Chalk it up to experience.....

Although I sold only three items at the Craft & Vendor show yesterday (the show was not very well attended, and traffic was minimal,) I'm glad that I participated in the event. I considered this to be my "maiden voyage," and as such, an opportunity to try out my display, see the displays of others, talk to vendors, and make note of things I could improve or change with my presentation. I fully intended to bring my camera, and of course forgot it! But my son snapped this picture of my display with his phone. Many thanks to my son Scott and his girlfriend Brandy, who helped me transport my items, assisted with setup, and kept me company for the duration of the event.

I thought the finished display looked very nice. I purchased a table skirt that adjusts to fit both 6-ft and 8-ft tables. Since I don't have my own table, I anticipate this drape would work well to accommodate tables of various sizes (this was a 6-foot table.) I created the riser by placing heavy plastic wine bottle crates underneath each end of a 4-foot shelving board. I draped that with a black satin drapery panel from Bed Bath & Beyond. I could have purchased yardage of black satin fabric and sewed my own, but I really didn't have a lot of extra time. I've purchased the various jewelry busts and trays over time, and find I really like the deeper black of the velvet props more than the bust made of smooth "leatherette". I placed an oval mirror at one end on the upper level, and inexpensive LED lights bought at IKEA to bring out the sparkle of my crystal pieces. On the far end of the table, I placed what I think is a pretty ingenious solution for displaying many earrings. I can't take full credit for the idea of making earring display card out of business cards, but I did dream up using a wire DVD tower to hold the cards.

Front side of the card. I put my shop name right up at the top, and my website at the bottom. I created a custom design to my specifications, and had them printed up at Vista Print.



I probably tried to add too much information on the back of the cards, and next time might revise this. I purchased the adhesive back hangers online -- I wasn't able to find them anywhere locally.

 I made the earring rack itself out of a wire DVD rack purchased at Office Max. I stretched 12-gauge black aluminum floral wire from side to side, and at intervals down the length of the rack. I was able to fit three earring cards on each level. Because of the way the rack was positioned on the table, I could only use one side for additional pieces. To really draw attention to the display, I used one of the flexible-neck LED lights as an "uplight," hidden behind an upright necklace display.

I found it very important to add little plastic earring "nuts" on the ear wires sticking out on the backside of the cards!

For easy setup and take-down, I circled the entire earring tower, with earring cards already in place, with plastic wrap. It worked like a charm! I took care to cover the bottom side as well, just in case an earring card might slip off the wire during transport.