RagsReborn's Spring Craft Show Schedule

Howdy, everyone...long time, no blog. How have you been? Good, I hope. I suppose this lack of blogging isn't news anymore since I only blog about once per month now. So lazy! LOL I guess I haven't had that much going on. Or at least not that much that's worth writing about. So onto RagsReborn's spring craft show schedule...

Wanderlust Pop-Up Shops
Saturday April 13, 2019, 10am - 6pm
Wheeler Ferris Wheel 1701 S. Western Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73109
https://www.facebook.com/events/284402045529166/

This will be my third year at Wanderlust. 😎 And that's because it has always been one of my favorite shows to be a part of. The event coordinators do everything they can to ensure that both vendors and shoppers have a great experience. The best part--- all of the vendors are local Oklahoma makers! No direct sales or multi-level marketing companies. Support handmade crafters!! Support local small business!! Support artisans!! And all that jazz...

And that's it. Only one spring craft show this year. I might pick up a small show here and there if a good fit comes my way but I don't have much planned for this spring and summer. *Gasp!* No worries though, I will be doing several shows this fall and holiday season. I already have applied for--and have been accepted to--a handful of shows (which is amazing because I never get my schedule organized this far in advance!) I plan to hit the craft show circuit pretty hard again starting in October. Until then, let me know if you need any custom orders made; you know those are my favorite and I am always ready for them!

RagsReborn's Summer Craft Show Schedule.

Sorry the picture is little blurry... apparently, I'm not very good at screen shots.

Everyone loves a little shopping during the summer, right? I know you do and here are three craft shows for you to get your shop on! I won't be participating in any craft shows throughout the months of July, August, and (maybe) September so I hope you can make it out to say hello before my craft show hiatus. Don't worry though, I'll still be sewing, selling on Etsy and I'm always ready for custom orders!

The Village Fair-
Saturday May 6, 2017 10am - 4pm at Casady Square on the corner of Britton and Pennsylvania
www.thevillageok.org/villagefair.html and https://www.facebook.com/villagefaircasadysquare/
       This show benefits The Village Library and is their annual fundraising event. I get all of my books through the Metropolitan Library System so I was very excited and eager to participate when I heard about this event. It is outdoors with lots of great handmade & direct sales vendors, food trucks, entertainment and it promises to be a fun filled family event. The shops at Casady Square are also holding their annual sidewalk sale on the same day so come prepared for some serious shopping. No storms this Saturday, too!

Junk Utopia-
Saturday June 3, 2017 9am - 5pm at the Centennial Building at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds
https://www.facebook.com/events/647318792106360/ and https://www.facebook.com/officialjunkutopia/
       This will be another RagsReborn + Moon Drake Soaps combo event. If you want to purchase both handmade soaps and handmade pillows from one booth, this is the only place you'll find them! This is also another Revolve Media show (the same company that hosted Wanderlust Pop-up shops). They do an amazing job with craft shows and attract the best artisans & crafters.  I expect a large variety of repurposed and handmade vendors--no direct sales.

OUHSC Spring Craft Fair-
Friday June 9, 2017 10am - 2pm at Robert M. Bird Library at OU Health Sciences Center
       I participated in the Fall Craft Fair last November and had such a good time that I had to sign up again for the spring show. The entire library is transformed into a mall of sorts with booths selling jewelry, home decor, clothing and food. There is a good mix of direct sales and handmade goods. Let's all play a little hookie and come out to shop on a work day... sure does beat being at the office!

While it would really make my day if you came out to one of these shows, I completely understand if you can't... and not to worry because RagsReborn will still be selling pillows on Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/RagsRebornGifts - all of my inventory is currently listed and updated in real time) and I do in-person deliveries throughout the metro Oklahoma City area. Custom pillows make great gift ideas. I free hand draw all of my patterns so each one is unique!

Check out this adorable Trolls pillow I made as a birthday gift.

rags|reborn introduces the Fall Craft Show line up!

Boy am I ready for Fall Craft Show Season!! (I'm also ready for fall weather.) I hear this is when shows pick up for vendors. Thank gawd!! I didn't participate in September or October shows last year but I'm sure anything will be better than June, July & August shows. Summer shows were absolutely terrible, like really really bad. (;_;) Worse than Spring Craft Show Season, and that was pretty rough. The only good show I had over the summer was Quarter Mania the last Friday night in August. That event always rocks! 

My advice for other vendors: Spring/Summer craft show season is a big risk. Do your research before applying for shows and be super careful of dates. I learned that most people aren't wanting to spend money because they just blew it all on summer vacation or back-to-school shopping. Don't expect to make a lot of sales but it is a good time to get some experience and hand out business cards. 

