$7

The official report on the Bristol pay It Forward Festival: Awful. I sold ONE reusable coffee sleeve at $3, which meant I was $7 short of even making back my booth rental!!! I was disappointed from the start-- the last emphatic email said to be there by 9 am, so when I arrived at 8:45 and couldn't find anyone to tell me where to park, or where my area was, I just parked near other cars and had to hunt someone down only to be told that No, I couldn't drive to the other side of my car, and No, there was no help available to carry even my table (we had to provide EVERYTHING on our own). Later in the day, after my dearest amazing husband had left because I thought I was fine, I was told No, no festival officials were available to even watch my table so I could find the Port-a-potty... every other place I've sold crafts at had designated "booth babysitters" for this purpose!!! Thank goodness my husband loves me like crazy-- he drove 20 minutes back and brought our dog so I could pee!! Now that's love!!!

Basically, I feel like I paid $7 so our dog, Prudence, could socialize with people and fall in love with a horse. If she could talk, she would be chanting, "I want a pony! I want a pony! Please please please!!!! I want a pony!!!"

As mentioned in the previous post, I learned to never participate in a craft show that is advertised as a BMX demo (with craft show in tiny print underneath). I would not have done so had the ad run prior to yesterday, when we were house hunting!! I hope they raised money- it is a good cause-- but when the organizers asked how my experience was, I told them I was disappointed on so many levels. I also suggested that since this Pay it Forward thing is a week-long event, they should separate "craft show" and BMX stunt demo since those crowds are so vastly different.  Needless to say, I will not be driving 2 hours to participate next year.

On a happier note, some of the unsold items will now become Christmas gifts, so that takes a small load off my holiday projects. Other items will be going up in my Etsy store once I've photographed them. Maybe I will make some money off this craft show yet... :/