high of only 50 degrees. This is not good news for an outdoor show. Luckily for us vendors, the event is being rescheduled. It will now be held on Sunday June 10th, 2018. Mark your calendars!!

I have not planned my summer craft show schedule, yet. I need focus on custom orders (I have a few piled up that I must get started on!) While I won't be doing a lot of shows throughout the summer months, I will do at least one or two. I plan to hit the craft show circuit hard this fall and holiday seasons. Bye for now and I'll see all of you in a few months!

RagsReborn Gifts' December Craft Shows

What a whirlwind couple of months!! I have been lucky enough to participate in at least one craft show per week since late September. One might think I'd be stressed out, burned out, and ready to quit after so many shows but that is wrong... I absolutely LOVE this!! Holiday craft show season is my absolute favorite. I have worked hard the entire year to be able to showcase my handmade items during these few months. Right now, I am one happy and proud sewist. ("sewist" - combination of the words sew and artist; to describe someone who creates sewn works of art)

And now it's time for my annual plea to shop local. While you're holiday shopping this year, might I suggest visiting a local craft fair? There are so many different local shopping events happening this time of year. I have the ones I will be participating in listed below.  I've been shopping local for my gift list since I started RagsReborn a few years ago and I plan to do so again this year. Please everyone, let's support our local entrepreneurs. (I'm marked as "going" on all of these on Facebook; if you'd like some more details, please let me know and I'll be happy to send you an invite.)

Sleigh Bells Market
Saturday December 3, 2017
12pm - 6pm
Oklahoma City Public Farmers Market 311 S Klein Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73102

The Heart of Christmas Craft & Vendor Fair
Saturday December 9, 2017
10am - 4pm
Events at Ten West Main 10 West Main Street, Yukon, OK 73099

RagsReborn's Spring Craft Show Review

~*~*Awesome pillows galore! ~*~*

This past spring, I decided to take it easy and only do five shows. I was originally scheduled to do seven but one show had to reschedule for a different date--and I wasn't available--and another one cancelled all together. While I would love to be selling at shows on a regular basis, I am glad I did not overbook myself. (Less stress is always a good thing, right?) I had more time to focus on new designs & patterns and try out different ideas creatively, which I believe turned out to be a better investment than participating in back-to-back shows. Per tradition, here is my recap of the previous handful of shows I participated in.

Each of the shows I participated in was a good one and I really don't have much of a critique. \(^_^)/ The event organizers at each venue did an amazing job with advertising and vendor hospitality. Unloading and booth set up was a smooth process at each event, the organizers and volunteers were friendly & helpful and a steady stream of shoppers was present all day. If invited back, I would definitely repeat each show next year. 

My first outdoor show was a success! Wanderlust Pop-up shops was one of the most fun shows I ever participated in. The turnout was amazing... I think around 5,000 people came out to support the local artists and crafters. I had the pleasure of borrowing a tent and being neighbors with some friends; the day went swimmingly. Not even the crazy gusts of wind brought our spirits down! The other show that I really enjoyed was DUCK Week. It was my first time sharing a booth and that was also a success. It was nice to have company throughout the day and to also have someone keep an eye on my belongings when I had to step away. Now that I've passed those tests, I will be signing up for more outdoor shows and sharing booths with Rachelle.

My shared booth with Moon Drake Soaps.

Unfortunately, the shows with the lowest grossing sales were at the Newcastle Fair Barn, Western Oaks Christian Church and the Quarter Mania Auction. I attribute the poor sales directly to scheduling (Quarter Mania occurred on Good Friday so turn out was very minimal) and weather...ugh, that blasted Oklahoma weather! *shakes fist at sky* The show coordinators did the best they could, but the weather was really out of their control. Despite that, my sales weren't horrible.. just not where I would have liked them to be. The show in Newcastle occurred on the coldest weekend in March and the show in Western Oaks occurred on the coldest weekend in April. I learned a fun trick from one of the volunteers in Newcastle. He said that whenever his son had a baseball game and they wanted to influence the weather, he would draw a turtle on the baseball field if they wanted rain and draw a cactus if they wanted sunshine. He drew a large cactus right outside my booth and the sun actually started to peak out! 

