Pom Poms - behind the scenes

Remember the pom poms in our booth I mentioned earlier today??

I just had to share this behind-the-scenes view of hanging them up.  We taped them to the inside of the tent ceiling, but it's really high.

Kilee's husband helped up tremendously with set up and tear down.  Here he is, hanging the pom poms, which seems pretty normal.....

 Til you see what he's standing on (mental note - bring a ladder next time!) - it's a flimsy stool that barely fits on top of a folding chair - yikes!

The Home of....

My sign, left over from the craft fair....

The other day my 8 year old picked it up (yeah, it took me days and days to actually move my craft fair stuff from out of the living room...) and said "hey mom, let's hang this by our front door, and over it make another sign that says, 'Home Of'.  You know, Home of Sugar Bee Crafts.  Wouldn't that be good?"

I love my blog and all, but a welcome sign that states "home of Sugar Bee Crafts" might be a little much - but then again.......

Craft Fair Booth - Set Up and Tips

I know, you've been waiting and waiting to see our booth from the craft fair I did last weekend - well, here it is in all it's glory.  Keep in mind I took all the pictures pretty late into the second day, so if it seems empty, that may be why.  Anyways, here it is - I think it was the cutest one there!!

It was fun to do it as a group - for several reasons:

--we split the booth cost (they can be pricey)

--we were able to bounce set-up ideas off of each other

--we all didn't have to be there at once - we could run around and shop at other booths, stand in line for various fair type foods (I so wish I would have taken a picture of Kilee eating that giant turkey leg with rubber gloves on!), run for bathroom breaks, etc.

- - -Craft Booth Fair Tips from these great gals are on down, so keep on reading..... - - - 

(find the tutorial on the utility aprons HERE)
-----We wanted a nice clean,  bright look.  So we gathered white sheets from various thrift stores/garage sales to use as table cloths and curtain dividers (our tent didn't have sides).  To bring bright colors into the space we did a few things.

Duct Tape Rug: - - originally we wanted a rug to pull the space together and make it inviting.  I wanted to find a discarded rug at a garage sale and stencil it.  But I never did.  So I bought duct tape, thinking about THIS cool floor.  I just bought a couple of rolls of duct tape and taped a pattern to the ground.  The faux rug got LOTS of comments.

Pennant Banners: since there were 3 separate shops, we each choose a color as our theme.  On our individual tables, we had pennant banners in our color.  Across the front and back of the tent, we had larger banners that included each of our colors.  I have a tutorial on how to make pennant banners HERE. (and in these first two following pictures, the portable peg board cases have a tutorial HERE.)

Pom Poms: we also had pom poms in our colors hanging on the front of the tent and from the ceiling inside - it really brought our booth a whole new level.  Martha Stewart has a great tutorial - they're super easy to make.  They were made ahead of time except for the fluffing out part- that we did as we set up so they were easier to transport.

-----So, moving on from color and brightness, here's some views of our table displays.  I think layering the display on lots of levels is a must  - makes for a more interesting setup.

We used stools and small cabinets to get different height levels.  The outfit sample display was up and at eye level - it drew in lots of looks.

A bucket on the floor held blankets:

Outfits hung from the bars of the tent - we tried to use all the space the best we could:

A couple other display boards that sat on the ground:

Under one of our main tables we had a shorter table pulled out slighter, to add a lower level to display things on - see the shorter table sticking out:

-----Signs - we had lots of signs all over the tables - little chalkboards on sticks - sorry I forgot to take pictures of them, but we got the idea HERE.

In addition to that, we had a big arrow sign out front to bring people in - we kept with the chalkboard theme.  I just had Trevor cut some scrap wood and I spraypainted it with chalkboard paint - I'll hopefully have a tutorial on how he built the bottom of the stand coming soon. (update: tutorial HERE)

 We each also printed our logo at OfficeMax (it cost about $10, mine is 1 ft by 2ft).  Then I sprayed the back with spray glue and stuck it to a foam-core board.  These hung in the back and side of our display.

Also kind of in the "sign section" - we each had business cards on the tables and passed them out to anyone who seemed remotely interested in the products.  The other gals put discount codes to their etsy shops on the back of their cards, so they can track how much traffic they get in future sales because of the craft booth.


 -----A few more Tips and Hints about Craft Fair Booths from the other gals (keep in mind, this was our first one, so we're not experts!)-------

Holly, from HollyberrysDolls Etsy shop - she sells cute clothes for 18in (American Girl) Dolls, doll princess outfits, matching girl and dolls outfits and jammies, and the cutest doll sleeping bags.

Her hints:
--Taking credit cards is a must...2/3 of my sales were credit cards.  
--Presentation obviously to draw them in.  
--I would also say to know what type of audience the event will cater to.  That way you know if they are willing to pay your price or not.

