Behind the scenes of a one-woman operation
It looks like moving day at my house!
But it’s just the annual chaos that comes with getting ready for my first big craft show of the season. This year, it’s the Saturday right before Easter.
All the dish flowers, totems, bird baths and tea cup bird feeders I’ve made over the winter– including a few I’ve forgotten about–are heading for new homes in the yard of garden of their dreams. I devote one whole week to nothing else but the packing process. There’s much to clean, inventory, price, and carefully arrange into boxes. With all the glass and ceramic objects, I go through a lot of bubble wrap!
There are times I question my sanity. When I first starting making dish art, I never imagined the enormous effort it would be just getting these things to market. Afterall, they’re large and bulky, which limits the number of items I can take to any given craft show. What was I thinking?
When it’s not that easy
In the beginning, I displayed my dish flowers standing upright in 5 gallon buckets of sand which involved a lot of heavy lifting. Then, I’d wrestle them in and out of a small SUV that had been stuffed to the gills with great precision. Not only that, but all my display items including a garden trellis, my business sign and three plastic folding tables had to fit also. Safely. It looked like the proverbial clown car.
Many mornings, I’d arrive early at the venue for set up. Show after show, the scene was always the same. Glancing across the parking lot, I’d see all the other crafters bustling about with their husband and kids in tow. Their soaps, stickers, jewelry, quilts, and knit baby blankets all organized into small totes neatly stacked onto a small hand truck. A tad bit of jealousy would steal my joy and ruin my day if I let it.
I’m a one-woman operation. Carrying one box at a time, in and out, is a lot of trips back and forth to the vehicle. Not to mention destroying a valuable artwork if I stumble or lose my footing. And it takes more time to get ready and more time to break down when the show is over.
Everyone else, in a hurry to get back home after a long day, throws everything into bags and boxes to sort out later, and off they go! Not me. All the stuff that didn’t sell that day must be carefully re-wrapped and packed with precision. It has to be organized in a certain way , in a certain order or it won’t fit in the vehicle. Fifteen minutes after everyone’s gone, I’m still loading up.
Lightening one woman’s load
One night, I see a fellow pulling a small wagon made of canvas. He emptied its contents into the back of his van. Then, I watch astonished, as he effortlessly folds the wagon up to about the size of a bed roll.
I’d never seen anything like it, and it was exactly what I needed! “Where did you get that?”, I asked. “Wal Mart has ’em”, he replies. “Only $45-$50 bucks for a small one.” I’m sure he never realized what a huge burden was lifted from me that night. I didn’t sell a single thing at that show. Instead, I got something that made a lonely night worth it, and in more ways than one.
It’s called a folding wagon and the one I have is made by Ozark Trail (Wal-Mart brand). The wheels are plastic, but I’m always on pavement anyway. It’s light weight and compact so I can slip it behind the driver’s seat in my car. As for dimensions, it’s about 35 inches long and 18 inches wide with nice high sides that snugly secure my dish art in transit.
Disclaimer: My delight in this product and my recommendation is mine alone, provided as a help to readers of this blog post. It is not an ‘advertisement’. I receive no compensation or benefits from doing so, and have no connections to the manufacturer or retailer.
Getting an attitude changer
The right tool is not only a game changer, its an attitude adjustment. There’s much less tendency to be envious of others who have the help of families. Am I not blessed also? Now, every time I do a craft show, I whip this little buggy out and flop it open. In it, I can fit at least two banker-sized boxes that hold my garden art pieces and usually a third, smaller box or bag.
The result is far fewer trips back and forth, a significant difference in set up time. It’s less stress on my back and though I’m fairly sure footed, the cart is a worry free transport unit if I do slip or trip.
Now, I feel much more confident as a vendor strolling into a craft show with my pretty red wagon in tow. This thing is a work horse, and its strong. too! Though I currently use a different method to display my art, it can even carry those buckets of sand for the times when I do need to use them!
Other short stories you may enjoy:
