Saturday 7 June 2008

Tuesday, we had a craft fair

I've been a bit quiet recently on the blogging front. That is partially because I've been spending my spare time preparing for this:-


A table load of Bridal Horseshoes for Tuesday's craft fair, organised by the Social Committee at work.

In a moment of madness, about a month ago, I volunteered to take a table. Yes, I know, I've always made horseshoes as gifts. And I've never sold one in my life before. And I couldn't produce them in huge volumes (they take time) but aren't you meant to cover the table with stuff at shows? And there isn't much of a market here for them - the tradition has nearly died out, whereas in Australia it's booming. And.... And....

I must be mad. This time last week, there were hundreds of excuses and reasons why I should pull out. DH talked me out of it. He gallantly cut me out 15 bases, made me hot chocolates, bought me bits and pieces, and laminated me signs. (Sorry, no picture of the signs - they show my work phone number.) The net result were these:-


I think they are really pretty.

I took 14 horseshoes with me (somehow managed to miss making the 15th), and sold a grand total of ..... Are you ready for this?..... Two. Yes, that's right, two.

I reckon we had 30 people through the door in the hour and a half of the craft fair. It is a new thing and I can't blame the Social Committee for trying - of all the places I've worked, this is the least sociable - but they're fighting an uphill battle. The location was pants for a start - we were tucked into a conference room well away from the main flow of traffic through the building. They could also do with a better publicist.

I think I'll put them up on Etsy.

- Pam

2 comments:

amy said...

What's the tradition? I've never heard of it before.

PipneyJane said...

In Australia and some parts of Europe, it's traditional to give the bride a horseshoe "for luck" on her wedding day. You loop the ribbon over her arm as she walks down the aisle.

Mine are made with satin ribbons and crystals, but you can get cardboard decorated with paper lace and I've seen plastic ones, too. I've also seen tiny satin slippers and a mousetrap bedecked in ribbon.

A Slovakian colleague told me that his (male) cousin had a real horseshoe draped round his neck on the way to the church for his wedding. It had flowers and ribbon threaded through the nail-holes.

- Pam