I’m all set up and ready to sell at the Tea For All Reasons 2009 Fall Open House.
I’m in a different room this year. I usually had the family room, which is a much larger room. But this time I’m in the parlor, which is just off of the front door and also connects to the kitchen. Good traffic either way.
I’m looking forward to the weekend. We’re expecting large crowds. I hope they come ready to spend money!
I have been busy creating in the past couple of months as I gear up for the annual Tea For All Reasons Open House. Sadly, this is the last TFAR Open House since my parents are moving away from this area sometime next spring. I know that my mother’s loyal customers are deeply disappointed to hear that news as much as I am.
Anyhow, I’ve been busy. Here are a few of the new items that have already sold in my Etsy shop:
The Agate and Jasper Necklace
… and matching earrings
Vintage Rhinestone Shoe Clips
Vintage Thai Princess Ring
Recycled Hand in Time 2 Necklace
There are other items sold, too. More than I remembered!
It’s been a pretty good fall for sales so far, considering the many months that I let things languish at the end of my pregnancy and soon after my daughter was born in late March.
I am a regular vendor at my mother’s annual fall open house now. It’s kind of nice to have regular customers who come back excited to see what new shiny things I have to offer.
I had low expectations for sales this time given the economy. However, I did have a number I was hoping to reach and I mainly wanted to unload some inventory. Both goals were accomplished!
The most exciting sale was for a necklace and earrings I made just a couple of days before the open house. The necklace was not like anything I had made previously, but I got great feedback on it and it did sell. I have terrible flash pictures from my display table that I need to download and will put on the blog soon.
[Added 11/17]: Here are the photos of the Blue China necklace and matching earrings that sold at the open house. Please forgive the quality of the photos.
I’m now considering an online open house - sending out an Evite to my mailing list for folks to shop my Etsy shop for Christmas gifts. I can’t do an actual open house in my home this year, which is a bummer, so maybe that can be a way to remind them that I still have pretty things available for their gift ideas.
The spring open house was definitely successful. Even with a small turnout, the sales were brisk. Even my mom did well in sales. There is no doubt that jewelry sells way better in person. Women are tactile anyway, so giving them the chance to fondle the beads, to see the sparkle and glimmer, to hold a pair of earrings next to their head will guarantee that your work will sell.
I have determined a few things for my next open house, though:
1. Do not do Sunday again. Besides being the Sabbath, there weren’t enough people to justify working on that day. Especially since I work full time and had to go back to my day job on Monday. I need that day of rest to recoup. Because today? I’m tired.
Instead consider doing a Friday night for the second day option. I thought about this, but I was worried about the parking in our neighborhood in the dark. Or do two Saturdays in a row? Or just take a Friday off to do two full days.
2. The spring open house needs to be a couple of weeks later to really garner more traffic - early April is too soon for Mother’s Day and prom sales.
3. Have more pairs of basic pearl earrings of all colors and sizes. I had at least three people buy simple pearl earrings and mention their desire for similar for gifts for other people. While I offered to make them right then, no one took me up on that offer. Having them made and ready to show will get the sale, I think.
4. Have more leverback earwires handy for the switch out. Reconsider the tiny kidney earwires - they are secure, but older hands have troubles with them.
5. Get a better guest book for folks to sign for the mailing list.
So my next open house won’t be until the fall/winter. I’m debating doing a craft show or two this summer. We’ll see.
Day One of the Spring Open House passed with sales far surpassing my hopes for the whole weekend! Such a blessing.
You can see pictures of my ever changing displays here. Two new pieces that help a ton are the rolling cart I got that works well for my checkout station and the fantastic etagère that I got for my birthday.
Day Two is this afternoon. I have no expectations since yesterday exceeded my hopes. I’m just looking forward to a fun afternoon hanging with my mom (her displays are included in the pics as well) and some friends.
It’s Open House weekend! I’m excited.
And a bit bummed because:
1. The repair on the friend’s watch didn’t go as well as it should have. I need to totally redo it.
2. I didn’t get any bridal jewelry made to display.
3. I didn’t get any new bracelets made to display. I have one whole empty ramp that makes me sad to look at.
I just ran out of time, although I am going to try to do one bracelet this morning (after I post this).
