Where are all the people???

     So it is day 1 of my very first craft show and my booth is all set up....only 15 minutes past start time. A few people start walking by and looking at my items. It takes awhile before my mom and I realize these are all fellow vendors. Hmmm....will people who came here to MAKE money SPEND money too? Well, if they're anything like us, it's a definite YES. My mom is already scoping it out, trying to find things for her little granddaughter. We see two little wooden stools that are just adorable, and a little snowman doll in the next booth. Oh how easily we get distracted by shopping.
     Throughout the day we get waves of people and waves of nothing. I get very positive comments, though a lot of people oooh and ahhh while saying they have no little ones to buy for. That's ok, I still like the compliments ;). There's one vendor who comes over, gushes and gushes, then goes back to her booth to get her friend, drags her back to my booth, and tells her, "when I have my next baby, this is what I want you to buy for me!" Her husband shows up and she does the same thing to him. Mind you she is NOT pregnant. Anyway......I get lots of practice that first day with my mini-monologues describing each product. I feel almost like a robot, and a bit desperate at times because A LOT of people look but don't buy. However, I'm strangely having a fantastic time! My mom is a bit bored but walks around checking out all the snacks and nik naks. Every time she does a walkabout she comes back with a bag of something....candied nuts....gigantic cookies....socks.....RANDOM! Each time I joke and tell her she's spending all my profit, and then not so jokingly recalculate how much I still have to sell to cover the booth fees. But you know what, those gigantic cookies were delicious.
     My hubby shows up with our little girl around lunch time and after a feed, I plop her into my Mei Pouch. Wow, that brought more attention to my store immediately. I couldn't tell if it was due to my ingenious product, or the fact I that I was carrying the cutest baby in the world. HAHAHA I know what you're thinking, "somebody slap her", right? I kid, I kid! Lol, so people are stopping to check us out, and I'm demonstrating how to tie her in, how the hood pops off, becomes a storage pouch...by then I've got my speech DOWN, and even my husband says he's impressed, since I'm usually a pretty quiet person. I was raised the old Asian way - don't speak unless spoken to. But like I said, I'm having a blast. There's something so fulfilling about being surrounded by things you made yourself from your own ideas, and knowing people like them. They like me, they really like me! It's kind of hard to describe, but I felt such a sense of accomplishment and pride. After about an hour hubby got bored and decided to go to the car dealer. We were looking to trade in our little SUV for a minivan....yes, we've reached middle age....even though I'm in my twenties. I thought long and hard about what it meant to get a minivan....it's NOT just a vehicle, it represents YOU, am I getting old.....blah blah blah. Hubby on the other hand is super excited about it, which is surprising since he's always been a country music/boot wearing/pickup truck driving kinda guy. Now he just sings country to our little girl and wears his boots in our minivan. Sigh, what an a-ha moment :). Boy I go off on tangents. So he leaves for like 3 hours (which is why I hate going to car dealerships...snooze) and my mom and I continue hawking my wears. We make friends with the ladies in the next booth (the ones with the snowman) and they ask me to make some Annie-Clips for them to use as keychains. Vendors chat with us when it's slow and we come to find out this is actually REALLY slow, nobody is making good sales. I didn't know what to expect, but am glad to hear this isn't normal. I surpass my $90 booth fee in the afternoon and think, well at least I'm not losing any money... and then think, wait, I have to count in all the money I spent on materials and time making everything! LOL.
     Right at closing time I have a family come up and look at my Sling Purses. I show her how it switches from purse to sling, then show her the Mei Pouch as well. She buys a Mei Pouch! At this point I am beaming from ear to ear, I sold my very first baby carrier!!! Cha-ching, TOTALLY over my $90 booth fee now. Ok, I know those of you who actually DO craft shows are laughing at me right now because I've done research and know booths can make thousands in a day, while I'm happy to crack $100 at this point. But boy was I on a high! After that sale it was time to go so we happily closed up shop for the night. I go home happy and hopeful, but completely exhausted.
-Please stay tuned for day 2!