Sacred Heart Craft Show

I just returned from a 1 1/2 day craft show, and before I fall asleep, I wanted to write about what a fun time and special time it was. The fair was at Sacred Heart School, in Hartsdale, NY, my children's elementary school. Of course, since they are now 28, 23, and 22, they obviously no longer attend there, but I have remained very active in the school even since they have been out of there many, many years. The best thing was the memories it brought back. I used to have my own booth there for many years while my children were attending school there. I did hand-painted boxes which I would personal for them. I remember sitting up at night, after they went to sleep, painting over 300 boxes using paint pens. After a few hours of painting, as I was inhaling the fumes of the paint, I would begin to let a little loopy. Well I have now graduated to selling my jewelry and knitting.

Anyway, what made the fair so special, as in other years there, is when the children come in to do their shopping. It has always been a tradition there that the fair was open only for the children during the day until school ended. Then we would reopen in the evening for the adults. The very little ones (pre-K through 2nd grade) each have an older student to help them shop. They come up with their $1 or $2 in their little hands, and are so excited and looking at my jewelry, say "I want to buy a present for my mommy" I would ask how much they had (that $2 could just as well be a million$ to them!) - of course they would always look at the necklaces - which were a wee bit out of their range, but I would show them a pair of earring and say "this just happens to be $1 or $2" depending on what they had. Even though I may have taken a loss, because they are usually about $15, the smile on their little faces was worth every penny I might have lost. Of course, they also got a free candy cane with their purchase. One of the cutest story was when a little boy came up to my friend Marion (MadeMarion.etsy.com) he asked about the little baby socks with ruffles she had made. She told him they were $4, he said he only had $2, so she picked up a pair and said, "oh, these are only $2" he smiled, as he said he would buy it - then hands her $1, and says "thanks these are for my baby brother." We got such a laugh out of that and thinking what his mother will think when he comes home with little ruffled socks for his baby brother! Like I said, watching the little one's shop, their proud little faces, buying something special for their mommy or daddy, or little brother or sister with their pockets of wealth ($1) was worth all the sales in the world. Even with all that, this had to be the most profitable show for both of us. And as tired as we were last night, since we started setting up at 7:45 am and finished at 9 pm, we had to go out to celebrate our profitable day with a glass (or two) of wine!