At a Craft Show

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Craft shows are held in Michigan year round. There are spring shows and winter shows. I usually attend the winter shows and October 17, 2009 was my first show for this year. This show was held at the local high school and was one that I had attended last year too. There were a lot of vendors and a good number of buyers too. I did see a lot of familiar faces among the exhibitors and vistors from the craft shows I did last year.

My husband, Roy, and my mother-in-law helped me with all the transportation and setting-up of the booth. I really enjoy going to these shows, because one gets to meet a lot of people, see the different crafts that people make, and of course make some money! Some vendors put up fancy booths, but I just like to keep it simple and let my crafts do the talking.

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The average visitor is accustomed to seeing the usual stuffed toys, little knick-knacks made from wood or fabric, birdhouses and other items; so when they see the unusual creations that I make from bangles and beads, they literally stop in their tracks. They might or might not buy anything, but they are very curious as to what these things are and how I make them, what they are made of and so on. The ones that buy them always come back the next year and buy some more.

Once in a while, someone will come along and know at once that the ornaments and boxes are made from glass bangles, and on further talking to them I come to know that they either have friends that are from India or they themselves have been to Asian countries and are familiar with the glass bangles. This time, there was this couple, where the girl had lived for some years in Malaysia and she remarked that this was an excellent way to make use of broken glass bangles!

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Due to the economic downturn, business at craft shows has slowed down a bit. We still have two more months of people doing their Christmas shopping …let us see how things progress.I had a nice time at this show and I still have a few more to go to. Will let you know how those turn out!

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