First Farmers Market

I recently participated in my hometown's new Farmers Market and had a great time! I had been wanting to do some sort of craft show for a while now, so I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to get my feet wet. It was even better because my mom and sister decided to jump on board and share a space with me. They made some adorable stuff...decorative picture frames, letters, magnets, checkbook covers, etc. It was definitely a learning experience for all three of us, but we had lots of laughs and made a few sales.


The majority of the shoppers were looking for produce...however due to the terrible drought we've been having in South Texas there was none, so calling it a "Farmer's Market" was a little misleading. There was a gentleman selling tropical looking plants a couple booths down from us and he seemed to be doing very well. There were also some sweet ladies selling nuts beside us that said they sold three times what they usually sell at other local farmers markets.

I had lots of fun planning out all of my jewelry displays. I had purchased a glass front display cabinet at Michael's last year for 50% off. I had it open on my table and displayed vintage dictionary word necklaces on one side and the other side, which had small display areas, was perfect for holding rings and other small items. I hung all of my soldered pendant necklaces on a metal "tree-shaped" stand...I had lots of positive comments on it, but none of the necklaces sold. My personal favorite was the display at the entrance of the tent. My husband salvaged an old window out of our shed and said he thought I could turn it into something. I purchased a roll of screening from Lowe's and stapled it to the back (my husband had already knocked out the glass for me). I hung lots of earrings in the screening and also hung some necklaces on hooks that I mounted to the sides of the window. I purchased a large ornate easel for around $35 from Hobby Lobby and placed the window on it. Rounding out my display was an old cigar box that contained a bunch of marked down items, a small treasure chest type box that held all of my stud earrings and a large frame that I added fabric to and pinned earrings from.

The next market is taking place this Saturday and we will be giving it another try. I've decided that I will take more small ticket items with me this time...I'm making some simple earrings that will be priced at $5 that I will display at the front of the tent to entice shoppers. I'll probably leave the majority of my higher priced items at home because I don't think the local crowd appreciated the value of my revamped vintage items. I had an embarrassing moment at the last market when a woman approached me with a bracelet made from a variety of antique buttons. She handed me a five dollar bill and I looked at it for a moment with what I'm sure was a very puzzled look on my face. She reread the price tag before I could speak and said "how much is that? $25??" her voice was filled with disbelief. She took her money back and immediately walked out. It wasn't how I envisioned my day to start out...but I bounced back and ended up having a fairly successful day.

All in all it was a lot of fun and we look forward to doing it again. If you are in the area, come by the Aransas Pass chamber of commerce parking lot on Saturday and say hello.