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.
There is nothing like an event in your home town. Easy transport. Sleep in your own bed. Smiles from lots of familiar faces.
What could go wrong?
New Ideas
A new display for cutting boards! It only took me about 18 months to take the time to build it.
A new display for handled boards! This did not take as long, but definitely upped my game from using the cast-off crates from Mrs M’s unused display as I had been doing.
I have live edge side tables, or perhaps a coffee table, available this weekend. First time. They were made by a buddy and our local contractor, Steve Mark of Steve Mark Construction. Truly great work. Wonder if there are furniture buyers at the Home & Garden Show?
Observations
This is one of the very few events that I do a triple booth at. This means I must put up the 10’x20′ Trimline canopy as well as a 10’x10′ pop-up. I then put 13x tables in the booth to show … everything. Well, not really. Today with my built out foodie inventory, I had no room for cribbage boards, chess boards, or Magic Bottle Openers. In a triple booth, I am out of room. l think I have a problem.
Set up is on Friday, and I actually had some help. I brought in the Cat Sitter for some help, and then our contractor, Steve Mark, lent a hand since I was going to sell a couple of tables he made. Loved the help.
Before I left check-in, I was cautioned – as was everyone – that high winds were expected overnight in Santa Clarita. Keep your canopies low and weighted! I, of course, do this routinely and wind, though a real concern, is nothing that I worry about in normal conditions. The canopies went up, the weights and ratchet straps went on, and my canopies will not move.
2 other canopies were lost to wind during set up. I heard product breaking on some gusts throughout the weekend.
Hometown.
Set up was fairly simple with the help. I got it done in about 5 hours, start to finish. That left some touch ups, price signs and cracker displays to be done before the 10a start on Saturday.
One quirk of this show is that they always shut off vehicle access for Saturday morning. No drive into the site to drop off inventory on Saturday. Not a problem, just plan ahead. I have a little wheeled crate to make carrying in my electronic gear (charged overnight) and cooler easier to bring in from the parking lot. That was commented on; not everyone lets wheels do the work.
First customer was the husband of an exhibitor. I inquired about her business … she’s a medium, helps contact the departed. That was the first time I have heard that answer at any event.
An older gentleman approached, walking with a cane. “OK, here’s a quiz. What kind of wood is this?” I unfortunately had no idea. He then explained it was an Irish Shillelagh, made from a root of some tree or bush. Still didn’t know what it was!
One conversation I often have (perhaps 5 times this weekend) is … “You don’t cut meat on this board, do you?” The answer, of course, is YES. Some believe meat should be cut on a separate board – this is often due to a fear of bacteria. However, wooden cutting boards are actually naturally anti-bacterial. Research done at the University of Wisconsin and UC Davis has found that, when you infect and then test the bacterial growth on all of the different cutting board surfaces, you’ll find wooden cutting boards have less bacteria after an hour, and after a day. Naturally.
Bacteria can come from ANY food, not just meat. If your lettuce is infected with bacteria when you chop it, then anything cut on the board after that will get tainted if you are not using good clean techniques with your raw food. Without good technique, it really doesn’t matter what cutting board you use, because you can get sick.
I did this explanation, explained how to keep a cutting board clean, and the lady became a customer. I love happy endings.
Hometown.
Saturday was a day of special orders: 4 separate orders were taken, practically simultaneously. I got ‘whelmed early, and had 4 transactions happening all at once. Life gets exciting in the hometown.
Legacy customers are the best part of local events. One customer stood in the middle of the booth and said, “I have one of those, and one of those, and….”
Nothing like local.
Mrs M still has fans out there … I was asked again when Mrs M will return with her soaps and lotions and such. I have a standard answer: I don’t know. I encourage you, dear reader, to talk to her and demand she get back to making, as I am out of my soap. She formulated it just for me. A delicate flower, I am, and I need my soap.
Many people verified I was a local vendor throughout the event. My house is about 3 miles from the event site. And the logo does say it all:
Come to find out I made a mistake on the cutting board display. I knew that I wanted the dowels holding the boards upright to be 8″ apart … but I neglected to consider that a diagonal between dowels was not the same as a vertical line. Ooopsie. Good thing I make everything to be modular. The legs get smaller, the display will be perfect.
I was an hour into my strike when a lady walked up with her son and wanted to buy a cutting board. She was local … but I had the containers (already packed) right there, so I agreed to open some containers to see if any of the boards on hand would speak to her. One did.
It was my biggest sale of the weekend. You just never know when a customer will find you, and when they do, you need to be present. Had I left early, this would have never happened.
The event ended at 4p Sunday, and then my hard work began. I struck the event by myself. It is one of my largest set ups, and I didn’t find help. My bad. I finished about 8:15p, and was in the shower by 8:35p. Dinner quickly followed, and I did not move much after that. As I write this on Monday … the ibuprofen helps. Always.
Going a-vendoring is a glorious, fun thing to do … separated by long stints of very hard work. Be prepared. Always.
Those tables by Steve Mark did not find their forever home this weekend. Pictures are below. And they are still in my truck, so….
