Holy Craftoly

      So it was the day before my very first craft show. In the morning I meticulously.....okay who am I kidding.....I obsessive compulsively checked and rechecked my lists and boxes to make sure I had everything I "needed". Not knowing what to expect, I had compiled lists using suggested guides of "what to bring to craft shows" that I found on..... you guessed it..... BLOGS. I'm a very visual person, so I also had several run-throughs in my head where I imagined myself walking around my booth, adding things that I would need, such as a floor length mirror (did I even end up using that?), a stuffed animal to demo the baby carriers, etc. At the end I had several lists, a list of what to bring to set up, a list of what to pack that night, and a list of what to bring the day of. I had also cleared out a space in our very small house to put everything into piles, a pile for what to bring to set up and a pile for what to bring the next day. Can you tell I LOVE making lists and I LOVE to pack? My husband thinks it's funny, but I take it quite seriously... LOL. I love puzzles, which may explain it, but it's just so satisfying to pack a bag, a car, anything, and know you didn't waste an inch of space. It's equally satisfying checking things off a list every time you finish it. I know I'm not alone here, right? Right? Maybe that should be my career, teaching people how to pack efficiently. 

     Wow, where was I? Hold on as I scroll up and refresh my memory........Oh yes, lists and piles. SO, that afternoon we packed up all the big stuff and 2 boxes of paintings. I didn't know how much people set up ahead of time for shows, but knew the paintings would take a while to put up. Hubby said, "No, people might steal stuff!" "I said, eh, we'll see".

     When we got to the show I was completely overwhelmed. It looked like a convention! The show was in a.....I don't even know what they're called....those huge barn-type arenas where they have stock shows....except this one had 3 arenas....for a high school! Since it was indoors, people were setting everything up, down to their business card holders. I felt a little unprepared. My hubby was just as wide-eyed as me, so we must have looked like a couple of tourists in a foreign land. Well, there was no time for gawking, we had to set up as quickly as possible. It took an hour to get there, and would take an hour to get home, so we had an hour at the most to set up before our 5 month old (who was at home with my mom) was due for a feeding. 

     The next morning Mom and I left bright and early at 6:30 to finish setting up. The show was supposed to start at 9:00. You know the saying in housebuilding - it takes 90% of the time to do 10% of the work? Boy was I feeling that. I'm still not sure why it took so long to set up, but eventually we finished....only about 15 minutes late. Luckily, no one actually shops at 9:00.....besides the other vendors. 

Check it out!