Recap of the Holiday Expo!

As most of you know, I was a vendor at the Holiday Expo this past weekend {I only posted it on Facebook a zillion times, right?}. It was fun to see all of the vendors out there and make a few new friends! Here are a few photos of my set-up.

{I love these two hats with the wood button. They are size 0-3 months and are still for sale! Shoot me an e-mail at casscrochetcreations@yahoo.com: $15 each, shipped, or buy both for $27 shipped.}

 

 Yup, I stole my almost 3 year old's {Almost three?! When did this happen?!} chalkboard. That's a normal thing for an owner of a business to do, right? Don't answer that.

 

I learned a lot about crochet, and what attracts someone to an item.

For instance-

1. The really unique and creative items catch people's eyes {e.g. the reindeer hat, gingerbread hat, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, etc.}, but just long enough to point it out to their bestie and then walk away.

2. While people around the US seem to really favor my Mickey and Minnie Mouse hats {they are my top sellers as well as my top views}, people in Iowa really don't care for them. I didn't have a lot of people who were interested in them.

3. May 2012 must have been a top month for the hospitals around here, because everyone was asking for a size 6 month!

4. The items that I love, are not always the items that my customers love. While I favored the light pink hat with the brown heart stitched to it, others favored the black beanie with the huge lavender poinsettia buttoned to it.

5. I really prefer custom work. I have a hard time trying to sell someone something that they don't LOVE. I feel awful, and my soul tugs at me and whispers to me the whole time, "Leave her alone, she doesn't like the Minnie hats, she wants something different." This is why I specialize in custom. Do NOT feel bad if you give me tons of instructions or ask a million questions. On the other end, don't get annoyed if you spend the first twenty e-mails back and forth with me asking you questions and clarifying. I want to make sure that your item is perfect. Handmade, custom work can be expensive, which is why I do my best to keep my prices low and my customer service high. 

I'm happy that I went to the Expo, but I was even happier when I came home, checked my Etsy and had a custom order waiting for me. Custom is where my heart is.

Happy Tuesday!