You’ve got your crafts all done and stocked.  You’ve read all the tips on setting up an attractive booth and practiced setting it up in your back yard but have you thought about safety?  You not only want to make sure your booth is safe for you, your customers and other crafters but you want to make sure all your hard work or crafts are kept safe also.

Probably the biggest safety factor you will have to deal with doing an outside show would be the weather.  The two biggies are rain and wind but you may have to deal with the heat and cold also.

Since we started our craft business, we have learned many tips from veteran crafters on how to keep our booth and products safe in the weather and we would like to share some of those tips with you.

1)        Number one on the list would be WEIGHTS!!!  You never know when the wind could kick up and cause all kind of havoc with your tent.  We have seen crafters use many different things to weight their tents down. There are purchased weights made by the tent companies that are filled with sand and are attached with Velcro to the legs, but these can be costly.  You can also use milk jugs filled with water or sand and hung from the corners. We’ve also seen cinder blocks used as weights but personally I think that looks tacky.  I would say the all time favorite used by crafters and can be done on a crafter’s budget would be PVC pipe filled with cement and hung from the corners.  These are very cheap, simple to do and can be disguised to blend with your tent.  We will be providing a tutorial on how to make these weights.

2)       Side walls.  These are worth the small investment as you will get much use out of them.  If you are doing a festival that lasts several days, side walls will give you some security when you close up shop and leave for the night, Also if it starts raining you will need them to keep you and your products dry.  They also come in handy to block cold, chilly winds or hot, blaring sun.

3)       Cheap dollar store plastic table clothes.  These come in handy if a sudden rain storm blows up and you need to cover your crafts quickly.  They can also be used in a pinch as a tarp to block sun or as a ground covering for wet ground.

4)       Plastic containers, if your budget allows, Is a must for your stock.  It will probably be sitting on the ground and with plastic containers you won’t have to worry about moisture, dirt, or creepy crawlies.

5)       Table levelers.  These are a little harder to explain if you’ve never seen them but we will also be showing a tutorial on how to make these.  They are basically short pieces of PVC pipe that slip over your table’s feet. Holes are drilled through them (PVC pipe) at different increments, where you can put screws through to level out your table.  These come in handy on unlevel ground such as a festival held on a town street…Think of the slope that runs to the rain gutter on Main Street.

These are the basics to help you and your crafts stay safe.  There are several more complex tips we will share later.  Another great tip is when you do the festival whether it’s your first or ninety-ninth show,  look around and talk to the other crafters.  Most are open, friendly and willing to share their latest tips on having a safe, productive show.

If you have more great tips please leave a comment, we are always on the lookout for great tips.

OXOX,

LaShaye