To start off, if you are doing your first event I HIGHLY recommend setting up before going. Practice, practice, PRACTICE! I started setting up my table about a week before the event and as I made or crafted things, I set it up then by the time the event came I knew how I wanted it to look, took pictures and then recreated my display at the event.
To help create some depth or whatever kind of look I am talking about, I used cardboard boxes. I used USPS Priority Mail boxes to be precise. I have so many sitting around that I ship dog treats with, so I decided I could use them to set my treat displays on so I didn't have a flat boring table.
I used sticky notes as my temporary labels which turned out to be super helpful because they were not only easy but the perfect size and I used their 3x3 size when making my own labels.
Trying to stay cheap, I looked around my house for things I could use to display instead of buying more stuff. These two metal "trays" are what I use for mail, receipts and papers on my desk.
I was at the dollar store one day and picked up 3 glass jars to see if I would like the way they looked, turns out I did, so I used my handy-dandy sticky notes to show me where I would put the rest of my jars after I went back and bought more.
I numbered the sticky notes according to what item would be displayed there.
Then I slowly replaced my sticky notes with the real deal...
FLAG/LABELS/SIGNS
My individual signs were wonderful and I am in love with them and now use them at every event, shower, party I can! Like I mentioned in my last post, I ran across a sale at Michaels where all 12x12 paper was 6 sheets for $1 so I gathered all kinds of designs and colors that are associated with my shop.
Like I said, I used the size of a sticky note to size up my own signs/labels.
All my colors that I stocked up on :)
I sized and printed them on the computer and then used my handy paper cutter to make sure they had straight lines.
Then I simply double taped the words to the paper and.....
voila! I had some BBQ grilling sticks sitting around the house I measured out and chopped off to use. I taped them to the back of these labels and they were ready to go!
Then I gorilla taped (yes, it's called gorilla tape) to the back of whatever they went on so that they STAYED!
BOXES
Overall, I think I used 7-10 boxes for my display. All I did was tape the boxes together as if they were being shipped and wrap them in all kinds of wrapping paper that I had around the house, of them were even wrapped in tissue paper cause I didn't want to go buy wrapping paper (I told you I'm cheap!)
I used all the sizes, large, medium and small. I wrapped some in the 12x12 paper I bought at Michaels too.
Then I gorilla taped them to the table so they wouldn't be blown away and they worked perfectly!
OTHER DISPLAY ITEMS
GO to the DOLLAR STORE! Seriously, you will get ideas of your own, plus everything is a dollar. I picked up all these little jars as well as the white baskets at the dollar store and they were great for holding treats!
Then I used picture frames from around my house. I love black and white so I had a lot of black and white frames that worked perfectly with the color scheme I have for Treat Dreams.
My table cloth (guess you can't call it cloth when it's plastic, but whatever) was 99 cents at Wal-Mart in the party isle. It was the perfect color. I wanted something that would catch everyones attention on that cold yucky day and this did the trick. Although it was only a one time use kind of thing, it was worth it for 99 cents.
MY BOARD
I highly highly recommend having a board or some kind of place to display other information you want people to know, plus it draws the eye.
Many people came over just to look at the board! I used only pins on everything. This is a board I use to display things in my room, so I didn't want to glue anything on the board.
I printed out everything on this board, even the pictures. Although it would be easy to take and print pictures at Walgreens or CVS too.
Put up what you want people to know about you.
I wanted to create something personal so I put up pictures of dogs that are some of my biggest fans, but I wanted them to know what we are capable of as well, Christmas dog treats and Birthday dog treats. So it was a way to advertise too.
After the event, I found an empty rubbermaid box in the house that I then labeled "Treat Dreams Event Supplies" and I kept everything I could so that I wouldn't have to start from scratch next time I had an event.
This was just my very first event, so I know I will probably change everything and hopefully do much more in the future, but I was pretty please with everything and wanted to share my ideas with you!
No comments