Craft Fair Recap: DIME Handmade Harvest

Two weekends ago, I took part as a vendor in the Denton Independent Maker's Exchange (DIME) Handmade Harvest. The past few weeks have been jam packed with sketching, designing, printing, ordering, assembling, planning, rebranding, and preparing like a maniac to get ready for this event. This is my second official craft show, but having my own booth, setting up my own products, and selling them myself was a first for me. It was a lot of work, but SO worth it. I learned much about organization, prioritizing, managing multiple moving pieces at once, as well as trying to keep the big picture in mind while remembering all the little details.

Other than a couple of glitches on the front end, I quickly got in my groove and enjoyed every minute of it. I loved meeting so many new faces, talking to customers about my process, getting to tell stories behind the products, and seeing people actually buy them. It was so fulfilling and reassuring that what I'm doing is meaningful to other people.

My sweet, servant-hearted mom stayed by my side almost all day. She helped set up my booth, let me borrow props for my products, offered creative advice, brought me lunch when I was so busy that I couldn't leave my post, and was just a great support, willing to spend hours serving me. My sister was also a huge help in keeping me laughing all day and helping make a couple of sales while I had to take a break for a few minutes. My girl, Sally, even came on the back end of the show to help tear down and pack up my car, then joined me for dinner and drinks to finish off the day right.

From the time the doors opened, the day was busy busy busy, and I hardly had time to get enough photos and visit other vendors' booths, but I am SO grateful for a fun, fulfilling, and very profitable day and can't wait for next year. Here are a few snapshots I was able to sneak in, along with a few from my proud mom.