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 will be our second year doing this event, which is staged at the clubhouse of a local homeowner’s association. 100% of vendor fees go to a charity supporting the homeless in our area. The producer is a vendor friend that does this event as a labor of love, and we are happy to support her.
It’s local. It’s for a good cause.
Did I mention it’s local? You bet we’re in.
Here’s what happened at this event last year, when it had an unusual split weekend schedule, with one day in November and one in December. The 2016 iteration of the event will be on a single weekend, which saves a set-up and is much easier to negotiate on the calendar … but we still had to double book to do the event.
It’s the final event of our 2016. I love it before it starts.
New Ideas
- This event was double booked with the Valencia High Choir Holiday Boutique, so Mrs M covered this one on Saturday while I was enjoying the choir sing a jazzed-up suite of Christmas carols. On Sunday, I worked on some commissions Sunday morning while she covered the early part of day 2; I joined her for the afternoon & load-out.
- This is a table top presentation, but Mrs M gets her full purpose-built display on her 6′ table. Zoosoapia then fell onto my side of the next table.
Observations
- Event # 11 of our 11 events in the 4th quarter.
- Thank goodness.
- There are only 20 or so vendors at this event, and many are friends. That makes for a fun time, which is much appreciated.
- One nice element that adds to the camaraderie is a pot luck of munchables contributed by the vendors, for the vendors. It adds to the atmosphere, and with the kitchen set-up in the clubhouse, is very easy to do. This is a great part of this event.
- We got several calls & emails in the week leading up to this event, with customers verifying that they could find us here for last-minute shopping. I do love local, but being local & being available are both important.
- I arrived 5 minutes after 1p on Sunday, and one of my appointments was already there waiting. I feel like I’m late for everything these days, and I’m not late for anything. Ever. Except during the holiday rush!
- Personalized Cutting Boards are a thing, clearly. I sold 2 more today, and now I need to adjust my plans for new boards to ensure I have boards that can be personalized (Hard Maple makes the best engravable space).
- Only one request today, and it was for a Lazy Susan. Geez.
- Merry Christmas!
The Food
Saturday Breakfast: No time. Gotta go. (can you tell this is not what I did?)
Saturday Lunch: Mrs M shared in the munchables
Saturday Snack: See above!
Saturday Dinner: Walnut Shrimp + Cashew Chicken at Grand Panda. Oh, and egg rolls. Of course.
Sunday Breakfast: Better bad bagels & cream cheese. Bad is still not that bad.
Sunday Lunch: Tostada salad from Baja Fresh.
Sunday Snack: a cookie!
Sunday Dinner: Burrito al Mador from La Cucina, with a Cadillac Margarita.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 65
- Booth cost: $160
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 1 (and there’s only 1!)
- Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: many
- Total sales: $1,907
- # boards available: about half of them, but no Pigs, no Lazy Susans, no Clipboards and no Surfboards
- Saturday alarm: 7am
- Sunday alarm: nope
- # transactions: 59
- # soap & lotion vendors: there was one other, doing melt & pour
- # woodworking vendors: just me
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 7:2
- Returning next year? You bet.
Boards sold: 9
Magic Bottler Openers: 3
Large Cutting Boards: 2
Cheese Boards: 2
Cutting Boards: 2
This is a great event and one I always enjoy being a part of. Great article!
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