Sleepy Millcreek Hollow is the Halloween/autumn version of the Utah ren faire. (Put on by the same people at the same location). Naturally, Alyssa wants us to have a booth at it.
So now I'm attempting to think up some halloweeny/autumny things I can make to sell. Sure, I still have the vast majority of my garb and jewelry left over from the ren faire, but for this my mind is taking a less historical, more pagan bent.
So here are ideas I've had:
lots of cloaks/robes/capes
wooden wands
rune casting sets (using the elder futhark)
witch hats
hoods
Problems with these:
Would people actually buy them? The cloaks are a probable yes, the wands would depend on the price, but the other things I feel pretty sketchy about.
I don't know how to make witch hats that have everything all stiff and standing up, unless I use really thick wool, to the point that I'm basically doing millinery to felt it into shape, and I just don't have the skills or equipment for that kind of millinery. Alyssa can knit witch hats, though.
I also thought of making lotions as I mentioned previously on Facebook, but I don't really want to buy the special ingredients until I have money.
I asked on Facebook what people would expect to buy at a Halloween/autumn festival, and the results were rather different than the above list, which leads me to doubt even more that people would buy that stuff.
(Why doesn't anyone want to buy my stuff? Why is everyone so much more comfortable with mass-produced polyester crap?)
Anyway, there's always Plan B, where everything that doesn't sell in real life gets stuck on the internet where I assume that someone, sometime will find it and buy it.
yeah :( people have such bad taste. i think trick-or-treat alternates might be a good idea, (like little sampler size soaps and lotions that were halloween themed) but people would only buy them if they were about as cheap as candy so... :\
ReplyDeletemasks seems like a really good idea. i think i might concentrate on making witch hats and masks.
ok. i think we should go ahead and make a lot of quality stuffs but also have 2-3 really cheap small things. since i get a lot of small soap samples for free i'm going to assume that making soap is not TOO expensive, and that small pieces of soap could be one of the cheap options, except that i don't think most people value handmade soap enough to "get it," there would have to be a gimmick at least like spider rings inside or something :\
another small cheap thing could be little hair clips & brooch pins with just like, a felt bat or spider or skull shape on it.
i think cloaks/robes/capes, wands, witch hats and hoods are all excellent ideas (don't know what rune casting sets are). also, i agree with Alyssa about the small stuff (soaps and felt accessories) and i think masks of all kinds would sell well if they were decently priced.
ReplyDeletei don't mean to be presumptuous, but could i contribute? i totally want in on this, i'm not gonna lie! this weekend i've just been setting up my etsy shop, (finally) and the first things i am listing are masks i've made (and some other mardi gras ones i didn't make). autumny felt accessories are next. this event would be excellent motivation for me. of course, i'm totally willing to help pay for the booth fee.
I do not know how to cast runes, but I would buy a set from you.
ReplyDeleteIf that helps. I'm weird. So maybe not.
Small trinket things would be cheap and easy to make. If unfortunate.
Run sets are like sets of dice, except each die only has two sides, with a different rune carved, burn or drawn somehow onto each of them (usually they are made of natural materials like bone, stone and wood). To cast them you just shake them up in your hands and toss them down, then see which runes land facing up. It's a fortune-telling thing, and obviously you have to know what all the runes mean. I'm sure there are some people who take it pretty seriously like with tarot cards, but I can't imagine it's very popular in Utah. If I do make this, I'd probably only make 2 sets.
ReplyDelete