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Christmas Craft Fair

by Hana Benveniste

This is the first year that I have participated in craft fairs as a vendor. Sometime in November, the idea to have a single mother's craft fair as an opportunity for families to earn money for Christmas, and as fundraiser for the single mothers' support network came to me.


Once the board approved of the idea, Harreson and I began looking for a venue. I found that most suitable venues had been booked for some time and were unavailable, however, we managed to secure Kits House for a Sunday afternoon and set the date of our fair.

The day of the fair was bright and sunny. We set up quickly with the help of the yoga class that used the hall before us. Unfortunately, a mix up at Trout Lake Community Centre prevented us from using the 5 extra tables we had booked, but the participants flexibility and good humour prevailed, and we improvised with the tables we had and everyone found a space.



I found the quality of crafts and food to be impressive and everyone seemed to have a good time. The Kids corner was well used by both the visitors to the fair and the children of the vendors. Overall, I feel the atmosphere was warm and welcoming.



Our late start in organising the fair prevented us from advertising the fair as much as we could of, and as a result, the sales were slow. Also, many moms came forward with excellent ideas such as pictures with Santa, a fundraising raffle, and live music, however, no one had time to organise these.



I believe that our first experience at creating a fair was a valuable one. If we make this an annual event, our fair has the potential to grow into a financially successful event.