Melbourne Arts Centre Handmade Sunday Market

This coming Sunday will be my third week at the Melborne Arts Centre Sunday Market. I was excited to be accepted to have a stall at the market, as it is quite hard to get into, and they maintain a high quality standard. Unfortunately I could not display my jewellery, as they already have ssooo much , but going in with the tableware range is still all good!

Each week is a “work in progress”, in terms of improving the visual appeal of my stall. Sales have been slow – it is winter in Melbourne – but each week I have tweaked my stall set-up, trying  to improve the overall appearance.

Week one my wares were displayed on the supplied red tablecloth (so that there is uniformity to the market) with the addition of some old wooden crates to consolidate the organic and rustic nature ofclay. I also used some hessian to break up the red tablecloth.

For the second week I diluted some white paint and whitewashed the wooden crates to give them  more distressd/shabby chick look, but also to give the wares a lighter background to sit against – this definitely added to customer appeal. I also found another wooden display stand and dispensed with the hessian. I made signs featuring my business name and the uniqueness of the product, and another sign suggesting usage for the tablewares – the power of suggestion!!

My plans for week three include laying a white tablecloth over the tabletop part of the red cloth, to give a cleaner backdrop to the tableware, and to display some Japanese rolls, wasabi, soy and pickled ginger on a three dish tapas set -pictured below. Again, the power of suggestion… and some late lunch for when the market finishes!!