by Rena Klingenberg.
(Jewelry Making Journal)
This treasure chest filled with tumbled gemstones is responsible for a lot of traffic to my jewelry booth. I offer everyone a free stone of their choosing, and people of all ages just LOVE to sift and dig through the chest to find the prettiest rock.
My original intention when I started using this treasure chest was to give children something to play with (other than my jewelry display!) while their adults shopped at my booth.
It does work very well for this purpose – especially if you have a small plastic cup in with the rocks, so children can dig and pour endless rock piles inside the chest.
But I’ve been surprised at how many adults – including grandparents – get right down on the floor and start digging for a rock when I invite them to choose their favorite!
It’s a good conversation-starter, and it builds goodwill with passersby – often turning them into customers.
One tip if you order tumbled stones and have them shipped to you:
They are quite heavy, so the shorter the distance between your stone source and your house, the less expensive shipping will be.
Comments:
treasure trove
by: FCS
I love this idea. I have found myself happily rummaging through just such a display. I still have the stones in a dish on my dresser.
How about a 2 ton treasure chest?
by: Jennifer
I’m a new subscriber to your newsletter and just came across this article. The success of your treasure chest in attracting customers reminded me of a store in Seattle called the Scratch Patch. They have not much else but a huge number of tumbled rocks, poured out on the floor for people of all ages to play in, sift through, and pick out stones. Here’s their website:
http://scratchpatchusa.com/
Just goes to show you, you never know when a crazy-sounding business idea will pay off!
I enjoy the publication! It’s very inspiring.
Gemstone Treasure Chest
by: Moon Goddess
I used to put a bowl of colored glass — the kind that are flat on one side and rounded on the other — and let kids have fun picking out a ‘gem.’ You are so right, the adults have just as much fun running their fingers through the bowl as the kids do. And it brings the adults to my table — they want to know what has fascinated their kids for so long! Great idea and I love the idea of the jewelry box. Very cool!
treasure chest
by: here today beadworks
gonna try it! Sounds great, will see what sort of stuff I can get locally to fill it. 🙂
Love it!
by: Amy
Wonderful idea -thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to try it out 🙂
Things to touch
by: Archipelago Jewelry
I usually use natural objects in my jewelry display such as shells, driftwood, or acorns. I may give a shell or acorn to a child that wants to touch the jewelry displays as an alternative. This usually keeps them satisfied so the adult has more relaxed time to look at my booth.
At my first show I had a bowl of free tumbled stones and it was a big hit with children and adults. I had some decorative gift boxes that were too small for my jewelry, so I used them to make a child’s choice a special gift. The next year I tried shells, but the stones were the best!
I love butterflies and buy them at a craft store to scatter across my table just for fun. All ages will pick them up for a closer look. I’ll give them to the kids. I really need to glue pinbacks to them to make them even more fun. Silk flowers could be used as well.
This article reminds me of my youngest daughter. She loves touching and holding and just going through all my beads. She loves the feel of gemstones with their charactoristic cool feel to them, and my crystal beads with their bling! My daughter is 23 now, goes to show you, you are never too old to play!
Thanks for your articles.
Vickie
This reminds me of my Grandmother’s button box! When my Mom was sick, my sister & brothers & I used to spend a few nights with Gran while she rested. She had a tiny house & kept her own shop below, so we had to amuse ourselves while she was busy. She had a big (3 lb.) cookie tin filled with buttons, beads, hat pins, etc., not to mention a closetful of chiffon scarves, beaded clutches & fedoras that my Grandad wore. We amused ourselves for hours. After mom died, we all went to live with Gran & that button box was our rainy day/after school refuge. I just remembered that the cookie tin was a commemorative tin from Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953. Isn’t it odd how one little thing can bring so much flooding back?!
My kids loved to fill a bag up with gemstones at the places we visited out west. Rena, this is an awesome idea, I had forgotten how much fun they had! Keep the tips coming!!
Just a quick note, the Scratch Patch (mentioned in comments above) closed its doors in Dec. 2010. It. Was. Awesome.
And is missed 🙂
Since I do hand painted coins, I adapted this to a money theme. I being a stack of “million dollar bills” with my website stamped on the bottom strip on the back. You can buy them very reasonably on eBay, so doesn’t cost much. The kids think they are real and are very cute showing them off. Adults love them too. Great way to start a conversation, and I get extra visitors out of it. Can really help if the show has a lull in traffic.
That’s a great idea, Ann – and very cool to tie it into the theme of your jewelry!
I do this with a box full of little bags of sweets, All kids have to ask their parents before helping themselves it works wonders because most parents just want to distract their kids so they can spend on themselves.. Especially when the sweets are free..
Another thing I like to do is have a selection of Lucky Dips.. different price ranges, adults and kids jewelry dips.. 🙂
There’s also the Mystery Black Box.. With every purchase over a certain amount, they automatically go into an on the day draw to win everything in that particular box. Make the draw exactly 15 minutes before closing of the market, or stall and watch people catch the stock still remaining.. There’s always someone who wants something at the last minute.. because you’ve got a gorgeous Black Box FULL of goodies.. Just remember to keep your value within the limit of your sales…
I used to run the black box mystery with my Avon customers.. they couldn’t help spending more just to get another entry..