Besides Quarter Mania, the only spring/summer shows I did well at (and plan to return to next year) are The Spring Handmade Show at The Crown Center, Western Oaks Christian Church's annual Spring Craft Show and (if they make it reoccurring) the craft show at Trinity Free Will Baptist Church. That was a first year show and it was tiny but really well put on & well received. 

There are two shows that are on my "maybe" list. 

       The first one is A Bazaar for all Seasons at Del City Christian Church. It was so well organized. Just look at that sexy vendor packet I got! LOL The volunteers were also very appreciative of the vendors. There was a group of church ladies walking around all day with the sole purpose of handing out free snacks. I didn't make any money but I didn't have to spend any on food, either, so that was really nice. One volunteer from the youth group, Matthew, helped me unload and load my car with a smile on his face. He also walked around with water to keep the vendors hydrated all day. 

       The main problem I had with this show (besides the fact that my sales completely sucked) was that there was very little advertising. The craft bazaar was held in three buildings. The main building got all of the advertising and traffic. The other two buildings only got about one third of the traffic as the main building. The building that I was in also held the silent auction (its main attraction). The silent auction was all the way in the back room (fellowship hall). The vendors were placed in the various class rooms that lead to the fellowship hall. All the signs pointed straight to the silent auction... nothing directed shoppers to come into the class rooms. I saw people walk right by the room I was in...tunnel vision straight to the auction to place their bids and then straight back out without stopping. At one point, I stood outside the classroom and harassed shoppers to come into our room. 

The other show that I might or might not return to is the Norman DeMolay show at the Masonic Lodge. This show had great advertising (the show coordinators were taking pictures and posting on social media all day long), volunteers (the teens in the DeMolay Masons Club-or whatever its called-are top notch. A crowd of them ran to my car to help me unload as soon as I pulled up. And they all eagerly offered to help me pack up after the show. I barely lifted a finger!) and reception (busy flow of traffic all day). Everyone stopped by and looked at my booth. They all had nice things to say. What they didn't have was money. No one had a single penny to spend. It wasn't just me, a couple of the other vendors near me also had dismal sales. But this show is held three times a year... August, October and December. So, I might participate in the October or December one next year. 

Anyway, I'm trying to put January thru May behind me and focus all of my positive energy on the rest of the year. Like I mentioned earlier, I haven't participated in fall shows before and I haven't heard of any of the shows that I've signed up for in the vendor community, but I'm feeling good because these are established shows. (And I'm sure I'll see my vendor friends there!) The only show that is relatively new is the one at the Cole Community Center. I believe that the shows at the other three churches have been around a while. Which is great for me... they'll already have an established customer base and marketing strategy. I've already started an autumn line up of pillows. I'll have fall colors & themes and a lot of OU & OSU college football pillows. I'm excited! 

One last thing... and it's not on my Fall Show Schedule flyer... I'm going to be in a car show (https://www.facebook.com/events/677548479078250/) this weekend! I think I'm the only vendor there because the main focus is on the classic cars. It'll be held at my friend, Laura's, salon (https://www.facebook.com/doowopglamshop/). Laura has been doing my hair since she was in beauty school and her salon is great. I am so proud of her for following her dream and am grateful that she let me bring some of my pillows to show. I've never been to a car show so this should be a fun experience. It's a retro themed car show so all of the ladies at the salon will be dressed up pin-up style and there's going to be a barbershop quarter there to provide entertainment. It's an outdoor event (another first for me) but the weather should be cooling down. Yay! It promises to be a fun filled day so I hope to see everyone there!

RagsReborn is back from summer break.

I'll type this out later... I know it's a little small to read.

I have a craft show this Saturday!! \(^_^)/ My first one since May. It was nice having two months off but I'm eager to get back to showing my pillows. I've missed the craft show excitement and my fellow vendor friends. What have I been doing this June & July? Well, lets see...

I started working with various fabrics. Don't worry, I still sew t-shirt pillows but I've also started exploring different fabric options. (Every artist needs to grow!)
       A coworker suggested that I sew burlap pillows, which is currently my major project. I hope to have a large selection of burlap pillows at my upcoming shows--everyone cross your fingers & pray that I finish in time. I've also played around with lace, satin and velvet (all pretty difficult to work with). And I've purchased a bunch of fun patterned quilter's cotton. If you have any fabric or pillow ideas, please send them my way!

Aside from sewing pillows, I've also branched out to be the local seamstress of my workplace. LOL I turned a shower curtain into a two panel window curtain for a coworker. Almost all of my coworkers are familiar with RagsReborn and we have tossed around ideas for all sorts of projects. I have definitely seen an increase in custom orders over these past few months. Passing out business cards to any and everyone is starting to pay off! 

While I was on summer break, I visited some local boutiques. I stopped in Sparkle Shack Gifts/Jenny's Thrift and Velvet Bird Antiques to chat with the owners and leave business cards. I'm not ready to be showcased in a shop, yet, but I'm certainly entertaining the idea. I also participated in craft show "swag bags" for the first time. There are three shows that I wanted to do but couldn't, for one reason or another. To show my support, I met with the show coordinators and left some business cards for them to use with their promotional goodies. 

