Get inventive with display props

Christmas fair countdown tip

Get inventive with display props

It can be tricky finding the ideal vessels to hold your stall products. You'll probably find exactly what you need eventually, but that's not much good if you need them now!

So if the shops have let you down, you have two options. The first is to have a look around your house to find things. Maybe a side table could be turned into a nifty place to put a sculpture. How about turning a cake stand into somewhere to show off earrings?

The danger with this is that you risk ending up with a hodge podge of holders. Therefore stick with neutral colours or only use stuff that you are happy to paint for a coherant look.

The other option is to make your own. This doesn't have to be a major undertaking. If you just need somewhere to store something like badges or purses, get some cheap bowls and candlesticks from a pound shop, stick together to make a tiered arrangement and then use enamel spray to make it look like it has always been one piece.

Get used to ignoring the usage and colour of items and instead concentrate on the shape. You'll soon see display potential everywhere!

Dorset Team Christmas Fair - Sellers Spotlight

With less than 3 weeks to go until our big Dorset Team Christmas Fair, we thought it would be a great idea to place some of the attending sellers in the spotlight!  A real way to get to know both the designer/creator and to also see some of their work.

Our first seller is Amy Lathwell from Daydream Avenue - In her own words;

Type of Items sold

Vintage style jewellery

How and why did you get started. What are your inspirations?

I started my first etsy shop 'Daydream Bridal' when I made my own hair accessories for my wedding. So many people commented on it and I loved making it, so I started making more to sell. I've always loved vintage estate style jewellery and soon started making jewellery that I felt could stand on their own as a brand in a separate shop, so Daydream Avenue was born!

Top 3 reasons to start an Etsy shop

Fantastic sense of self achievement and confidence when someone wants to pay money for something you've made!

Brilliant community.

Really easy to navigate and set up.

Top 3 tips for new sellers

Fill in your T & C and returns policy sections.

Clear, close up photographs with lots of natural light.

Learn about tag words and how to name your items well.

Description of shop:

Handmade jewellery inspired by bygone eras of elegance.Sparkly stones and sophisticated shapes lovingly put together.Lovely Art Deco and Art Nouveau pieces of jewellery.

Amy has two wonderful facebook pages;

Day Dream Avenue

Day Dream Bridal

Our second seller is Lynn Davy from Nemeton - In her own words;

Type of Items sold

 Handmade bead jewellery, kits and DIY beading tutorials

How and why did you get started?

 ‘How’ is very simple: I began playing with beads at the age of 10 and have never really stopped. ‘Why’ is more complex. I never really took to sewing and knitting, but stitching tiny beads together to make unique patterns and structures was (and still is) a process I found deeply satisfying right from the start. These days there are so many bead colours, shapes and finishes to choose from, there are always new designs to invent and new combinations to try.Sometimes I feel as though I’m still just starting out. The satisfaction, the delight and the sense of discovery are as fresh as ever!

What are your inspirations?

Many things inspire me. Colours, first and foremost, but also the landscape (I am fortunate to live in Dorset, a very beautiful English county) and the tiny details that can be observed in nature. Sometimes the beads themselves are all I need for inspiration, particularly handmade lampwork glass beads which are as varied and diverse as the people who make them.

Top 3 reasons to start an Etsy shop

1. Wanting to make my craft pay for itself

2. Wanting to share my designs with others

 3. Wanting to network with other designer-makers.

Top 3 tips for new sellers

1. Be patient, your shop won’t take off overnight

2. Network and promote to drive traffic to your shop, don’t wait for people to just randomly find you

3. Join a team so you don’t feel so isolated, and take all the good advice you’ll be given!

Description of shop:

I make colourful, unique, eclectic beaded jewellery by stitching together tiny seed beads. My patterns, kits and bead selections are designed to inspire beaders of all skill levels. 

Find Lynn on facebook

Brighton Etsy Sellers Pop Up Event

This week the Dorset Team takes a peek at what another Etsy UK Team are doing in the run up to Christmas.  Brighton Etsy Team are holding an amazing Pop Up Shop in Brighton Square, an absolute must if you are passing by!

The Brighton Etsy Sellers Team is made up of more than 600 local designer-makers who all sell their work via Etsy.com, a global online handmade marketplace. This November for the first time the team will be taking their products from online to a bricks and mortar shop in Brighton’s South Lanes for a month long Pop-up.
The 25 featured designers were picked from a long list of applicants by local creative duo Super+Super, who will be releasing their first craft books nationally this autumn. The team have been working with We Are Pop-up to find the location for the shop, and have also gained support from the Etsy head office. The shop will be open for four weeks in the run up to Christmas, with a wide variety of handmade and vintage items available; from prints, greetings cards and home furnishings, to jewellery, clothes, accessories and one-off unique finds. The shop will also be a creative hub for the month, with workshops and crafty activities taking place, and the chance to meet the designers behind the gifts you buy this festive season.Team captain Karli Dendy says; ‘We’re excited to bring what we do online to a wider, local audience; to a place where people can physically see and hold the products that we all spend so much time designing and making. The shop is going to have a huge variety of items and will be a perfect opportunity to find a unique gift in the run up to Christmas’. To find out more about the pop up you can visit the team blog

The Dorset Team New Items

We are fortunate enough to have so many talented and creative members of our team.  Each week we will take a look at the newest items that have been listed on the Etsy store from our wonderful group.

