If you are like me, you are a perfectionist on a budget. A limited, tight budget.  You want the best, because lets face it -you have great taste- but you are starting out and money is tight.  My competitors (I hate that word), or should I say, my colleges have been at this thing called selling at craft shows for a long time. Their booths are spectacular! They look like mini jewelry stores! Most of those beautiful booths are custom designed and very expensive, trust me, I googled it.

I wanted a fighting chance at getting in these awesome craft shows so I needed to step up my game whether my wallet liked it or not. I ended up spending a huge chunk of a months earnings at my husband’s second home: The Home Depot. My husband has a ton of hobbies which require building and constructing amazing stuff and didn’t hesitate when I asked him for help. Since he basically didn’t have a choice, he built me an amazing set up out of very inexpensive materials like pvc, wood, linoleum, and fish tank cases. Seriously.

I don’t know exactly how he did it but I took pictures.

First he created my weights. These he made for my very first show in 2013 at a church parking lot. These are pvc tubes painted pink with white flowers and butterflies, and filled 3/4 of the way with cement. He left some space so that I could decorate it with flowers. They screw in to the tent legs very easily.

PVC DIY Tent Weights

I purchased 5, 15-gallon fish tank cases at our local aquarium store, which saved me $835 (happy dance) and designed the tables around them.

15 gallon fish tank used as jewelry case

My husband built tall display tables using pvc, wood, and linoleum flooring. The long table is “L” shaped and comes apart for easy loading.

hubby building my tables

We added the black table cloth with heavy duty velcro and done! A new, taller, professional looking display for 1/16th the price.

always with love jewelry booth with glass cases

side view with open back wall

Let me know what you think!

Love always,

Adriana