This was my 8th year doing this event. I have done it every year since 2015 … since we’re in California, the event was shut down in the covid years. Of course. In any event, in our 11th year of going a-vendoring, here are a few observations for you vendor types:
This is the largest vendor event in Santa Clarita. Largest attendance as well.
However, it is not necessarily the home of the largest sales for every handmade vendor. Home & Garden Shows, after all, are famous for being about … your home & garden. So having a great display of handmade goods may not be a perfect solution for you, depending on what you sell. If you are selling air conditioning services, you may think this is a much better event. Of course, their booth costs are much greater than for vendors of those handmade goods. Thank goodness.
Be clear, I LOVE this event, and it is my top event in Santa Clarita. But is it the best event I do? Alas, no. I have better events when I am out of town … and not sleeping in my own bed. Life is full of trade-offs.
Apparently.
As always, your mileage will vary.
See you out there!
The Food
Best Meal: Velda cooked a steak from Jess & Jim’s Steak House in Kansas City … we get beef from there as a Christmas present. Steak for the win. Of course.
Honorable Mention: Sunday dinner was Polish sausage & mashed potatoes. Velda’s comfort food after a very hard day. Oh, and there was bourbon.
The Facts
Total miles driven: 24
# of people we met during the event from the producer: Many, as always. I knew the people at my hometown radio station long before I went a-vendoring. I worked in the radio industry for nearly 3 decades, after all!
Visits in the booth by a promoter’s representative: sure. Lots.
This post is the culmination of a great deal of work by many people. And as I hope you will agree, it was well worth the effort!
Serving Trays were just the beginning point for me. The goal was to offer fully customizable Charcuterie Kits at my first event in 2023: the California Artisan Cheese Festival in Santa Rosa in just 2 weeks. As the pictures attest, I am ready.
You start with a Serving Tray … see them described, and see them very naked, here. This page is all about dressing them up.
Charcuterie is classically a collection of smoked meats and cheeses served to the delight of hungry people everywhere. The idea is really trending now, and people are taking the excuse of having a nice serving piece to do all sorts of offerings on a lovely serving board. To complete the presentation, I have collaborated with my good friend and potter, Nicole, the owner of NZ Designs Studio. She is also the maker of the Great Garlic Graters that are on my Garlic Dipping Boards, which continue to be a favorite.
After more than a few discussions about what would be ideal, she has made 4″ bowls – or ramekins, if you prefer – in 3 shapes and 4 colors (well, 5 colors. She’s an over-achiever.) that can be purchased at events for inclusion with your Charcuterie Kit. In addition, she has made very cute meat and cheese tags to identify some of the classic Charcuterie that you will probably be serving.
Then I went shopping and found sets of stainless Cheese Knife Sets that I am also offering to help complete your presentation.
You get to pick and choose among the options … but let’s not get ahead of the idea. The best way to understand this idea is to see it. I gathered family, friends and collaborators to create some unique and tasty boards for your consideration.
A big thanks to the food stylists and helpers that made this happen. I appreciated the eaters that helped when the work was done, too!
Nicole’s bowls are Red, White, Blue, Green … and Purple. You can go all matchy matchy, or buy your ramekins in all different shapes & colors. We did it both ways on the boards pictured. You get to choose what you like best.
Here are simpler pictures showing just the Serving Trays in the 3 sizes, along with the bowls in all of their colors. The knife set is also shown; a great matched set of 6 knives with spreaders, choppers, forks … just what you need to do anything from cut a hard cheese, spread a soft one, or pick an olive out of the bowl.
To purchase a serving tray, go here. If you want a charcuterie kit, or any of the pieces offered that tickle your fancy, then you’ll need to email me and we can work out the details. I will warn you that nothing will ship until late April. That’s good: you get to choose what you most like, and I will make sure you get exactly what you want.
I started out making 3 serving trays, as a reaction to my failure as a teen-aged woodworker. You can read that story, here.
Those 3 serving trays sold at 2 events. That’s a fairly good result for a serving piece … especially a serving piece made by someone with a checkered past making a serving tray, like yours truly.
So, there was nothing to do but go back to the shop and make some more and see if I could replicate the success. These 10 serving trays were the result. Now, I have 2 different styles of handles and a wide, wide range of woods featured in these 10 boards. There are woods from 5 continents being used!
I’m enjoying making these serving trays, and I’m hopeful that the teen-aged me didn’t make an appearance when I was making these in the shop. If that happened, the result could be less than ideal.
Somehow, I’m not worried.
If any of these catch your fancy, you’ll find all of them this weekend at Santa Clarita’s Fine Craft Show in Old Orchard Park. Hours are 10a – 5p on Saturday, and 10a – 3p on Sunday. Hope to see you there!
Serving Tray 17 – 06. Purpleheart, Canarywood, Goncalo Alves, Hard Maple, Padauk, Yellowheart, Honey Locust & Jatoba. Chaos Board. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 05. Black Walnut, Canarywood, Merbau & Sapele. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 07. Black Walnut, Yellowheart, Teak & Hard Maple. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 04. Honey Locust, Yellowheart & Purpleheart. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 08. Teak, Goncalo Alves, Hard Maple & Merbau. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 13. Paduak & Honey Locust. 13″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 09. Honey Locust, Merbau & Hard Maple. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 11. Purpleheart, Canrywood & Hard Maple. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 10. Merbau, Yellowheart & Padauk. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 14. Merbau, Goncalo Alves & Black Walnut. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
My inventory has peaked at the perfect time: right in front of what just might be a very large event for us. It is for others … so here’s hoping.
