Low Sales but Good Food

I am often asked how I set up my table for craft shows. It's different every time. I've been doing this for a few years now, but I still don't feel like I've found my groove yet. I see other people's tables and think, hey, that's a great idea. But then, their product is so much different than mine, and it doesn't work. Recently, I added baskets to my display. I'll see how those work for a while. I'll probably change it up again.

At this weekend's sale, I started with this:

Yes. That's a Starbucks coffee. Leave me alone. I have an addiction.

It's not often you have round tables at a craft show. The first time I purchased a table for this show, I was taken by surprise. And it took me a lot of time to set up my table because it completely threw me off balance.

But now, I can set up in about thirty minutes.

The empty storage bins are now stacked and covered with a drop sheet to create a make-shift table. You'll notice the Starbucks latte has a new home.

Sadly, today's craft show was not as profitable as it has been in the past. Shandell and I have done this show twice a year for four years now. As the only vendor who sells home décor, I always do very well.

Not this time.

I think it's because the weather was so nice. In the past, the Hungarian Spring Sale has been well-attended. But the weather has always been too cool to be outside. This year, it was absolutely gorgeous out. The sun was shining, the sky was cloudless and it was practically shorts and t-shirt weather.

I admit, I was a little jealous of the people who didn't come to our sale and stayed outside.

I'm not too upset about the lack of sales. I did, after all, make enough to pay for my table. They say if you can make your table fee, you're doing okay.

To be honest, Shandell and I don't attend this craft show for the sales. It's all about the food. Lunch is included in our table fee.

Home-made cabbage rolls and four different home-made pastries. That, my friends, is worth the price of a table.

New Stash

I haven't had much luck finding cute patterns at Fabricland or quilt shops. In the past, I've stocked up at Joann Fabric in the States. But we haven't been south of the border in a while, and I've run out of fabric.

So, I spent several hours at the Creativ Festival today.  The mission: to purchase fabric for the pockets of my Tooth Fairy Pillows. Dragged my husband with me. What a trooper! The boy walked behind me, carried bolts of fabric and handfuls of fat quarters. He even scoped out several fabulous patterns.

I came home with this, which should keep be going until the next Creativ Festival, in October:

I do have a few favourites...


Hello Fabric!

And who doesn't love Minnie?

It's difficult to see, but there are sparkles tacked onto the fabric. Oooo! Shiny!!

Chris found this. Dr. Seuss was my favourite when I was little.

I was told that the stars glow in the dark. How cool is that?!

I have a craft show tomorrow in Oshawa, but Sunday I'll be cutting out all this fabric. I can't wait!

Craft Shows

I have a few busy weeks coming up.

This Saturday, April 28, 2012, I'll be at the Hungarian Culture Club in Oshawa.

If you don't come to purchase some beautiful home decor for the woman in your life (Mother's Day is May 13, don't forget!), at least stop by for the most delicious cabbage rolls you've ever tasted!

The following Saturday...May 5...we're at the Ajax Community Centre, at the Durham Region Crafters Community Spring Fling. This is an organization created by my fellow crafting buddy, Shandell Conboy. You should go check out our blog.

Visit the events page at our website for addresses for each of these events. Hope to see you there!

Basket is Done

Phew! It's been crazy around here. But today, I finally got some projects done.

First on the agenda was shortening and hemming a set of sheers for a client.

Next, I shortened the handles on a tote bag. A client asked me to shorten them, since she never carries the bag over her shoulder. With the shorter handles, the pretty fabric won't drag on the ground.

Last--and definitely not least--I finished the ring-bearer basket.



The MOB had a pretty pink dove that she wanted to clip onto the handle. Pink is the bride's colour (for the bridesmaids, not her dress, of course). I found some ribbon that comes close to the same colour. It's a little sharper than the bird, but this way it will be visible as the ringbearer walks down the aisle.



Picture the rings tied at the end of the ribbons.

At first, I thought it would be nice to have them hanging, but then I realized that, no matter how much you tried to hold the basket steady, the rings would still swing back and forth. And since it's the bride's niece that will carry the basket down the aisle, and we all know that little girls don't just walk...they skip...I thought it would be best to have a long ribbon so the rings rested on the pillow.

I hope the bride likes it.



I want to congratulate, Kim and Mike, on their upcoming wedding. I wish you a blessed marriage filled with love and laughter.

Basket Template

In my last post, I mentioned that one of my clients asked me to make a lining for a pretty wire basket that will be carried down the aisle when her son gets married this year.

I took the opportunity to send my sewing machine off to the spa for service over the holidays and I only just got it back, so I haven't been able to sew anything together. Besides, I do want to run it by my client first, before I commit to anything.

So, I thought a prototype was in order. First, we need supplies.

• tracing paper


• scotch tape


• pencil


• quilting ruler


• french curve


• paper-cutting scissors

I traced the bottom of the basket and cut out the oval for the base. Inside the basket, I measured from the base up to the first wire that runs the perimeter of the basket (a height my client and I agreed on). It's three inches. Next, I lay the oval base onto a new sheet of tracing paper and marked a three-inch radius around the base template. Using the french curve, I joined the marks I made to sketch the three-inch radius.

I cut out the pattern, as well as the centre base. It makes an odd-looking oval donut. I snipped the donut so that it separates and unfolds as a long, curved piece. I taped it to the base, as though I was sewing it together.

This is where the tweaking comes in. Once it was all taped together, the top part of the insert was rippled, which is what I had pictured in the first place. But now that I see it, I don't like it. And I don't think my client will either. The basket is pretty on its own and the interior shouldn't compete with it.

So I snipped some notches into it. Cinched it in. Taped some more. And this is what I came up with.



It fits nicely in the basket, without being a permanent fixture. This way, my client can remove the pillow and still use the basket after the wedding.



The pattern allows for a seam allowance, so that after it is sewn, the final product will sit just below the wire.



I know it doesn't look like much now, but put your imagination caps on and picture the tracing paper as pretty, white satin. The centre base will be stuffed with a little filling to give it a pillow-like appearance.

I'll show my client the prototype tomorrow and see what she thinks.

A Tisket, A Tasket

A little yellow basket.

Well, not really. It's silver. With pretty flowers.



A client's son is getting married soon. This pretty basket will be skipped down the aisle by the flower girl. The blushing Mother-of-the-Groom (MOG for those of you in the biz) asked if I could make a fabric something-or-other for the bottom so the rings don't fall out.

Of course! I'd love to!

The MOG had a vision of the rings hanging from the top of the basket on a pretty ribbon. A very nice idea, until the flower girl starts to swing the basket and the rings are waving in the air like a wild amusement park ride.

I liked the idea of the rings on a ribbon, so I suggested the ribbon be long enough to pool the rings at the bottom and they can nest in the pillow of fabric I make.

And so it shall be.

I'll work on this over the holidays and post pictures once I'm done.

Craft Show Pictures

Saturday's craft show was entertaining, if nothing else.



At about eleven o'clock, the bar opened. Shandell pointed out that this was the first craft show we'd been at that served. She also suggested that we bring a designated driver next time.

Good idea. I immediately texted Chris to pencil him in.

At one o'clock, it became clear that the bar wasn't open for us. It was open for the dart league.

That's right. A dart league. We're hard core crafters.

Not surprising, Shandell was hit on by a tipsy bald man who shamelessly flirted with her. They may have a date for next weekend. I'm a little fuzzy on the details.

I can't wait for next year. Shandell may get a proposal.