Speaking of sunshine, my summer show line up is getting finalized this week. I won't be doing too many shows this summer so my pillows will be "limited release" LOL I'll post the schedule on next week's blog post. You won't want to miss these shows!

RagsReborn's Spring Craft Show Schedule, pt.1 (March)

Well hello, my little craft show family... I haven't done a show since the indoor flea market at Sugar Creek Casino in January so I know you all have missed me. Right??  Speaking of the indoor flea market... here is my quick review-
       Hinton, OK isn't as bad of a drive as I thought it would be. The show was neither good nor bad. There was hardly any organization or rules to the event. Normally, I would think of this as a negative aspect, but I actually didn't mind it at this event.
       Vendors were free to come and go as they pleased and we were allowed to set up our booth however we wanted. The show started at 8am but I didn't get fully set up until about 8:45am... and I wasn't the worst, there were some vendors who didn't show up until 10am. One vendor moved her booth from where it was assigned to a completely different space so she could be near her friend. There were multiple ladies selling Scentsy. I stretched my extension cord from an empty booth to mine so I could charge my phone throughout the day. I started tearing down my booth around 3pm even though the event didn't end until 4pm. Chaos was everywhere. LOL
       There wasn't a great turn out of shoppers but almost all of the casino employees did come and browse on their break and lunch times. I (as well as several of the other vendors) was able to sell a handful of items. Due to the cheap booth rent fee and lax attitude of the event coordinators, I think it is a good show to try out if you are a new vendor. But if you have done shows for a while and have certain expectations, I would not recommend this show. Sad to say, but your expectations will NOT be met.

Anyway, time to talk about my two great upcoming shows in March. YIPPEE! \(^_^)/ I'm scaling back this year... trying to opt for quality over quantity. There are tons of spring craft shows and I decided these two would be the absolute best for RagsReborn.

Sunday March 5th, 2017- D.U.C.K. Week Junk Show
10:30am - 4pm
Piedmont High School 1055 Edmond Rd NW, Piedmont, OK 73078
https://www.facebook.com/events/1842812649334912/
       I participated in the D.U.C.K Week Junk Show last year and it was a blast. D.U.C.K week is a week long charity event put on by the Student Council at Piedmont High School. The goal is to raise money for a handful of pre-selected needy children (D.U.C.K is an acronym for "doing unselfish charities for kids.") The main fundraiser is the junk show held at the end of the week and all proceeds from vendor booth rent goes to the kids. It is a fun family event with a lot of children's activities and the entire town comes out to support it. There are going to be even more vendors this year than last year so there will be something for everyone. This is also the first show where I will be sharing a booth with another vendor. (Please pray for me! I'm an only child so sharing is not my forte. LOL)

Saturday March 25th, 2017- Craft & Market Bazaar
9am - 4pm
Newcastle Fair Barn 400 N Main Street, Newcastle, OK 73065
https://www.facebook.com/events/1714056515572283/
       This show in Newcastle is brand new for me but it came highly recommended. I actually know a couple of the jewelry vendors who will be there. The craft show has been running for several years now so I know that the event coordinators must be doing something right to keep it going. I am excited to try out some new locations, too. (which was one of my goals for 2017) I have never been to Newcastle but am very excited to introduce RagsReborn to a new part of the state. If you live out that direction, please come out and see me!

I will have more shows for April. I am still in the midst of finalizing the later half of my spring craft show schedule. Stay tuned for more!

Erica shops local for Christmas gifts.

Mommy tote bag, bib-cape, children's book, headband, crocheted ornaments and bracelet for the Sapp family.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday this weekend. (and if you didn't celebrate, I hope you at least got to enjoy a few extra days off work! I was off work from December 23 - 26th and it was pretty wonderful.)

Olive wood sculptures from the Holy Land and local coffee for my mom's husband, Mike.

It is currently 2:14pm on Christmas day--even though this blog won't be posted until tomorrow--and I am officially two thirds of the way through my Christmas activities. Last night, I went to mass with my mom & her husband. Wes & I had a nice breakfast with his brother, their mom and her boyfriend this morning. We are taking a quick break now, and the grand finale will be dinner at my mom's house this evening.