And there’s still some cleaning to be done - just vacuuming the stairs and mopping the kitchen floor. And, of course, myself!
Other than that, I’m ready. I have one new great display shelf that I got for my birthday and it is fantastic. And I bought this little rolling cart that is going to work well as a checkout station. Pictures to follow!
I can’t believe that my open house is tomorrow already. Time passes way too quickly. I still have much to do to get ready, mostly of the cleaning the house variety. I steam cleaned the main walk path in the living room that leads from the front door to the kitchen - it was disgustingly dirty after the winter and we didn’t have that much snow or rain.
And I do have things I still want to make - including a bridal set to have as display for potential brides. I’m hoping I have enough Swarovski pearls to do all three pieces. If not, then I’ll do just the necklace and earrings.
I’m also hoping that my two large supply orders arrive today. There are some beads that I really need in order to start some new projects.
It’s hard to believe that it’s the week of my spring open house already. I starting thinking about the date for it right after my winter open house in December. That it’s April tomorrow is astounding. Where does the time go?
So this time I’m running my open house on Saturday and Sunday. I figured there had to be a few people who might be able to make the Sunday afternoon time if they had conflicts on Saturday. So far I only know of one person who plans to come on Sunday. The rest will all be here on Saturday.
That’s OK - my Mom will be here again with her teas and we’ll have tasty things to nosh on while we play with my son in between guests/customers.
If you’re in Northern Virginia and would like to come, let me know in the comments.
We had a very successful open house this weekend. All despite terrible weather. My mother and her partner have some loyal customers who are willing to trek out in driving rains to get to their open houses. And it was gratifying that so many were pleased to see me again (and showed it with their wallets, too). Many asked if I would be at the fall open house (yes, I’m now a regular feature - woo!) and if I did my own open houses (yes!)
Mom told me to expect to sell about half of what I sold in November. So I had an idea of what I thought my sales would total for the weekend - after Friday, I was about halfway there. Yesterday was busy and sales were brisk and my final tally ended up over my upper range figure. It was a very good sales weekend. I’m grateful because we’re saving for a family vacation to Disney World at the end of the May and all of my revenue is going into the Disney fund.
The most fun, after seeing the people I had met in the fall, was selling the vintage pieces I had recently gotten. So many expressed appreciation for vintage and the pieces I had recycled into new earrings were admired (and purchased) quite a bit.
So today will be busy with the bookkeeping, setting my craft table back up, working on the small tweaks on a couple of pieces that were purchased so that I can get them to their new owners this week, photographing the items that didn’t sell so that they can be listed in my Etsy shop, and then starting to work on the special order that I got early last week since the supplies I needed arrived on Friday. And maybe a nap later, too.
[UPDATED]: Updated to add the photos of my display table.
The spring open house is tomorrow. I’ve still got some things to do to prepare, but I’m basically ready. I’m excited to see the women I met at the open house in November - this time I’ll have my guest book ready to get them on my mailing list.
So here are some tidbits leading into the weekend:
1. My mother, the tea merchant, gave a sample of her Lucky Charms blend tea to my husband and me the other day. I could smell the luscious chocolate and mint through the baggie! We brewed the pot that day and it was wonderful. And we loved the little green clovers!
2. I bought some soap samples from SoapDeli at Etsy.com to give away as promos to customers when they make a purchase. They arrived yesterday and they smell so delicious.
3. I bought new shopping bags from Nashville Wraps. I had been using their white gloss bags with handles, but I was low in inventory and afraid that I’d run out, so I ordered more. This time I bought burgundy kraft bags with handles (I got 25), which match my branding/logo and also white merchandise bags (like you get at card shops) for small purchases. They only sell them in lots of 1000, so I think I’ll have those bags for years!
4. Tonight I need to finish the repair job for the proprietress of Uncle Sam’s Niece, our open house hostess, so that I can take that to her tomorrow. And if I can manage it in the evening, I’d like to make at least one pearl necklace to have in my display along with the pendant necklaces I already have ready.
One last thing - all of the items in my Etsy shop will be invisible for Friday and Saturday since I’ll be taking everything to the open house. So if you have your eye on something, please buy it today because it may not return to my shop on Sunday!
