I have been working hard as I am sure many of you all are during this busy show season. Between getting time in my work shop, reading up on some articles from Art magazines like Crafts Report and blogs, packing and doing shows it is pretty consuming, right? In all of this "stuff" that gets done I also think about art shows, the people who do shows, and so on say when driving, dinner time, etc. In these random thoughts, I wanted to get some opinions from you all regarding doing shows around the holidays. The Holiday/Kris Kringle Marts, Black Friday Shows... do you all do anything different at these shows than the ones you do the rest of the year? What I am getting at is do you offer a "Christmas/Holiday" line, decorate your booth for the holidays (say using Christmas lights or play holiday music - if allowed), or even wear red and green clothing to "get into the spirit"? Have you seen a difference in traffic in your booth or sales in doing something different for the holidays vs. not changing a thing?
In the past, as I probably will do this year too, I have changed my table coverings using more reds and greens than neutral colors. This year I am thinking of doing more silver and ice blues (as my business is By the Bay Botanicals with a color theme of lime green and teal blue) in my display. I do offer some holiday line items which tend to be tried and true sellers. But that is me, care to share some of the things you do for the sake of getting more or better ideas in return?
Side note, the photo is one I took in MN of my mother in-laws place for Christmas holiday.
I have two holiday shows coming up - one pre Thanksgiving the next first week in December. I don't think I'll do any special decorating - although we might do something with a tree - simply because I am creating some low pricepoint paintings that could be hung as decorations.
The issue with the tree is the amount of space it takes up. Still thinking through this one in my head.
I like your idea of the garland around the poles and using that to hang smaller items. I think that will work well with your small bags and it might even work for me. Thanks for sharing the idea!
Was just thinking about this a few minutes ago... I can't see putting a Christmas tree or something THAT crazy in my booth as I have nothing to put on it and hinder what I really have to offer. However, I find subliminal advertising fun and am always thinking of what I can subtly do to display something differently. A thought I have, and would like thoughts on this of course, is using some greenery tinsel and wind it around the poles of my canopy. Then, since I make simmering potpourri and it is packaged in a 3x5 bag with a hole punch at the top, I use simple hooks to hang the simmering potpourri attaching it to the greenery. Just say in just the front area of the booth as people enter. The reasoning behind it is it could be a unique holiday decorative eye catcher to pull people off the aisle to illicit them to want to touch or smell possibly luring them into the booth and at the same time eliminate space to display the potpourri. In other words I wouldn't need to bring a table or extra shelving to display the items that would be hung. In further visualizing this, one side (pole) could be for the simmering potpourri and the other side for my sachets (lavender and cedar). It seems win win, but what cons am I missing in this idea? Here's what the ziplock bag looks like that I use. You'll have to use your imagination to visualize it filled with potpourri and labels too.
I haven't done a Holiday show before, but I have an app sitting in front of me now. I'm going to call them this morning for more information. My normal line of work is Nature Photography. What I plan on doing differently is searching through my thousands of images to see if I have some more winter scenery shots. I do a lot of note cards, so I'll look for images that can be used as "Season's Greeting" cards. I've already got a couple that I've used in the past myself. I'm also planning on putting out some more small framed pictures. I'll probably do 2 or 3 sets of 3 photos each, 4 x 6 photos, matted and framed.
I engrave a lot of ornaments. In the past I had this cool purple tinsel tree in my booth, but no more. I would have been in good shape if it was the stinking tree that I was selling. Instead I spent more time telling them to go to Target and they did not look at my artwork. It was odd. I know it is good to get their attention, but this did not work. I think decorating is mostly distracting from the real focus. Maybe a few white lights, but that would be it. I save the decorating for my front yard and living room!
Replies
The issue with the tree is the amount of space it takes up. Still thinking through this one in my head.
I like your idea of the garland around the poles and using that to hang smaller items. I think that will work well with your small bags and it might even work for me. Thanks for sharing the idea!