Hand-painted and personalized brick door stopper for my mom.

All year (actually ever since RagsReborn was formed), I have been encouraging--maybe nagging-- everyone to go out to local craft shows and scope out all of the talented artists & vendors. Once November rolled around, I really harped on everyone to shop local for their Christmas presents. Unique, handmade and thoughtful are the best type of Christmas gifts. This year, I did about 90% of my Christmas shopping at craft shows. (For the other 10%: I handmade about 5% and had to begrudgingly purchase the last 5% from established retail chains.)

Children's book, an Oklahoma charm necklace and bracelet for the DeArment family.

Since almost all of my presents will be delivered by the time this blog gets posted, I will go ahead and post pictures of all of my gifts that I either handmade or purchased from a local artist at a craft show. I was sure to affix business cards to all of my local gifts so the recipients could go back and shop more from that vendor if they enjoyed the gift. I hope whoever has purchased pillows from me as gifts does the same for RagsReborn. Repeat business and referrals are the best for small business owners.

Handmade totes and clutch, and children's books for the Cape-Ngo family.

Instead of a blog, you can call this a local gifts shopping guide. I understand the gift giving season is over now, but some things to remember for next year are:
       For children's book, I recommend local author, Carly Cartmill.
       For organic gluten free dog treats, I recommend Zee & Zeus.
       For handmade jewelry, I recommend Bead for Life.
And, of course, for anything sewn, I recommend yours truly, RagsReborn! I know everyone will have birthdays to shop for throughout the year so I highly recommend that you utilize your local resources.

Harry Potter wand, handmade clutch, owl magnet and bracelet for my friend, Lacey.

Some of the craft shows where I did a majority of my shopping are:
The Handmade Show at The Crown Center
Christmas Bazaar at First Presbyterian Church
Christmas at the Lodge at the Mustang Masonic Lodge
I was also a vendor at each of these craft shows. These shows mainly showcase handmade items but there are a few direct sales vendors if you need your Scentsy, LuLaRoe and Pampered Chef.

Handmade photo display, bracelet, organic dog treats and kitchen towel set for my friends, Alan and Melanie.

I can see you're thinking, "Craft shows aren't my thing. I'm not really into knitting and homemade pickles. None of my friends will like 'crafty' things."  Well, I can assure you that you are probably wrong. I have friends and family members from age 1 thru 65 and I was able to find something for literally everyone on my Christmas list this year. I was able to shop for guys and gals who have a wide variety of interests and hobbies. And everyone was pleasantly surprised when they unwrapped their gifts.

Pokemon wallet and bracelet for my friend, Jessa.

If you still aren't sold on craft shows, you can always shop locally at shops and online. Many local artists sell their items in stores & boutiques and also have an online presence. Many cafes, bars and restaurants are run by local small business owners. My philosophy is that if you're going to spend money anyway, why not help out your community? I hope these pictures have proven that shopping local can produce bountiful gift ideas. As 2017 rolls around, I hope to see more and more patrons at craft shows. I already have three or four shows lined up that I will be participating in this spring. More to come on that on the next blog!

Crocheted ornaments and beer gift certificates for my friends, Travis and Cameron.

Spring craft show season is OVER...

I didn't advertise my May/June shows as much as my other spring ones...so here's a recap of my flyer.

...and honestly, I'm over spring craft show season. LOL Spring craft shows are so much more stressful than holiday shows!

It's bittersweet but now at least I can breathe and relax a bit! On the one hand, I love being at shows and sewing new projects but on the other hand, three shows per month is quite the ride. Also, spring shows are a bummer! >.> I got so used to good sales last holiday craft show season (when selling only 10 pillows was considered a bad show) that I didn't have realistic expectations for this year. For spring show season, being able to sell 10 pillows was considered a miracle!! I'd be lucky to even sell 5 at a show. I was thoroughly disappointed in RagsReborn over these past eleven shows. I'm taking a break for the summer but I'll be back for the fall/holiday craft show season.

Here's a quick run down of all the shows I participated in--
       <<This will be a long blog post because I did 11 shows but I hope it will help shed some light on spring shows for other vendors. If you are a vendor, please leave me your advice and comments. What did I do wrong? What could I have done to have a better season? Anything you want me to know about spring shows in general?>>

Quarter Mania
       This was a wonderful event to start off the year! It was actually one of my best shows. I made good contacts (vendors, customers and the event organizer!), my auction items brought in a lot of money and I was able to sell a few pillows during our down time. And the best part, lots of money got donated to Mustang Animal shelter.

D.U.C.K Week Junk Show
       This show was okay. I broke even on costs/sales. This was a family friendly event so there was a lot of moms... moms who were a little too nosy. More than one woman approached me to tell me that it's good that I'm "having fun" and "living my dreams out" while I'm young and before I settled down to have a family. I held my tongue and just smiled while I was screaming on the inside.... Okay lady, #1. This isn't a phase; RagsReborn is a viable business and career option for me and #2. I can't "settle down and have a family"... infertility.  
       Anyway, the best part of this show was my custom orders. One of my customers at Quarter Mania came to this show and brought me four of her late mother-in-law's shirts. Four pillows later, she was the happiest woman at the entire event. I really made an impact on her and her family and it made me feel so warm & fuzzy on the inside. And, her daughter was the cutest thing ever! Oh and she must have contacted one of her friends because not long after I finished with her order, I had another nice lady come to me with a shirt to pillow-ify.

Cleveland County Fairgrounds/Creative Craft Festival
       This was the show that my display shelf broke at ... it must have been a sign because I did terrible on sales. (;_;) It was my first goose egg show. There were lots of lookers and interest (people talked to me; picked up the items and told me how much they liked this pillow or that pillow) but no one purchased. I guess it the compliments and reception was good. I just wish I could have convinced those lookers to buy.
       In my defense, this was the same weekend as the huge Devon layoffs.

Wilmont Place Baptist Church
       This was my second show in a row with zero sales. And this was even worse... no traffic & no compliments. I was put in a bad location.  A handful of vendors were put in the cafeteria with no sign directing shoppers our way. I made good friends with vendors next to me; both ladies (one sold Tupperware and the other crocheted) were craft show veterans so I got a lot of advice and our chit chat helped pass the time.

Western Oaks Christian Church
       FINALLY!! A good show in terms of sales & traffic! I stayed busy all day. There was free wi-fi & breakfast for the vendors. The church volunteers & staff were so helpful and friendly. The event organizer was one of the best. I met new vendors (new as in this was their first show) so I got to be the veteran who bestowed knowledge and advice. It was a great day! I will definitely participate again.

The Handmade Show at the Crown Center
       I absolutely LOVE this show. I know the event organizer; I know the church staff & volunteers; I know the other vendors. Participating in this show is like spending a day with friends. Unfortunately, there was a shortage of vendors and slow traffic but the church was supportive, as usual. The Crown Center really advertises this show to its community. I think everyone who attends church there comes out to support the show. But, it was a lot slower than their Holiday Handmade Show. I did okay on sales. I didn't break even but still donated all money made (not just profits) to The Endometriosis Foundation. I can't wait to return to the Holiday Handmade Show-- November 5th, 2016. Mark your calendars now!

