Holiday Craft Fair Table Idea: "I Made This!" Craft Kits for Kids and DIY Kits for Adults

Holiday craft fair tables or booths are a fun way to make some extra cash around the holidays. It can turn into a frustrating time, however, if you find that many other fair tables and booths have duplicates or near-duplicates of what you are selling at your table. Here's an idea that will be unique and a nice profit-maker.

Quite often, you'll see tables with holiday crafts that are very simple to make at a craft fair and think to yourself, "Hey, I could make that!" But how often do you actually make the effort to hunt down the craft materials and make the craft? Not very often, right? It's likely that other holiday fair attendees are having those exact same ideas and lack of follow through. With this idea, you'll provide ready made kits for kids or adults to make their own crafts at home. I call them "I Made This!" Kits for Kids or DIY (insert craft name here) for adults (Example: DIY Bath Fizzies - Lavender Scent).

While you might get folks who simply stop at your table to examine your goods and try to duplicate the idea on their own, you'll get many customers who will appreciate the ease of buying a pre-assembled kit while still being able to be the actual crafter of the item. Your biggest customers will probably be parents, grandparents, and teachers.

Aside from the craft kit contents and the normal holiday fair table/booth needs (for example, a secure cash box, change, signage with pricing), you'll also need to have attractive storage bags to enclose your kits - something sturdy enough to hold the supplies you'll be packaging.

I suggest clear bags to increase appeal - a buyer will be able to see exactly what they are getting. Most larger craft stores carry such bags, although they can have a hefty price tag at the retail level. You'll be much better off buying them in bulk online. If you google "vinyl storage bag" or "large clear bag" or something similar, you'll come up with many bulk retailers. You can expect to spend between $1-$2 per bag, so be sure to factor that into the pricing of your kits.

If you cannot find clear bags, use plain colored paper bags with handles. These can often be purchased very cheaply at dollar stores and craft stores. You'll need plain or colored tissue paper to fill out the bags and better showcase the contents on your table.

You'll also need access to a printer and/or a copier to print labels for the kits as well as kit instructions. If you don't have a printer and you have exceptionally neat and legible handwriting, it can add some charm to your craft kits if you hand-write the labels and instructions and make copies for each kit. If your handwriting is not super neat, it will just look sloppy and unappealing, so better to use a computer font. You may also want to spice up your craft kit labels with splashes of color - which will also help with organization if you color code each kit type. No need to waste money on colored paper (you are trying to turn a profit after all), just line the borders of your labels with a marker or put each kit type in a different color bag if you are using paper bags.

As far as what kind of kits to offer, think about what sold well at the past holiday fairs you've attended and make kits of those crafts. Consider those items that you've seen and thought about making yourself. Search Associated Content for easy kid crafts, bath crafts, holiday crafts - anything YOU find interesting because it is your enthusiasm for your product which will produce the biggest sales. They don't necessarily need to be holiday related ideas, although those do tend to sell well at holiday fairs. You will want to buy the supplies in bulk to optimize your profits - again, your best bet will be online wholesalers.

Be sure to include enough supplies for a reasonable number of finished items in each kit and be sure to put how many finished items the kit will produce on the label. The more complicated or sophisticated the craft, the less you'll need to package for finished product, but for very simple crafts - Candy Cane Reindeer, for example - you'll want to include enough for your customers to be able to use as holiday decorations or for children to give as holiday gifts.

You don't need to include common supplies such as glue or tape, although you can if you want to market the kits in your holiday booth as having absolutely everything you'll need to make the finished item. I would suggest including thread & needle if sewing is involved as many people do not sew (and even if they do, they may not have the right color thread). You can create your own mini sewing kit by taping a length of thread (at least three times the amount needed) and a needle to card stock.

This article is part of a series describing in detail five different and unique holiday fair table/booth ideas. Be sure to check out my profile for the other four ideas and get ready for a fun and successful holiday fair season.