MowryJournal.com   Life's Passions

The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind.

This event is the closest to a repeated event our company has done so far: we also did a holiday boutique with this Elks Lodge last year. Many (but not all) of the people were different, though, with several out-of-towners coming for the car show. Unfortunately, they didn’t overwhelm with their spending.

I like doing community events with friendly vendors. It doesn’t have the profit potential of the big events we did in the spring …. but that’s OK. At this event, people smiled, and just about all of them were happy to be a part of this event at the Elks Lodge.

Oh, and the bar was open at 10am. Like I said, people were happy.

New Ideas

• We had 2x 6′ tables, which I set up solo. Wait, that’s not a new idea. Sorry.
• Velda came by and gave me lunch relief. She went and got my hot dog, too.

Observations

• When the crew of 12 in matching shirts, visiting from the Ridgecrest Elks Lodge, entered the Lodge hall for lunch, one of them announced, “They’ve got a swap meet going on in here!” I didn’t throw anything at him, and felt good about my self control.
• The load-in wasn’t bad … I had to carry about 150 pounds of cutting boards about 100′. Not bad. On the other hand, the load-out was great. I could park right outside of the door located next to my booth, and I had to carry about 148 pounds of cutting boards about 15′.
• About that: it’s an odd day when 80% of the boards I sold are custom orders. Nothing wrong with that, but it is a bit frustrating to carry 46 boards into a venue and then carry 45 of them back out. And in spite of that, it was a good event.

The Food

Saturday Lunch: A hot dog and Sun Chips.

Saturday Snack: No real opportunity. They sold out of the hot food, and there wasn’t a snack option. I didn’t want a bagel at 3 in the afternoon.

The Facts

• Total miles driven: 20
• Booth cost: $60
• # of people we met during the event from the producer: Uhhhh … all of them?
• Total sales: $501
• # containers of product taken: 12
• # boards available: 46
• Saturday alarm: 7am
• # transactions: 15. 12 for lotion, 4 for boards
• # soap & lotion vendors: Just Mrs. M
• # woodworking vendors: Just me
• Edge grain vs. end grain: 4:1

Boards sold: 5

Engraved boards: 4

Small board: 1

Small Board # 15 – 035. Cherry, Yellowheart, Hard Maple, Jatoba, Purpleheart, Padauk and Honey Locust End Grain. 13″ x 11″ x 1-1/4″.