Jewellery Home Party Fun!

I want to thank everyone who came out to the jewellery home party last night and to my great friend Darlene for being such a wonderful hostess. The continued support of the girls I work with at the restaurant (as well as those who used to work with us but have moved on to bigger and better things) never ceases to amaze me and warm my heart! For everyone else here's a quick recap of the evening:

* I arrived early to set things up before the guests arrived. When the party/craft show season is in full swing it usually only takes me about an hour, but since I hadn't had a show since the spring I needed a bit of extra time. If you are having your own party and can't go more than an hour early to set up try practicing your display on your own table to give you an idea of how/where you would like things to go. This tactic also works well for craft shows.

*Door Prizes- I had several door prizes to choose from and we did draws every half hour. On the door prize ballots there was also a place for the guests email address and a box for them to check if they wanted to sign up for my newsletter.

*Munchies- Not everyone agrees that you need to have a bunch of munchies to have a successful party but Darlene put out quite the spread and people stayed a LONG time. Some of them even shopped a second time after they had refueled! It also gave the guests and myself a chance to chat about the business if they wanted while they enjoyed their tasty treats!

*Relaxed atmosphere- The party was open house style so people could arrive and depart as they wished. I find that this system works best, especially for those that can't make it right from the start and feel that if they arrive part way through they will be "interrupting" so then they don't come at all.           

*Inventory- This is another point on which opinions may differ but I find that people enjoy being able to purchase and take home their new goodies that night. I offered a variety of price points so that even those on a limited budget had something to choose from.

BONUS**** Of course every great party has its own surprise. Last night we had put balloons out on the railing so that guests could easily figure out where they were going. A group of college guys (who had perhaps had afew beverages) came to the door asking who's birthday it was because they were there to sing. Of course it wasn't a birthday party but we couldn't resist so one of the girls went to the door and they sang to her! It was definately a good giggle for us!

For those of you who have been thinking about doing a home party with your own handmade goodies I hope that this answered some of your questions about how to go about it. If you would like to host your own Kawartha Beads home party just send me an email at kawarthabeads@gmail.com and I would be happy to set something up with you!

Getting Ready for a Home Party!

Hope everyone is enjoying having the little ones back to school! I have slacked a little on the blog posts lately as I have been super busy getting ready for a home party on Sept.20th. With a little under 2 weeks to go until the big event I thought I would share how I have been getting ready for the event in case you wanted to have someone host a party or have an open house in your own home.

1) Inventory: Of course I never feel like I have enough stock ready. The bonus to a home party/open house is that there is no other competition. People are there to check out your wonderful array of goodies and hopefully go home with their bags loaded with lots of your treasures. I am super lucky that I also have an incredibly talented mom so I am going to bring some of her things along to help fill up the space. If you don't feel that you have enough product or if you are looking to expand your market invite a crafty friend to do the home party/open house with you, especially if they make a different product than your own. This would be an especially great option for an open house and then they can invite their friends/family/customers as well.

2) Choosing a date: Sometimes choosing a date is the hardest part! For this particular event we didn't want it to be too close to back to school or Thanksgiving so we chose a date in between. Given that both myself and the hostess are in the restaurant business we also wanted to choose a day when the least amount of fellow employees would be working (thus a Monday). Of course your perfect day will depend on your customers and your own availability but it is something to think about when planning your party.

3) The Invites: This may vary depending on how close you and the party hostess are. In this case my hostess is a good friend and a complete computer "dummy" if you will so I sent out Facebook invites to all of our mutual friends on her behalf. I will send a reminder a couple of days before the party as well. If your hostess has her own Facebook account encourage her to send out an electronic invite and she can even link to your website as a "preview" of some of your items. You could also send out old fashioned paper invites which is a nice touch. Be sure to note accepted forms of payment for the event. I also made a couple of posters to post on the staff bulletin boards at the restaurant we work at, especially for those that will be coming from work and want a reminder of her address. Invite as many people as possible. There are always those who say they are coming and then can't make it for one reason or another.

If you haven't tried a home party or open house I highly recommend it, especially if you have never sold your work in person. It's great to see people's reactions to your items and which products are of greatest interest to them...oh and some extra $$$ is always a bonus! Check back on September 21st to find out how the party went!

Hosting an Open House of your Handmade Goodies

I have written about hosting an open house in your home on Bijoux Designs For You blog but thought it was worth revisiting here. Open houses/home parties are a great way to increase sales, gain valued feedback and get together with friends and family. I will post separately about home parties (held by someone else) later this week. Last year I held a couple of open houses (one in the spring and one in the fall) and both had great turnouts. Here is the posting I wrote about it:

Yesterday was our open house in my home for friends and family. I had several visitors and many of them were first timers and even some friends brought other friends that I didn't know. I set up a small display in my living room using a dropleaf table, some tv trays, my entertainment unit and my patio table (on the other side of the room). It was open house style, with guests dropping by between 1-8.

Invites: I sent out an email to my mailing list, an invite on to my friends on facebook and put up a little poster at work. Just something simple with date, time, directions and a link to our Etsy and Artfire stores so they could browse ahead of time if they wanted to. I offered a door prize and had guests fill out a ballot with their name, email and a box to check if they wanted to be added to our mailing list (everyone checked the box) AND I had one girl book a home party.

I loved doing the party in my own home. I could invite guests on a day/time that worked for me, I didn't have to find a sitter for the baby, when there was no one here I could just work like normal, I set up the night before so I didn't have to rush AND there was no overhead cost or competition! If you have been contemplating having an open house I say go for it! Even with a small inventory it's great practice to work on your display and get the hang of dealing with customers face to face (especially if you have only ever sold online). You can also team up with another artisan in your area to offer a wider range of products and have them invite their friends as well.

Hope this was helpful to others who have been contemplating an open house. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.