Ideas from the Christmas markets!

I have been to three country town markets now and found them just wonderful!  So much fun!  The last one was an evening Christmas market.  These are all small country towns.   So many people are making and producing beautiful things!

Whether you want to craft or produce something for gifts or to sell (or both) new ideas,  packaging and pricing are all something to look at.   Quite a few Bluebirds started small businesses this year.  Having multiple income streams is a good idea. There are so many options!

Firstly, I think everyone can do something.  We don't wake up with skills, most of us have to learn and practise!  I have seen several friends go from unable to crochet (for instance) to being good enough to sell items within a few months!  Whatever it is we can work on it!   Next I think we might have materials on hand or natural resources just sitting there!!  All we need is the idea to go with it!
Ages ago I wrote several posts and we covered all kinds of things from how to decide what to make to finding time to get it all done.  You can find these posts here:

A Gift and a new week Part 1.

A Gift and a new week Part 2.

A Gift and a new week Part 3.

A Gift and a new week Part 4.

Sometimes you are sitting on a gold mine and don't even know it.  Maybe you have a natural talent for something and you don't know that as you never tried it!

The other day I saw that Anthropologie was selling small bunches of sticks tied with twine. I heard they were $42 and they sold old.  Wondering if this was true I went and had a browse on Anthropologie and found even better!!!  FAKE sticks... Birch... set of three sticks for $38.   If you don't believe me go over to see!   So it seems like if you have sticks or birch you have a resource!

Last week I walked past a florist with Harper.  So we had a bit of a nosey.   There was a bucket of gum nuts.   I have a tree of these exact same gum nuts out the front.

This had no price but next to it was a bucket of what seemed like odd bits and pieces all of which I have in the garden...

There were dried gum leaves...

And a wreath made of dried gum leaves...

You can see the prices.   It turns out pine cones are big money too.  

There is a lady with an ETSY shop and she just sells natural elements like gum nuts and so on.  It is amazing and she gets great reviews. So she made a business of stuff she can pick around her.

At the markets bunches of native flowers wrapped in brown paper and tied up with string sold fast.

There were a lot of candles with beautiful packaging i.e. gorgeous crystal containers with lids and lovely scents.   Some of these were stunning.  It make me thing to always buy the crystal containers at the op shop... when I have enough I will have a candle making day.  Most were charging $35 and up.

Cooking... there were queues at most of the cooking stalls.   One lady was well know by locals.  She was famous for her sausage rolls.   She also had gluten free slices.  I bought gf lemon slice from her.  It was so beautiful.  So now I am a local I know her too and next time will buy that slice again.  I was told my nephew ordered 100 sausage rolls from her and kept a supply in his freezer!   She was doing a roaring trade.

Essential oils, roller bottles, diffusers were all doing well.  The ladies on these stalls knew their stuff too and I tried things and learned things. This helped me plot some new essential oil gifts to make. 

Essential oil jewellery was doing well.  I bought a bracelet with lava beads in it.  These absorb your oil and both release the scent and being next to your skin your body absorbs it.  I have one I wear all the time.   If you are in Australia this girl Bare Feet Heart is gorgeous and was surrounded by curly haired little children.  She makes the most stunning essential oil necklaces. 

There were potted succulents, lavenders, rosemary trained in heart shapes, many plants.

Gorgeous labels for your pantry, drink bottles etc and you could order any words, any colour, any script.  I ordered small gold script to go on essential oil roller bottles...

Beautiful hand made children's clothes.

One I could see was selling well was handmade baby things.  She had bibs smartly themed in country designs i.e. cows, sheep, even John Deere tractors etc.   Genius.  Appeal to your customers! 

Hand made soaps, bubble bars, bath bombs etc.   Many were divine.  The cheapest bar of soap I saw was $7.  Most had deals i.e. buy 4 and get one free or something like that.  

A girl was selling her handmade jewellery and she packaged it using a shell from her beach.  I admired this as she could have spend a lot of boxes or something yet her shell made it stunning and 

charming and was free.  Clever girl.

Cards... beautiful hand made cards and tags.   

Scrunchies and bows.  Yes scrunchies are back.  Big time.  

Macrame.  Same as above, yes,  that is back too.  While you do your macrame you wear a scrunchies in your hair!   I lived through both of these before so can't quite get enthused.

One was very clever.... play doh in buckets, with sparkles, coloured sand and coloured rice in buckets.  She set up a little station kids could try it.  The coloured rice was gorgeous.  Her buckets all stacked up in pretty colours and sparkles.  Was all selling like mad.

Another was seedlings, fresh veggies and relishes, jams etc.  These people are known to locals from a local farm.  Everyone said their relish was amazing and people are always repeat customers once you try.   They had gift packs i.e. five jars stylishly lined up on a long skinny butting board all wrapped as a Christmas gift.  They were selling fast.

A stall with chocolates, nuts, apricot balls etc also packaged beautifully in gift sets for Christmas.  All the work done for you.   

Gingerbread houses.  Beautifully hand made and decorated.  Lovely.

Sprouting kits and packs of the seeds.  These looks really good!

A lady from vineyard was selling wreaths and hanging baskets all made from the vines.  They were beautiful.  Some hanging baskets she had filled with succulents. 

Anything environmental was big i.e. stainless steel pegs,  shopping bags,  produce bags,  natural cleaning products, drink bottles, reusable  coffee cups,  straws etc. 

We had so much fun on Friday night.   The market was in a town hall and the gardens around it were beautiful.  We sat out there in the evening and ate dinner.  Even the drive was beautiful as the road was lined with huge gum trees and it was just gorgeous. 

I am starting to write down my craft plans for the new year.  And saving up supplies!  

I hope you are having a lovely Sunday! xxx