r/CraftFairs

Hi there! I'm running a holiday makers market in November to raise funds for the charity I volunteer with. This is my first time doing anything like this so I want it to be a success and enjoyable for everyone. Here's some things I'm doing that I think are good: we will have a cafe with mocktails, seating area, interactive stops like live drawing, face painting and pet/family photos with Santa, we are having a kids play area with a colouring raffle for a Christmas candy basket (think like what they used to do at groceries stores in the 90s), limiting the types of vendors so there's not too much direct competition (i.e. we have 40 vendors and are limiting to 4 knit/crochet artists etc), placing vendors of similar wears far apart, advertising budget of 100$ (we are also getting free advertising from local radios and social media users), giving vendors a concession voucher for food and drink, group chat and emailing list to keep everything up to date, posting seating chart well in advance (3-4 months early) and are featuring a 50/50 draw + raffle baskets. Looking for any feedback or suggestions to make this event a success and lots of fun. Hoping to make a great impression with vendors so we can make this an annual event :)

Thanks so much everyone for the awesome ideas! I have lots to implement for this year and hopefully I have lots of great ideas to make next year even better!

hello everyone! i am only 18 but ive had an online business for a little while now, but i recently went to one of my first ever markets and loved it! but it got me curious about how i could be one of the booths, and also what i need in order to do that (ex. licensing, materials like tables, how much inventory i need, or whatever i may not think of since im completely unaware lol)

i am in washington state if that helps for answers! i really hope ill be able to do it in the near future!

oh, i also make things like bracelets, felt keychains, photocard holders, bookmarks, hair clips, things of that nature if that helps :3 thank you!

i’m going to write a lot because i’m anxious and thorough but will put a TLDR at the bottom lol. delete if not ok to post here! i’ve posted in a couple others so if you see more than once just trying to get the right input

i’ve been running a small craft business since the holiday season of 2023. i mostly sell small crochet and vinyl/cricut items at low price points with a few higher priced items! i have an etsy shop, take custom orders online, and do craft shows every once in awhile. june 2025 i had a super successful event (profitable!) even though it was a torrential storm at the show i still did well. i had more young girls (think older elementary-early high school) buying my items than my target audience which was 20 something girls & moms buying for their 20 something’s lol.

my best selling items were crochet scrunchies & accessories, some summer tops, book sleeves and acrylic bookmarks. during the holidays beanies & scarves do really well plus custom pet ornaments. i also get custom orders for cardigans. i have some small low priced crochet patterns on my etsy as well as editable canva templates for events lol.

after my successful show last year, i found out i was pregnant with my daughter & the first trimester destroyed me i couldn’t get any customs out so i finished my queue and stopped taking orders. i couldn’t even crochet or craft for fun because i developed arthritis around 20wks. we welcomed our baby this april and now that she’s 3m, im really missing the business and creating. i’d like to get back into things but needing some guidance. i’ve never had great social media presence but when i can dedicate the time to it i enjoy it. i have not posted since last july lol basically got pregnant and ghosted the business.

looking back at my business - it lacks direction. i love crafting and will honestly make anything someone asks because it’ll make me some extra money. but i have grown to hate custom orders, and big item market prepping is exhausting! i like writing crochet patterns and plan to continue that path, but i do realllly miss the markets. i want to get back into them but before i do that i feel like i need to realign on product offerings and what would actually sell. i know i wont clear out inventory at every market, but a lot of what ive made in the past are things i would want, but not necessarily what others would want.

as a new mom i’d love to try to tap into the baby space and i know it’s impossible to resist cute baby items. also knowing that younger girls were drawn to my items i want to keep fostering that area. i also love digital design like stickers & vinyl, silly baby onesies, and small accessories. but i feel like my brain has a bigger appetite than maybe one business should be? i just love to be creative and want to share that but dont want to bite off more than i can chew in a way that would be off putting or confusing to consumers.

given all of this - what kind of products do you see at craft fairs that you actually are interested in buying? is it only the small impulse things that really get you, or are the bigger more expensive items still a draw? and if a shop offered multiple different items like what i mentioned would you be turned off by it or still open to buying as long as the quality and uniqueness were there? sorry this is a lot but my postpartum brain is a mess. i feel like i need my business back to feel like myself again.

TLDR: wanting to start back up my small business after pregnancy & maternity leave but having a product and identity crisis. looking for insight on what people actually want to buy at craft shows. focus is crochet & vinyl based products but skilled with digital design. hoping to appeal to the baby crowd & preteen/tween girls since that’s where my success has been. thank you <3

Hello there! Apologies as this is my first post on Reddit for this.

I create western style and beaded jewelry, mostly for horse shows and rodeos. (Necklaces, earrings, saddle charms, key chains In beaded peyote stitch or other such beading styles.)

So far I have only been to very small events locally with just a little card table, my wares, and a table cloth.

But I was hoping to attend some of the more “fall” or “holiday” themed events comings up this year

Around what time do yall think it’s good to start making fall/holdiay inventory? This is a side hobby to my main income so I tend to build up inventory over time rather than all at once.

Is there a recommended time frame to have it finished by?

Any and all advice welcome, even harsh and honest.

Thank you!

Do you automatically disqualify a promoter if they’re using ai flyers?

Such a new phenomenon now that chat can generate some shoddy looking flyer that looks better than what some people used to be able to do themselves on canva.

I’m a designer turned creative director turned business owner so I do have a lot of complicated feelings about ai. I also know how much design services cost and empathize with the allure of using an ai one.

On the flip, it’s hard to believe someone who’s a legit businessperson could look at an ai flyer and say “yep that’s good”, when it looks exactly like 1000s of other flyers currently being generated and littering the internet. Don’t even get me started on why designers are needed in the first place and all of these flyers are actually awful in their own regard.

Anyway, original question- I’m so tempted to just automatically declining a fair for doing this. Then I turn around and see other more legit small businesses doing it too. Design services are expensive. Teaching yourself design basics and canva in an afternoon is free. But if you claim to support makers, why are you not even second guessing about these awful flyers that are doing nothing but diluting your brand trust?

I hope we see the end soon. I hope ChatGPT is still learning from real world design and not itself because if the latter, this world is about to get so much less aesthetic and more tacky lol.

I can not express well enough to newer ppl but the putting “creations” in your name is a bad idea. I am not kidding I just went a huge festival and it was booth after booth (atleast 50 vendors out of 200). I noticed an uptick last year when it seemed like every market at atleast 1 vendor with it, but this year it is crazy!!! Set yourself apart! When everyone is using the same word in their brand very few ppl will remember you!

… is following your gut instinct to decline a market that’s months away, and the market day arrives with record high temps AND thunderstorms.

I am so glad I’m having a lazy cozy day at home and not fighting heat stroke while desperately wrapping all my livelihood in tarps.

This is only my second craft show so Im still figuring a few things out! I have a 10x10 space and I own an 8ft table, 6 ft table, 4 ft table, and Ill be using a shirt rack (I dont know how big) and a t shirt display which is no bigger than half a foot about. Not sure where to put certain things as my last show they provided us with one table and I had a smaller space + less product