I like to always find ways to make my business better. What business doesn't? I love making my own tags, bags, displays, anything to enhance my booth/table/site and increase sales. Since I am the frugal, crafty type, I am always on the hunt for items to use, reuse or recycle. The school where I work had a carnival on the last day. One of the booths that we have is the White Elephant. Donations of used goods are sold to fund our next years activities. I picked up a box of party favor bags. 8 bags to a pak, and I had 21 paks. I knew instantly what I could do with them.
I love the round center
.
Opens up to fit earring, bracelets and small necklaces.
Look how deep the bag is!!
The ribbon is an added bonus. How pretty.
Someone must have ordered these for a party or wedding.
My first thought was to get some round labels, print my name and paste them on to the bag. I checked with Staples and they wanted 17.00 a package. I did not know whether I would have the need for round labels again, so crossed out that idea. My next thought was to use address labels. I had already purchased some from the dollar store.
Plain old boring white labels.
Since I had gotten them from the dollar, store(Thank you Dollar Tree), I saw that they compared to Avery 8160. If you know Avery Labels, they can be quite expensive. Inside the folder was instructions on how to print on the labels using MS-Word. Here is what I printed out. Simple and to the point.
Now at this stage of the game, I thought about add some other embellishment to the labels to give it some style. Here is what I did
Nothing at all. The only other thing I did was to paste them down at an angle.
Nothing more, nothing less. I just want my business name and the bag to stand out.
This past Friday, I did a jewelry show at the UNI(University of Northern Iowa) Maucker Union. Despite the table being small(6ft) and the price of the table, I enjoy this arena. I meet a lot of people, some old customers, some new. I sit in an area where people have to pass me to get to other areas of the union. The Maucker is a hang out for the college kids. They meet, greet, and eat. They also have on site bank and meeting rooms. Perfect setup. I did well. I even have some orders I have to fill for new clients. Turned out to be a nice day.
Prior to this I had an uneasy feeling. Maybe I was not prepared, or maybe I did not have enough merchandise. I just wasn't feeling it. Days before the show, I could not find my fliers, I lost my pliers and my thoughts was not on jewelry. Nothing was coming to mind about what to make. I had a block. Adding insult to injury, my work schedule had changed and I would have to work until 8:00 the night before the show. I had talked with one of my friends who changed her schedule, she suggested I do the same. It took me a while to go and talk with my lead teacher, but she gave me the OK to work another day.
My mind started churning and I felt that old familiar tingle. Ideas was popping in my head and I started to think about jewelry again. This was Tuesday afternoon. Once I arrived home, I started getting things prepared, prepackaging. I had planned to make jewelry all day Thursday. Wednesday night, I packed my bags with bags, receipt books, jewelry stands and all my other "stuff". I also had a fail safe. I can cancel the show with one days notice without being charged.
OK, things did not go as planned. I did not get started until 12:00 and I was up until 2:30 that morning, still making jewelry. Some doubts started creeping up. Do I have enough merchandise to cover the table, my time and materials. At this point I had no choice but to go ahead with the show. I couldn't cancel. I finished making making jewelry and started to pack my jewelry for transport. My merchandise looked pretty low. You do what you gotta do.
If you don't know, there is a GOD. While unpacking, some how I had packed a bag of earring necklaces and bracelets that I had made some time ago. Thank you GOD. My outlook felt better and better. What started as apprehension, turned out to be a pretty good day. As with all my shows, I take pictures.
For some reason, I love making memory wire bracelets.
My customers love it too
This piece I created after 12:00am.
I love orange for fall or summer.
I made the set with glass seed beads.
I had enough beads left over to make some very long, light weight and chic earrings. You can see other merchandise on my table.
Aren't the cute?
Here is the complete set.
I love it. I won't tell you if I sold it or not. Next time.
I promise to make a set for one of the ladies who works there. She wants a red necklace for her sister.
These are all the red beads Ihave left. She wants different shades of red and silver.
