zozee

I may have just jumped into the deep end without a life preserver, but I signed up to be a vendor at my son's school's Christmas Bazaar. It's Dec 6th, 5 to 8 pm. Pease help this newbie .

Thus far I've decided to make rice/flaxseed/lavender-filled therapy bags. They are about 20x12 unfinished. I'm also making pairs of rice handwarmers.

I'm looking for advice from anyone--experienced sellers here, as well as from those of you who shop. What is a good price point? I also need ideas for under $5 things that sell. Lots of kids will be there from K-12th. But plenty of parents and grandparents too.

I've bought fabric anywhere from $1/yd to $12, so should I take the average, or use etsy pricing. I don't want to undercut myself or schlep home 300 pounds of unsold goods.

juliasb

This is where I would use the least expensive fabrics I have and buy a 25 lb. bag of rice and a smaller amount of flax and lavender. The latter 2 need very little in each. The last time I did them (about 10 years ago) I sold them for $7. You should be able to get 10 (maybe less). If you really want to sell a great deal. To make a hit of it I kept a small microwave so I could demo them. I sold 40 of them as well as many that were just plain rice. The bags only have to be little more than half filled. You will make a profit but maybe not as much as you may be thinking for all your work. Just keep in mind why you are doing this project.

bearisgray

Just wondering -

How much do you have to pay to be a vendor?

How much is donated to the school and how much do you keep?

In my mind, it is "reasonable" to value my fabric at how much it would cost to replace it.

One of the very few things I will buy at craft fairs are the crocheted nylon scrubbies. The lady I buy them from prices them at only $1.00.

You might consider making pillow cases for the travel pillows - the "My Pillow" travel pillow is 12 x 18 inches, and the small pillows that I bought at the fabric store were 12 x 16 inches.

I used "the housewife" type of pillowcase for these. http://alternative-windows.com/en/be...e-pillow-cases

My grandchildren take them with them when they travel - in fact, my daughter has a "request" in for replacement cases right now.

zozee

Julia, my sister-in-law suggested the microwave to demo them as well. Thanks for the tips.

Bear: in answer to your questions: vendor fee is $35 and that much is a donation to the booster club. I get to keep the rest. I'll look into the cost of small pillow forms. I thought about regular size pillow cases for kids since I have a lot of fabric for kids, but not sure I could get enough for them. They aren't licensed ; I bought it for donation pillowcases but they are kid-friendly prints.

My son who is 17 uses a My Pillow travel pillow for sleeping. Well, he was, until our dog chewed it. Now I have to repair it!

Tartan

​book marks, hair scrunches, head bands are all inexpensive to make and can be priced low.

quiltingcandy

Is this a place for kids to be able to shop for Christmas gifts or is it for parents, family, friends, etc to shop? If you have a lot of fabric, the reading pillows are a big hit. I wouldn't make more that 3 or 4 - Right now you can get a package with 6 of the pillow forms from Joann's right now for $18.00. I have made a few for friends of my daughter's children and they want me to sell them so they can get more. But at that price you can easily charge $20.00 and make money - especially if you don't use zippers. You may want to charge a bit more if you put zippers in them.

zozee

Quiltingcandy--this is primarily marketed to parents, family, friends, but there are plenty of kids because the school choirs sing, there are crafts that are make-and-take for a buck (run by staff), inexpensive gifts for kids to buy for their teachers and family members. But there are many vendors selling jewelry, cosmetics, woodcrafts, soaps, candles, etc.

I will only have one table and the space immediately around it, so I'm not sure how many pillows I could display.

quiltingshorttimer

I'd also recommend some bowl cozies---since you plan to have a small microwave to demo your sachets, you could do same with bowl cozies. and if you are using fun scrapes, you can price fairly low. Also, some cell phone carry cases with both belt hooks and straps (like crossbody bags) may be a good hit.

Bobbinalong

Small covered notebooks would sell well. Can you buy the notebooks in your Dollar Store? Once you have drawn a pattern at the correct size, it is a real production line item to make. Good to use up all your scraps of fabric and batting. Pieces of batting can be zigzagged together and patched fabric can be embellished with a decorative stitch.

Good luck with the sale.

tuckyquilter

Zo, sent you a msg over on Facebook.