Kilee, from One little Belt - she sells baby and toddler belts, which, if you've ever tried to look for one, are next to impossible to find.  She was telling me about how they make them - it involves a whole hide of a cow, and they cut it into strips - who knew!

Her hints:

1. Start early. Brainstorm and gather ideas of the look and feel of your ideal booth and start there. It will evolve as you go, but having a rough sketch early will help a lot. You'll also be able to watch at thrift stores, garage sales and for deals on the things you need if you have a month (or two) to look.

2. Take credit cards. The swipe devices are free and simple to use. It saved a lot of sales for us.

3. Pick a theme and decorate. A lot of buyers were drawn to the eyecatching decor we used. It helped get customers in.

4. Share a booth with a friend or bring one for the entire time. It was great to have someone who could let you run to the bathroom and keep you company. We also found it was much easier to talk up each other's products than our own. We helped each other sell more!

Feathers and Tinsel - all the rage!!

You've heard of hair feathers, right??  How about Hair Tinsel?? (that's later in the post - keep reading!)
 Did you know that you can put them in yourself - SO easy!!!

First up, Hair Feathers:

So, the kind I got aren't actually feathers - they're better if you ask me.  They're hair extensions, dyed bright colors.  I got them from The Button Smith on Etsy.  Info from them:

Here they are, what you have been looking for Cruelty free grizzly hair extensions. These are a perfect substitute for feather hair extension. These are made of regular hair extensions that are dyed and colored, so no animals were harmed in the production of these extensions. 
They are brand new condition. 
Can be blow dried, curled, and straightened on low temperature, but for the best curls we recommend you pin-curl it while it drys.
Wash just like normal hair, but would recommend using shampoo for colored hair.

What you do is take a small section of hair, thread it through a bead and push the bead up against the scalp.  Then stick the bound end of the feather into the bead (I cut the bound end of the feather in half - it was a little long and I didn't want it poking heads).  Then grab some pliers and smoosh the bead flat.  If it's too long for your hair, just trim the extension ends.  That's it!

My girls and all their friends have them.  And I joined in on the fun!

 You can wash and style them just like hair - here you see it winding through her hairdo:

At salons, you'll pay $12-15 to get one put in.  But did you know they're so much cheaper?!?!  At The Button Smith, you can get a pack of 5 feather alternatives, including 5 beads, for just $8.50.  Only $3 to ship it, so that makes it come to $2.30 each - great price!  Or if you know a bunch of people you could all go in together and get 20 for $28 - awesome, right?!?  So check out The Button Smith for all that....

 Are you noticing I'm sporting a hair feather AND tinsel??

Hair Tinsel
What's tinsel - I think it's the next big thing!  It's thin strands of tinsel, but for use in your hair - you can style it just like hair, wash it, etc.

I got my hair tinsel from the Art Wildflowers shop on Etsy.  I love the little extra bling factor.

Info from them:
 NOTE - the SHINY hair tinsel is usually about half as thick as the SPARKLE,
so if you want a slightly more subtle look, then the Shiny type is what you want... 
If you want real "knock-'em-dead-BLING" then go for the holographic sparkle type!

This is TOP-OF-THE-LINE silk metallic hair tinsel (sometimes called "Bling String" & "Hair Flair"). This is a QUALITY product that can be washed, conditioned, curled & even flat ironed (to 400 degrees). I even have friends that dye their hair while wearing it!

It was developed by Hair Stylists & you see it worn all the time by Hollywood & rock stars. It's SUPER-FUN for Adults, Teens & little Girls have a blast wearing it too! It's great to wear to a rave, party, wedding, night on the town, or even with your every day blue jeans! 

I like the Holographic ones - they're thicker and really shiny:

Now remember, hair tinsel is like a strand of hair - they're pretty thin.  But you don't need much for that extra kick.  One strand is really long, so I took one strand and folded it in half, then in half again, so in my hair it looks like 4 strands but it came from one long strand.

Once again, super cheap to buy these and do it yourself.  They come with instructions on how to tie them into your hair, or you can use them with your hair feathers and smash them into the bead thing.

You can get 8 holographic strands for $4.00, plus $2 shipping, so $0.75 total for each person.  That's a deal!  Or get a bunch of people together and you can get 20 (choose your own colors) for $7.50 - Awesome!

So hop on Etsy, and get to ordering!!
Hair Feathers: The Button Smith
Hair Tinsel: Art Wildflowers

they both sent me product to review for this post, but all opinions are mine, and I'm already ordering from them again!

Nightstands - from a desk!

You can be jealous - my nightstands are amazing!!  And I'm here with a quick tutorial for you of how to make nightstands from a desk.

