How To : Have a Trunk Show / Home Party / Jewelry Sale

Let me start this post by saying this: My sister did all the work.
Okay, cleared!

How it started:In March I went to the Czech Republic to visit my sister, and we decided that having a sale would be really fun- together. She makes jewelry too, beaded jewelry and funky necklaces and accessories. She also makes delicious products like home & body sprays, bath scrubs and other yummy things with essential oils. She's had a few sales in her home overseas, so she knows a thing or two about how to wrangle in the troops, I mean buyers/ friends.I've never hosted a home party, or even been a vendor at one, and now that I think about it- Ive never even shopped at one, so this was all new to me. Thanks to my sissy April, I am happy to say that now I'm not scared of them anymore!

My show experience:
I am a seasoned craft show vendor/seller/ shopper. I have done little shows, and (according to me) huge shows. (The huge ones are the ones that cost over $150 to attend and have to look reallllly pretty on display.) The little bitty ones are where little bitty old ladies sell right next to me and I make nary a dollar but still have fun. I know all about customer experiences/relations, selling, displays and the "arrive and sell" part of shows.

Her show experience:She's sold her stuff right along side me in the summertime since we were about 7. We've done beach sales, and yard sales, and craft sales on our friends lawns. I don't think shes ever had to formally 'apply & pay'- wait, we did the flea market many years ago where we had to pay.

She's also had a few home parties before (in Czech republic), with cocktails and cupcakes that were a success and a lot of fun. Shes only hosted them by herself.
This is her first one where she invited other crafters/artists/vendors to show along side her.

The artists:

There was moi, my sister, and she invited a woman who makes childrens clothing, and also a masseuse! Right on! There were supposed to be one or two more gals selling, but they didn't show (which turned out great space-wise, re:checkout).

The guests/shoppers:
It was a little tricky with the invitations, because it was in her home, we couldn't advertise all over the world. We didn't want strangers to eat our cupcakes! Or steal her children. So, we left it up to the other vendors and her friends and friends of friends to spread the word.
And she sent an evite from evite.com.


The invitation listed the items & artists that would be selling. She also mentioned that there would be a free raffle drawing for a giant gift basket of crafted goodies.
She also posted on facebook more often than I would have, only because I am shy/weird (and havent started a fan page, I know, I know).
She sent out the evite and it has a yes/no/maybe tally so we could sort of get an idea of #'s & interest.She sent it out like 6 weeks ahead and about 2 weeks ahead as a reminder. I think I would've done it a few days before as well. Its a fine line between advertising and irritating. She did it perfectly, because the guests were there! There was possibly 40 people there.(april correct me because it may have been more).
Our show was on a Saturday at the end of March from 3-7pm.
Like I said, she did all the work, and she is amazing. :)

The digs:
It was less than 24 hours after my plane landed, so we had to hustle to get it all set up in her living room!
I was sort of expecting this show to be somewhere in between the good shows and the bad shows, but we agreed that it didn't matter if anyone showed up because we would be in her living room, and we would have a bottle of champagne handy for better or worse. Either way, we would have fun. I was in Europe, an exotic land fahhh fahhh away, with my sister, and we had champagne..there's no way to not enjoy ourselves. Did I mention champagne?

We moved all the furniture around to make a big open space for the two main tables.
we borrowed neighbors tables and furniture for display. It turned out well that she has one dedicated year-round ikea shelf unit for showcasing her jewelry. This was used to showcase a lot of her jewelry stuff (beaded necklaces & earrings), and also my mothers sewn items, and two more sisters work (feather hair accessories and more jewelry). Side note: there's a lot of us popkos and we all make things! 5 sisters and two incredibly talented parents.

The tables:
Worked out that I got one big one and she got one big one. YAY!

What we didn't intend, was for the other crafter to NOT show up. This gave us free space. What to do with it?We made a checkout table! This worked amazingly well. I recommend that everyone do this when you have a show. We didn't set it up until people were already shopping and choosing things to buy. We were holding out for the last crafter. (see empty table on the right?)



