Elf Shelf 2009

I finally came to my senses after the show. When I applied for this show I had no idea what to expect and I had no idea how big this show was. I just knew that I have to make progress every day and keep moving ahead. What a crazy time that was: taking care of kids, I gave up on cleaning the house, going to the studio to make products, cooking dinner, back to the studio to make more products… Last night before the show, we stayed up till 2:30am finishing labels and got up 3 ½ hrs later to go to the show. That day was really rough, but adrenalin kept me going and I think, I haven’t eaten all day that day, just coffee and water. Thank God I had my friend with me, who was helping me with everything. I am not sure if it is even possible to do shows on your own. Our booth was in the last room, so the foot traffic was kind of light compare to the two main rooms, in the early morning it even looked a bit empty. People started coming in at 9am sharp! We had our first sale 30 min or so after the opening. We burned and crashed with our first credit card order, it was a $40 purchase and the system was BUSY! Why does it always have to go this way? The lady was very nice and gave us a check and made another $30 purchase :) It was a good start and now looking back, we were pretty busy all day: meeting people, telling them about cold process method of making soaps, talking about benefits of using natural skincare products, making orders, refilling shelves with products, making customized gift sets and processing cards. We could hardly catch up on things, because it was a lot of people around our booth at all times and we tried to be helpful and attend to every stopper-by. There were many different people: some were just wondering around and stopped by just to get a chocolate, some went straight to soaps, and some were interested only in facial care. A few of my good friends stopped by to show us their support and make a purchase, it was very important to hear their words of encouragement. So after all, it was a great show with a big turn out of 1,600 guests and us making great sales! If this is how people shop when the economy is bad, then I can hardly wait to find out how they shop when the economy is good! We had 22 people sign up for the raffle which will be held tonight. The winner will get Omega 3 Body Lotion and one Soap of their choice.
Marmalade Hills will be back to Elf Shelf next Holiday season for sure, only bigger and better and in either of two main rooms! This show has taught me so many things and I cannot wait to improve my flaws next year. I will keep trying until I get it perfect!

I wanted to share with you some of the pictures from the show, please keep in mind that I had only 3 ½ hrs of sleep that night :) So have mercy!
Early Morning: setting up (next year I will have a huge banner behind my booth to cover up any ugly doors or walls)
Side View with soap rack, body mists and soy melts.
Display with raffle sign up sheet, my MICE poster and Specials Menu.


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Product Party Report

My Friday was very intense. I totally missed the whole day, it seems like I went from Thursday straight to Saturday. I was preparing all day and had time only for breakfast. I was running on my adrenalin and excitement. We got up early Friday morning, took my daughter to preschool, my little one to my mom’s and went straight to my studio. I don’t know what I would’ve done without my mom and my in-laws! They took over the kids for the day and I was able to work, work, work, as fast as I can. I thought I was very well prepared as far as the product stock, but I had to label everything, shrink wrap, make signs, set up the picture show, print out the price lists and get it all boxed up and loaded into my car….of course I was running late and my exit from the freeway was closed! Where was my GPS when I needed it! When I finally got to the house my friend, was already rallying for me, so people were ready and excited to see my amazing lotions and potions. The hostess, Nicole, is a friend of my friend (and now my friend too) and her house is beautiful and very eclectic! She put a lot of love and her own personality into her home. I was just blown away by her kitchen backsplash. It’s a huge copper backsplash that she designed and welded by herself! And it’s at least 4’ x 6’ humongous piece of metal! It looks totally cool and artsy. I wish I had a picture of it to show you! Actually I don’t have many pictures from the party. I was hopping to get lots of pictures, but I was so busy setting everything up and then talking to people that I just forgot about my camera. I set my table up as fast as I could and it turned out great and I didn’t forget anything… oh no, I did: I forgot my business cards! D'oh! I was so mad at myself. Thank god I had a bunch of price lists that I gave away with every purchase…. Anyways, where was I? I was lucky to have a huge dining room table right next to the front door, so nobody could miss me! I had my bath bombs set up on a cute pastry tower; had my digital picture frame with product slideshow; sign with specials, bowls with cashews and dark chocolates for guests, and the rest of the products basically setup on the table displaying themselves.
The bottom line is: the party turned out great, I was very excited to introduce people to my natural skin care and I really enjoyed talking about it. I made quite a few sales and most important a lot of new friends!!! I loved doing parties and my friend who is my biggest fan will have a huge party in August where Marmalade Hills is already invited! Yippee! Can’t wait!


P.S. if you are interested in having Marmalade Hills at your party send me an email!



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