With many of our team members getting ready for our Dorset Christmas Fair on Saturday 6th December, we have a few new items to share with you all!

The wonderful Lynn Davy from Nemeton has created these beautiful Kabuki, none matching Earrings.

'Non-matching red, black and white faux pearl and crystal geometric earrings inspired by the dramatic colours and elegant simplicity of Japanese Kabuki masks. I've hand-stitched genuine CRYSTALLIZED™ - Swarovski Elements crystal bicones and Swarovski crystal pearls together in a three-dimensional geometric construction that emphasizes the rich colour and perfectly smooth texture of the pearls, contrasting their roundness with the angular crystals.' 

The Dorothy Days has this unique Pink English Rose Brooch that would make a wonderful stocking filler for someone special.

'The brooch looks fantastic when worn on a dress, scarf, jumper etc and can be worn all year round. It also looks great when attached to a bag or other accessory. Really adds to an outfit.'

If you would like to see some more items that the Dorset Team has to offer, click here

Use colours in your display

Christmas fair countdown tip

Use colours in your display 

Colour is a powerful tool. It can affect and enhance mood and so is an important consideration when planning your stall.

If your logo uses colour, then you already have a template for which hues to pick. But even if this is the case, don't be afraid to use a different colour if it enhances your products.

Although white is always a safe bet, it might not actually be doing you any favours if your products have lots of white in them. Rather than pop, they will instead blend with the background. Maybe try a mid-dark grey. You'd be surprised at how it will recede while the colours in your products come to the fore.

And if you have a neutral grey (ie one that isn't cool or warm), then it can happily be teamed with any other colour without clashing.

There's no harm in changing the colour used on your stall from fair to fair, as long as you do keep brand cohesion with things such as logos and general styling. Maybe keep your table cover the same colour each time, but alter the colour of your containers.

If you do fancy dabbling in colour, the good news is that it's really easy to paint on pretty much anything these days. Annie Sloan's chalk paint is manna from heaven for anyone who can't be bothered to sand and prime surfaces. Just paint it on and you're away! Alternatively Rustoleum's Painter's Touch spray is easy to use and is suitable for all conditions – great if you are planning on exhibiting outside.

So don't always plump for the vanilla option – there's a whole world of colour to explore!

Get more stall for your buck

Christmas fair countdown tip

Get more stall for your buck

It can be a dark art trying to fit all of your products onto your stall, so while there is still some time left, have a think about going vertical.

By introducing some height to a stall, you not only give yourself more room to display items, but you can give yourself a better way to display them. There's nothing wrong with having people flick through a box of paintings, but hanging those same paintings really shows them to their best advantage.

You don't need to be a DIY genius to add a bit of height, either. Obviously you can get busy with building bespoke shelving, but a bookcase picked up from a charity shop works just as well. Or something like two bedside cabinets on either side of the stall with a shelf between them will drastically improve your display space.

Two vital things to remember, though. If you plan on doing fairs in the future, don't make anything that will only work with the 6ft x 2ft measurement we've been given for the Christmas fair. Just in case somewhere else has totally different tables.

Secondly, ensure that whatever you use is rock solid. If you are stacking boxes on top of each other, take along a cordless screwdriver and some screws to keep them together.

The easiest solution to anchoring props is to use clamps. Places like Screwfix or even Amazon sell them and they really don't cost much.

Be descriptive

Christmas fair countdown tip

Be descriptive

When selling online, a golden rule is to leave the customer in no doubt as to what an item is. So we all take loads of photos to portray texture, size, detail and use.

While the first three of these are obvious when a product is being seen in the flesh, it doesn't hurt to still deal with the final one.

Not everyone feels comfortable asking questions, and so including a few words to describe what a product is does no harm. It doesn't have to be anything more than something like 'Liberty fabric bunting'. You can do this on your price tags if there's room.

Also, if your product has a specific use, demonstrate it. If that is impossible, consider using photos to show it in action. Hopefully you can use images you have taken to put on your Etsy shop, and it all helps the customer visualise how they can use the item in their own home. A cushion looks lovely on a stall, but an image showing a bunch of cushions on a beautiful sofa sells the lifestyle!

And shall we just ignore the fact that there are only three weeks left to go?!

Take stock of your stock

Christmas fair countdown tip

Review your stock

By now, you should have a firm idea (or at least a very good idea) of what you are going to be selling at the Christmas fair.


While it is tempting to forget about the world and just get stuck into creating, it's worth taking a few minutes to review your products.


When you decided what to take, you no doubt considered the audience. Take a fresh look at your products – will everything appeal to them? You don't need us to tell you that gifts and Christmas decorations are winning items!



One other important area to review is your pricing. Have you got items to cover all price ranges? If you can make products for a low price point (without losing money), then ensure you take some along. Spreading your price points will only widen your potential audience, so it's certainly worth doing.