As SOON as we made it the official checkout/wrapping table, the customers flocked to the spot. They finally had direction as to 'what' to do next! It really gave them a destination. Otherwise, I can see how they would flounder like, "where do I give them the money?" "Do I interrupt crystal and her cheese and cracker frenzy?" "which sister do i pay?".
It gave them somewhere to drop their "basket" of goodies.

The basket: Aprils genius idea. Just like at the candy store, just fill up your basket/bowl and take it to the checkout. This will allow them to not think about how much they are carrying around. It was intended to make their life easier, but really worked for the former reason!

The snacks: Aprils wonderful baking genius friend made glorious cookies, brownies and cakes. She should have been selling those confections, maybe this will fluff her feathers a little and make her want to next time! There was plenty of "help yourself" snacks and drinks in the kitchen. Tea, coffee, cocktails. This is right off the living room and everyone felt comfy gathering there at first, before venturing off into shopping land.

April and I just wandered around the whole time telling people to try things on and assisted them with the bath salts and such.

I did a lot of the "checking out" and tried my best to keep tabs separate, and figuring out what the foreign bills and change were added to the fun. It was a casual affair, where someone was helping to keep the music fun, others were just sitting on the couch chatting. Everyone got a massage! It was an 8 minute massage for the equivalent of about $5 or $6. Deal!!
I think that I would like to have one at every home party on earth.

The day was a lot, LOT of work, and I was only there for 24 hours at this point! So maybe it was the jetlag. But we were both exhausted, and happy. We both made a bunch of Czech crowns (their $) and it was worth all the work, especially because we were together. And we could clean up the mess together! I didn't have to exchange any money for the rest of my trip! The artist who sold dresses and the masseuse both said they would come back for another one, which is a good sign.

Using what I learned from my sisters party, I am going to host one of my own before Christmas. I am going to have a few vendors at the house to make it interesting. I cant wait to report back about how it goes without my super awesome party planner by my side.

Good luck with your own home/trunk show!
Share YOUR tips, tricks & experience with home parties in the comments below.
We can all learn from you!

How To : Remove tarnish from your silver jewelry, with chemical free, eco-friendly kitchen ingredients.

Tarnished silver jewelry. FIX IT! How? Grab a few kitchen ingredients and you are on your way to shiny and new looking silver!
Sterling silver is mostly pure, but it also has other metals in it. It is usually stamped with the .925 symbol indicating sterling. This means that it is .925% silver, and .075% something else, another metal. Basically, when silver comes in contact with the elements it can tarnish (oxidize) and turn a myriad of colors. For example, when I go to the beach for a length of days, I notice my silver gets raggedy looking sooner than when I am in my dry home. Keeping your metals in a ziplock baggie will prevent the elements from doing this for a little longer as well. Jewelers also offer special bags or even acid free tissue to store your goodies in. If you notice, some of your silver will tarnish at different rates as well, but theres no way for us regular ol' people to know what that extra metal in our silver is. So when you Do happen across a tarnish-happy item, this is a great way to solve it in an eco-friendly way.

Here's a great way to make a chemical free potion that will instantly ZAP the tarnish off your silver. I love this method because my polishing cloth cant reach into the crevaces of chain links, and this can.

What you need:
boiled water
ceramic or glass bowl (not metal)
aluminum foil (a few inches, not that much)
baking soda


1.First, boil a few cups of water.

2.Prepare your bowl. Put the foil into the bottom of the bowl, in a little square, just so you can lay your jewelry on top of it.

3. Put a few teaspoons of baking soda onto the foil. I don't measure, and probably use waaay too much. The ratios here have never affected my outcome.
(see how brown, reddish the chain is? yuk!)

4. Put your jewelry on top of the baking soda (or near it as you can see in the photo).

5. Pour the hot water over the whole thang.

(under steaming hot water)

6. KABLAM! Instant, and I mean, INSTANTLY the silver should look silver again.

The tarnish should disappear. If its still a little discolored, you can wiggle the bowl a little to work it in. Dont rub the baking soda on your items though since it can scratch it if its not dissolved.