For just the 2nd time, I have over 250 pieces in inventory. That’s a good thing.
With this post, I return to the pig business. I sold my last pig in April, so it’s been several months that I’ve enjoyed not being in the pig business. But, good things often must end so I’m back to selling pigs.
Which is really a good thing. I went to school on these pigs, and cut them out with my new CNC router. After 4 pigs with problems – and one with a broken foot – I got it perfect. After that, every pig was cut out perfectly.
This whole “be more efficient” thing just might be working.
Pig 17 – 701. Black Walnut, Canarywood, Hard Maple, Goncalo Alves & Purpleheart. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 702. Goncalo Alves, Cherry & Black Walnut. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 711. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Jatoba & Padauk. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 703. Black Walnut, Padauk, Cherry & Hard Maple. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 704. Hickory, Hard Maple, Black Walnut, Padauk & Cherry. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 705. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple, Purpleheart. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 710. Black Walnut, Cherry, Hard Maple, Padauk, Canarywood, Jatoba, Purpleheart. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 706. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry, Goncalo Alves, Purpleheart & Yellowheart.12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 708. Hard Maple, Canarywood, Cherry, Jarrah & Purpleheart. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 709. Hard Maple, Cherry, Black Walnut & Jatoba. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
Pig 17 – 706. Hard Maple, Padauk & Cherry. 12″ x 19″ x 1-1/8″.
The last time I made a serving tray, I failed. That was almost 50 years ago, of course. You can read that story here: “I Made One Just Like That In School.”
After reading that other woodworkers had found a measure of success by making serving trays, I resolved to take another shot at making one that would be of use in a happy home.
After all, my first attempt did not find success. Though it was made to be of use, it was never found to have sufficient utility for the women in my life.
No hard feelings. Honest.
So, challenge accepted. I have resolved to make useful serving trays. I have determined that such a tray should be 12″ x 18″. And, I have determined that these trays should have metal handles and non-skid rubber feet held on with stainless steel screws.
Let’s see if anyone agrees with me. I’ve started humbly, with only 3 trays produced in the first batch. I will tell you, however, that I’ve bought a couple of dozen handles. I hope somebody thinks these are worthy!
Serving Tray 17 – 01. Purpleheart, Canarywood, Pau Ferro & Jatoba. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
Serving Tray 17 – 02. Black Walnut, White Oak & Honey Locust. 12″ x 18″.
Serving Tray 17 – 03. Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Jatoba & Bubinga. 12″ x 18″ x 3/4″.
“I made a board just like these when I was in High School!”
Every time I hear it, I just smile. And every time I hear it, I say it in my head:
“Respectfully, no you didn’t.”
I submit this analysis based on my own humble story: I made a board in “Industrial Arts” in junior high. Ironically, I decided to make a serving tray instead of a cutting board. This is that story.
I only remember 2 things about that IA class:
I was given a block of pine that the teacher, Mr Price, had given a wavy top cut on the band saw. My task was to make the edge dead flat using a hand plane. I failed.
I made a serving tray out of the wood provided, which I recall was “Ulner.” There is no such wood.
So you can see, I was not a successful woodworker at 13. I did, however, make a serving tray out of IDKWII, pronounced “i duh KWEE.” Though the wood may have been Alder, all I know at this point is I Don’t Know What It Is.
I do know that my mother seldom never used the tray, and then she passed it on to Velda …
… who never uses it. The tray is currently living in our coat closet, buried in stored books and houseware items we can’t wait to give away.
So, again, I was not a successful woodworker at 13. No one has ever looked at the serving tray and said, “This is too pretty to use.” No one has ever looked at my serving tray and said, “This is beautiful.” No one has ever looked at my serving tray and said, “How much is that?”
Those are comments I hear at every show when people see the things I’ve made this year. But the thing I made almost 50 years ago? Not so much.
Now, I know my mother loves that tray, just as every mother loves to tell me the story about what their son or daughter made them in woodshop. I always ask: most mothers never use the wooden cutting boards or serving pieces that they were given by their children. They treasure them. They don’t use them.
As my faithful readers know, however, I strive to make things to be of use.
That’s not to say the first & unused wooden object I made, the serving tray, is without value (to me). That’s not to say the tray is not a good tray (I think). After all, it worked just fine the 3 times it’s been used in the last 48 years.
So, here’s the tray that’s nearly half a century old … that did not launch a woodworking career.
Sorry, Mr Price. This one just didn’t work.
Serving Tray, made circa 1969. Wood is IDKWII. Yes, those are the ugliest handles known to mankind. The nice cherry tone surface has survived, pretty much, though the varnish has some age. One corner’s a bit bunged up. 14″ x 18″ x 3/4″. Felt bottom cover.