The Festival of the Broncos Craft Show
              I had A LOT of issues with this show... where to begin...
       1. There was ZERO, ZILCH, NADA advertising. There were only a few vendors (probably 25 booths) and even less shoppers. The show was from 10am-3pm and less than 75 people came in. If I had to guess, I would say the traffic flow was probably 50-65 people. Due to the low volume, I made no sales. Both of the ladies I was next to (Pink Zebra and a direct sale jewelry consultant) complained about the lack of advertising, so it wasn't just me being whiny. Another vendor told me that her friend attends church at the church that the show was at and even she didn't know about the show. The event organizers did not promote. The church did not promote. Mustang High School did not promote.
       2. This show was a fundraiser for Mustang High School's Project Graduation... strangely enough, no one from Mustang High School came out to the show. Every show that I have ever participated in has volunteers; volunteers to answer general questions, to help unload your car, to booth-sit for you if you need a potty break... this show had NONE. Where were all the graduating seniors? If we are spending our Saturday fundraising for you (the graduating class of 2016), why would you not come out and show your support???? This absolutely blew my mind. I guess students of Mustang High School are just extremely ungrateful.
       3. There were no concessions. We were there all day and there was no food & drinks. Luckily for me, my mom and Mike came out and brought me lunch. In general, if a craft show has food, more people come out to shop. They come for lunch and stay to shop. Duh! I guess the event coordinators haven't heard of this concept. The Pink Zebra consultant next to me drove all the way to this show from Enid. She didn't bring food or water because she expected there to be concessions. Her husband couldn't come to Mustang from Enid to bring her food. Poor lady had horrible sales AND starved to death all day!
       4. The only thing the event coordinators cared about was collecting their tax forms. I have a feeling that they've gotten in trouble with the Oklahoma Tax Commission before so they are very diligent about tax forms now. When I arrived in the morning, the only thing that was explained to me was the tax form. No one told me where my booth was or if I could purchase breakfast. Just, "Don't forget to fill out your tax form and pay your taxes collected at the end of the day." As I was setting up my booth, the event coordinator reminded me again that I needed to collect taxes and pay her at day's end. Toward the end of the show, her husband reminded me again that I needed to collect taxes and pay him at day's end. Then after the show was over, her husband walked around to personally collect our tax form and money. I had enough! I gave him my form and when he noticed that there was no money attached, I told him that I didn't sell a single thing because no one came to the show. Did he care? Nope. He just took my form and walked on to the next booth.

Garden Festival in the Park
       I wanted to do this show because 1. I grew up going to Will Rogers Park and have lots of fond childhood memories there so this was my way to "give back" & 2. In my mind, I thought I would do really well because I'd be one of the few craft booths there so I'd stand out and have little competition. Unfortunately, I set my expectations a little too high.
       The event organizer needed craft booths to be in the Exhibition Hall with the educational booths but everything had to be garden/outdoor/floral themed. I had to sew completely new inventory for this show (34 pillows). I worked SO hard for this show and I didn't even break even in sales. (;_;) It was pretty devastating but that wasn't the Garden Festival's fault. The festival itself went very well. The event organizer was very helpful and professional, all of the booths were strategically placed and there was high traffic all day long. I would estimate that over 1,000 people came to the festival.
       Although my sales were dismal, I enjoyed the show (if I hadn't been a vendor, this was an event I would go to as a spectator). I got to browse many locally grown plants, flowers & herbs, I bought some homemade dog treats from Butterbites and I got to catch up with a vendor friend of mine.

Trinity Free Will Baptist Craft Show-
       A good show to end the spring season!! Yippie \(^_^)/ This was Trinity Free Will Baptist Church's second annual craft show. There were only 7 vendors and less than 50 shoppers but I see a lot of potential in this show. I will definitely be returning next spring. There were 4 handmade booths and then Scentsy, Paparazzi & Jamberry. (Always a good show when there are more handmade crafts than direct sales!) The church staff was very friendly. Jessie (a church member) helped me unload my car in record time. I asked him if he could carry in my trunk of pillows and he ended up carrying in everything!! The pastor was present at the show all day and various members of the church community stopped by to show their support. At the end of the day, the show organizer was open to suggestions.
       Although there wasn't a huge turnout in customers, I sold more pillows here than I did at Cleveland County Fairgrounds, Wilmont Place Baptist Church, and The Festival of the Broncos craft shows. And, best of all, I got two custom orders!! One was from a lady who wanted pillows from six button-down dress-shirts that belonged to her husband and the other order was from the Scentsy consultant for two small pillows.

Swirls Gifts & Treats with Jennifer, RagsReborn Gifts and The Last Supper.

 As I mentioned before, Spring craft shows are ROUGH. And it's not just me, that was the consensus that I gathered from other vendors, too. I only averaged well under 10 sales per show. I am taking a much needed rest and won't be doing any more shows until October or November. But...before I go on a break, I am doing one last Quarter Mania! It'll be Friday June 3, 2016 from 5:30pm - 8:30pm. All proceeds from the auction are going to be donated to the Mustang Senior Center. Quarter Mania is a fun fun event... I hope to see you there!!