CRAFTS : The Unexpected Is Fair Game at Fair

Expect the unexpected. That’s the advice Claudia Ward would give anyone taking part in a major craft fair for the first time.

Ward, who will sell her handmade rag dolls, painted fabric throw pillows and other countrified knickknacks at this year’s traveling Harvest Festival, learned that the hard way.

In preparation for last year’s three-day festival stop in Costa Mesa, she and her partner Valorie Macek made 40 Yuletide “frosties,” little pointy-nose men toting twigs in tiny burlap bags.

“We thought we were set,” Ward said recently, “but the show opened at 10 a.m., and by 2 p.m. I was on the phone calling to find someone to run my booth so I could go home and sew. All 40 were gone. We were up until 1 o’clock the next morning” making more.

This year, Ward has readied about 300 frosties for the festival, making its 1993 Orange County debut at the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday. She also took time to explain in a phone interview from her Garden Grove home what else it entails to participate in such fairs, from winning entry to wrapping up.

The popular Harvest Festival, to be staged in 17 Western cities and feature between 200 and 400 craftspeople per stop, launched its 21st season in early September. But Ward, who also runs a child-care outfit, put the wheels in motion nine months earlier when she applied for booth space in the juried affair, sending required photos of merchandise along with a written supplication.

It’s not always easy to think that far ahead, she said, but “we (previously applied) for a couple of years and didn’t get into the show. We found out we weren’t applying early enough.”

Next, she and Macek constructed a new, 8-by-10-foot booth, using old wooden fence slats and chicken wire for a more rustic look. Then, they began to plan which of their crafts to display and how: Christmas ornaments would be hung on a tree, and dolls, pillows, wicker baskets and hats would be placed on old cabbage crates and shelving boards.

Proper display is critical to sales success, said Ward, who recommends showing shoppers how crafts may be used. The Christmas tree-ornament arrangement is one way to do that. She also sits dolls on dollhouse rocking chairs or school desks and rests a Humpty Dumpty figurine on a miniature wall.

“If you have playful items, you have to let them play so people see them in that context,” she said. “And, your booth has to be inviting so customers want to walk in.”

The festival is Ward’s most lucrative craft fair of the year, but guessing which items will sell best and ergo which ones to stockpile is often just that--a guess.

“It’s all a matter of a hope and a prayer,” she said. “Last year the frosties sold well; we hope they will this year.”

Close to the start of the event, Ward rents a small truck to haul the goods she and Macek have been sewing, painting and otherwise creating all year. With help from friends and relatives, it takes about half a day to load the truck, unload it and set up their booth.

Manning the booth all day might sound tedious, but time rushes by, Ward said, in part because shoppers must be attentively catered to.

“People do expect to be waited on as if they were in a high-priced department store,” she said. “But it’s important that you treat them with kindness because they’ll remember you, and even if they don’t buy something this time, they will the next time.”

After the fest, there’s no rest for the weary: Ward and helpers must disassemble the booth, load the truck, drive home and unload it there, then immediately return the vehicle to avoid an extra day’s rental fee.

Ward, who will participate in the festival’s stints in Costa Mesa (Nov. 19-21) and Pomona (Dec. 3-5), estimates the festival costs her about $500 just for booth space and truck rental. She said most exhibitors are happy to recoup those costs by the end of the first day.

Ward has a few other tips for artisans: Take drinking water and a snack, wear comfortable shoes and “come in costume.” She and Macek don folksy “prairie dresses” and petticoats. Perhaps above all, she said, heed fire codes, outlined by festival organizers but a responsibility of every vendor. Fire marshals, she said, have sent home vendors who don’t comply with such requirements as fireproofing all display table fabric.

Ward sometimes wonders why she endures the long hours and grunt work of a big craft fair when it would be easier to let someone else or a shop sell her goods. She does, in fact, have some crafts on sale at consignment shops. But she says the personal touch of the event makes the extra sweat seem eminently worthwhile.

“My grandmother taught me to sew,” she said, “and every time somebody purchases something from me, I feel they’re getting a part of my grandmother.

“For me, it’s not about the money; it’s about making something and having someone walk into my booth and deciding to spend money they’ve earned on something I’ve created.”

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The Harvest Festival will be Friday through Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim, and Nov. 19-21 at the Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. Hours are Friday, noon to 9 p.m. in Anaheim and noon to 8 p.m. in Costa Mesa, and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at both sites, where entertainment, craft demonstrations and food will be offered. Admission is $6.25 for adults, $3.50 for children. Information: Anaheim, (714) 999-8950; Costa Mesa, (714) 751-3247.