I bought one of those 10×10 pop-up canopies (cover only, no walls) last year. About 100 bucks at Wal-Mart. It’s OK but not sure that it’ll hold up so well long-term. At fair last summer, I actually borrowed a tipi and left it up all week. We hung artwork and assorted trinkets inside, then had a couple small tables in front. It was a huge crowd-pleaser but I don’t know how many venues will let you do this. They are the best thing you can get for wind, though, hands-down.

I have a caravan tent, and I start by expanding it out as far as I can. Note that I do not raise the legs yet but keep it at its lowest height. Then I walk under the tent to the center, bending down to get there, of course. I then push up on the center pole, like opening a giant umbrella. It will lock at one of the corners and then you are set. I return to the other corners to make sure they are also locked, and pull them up if they aren’t.

The last step is to raise the corner posts to the height you want. I always put it up to 8 feet so the tent looks open and inviting for customers to come in.

Try this, it makes it surprisingly easy…

EZ-UP and Caravan are good choices. The nylon walls are indispensable when it gets drizzly or breezy, and you can order sandbags right from the company. One type is fairly new and awesome – they are about 2 ft tall, you fill them with play sand and wrap them around the base of each leg. You can usually find a decent one for a couple hundred bucks at Sam’s Club, and you can often find walls/sandbags online or even on ebay. Just be sure the walls are designed to fit 10×10 canopy frames.

There is one other thing to consider, that is the weight of the canopy. The lighter weight EZ-UPs cost a little more, but are well worth it, especially if you are setting up alone. They open somewhat like umbrellas, and you can usually beg a favor from a neighboring vendor to pull out the opposite side.

Good luck!

By the way, I’ve had a shop on Etsy for awhile, but in-person sales are FAR better! People see and touch – much better marketing than photos! (Which I’m not so good at anyway!)

To weigh down your necklace easels, I took a 2×4 and cut in to 4″ sections – but I think 6″ sections would be better and then using a table saw cut at an angle and make a couple of passes – wide enough to slip the easel in to the slot. I use black necklace easels so I paint the wood block black. If you cut them 6″ long, you could then drill a hole through the side and insert some re-bar for added weight.

Doing out door shows, you shouldn’t need any additional lighting. Even with the sides up on my tent and on a cloudy day, I haven’t had to use additional lighting, I had it for the last show and you couldn’t even tell the lights were on.

Risers: Not sure if you are asking about table risers to raise the tables – I don’t utilize those but I do utilize height in my display. I have purchased the pillar candle holders on sale at Hobby Lobby and use shelves to make multi-height dimensions to my display.

Everyone has their own unique way of displaying their items that encompasses their own flair. My experience has all been trial and error and my display just keeps morphing with each show. Take pictures of each set up and keep going.

Don’t get discouraged, my show sales have steadily increased each year.

It is a great experience and it is an opportunity to meet a lot of people and have fun.

(Some of them offer your choice of cash or trade-in, while others offer only trade-in. In my opinion you’ll get more in return for your scraps with a trade-in, since most places offer a lower value for your scrap if you choose their cash option.)

I’ve traded in my scrap metals at Hagstoz, Thunderbird, Rio Grande, and Monsterslayer. There are probably also other suppliers who do trades for metal scrap.

Regarding a tent – if you’re unsure you’ll want to keep doing outdoor shows, you might want to see if you can borrow a tent for your first outdoor event. Then if you decide that isn’t the type of venue you want to do, you won’t be out the price of the tent.

However, if you DO want a tent, this is usually the best time of year to find them locally. Home improvement stores, Sam’s Club, Costco, and that kind of store often carry them in Spring and early Summer.

Otherwise, check eBay and see if someone is selling a gently used one (with all parts included) for a good discount.

One thing about outdoor shows – be prepared for wind and other weather conditions, which often appear without much warning during a show! Make sure nothing in your booth can blow over easily.

I know a jewelry artist who “gift-wraps” bricks and patio pavers in mylar wrapping paper so that they look like beautiful presents – and uses them to hold down things in her booth! Many jewelry displays have a base that you could set a gift-wrapped brick on to hold it down.

Tamara gave you some outstanding insights above for organizing your inventory and deciding what you really want to do.

You might break down your inventory into collections, as Tamara suggested, and then batch-price them (all earrings in this collection are $20; all necklaces in that collection are $40; etc.), and set up a simple, elegant price sign next to each collection.

If you have friends or family who are interested in your jewelry (or if you know a teenage girl you can borrow!) – invite them to help you sort out your inventory. Their “outside” perspective could be a huge help to you in seeing the possibilities of the pieces you’ve already created.

Please keep us posted, Janine! And remember, the first step is the hardest. After that it gets easier.

I don’t know the answer to your silver question, and I’ve never done an outside show so don’t know about tents, but a couple of things jumped out at me.

Your pieces are lovely. Going to sales and not doing well seems to be part of the learning curve most of us go through. But it seems like you’ve gotten stuck because now you’re avoiding it, but your inventory is piling up. I would suggest that it is time to take some type of step forward, just to start to create movement again toward your goal. Eventually you’ll find your market, but it takes work for all of us.

About your huge inventory – maybe you could go through and organize your work into collections. It’ll make your pile more manageable, and will show better to those you wish to sell to. It also looks professional. And maybe in that process you’ll find pieces that you made quite a while ago that you’d like to remake because you can see now a way to improve them.

I’m sure you’ve grown a lot artistically since your last show. Then you could pick and choose which collections to take to each sale or showing.

Maybe you could start by doing a home party, including some friends, neighbours, etc. That might give you the confidence to start to move.

Hope this helps!