So, that was my summer break. Now back to business! Here is a list of my upcoming craft shows:

SATURDAY JULY 30:

Summer Fun Craft Bazaar

9am - 4pm

Norman Masonic Lodge #38

1700 N. Porter Ave.

Norman, OK 73071

SATURDAY AUGUST 13:

Indian Taco Sale & Indie Market

11am - 2:30pm

OK Choctaw Tribal Alliance

5320 S. Youngs Blvd.

Oklahoma City, OK 73119

SATURDAY AUGUST 20

A Bazaar For All Seasons

9am - 3pm

Del City Christian Church

4340 SW 15th

Del City, OK 73115

FRIDAY AUGUST 26:

Quarter Mania "Fun"draiser benefiting The Friends of the Mustang Animal Shelter

5:30pm - 8:30pm

Mustang Town Center

1201 N. Mustang Road

Mustang, OK 73064

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10:

Third Annual Classic Car Show

Noon - 5pm

Doo-Wop Glam Shop

5581 NW Expressway

Warr Acres, OK 73132

It's Spring Craft Show Season!!! \(^_^)/ YES!!

      

       I love to read literature. 

I love the art of story telling and character development and all the little details. 

       I love using my imagination. 

Unfortunately, I think that has made me rather long winded. I find myself getting too immersed in my stories when I converse with coworkers about my weekend. I elaborate too much and take too long to get to the point. But tonight will be different... I'll be snappy; three months, five craft shows and a short description of each. Let's get this going!

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 26TH:

       WEST OKC QUARTER MANIA "FUN"DRAISER IN MUSTANG, OKLAHOMA

       This will be my first charity auction. All of the vendor booth fees will go directly to the Mustang Animal Shelter. (Yay! Puppies! Adopt, don't shop!) If you buy a paddle to participate in the auction or get dinner at the event, those proceeds will go to the shelter as well. The Facebook page for the event is here.

       I had no idea what "Quarter Mania" is until I signed up for this event. (I still don't quite know all of the rules.) From what I gather, all you need to do is to show up, buy a paddle for $3 and then bid on items for a quarter each. For each quarter you bid on an item, you get your paddle's number thrown into the hopper. When the auction starts, they draw numbers out of the hopper and if your number is called, you get the item regardless of how many quarters you bid. Of course, the more quarters you bid, the higher your chances are of getting the item. Here are my three items I've donated to the auction.

 Animal themed gift basket

 TV & movie themed gift basket

OU themed gift basket

SATURDAY MARCH 5TH:

       D.U.C.K WEEK JUNK SHOW IN PIEDMONT, OKLAHOMA

       This will be my first official craft show of 2016 and I'm pretty excited about it. The event organizers are doing one heck of a job on advertising and promotion! There will be some direct sales consultants (boo) but there will also be a lot of craft/junk vendors, too (hooray). Here's the Facebook page for this event. Two words- food.trucks.
       I didn't know what D.U.C.K week was before I signed onto this event. It's a charity acronym that stands for Doing Unselfish Charity for Kids & and an event that the Piedmont High School does each year. The residents of Piedmont petition the school to support their child, then all the proceeds from the week's events go to the children that were selected. I think it's pretty great of the community to be a part of this. There is a $3 admission to this event but it will be worth it. There are both indoor and outdoor events and promises fun for the entire family.

SATURDAY MARCH 12TH:

       CREATIVE CRAFT FESTIVAL IN NORMAN, OKLAHOMA

       There's nothing too out of the ordinary about this show; it won't be a charity event and there won't be live music but there will be unique handmade items, craft vendors and artists. Just like how a good old fashioned craft fair should be!
       I have two vendor friends (Glass Soldier Gifts and Pens & Things by Paul) who do this show annually and they love it. I have only heard good things about this show and I really wanted to do it last holiday season but I did not have time. So, I'm pretty pumped that I am a part of it this spring. There are a handful of shows throughout the year at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds and this will be the first one to kick off 2016!

SATURDAY APRIL 16TH:

       WESTERN OAKS CHRISTIAN CHURCH 7TH ANNUAL CRAFT SHOW IN OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

       This will be my first time participating in this show but the show has been around almost a decade! 7th annual craft show!! From what I've been told, spaces for vendors fill up quickly. When I applied, RagsReborn was put on a waiting list and the show committee had to decide to open up more rooms within the church for additional indoor booths. (Thank goodness that they did!) That is just one indicator of how big this show will be. Here is the Facebook page. The photos section shows previous years' indoor and outdoor craft booths with lots of variety in items for sale.