7. Wash your jewelry with clean water. The baking soda leaves it a little slimy.

(drying on a paper towel)

DONE!

note: dont try this on metals you are unsure of. dont try this if there are components you are unsure of i.e. wood, stones, etc. okay, just had to say that. i bet if you google this, someone else will answer all the q's I havent answered here.

edit/addition:
Look at this AWESOME comment I received about this post!

Blogger Lisa B said...

Thanks to you, I've now cleaned 22 necklaces, 6 bracelets and 10 pairs of earrings this evening. Who knew a few simple ingredients would clean some of the items that have been making me crazy trying to detarnish? You're a genius. Or at least a good passer-alonger. ;)
HURRAH! Thanks LisaB

How to View Your Favorite Blogs in Google Reader!

WOW! I figured something out today. Maybe you already know this, but I just learned how to view my favorite blogs, or "Blogs I'm following" in a fancy schmancy (easy peasy) way called Google Reader.
It just eased my world of reading!!

Viewing the blogs your following in Google Reader allows you to open all blogs at once, on one page. You can choose to read one particular blog or all updated blogs at once.
NOTE: This is for blogspot/blogger users, I dont know how this works for others.

First, go to your blogspot dashboard.
Scroll down to your usual Reading List.
At the bottom, choose "View in Google Reader" as in the photo below.

This will bring you to a page tat looks like this:

As you can see, above, the left column has ways to divide your view. You can choose many different ways to read.

Click on the arrow (where I marked with an orange arrow) to close the left column and you get this full page:


You can read in full screen individual blogs or the most recent post of all of the ones youre following. Genius!

Since it took me about two years to notice this option (yeah, I know), I thought I'd share it with others. Its a very simple thing that will make my life easier, and hopefully yours as well!

Do YOU have any more tips or tricks that I dont know? Does this work for you in other programs? Ive never explored it before. Share your ideas here!

DIY Instructions - Babyshower Activity - How to make iron-on onesies!

How to decorate onesies for a baby shower! This tutorial is also great for embellishing baby or adult t-shirts, bibs, tote bags and anything fabric.

This is just a simple example of what you can do to make a baby shower extra special with a group activity. I like to think I channeled my inner-Martha for this one!

photo:hiding on the guest of honor behind our "shower" umbrellas.

This past week my mother and I hosted a very small surprise baby shower for my sister! The key to doing this as a group activity is having a SMALL group. I can see that doing this in a large group would be unruly and awkward and well, noone needs that many onesies. If you are having a large party, then consider doing this project as a gift item.

Our party only consisted of five women. Four plus the guest of honor. This was her second baby so it usually a smaller party, and luckily we DID have the party when we did (on Wednesday), because the baby came on Friday! The guest of honor was also able to create her own outfit for her new baby.

SUPPLIES:
COTTON ONESIES- (white and yellow) from A.C. Moore Crafts (michaels sells them too, and you can also get plain ones at target and baby stores anywhere).

BIBS (optional)- i didnt actually find any blank ones in my town. I know ikea sells them. So if you know of a place that has blank bibs please comment below.

TSHIRT(optional)

IRON-ON TRANSFER PAPER - from the craft store, you can also find it at staples & walmart. I used the one with iron-on paper for WHITE shirts. it has something to do with the background color. They also have the option for black.

SCISSORS

IRON

PIECE OF WOOD- the instructions on the iron on paper package said not to use ironing board, just wood. So i had a scrap board inthe studio that i used. My mom used the ironing board and it worked just fine though.

PENCIL- in case you want to draw out a shape first

Prep:
To make this an easy group activity, I made blocks of color using the most basic 'paint' program on my computer. I made strips of color on four sheets of paper. Another option would be to print (reverse) images of your choice on the sheets of paper, and even words.

I thought I would let my guests get creative so I just made blocks of color.

Create:

Lay out your onesie on the table, so when you lay out your paper design onto it you can move it around.

Cut the color printed iron-on paper into any shape in the world. You can cut letters, or silhouettes, polka dots, anything. If you are cutting out letters, make sure they are backwards, as you have to lay the transfer paper color-side-down to iron it.

Arrange the paper cut-outs onto the fabric.

