If you’re like me, then you’re always out there looking for inspiration for your craft show setup. I have hundreds of pictures saved on my computer of other people’s setups and I’ve posted mine on social media before, but I’ve never actually taken the time to break down what I use (and why I used it), and that’s just silly. Hopefully, you can get some great ideas for your next show!
The overall craft show setup
I like using a dark palette with pops of colors, rather than the other way around. For my products, which are usually black (or blackish), this helps me to draw attention to the product and let the displays fade out.
- Wood crates – Luckily one of the crates I use is an actual wine crate that I found on a walk in Brooklyn (thank you, garbage gods!) but the others were bought at Home Depot, Michaels, and Joann Fabrics (Joann usually has the best coupons).
- Minwax wood stain in Classic Gray – my goal for the color aesthetic was old beach wood and this stain is by far my favorite for achieving that. I use 2 thin coats so that the wood grain from the crates still comes through.
- Black polyester tablecloth – I like to use these in my craft show setups because they’re no muss, no fuss, easily cleaned, and can hide wrinkles pretty well.
- Box o’ Moss – Yes, I totally bought real moss off of Amazon for craft show setups. It held up incredibly well for about 4 months but bear in mind that it is moss, so there is dirt and mud to deal with (along with actual moss smell) but the way it helped my products stand out was well worth it.
- Silver serving trays – These are incredibly light but sturdy, and were used for holding the soaps above the moss (the small ones I used for candles and other small products). The silver against the green really complimented the products and gave it a classy look.
- Bed risers – (not shown in picture) These are the most critical part of my craft show setup and I won’t ever do a show without them. Bed risers help to elevate the table, which makes your products easier to reach (and makes signs easier to read) while also keeping my soaps and glassware out of reach from tiny hands.
- Cookie tin – (not listed, shown in big picture) For the riser that holds my tower of scrubs, I used an old Christmas Cookie tin, then sprayed it with Chrome spray paint. After that dried, I hit it up with black matte spray paint here and there to give it an oxidized look.
- Poster – I got my banner from Vistaprint. I think I just used the indoor materials instead of outdoor, though it’s pretty thick (and I can’t entirely remember)
- Promo materials – I usually get my postcards from OvernightPrints, though I haven’t been too happy with their quality. I’ve since moved on to DocuCopies or PSPrint and usually order once or twice a year. If I’m anticipating doing a lot of events and shows, I’ll usually get about 5,000 postcards for the year. If not, usually 2,000 is plenty.
That’s it! The best part is that most of the displays fit together, so that I can use them to carry products or components of the setup, but all in all I would say it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to set up the table and the products.
Do you like it? Let me know in the comments!