You see the pop of color they bring to that whole wall (um, just ignore that the pillow isn't really sewn - it's just fabric wrapped around some other pillow to help you and I visualize what the look could be if I ever get around to sewing pillows.....) (remember, my wall stencil can be seen here and the ceiling inset dilemma can be seen here)

I love the all the drawers and the unique curve that they have:

So yep, these came from a desk - seriously!!  I can't take credit for the idea - my sister-in-law said she was chopping up a desk to convert it to nightstands, and I thought it was genius.  So I started haunting Craigslist for a cheap desk.  I found it, solid wood - for $10 - awesome!! The top was a little rough, but that's part of the charm, right?

I enlisted Trevor's help.  He cut free each stack of drawers from the middle part.  Aren't I nice to showcase his new motorcyle :)

Then he routered the cut edge to make it match the manufactured edge and sanded it smooth.

After painting and putting them in our room, I had to ask him which edge he did - so obviously he did a great job, since I can't even tell:

I primed and painted everything.  The color is green even though it looks yellow.  Trevor calls it yellow.  But I wanted green - and the paint is called "gecko" - who has ever heard of a yellow gecko?  So I call it green.  I actually liked the drawer pulls it came with, so I just soaked them in mineral spirits overnight and scrubbed on them with a toothbrush to clean the up a little, then put them back on - -

And voila, in their place - they're looking great and I LOVE all the drawers:

You can do this!!  Find an old desk and get to work.  Kate found a desk on the side of the road and made herself some.  Here's hers -

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Deals

Normally I post the great deals I find on my Facebook Page, but I wanted to make everyone aware of a couple of great ones....

Meg, my Mary Kay sponsor, who always offers free shipping (so it doesn't matter if she lives by you, she can still be your Mary Kay lady) is offering:
20% off of ALL orders using the code SUGARBEE - just leave that code as a note in the comments section and she'll give you the discout.  It'll only last for a week, so shop now - just click this button:



Canvas People, whom I've ordered from more than once (I recommend going BIG - my 8x10 is alright, but I love my 16x20) is having an awesome promotion where you get to pick which deal you want - awesome!!  Click their banner below to grab that deal....

Showing Off - my picks

First off, heads up, the ways to enter The Lime Bow giveaway have changed, so now it's even easier - be sure to check out that giveaway HERE.

I am ready to get back in the crafty groove.  I love inspiration from you!  Here we go...

The Creative Paige dove into pallet art - I got a new stove (wahoo!) and just as exciting is that it came on a pallet - now, what to do with it....

Next up, a Maxi Dress refashion from Ashley over at How Do U Like Them Apples - - she just recently moved by me and it took me weeks to find out that she has a craft blog - but now I know!  And she helped me meet my dream - to find someone who had heard of my blog before they had heard of me.  Awesome.  Anyways, she hacked off the length on a too long dress - great idea:

I want to make some silver pumpkins like VixenMade - I love the bling look!!  Looks like I need to take a trip to the dollar store....

Speaking of pumpkins, Lil Pink Pocket shows a different way to make the 2x4 pumpkins, with a whole stack:

Or you could do a 2x4 lineup of characters like Keeping it Simple:

I am obsessed with quilling - well, I've never actually tried it, but I am AMAZED by what people are doing with rolled up paper!  Case in point, these daisy earrings, from Honeys Quilling(alright, her blog is unreal!  more fun over there) guest posting on Red Ted Art's Blog:

I had to feature this cabinet from Embracing Change because I know of one exactly like it! (well, not the redo - but the shape, etc)

Scene of Sublime showed off a double wreath - what a fun idea to take a normal wreath up a notch:

I love this cute little Pumpkin Dress from Sunny Vanilla - I'm ready to go on a sewing kick...

Did you know you could stick bottles in the mail - what a super fun idea!!  I want to do this!  Making Memories shows what they did:

You know I have to feature a quilt every week - love this one from Spunky Diva - such fun colors!:

And here's a beautiful one from Describe Happy:

I LOVE a family theme to Halloween Costumes - we used to be good about it, but haven't done it the past few years.  This year we're back in with the family theme - you know what it is if you're my fan on Facebook (I didn't want to spill the beans to everyone....), but here's another fun idea from Freshly Completed:



AND........ MOST viewed link - - - pajamas from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom... I was excited to see this because I plan to make my girls some nightgowns for Christmas this year....

More features from our guest reader doing a Reader Feature later this afternoon (as always, if that's something you'd like to do, shoot me an email, mandybeez at gmail)

Thanks for linking everyone!!  If you were featured feel free to grab the button:  (oh, and if you were featured on FB, or if you're featured later this afternoon, you're included - grab away!!)




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