A Blooming Spring Display

One of my former clients was a local vintage / antique show.
Every three months - once per season - this event took over a local park,

filling up with 60+ vendors of vintage and vintage-inspired goods in beautiful booths, 

and drawing crowds of thousands of people over two days.

And lucky me, not only did I get to SHOP the show each season, 

but I was let loose to create a fun, fanciful, and enticing entry display!

The goal was to create an area that welcomes guests / shoppers, 

reflects the seasonal theme of the show,

and provides an opportunity for guests to snap photos of themselves & friends

as souvenirs of their happy day.
They also happen to share those photos on social media, which helps to promote the event!

In January, the spring show planning began. In February, the show producer and I 

spent a day creating huge flowers from paper for the display at the entrance to the show.

continue reading to see more...

Spring Fling

It's still cold, gray, wet, and miserable....and winter isn't about to let go yet.

But are you offering your customers a healthy dose of Spring Inspiration?

You should be!

Continue reading for some ideas to help you get started...

Have 'Leftovers' for Valentine's Day!

Restyling old products to create a new look - taking something and making it look totally different by combining it with something else, using a different color to set it off, etc. - is something I really enjoy. And it's an effective way to lengthen the 'shelf life' of merchandise instead of just putting it on clearance. Keep those profit margins UP, that's the goal.

...continue reading for some of my top tips for 're-using' and re-theming merch!

Re-Style Unsold 'Holiday' Merch for Winter Profits

So, your Holiday merchandise didn't sell like you thought it would.
No problem. No, really.... there's still hope for some of it. 
(And no, I don't mean mark it all 90 percent off!)

Let's salvage all that we can and turn it into winter displays!

for example, those ornaments above.....
silver, with red felt dots. Some others in the collection say 'Love'.

So they didn't sell....well, then let's make lemons into lemonade
and create a big red Valentine's day display!
Those ornaments could be heaped into a huge heart-shaped box,
made to look like bon bons.

continue reading for more ideas and examples of re-styled merch
that transitions from holiday to winter - and makes more profit for you!

Plan NOW for Holiday Season Success!

I know, it's October... but I'm going there.

Are there boxes of Christmas merchandise stacked and waiting for floor space?

Most of you are saying yes right about now.

Relax - you've done the easy part. But you're not done yet!

Because the hard part is that you need to have a plan ready

for how, where, when, and why those boxes of product will make it to the sales floor.

And you need that plan NOW, my friends.

Before you pull an all-nighter to set it up. Before you leave a list of 'to do's' with the staff.

Before you have the invites for your big holiday decor unveiling event printed.

(You ARE having a big unveiling event, aren't you?) Before your ads hit the media.

Retailers count on the holiday season for a large percentage of their annual income,
and it makes sense to plan for it. 

But far too many businesses just roll the stuff out on carts and start stuffing it into displays. 

Don't sabotage yourselves! 

With a bit of planning, you can reap all of the benefits of a successful Holiday season.

continue reading for my top tips for planning your holiday displays...

Vintage Fall Display Inspiration

from 2012 to 2017, i worked with and for Rita Reade,

the proprietor of the creative vintage business Mammabellarte 

and co-founder, along with her sister-in-love, artist Christie Repasy, 
of The Vintage Marketplace vintage show in Southern California.

Rita hired me as her visual designer and stylist

to style all of her beautiful creations into an inspiring booth setting for each show,
as well as doing the same for the entrance to the show as a photo backdrop.

this post originally appeared on my diy home decor blog.
i'm re-sharing it here, as many of the techniques & tips used here
are just in time for vendors doing fall shows, as well as fall store window displays.

continue reading for all of the usable details...