It can really pay to assemble your stall at home before doing a craft fair, I call this a craft stall dress rehearsal.

This avoids the stress of discovering on the day that you don’t have enough to fill the area, haven’t really got a good way to display certain products, can’t arrange them so everything is easily seen and so on.

Set up your table somewhere safe and dry at home.

Cover your table in a tablecloth or similar. Fabric tends to look better, but paper cloths are better than a blank table. You may like to have a second, smaller cloth on top. Plain cloths are usually preferable so as not to distract the eye from your products.

Trial and Error

Spend some time rearranging things until you are happy with the layout. Remember simple rules such as putting smaller things in front of larger ones. Also consider things such as keeping very delicate items out of reach of small children. Experiment with different ways to display things. Here are some suggestions:

  • Earrings look attractive when hanging on a mesh
  • Bracelets and bangles are often displayed on horizontal poles – try a mug tree
  • Greeting cards and similar can be stood in boxes so customers can easily look through them
  • Framed pictures etc benefit from the extra space of being displayed on a wall or boards behind the stall
  • Put small things in bowls or tubs so they can be easily seen but not lost

Make sure you have your signage sorted. Many people dislike asking what the price of an item is, and will not do so. So everything on your stall should be clearly priced. Spend time on your signage so it looks neat and attractive – I have seen many stalls of lovely items that appear scruffy simply because of the hastily hand-written signs.

You can put things like boxes or books under your tablecloth – this can really help display items at the back better.

Don’t forget to decide where you will put things like your business cards, leaflets or promotional material. It may be easier to pop business cards in a shallow box to avoid them getting knocked on the floor.

 

Setting up a stall dress rehearsal in the kitchen

Here is a picture of a stall dress rehearsal being set up in the kitchen. Arranging things and seeing how best to display the various types of items.

And finally…

If possible, leave your table up overnight so you come back to see it the next morning with ‘fresh eyes’. You may well spot things you hadn’t the day before. It is also a great idea to have a friend or family member look too and see if they spot any things you could improve.

You may want to draw a little sketch of the finished stall for reference when setting up on the day.

Here is a link to my free, printable Craft Stall Checklist, to help you remember everything you need on the day.


For lots more information on craft stall preparation, check out my in-depth article, Preparing for a Craft Stall or Craft Show – you can also listen to this article as a podcast too.

Craft Seller Success Episode 21 - Preparing for a Craft Stall or Craft Show

A Craft Stall Dress Rehearsal – Getting Ready for a Craft Show
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