Iron over the paper for 2 minutes on the NO STEAM setting. Just read the package directions for each manufacturer.

Let paper cool completely.

Peel away slowly. If you notice its not comoing off easy, iron again, and let cool completely.
Give to the mother-to-be! ENJOY!

DIY Instructions - How to make a ring display for craft shows!

I had a big show last week and needed a new ring display. I wanted something sturdy and with a little bit of chunk to it, so I could show off my Glitter PoP Rings.
To make your own, you can get some ideas from this tutorial. Scouting out the right box and fabric are key. You can make any kind of ring tray you want with this in mind. Mine cost me about $16 total. You can certainly buy one already made for that price, but making you own enables you to customize it to your own ring size and make it match the rest of your display more than the commercial ones.
This is my first blog tutorial, so bear with me!

First, I had to decide how many rings I wanted it to hold. I estimated about 40 or 50 each, as I have about 100 + rings.

Supplies:
-trays (mine were $7.00 with a coupon)
-foam , just larger than your tray (mine were $7.99, but look at the thrift shop, or take apart your own chair!)
-opaque fabric, twice the size of your foam (the first one I used was too sheer and showed the green foam through it, and I had to find some more opaque fabric)


Tools:
-scissors
-box cutter
-marker
-ruler, or any stick to stuff fabric down (hand works too)


I found some bamboo house ware trays at Bed Bath & Beyond. They are stacking, and these would have been great if I could have had a little less foam, then I could have set up the rings at home and just stack them and bring it to the show. But I wanted the rings to sit right at the brim for easy viewing. Plan this when purchasing your foam. How thick do YOU need your foam to be?



Above:
I bought two trays. The green foam is from Joanns fabric, and is for seat cushions. They had all sorts of thicknesses and densities. I got one that had a big of heft to it, so that the rings would stay in the tray. If it is too floppy, your rings wont have anything to grab them, so go for dense.


Above:

Lay your tray over the foam, and score a line where you will cut it. I used the outside of the box to measure, knowing that I need a tight fit. If the foam is larger than the box, when I put it in the box it will expand and stay put. I did this all by eye and just winged it.

Above:

Cutting was satisfying..it made a nice clean line. Snip snip! But the foam was a bit thick so I found myself cutting twice over every line. I had to be careful not to shred it, but it was easy.

Above:

Stuff the foam in to check the size. if its tooooo big, just snip again. Mine had to be stuffed into it, which is what I wanted. I don't want it to move AT ALL.

Above:

I then set my intended rings onto the top to see how far apart they needed to sit. I have large rings, that needed a lot of space. I marked with a sharpee where I would need to cut.

Take the foam out of the box again and cut on the lines!

Note: I thought I would just need to kind of slice halfway down the foam, but decided to cut the foam completely at each black line. So I marked the foam #1-#12 so I could put the puzzle back together after cutting them. Once I sliced completely through, I stacked and stuffed the foam back into the box. There was a lot of finagling and wiggling to get it to stuff back in and look neat and tidy. Just work it in.

Next, lay the fabric on top. I found the center of the fabric by folding it in half, and stuck the middle into the middle foam crease. This helped me evenly distribute the cloth.

Above: I had to cram the fabric into the sides with a ruler and my fingers and lots of tug-o-war. So dont be afraid to really get in there. I had to do it twice on each ring box, take the fabric out and put it back in to get it to look nice. Make sure you get the fabric ALL THE WAY DOWN to the bottom so that it doesn't come out when people are trying on rings.

You can see that this was my first try, and you can still see the green through the fabric. I switched it out the next day with a velour sort of fabric. This felt nice to touch and made the rings look a lot more refined as well.

Here's my final product! This is what it looked like at the craft show (boy what a messy table). I think I will go back and get a few more trays. They had smaller ones and I think I want a small tray for each of my fused glass rings with different prices. I also had a lot of foam left over to do this again. This was an easy project that didn't require any glue. I love that!

edit: here's a new photo. I also use the larger box to hold cuff bracelets and matching rings.

edit: some people have been asking where to find the rings (thanks!) - I make them myself and sell them in my online Etsy shop. www.popko.etsy.com