       As you can tell from the picture above, I have just barely started to prepare for this show. I have almost all of my product for the February and March shows complete but I haven't done much for April shows. I have a lot of fun shirts and ideas swirling around in my head so keep posted for new pillows. I post on Instagram pretty regularly. (P.S. I can't get this to type black. For some reason, Blogger really wants it to be green.)

SATURDAY APRIL 30TH:

       THE CROWN CENTER'S HANDMADE SHOW IN MOORE, OKLAHOMA

       This is the ONLY all handmade show that I have ever been to as a shopper and as a vendor. There are absolutely zero direct sales and no boutique items. It's all crafters, artisans, upcyclers, etc. There are booths with quilts, jewelry, wood workers, religious items, peanut brittle, baby bows... Craft show perfection!!

       I participated in their holiday show last year and absolutely loved it. The show organizer was amazing, the other vendors were friendly and the shoppers and church community were very supportive. It ranks in my top three of shows that I have ever done. At the end of the holiday show last November, the show organizer invited me back to be a part of the spring show and I could not have been happier. I have been looking forward to this show for months and cannot wait to see all of you guys there!

Erica made Ruthie a stuffed animal.

One of my friends had her first child this year. (Congrats Courtney & Alex!!) I was going to sew her a mommy/daughter pillow set for Christmas but I had already made pillows for her baby shower gift and didn't want to be redundant. I decided I would try to make a rag doll (or I guess this is a "rag bear") instead. It turned out okay for my first stuffed animal ever but I don't think I will be moving into the toy business any time soon. LOL

I made this while I was at the Holiday Handmade Craft Show a few weeks back. The show died down after lunch -- there were bad storms forecasted-- so I had a lot of downtime. I didn't have a pattern so I had to just imagine what a stuffed teddy bear should look like and make it up as I go. Luckily, one of the volunteer's daughters helped me with this project. It's always good to have kid input when you're making a kid project. Shout out to Mary Kate (age 8, third grade, not scared of bugs and can finger crochet with both yarn and Wal-Mart sacks)--thanks for your help!!

Handsewn stuffed bear tutorial-

       Materials needed: different colored/patterned scrap cloth (I used t-shirts, of course!), sewing machine, scissors, fabric chalk, hot glue gun & glue sticks, pins, cotton stuffing, needle &thread, googly eyes, any other accessories (I used felt, some wings off a dog Halloween costume and ribbon)

Pardon my mess...this picture might or might not show all the materials needed.

1. This bear is made out of 8 small stuffed pieces --> 1 head + 2 ears + 1 body + 2 arms + 2 legs.                Draw & cut out two pieces of each part of the stuffed animal. I folded my cloth in half so I would have two pieces when I cut it out (it made for less to draw & trace). I also pinned around the perimeter before I cut so my two pieces would stay together.

       I didn't have much for patterns since I was at my craft show and I didn't bring all my art/sewing supplies. But I got some good ideas from Mary Kate. The body is the size of the entire Styrofoam plate and the head is the inner smaller circle.

My work space is entirely too small : (  Mary Kate is there helping me!!

2. After cutting out the 8 pieces --well 16 pieces, actually-- needed for the bear, sew the pairs together (that's why we needed two of each). Leave an opening on each piece for the stuffing. 

       If you're adding anything (the big heart, for example), sew it on now. If not, add stuffing into the pieces and sew the opening up. I use a sewing machine for everything, but if you don't have one, this project can be sewn by hand. 

3. Arrange your pieces to form a bear. Stitch the parts together by hand. 

4. Use hot glue to glue on the googly eyes and any other accessories. I wanted this to look like a rag doll so I glued on different colored ribbon and felt hearts for decoration. I finished the bear (shown below) at the show and added the ribbon later when I got home. The finished project is the first two pictures I posted on this blog.

       I stitched the wings onto the body piece (toward the end of step #2) but I think I probably should have waited and hot glued them on last instead because they ended up being lower than I wanted and a little lopsided. But they looked fine when I stitched them to the body. I guess that's why you wait til last to add on details. 

I had all the pieces sewn together but I couldn't finish this at The Crown Center because I didn't have a needle & thread. Mary Kate wanted the bear done right then and there so she and her two brothers went around asking all the adults if they had any needle & thread. It was pretty adorable. Her youngest brother didn't understand why I couldn't just use my pins because they looked like a needle. The closest thing they could find for me was knitting needles, which were technically a type of needle but not exactly what I needed. 

       Wes came up after getting off work so he could help me pack up. I called him and asked for needle & thread (I had tons at home but forgot to bring them) and he saved the day. The bear was complete!! 

Courtney & Alex are really into anime and fantasy and I assume they will raise their child on Fairy Tale and Blue Exorcist so I wanted to give this bear some element of fantasy. Glittery purple wings was all I had. I don't watch any anime so I really don't even know if characters have wings but in my mind they do, so thus, the bear has wings.