This is a big step for us. We’ve never been to the Maker’s Faire but recently heard that the Houston Makers Faire is currently accepting applications. The local “maker spaces” are holding multiple open houses as part of a “maker crawl” ahead of the Faire.  This was hugely informative, and very motivating. After a tour and a short presentation, I asked if most vendor were attendees in the past. We were concerned, not having ever been, that we might not be as prepared. After a quick look at our site and products, we got a lot of encouragement. So we decided this will be our first year to apply to be vendors at the Houston Makers Faire!  With that, we are now in a full planning mode. This is part 1.

I started with a few sketches for our booth and came up with two options: (1) use a ladder style set of shelves to display the small products or, (2) make copper tubing shelves for the small product display and in both cases use the large cubes to act as our walls. Luke and I both preferred the copper tube shelving because that is our style plus it provided a natural place for a banner.

We have a tight budget for the display, not wanting to spend more than $200. So we took the time to model the set up using Google Sketchup.

Taking the time to make the model served multiple purposes. First it gave us a great idea of how large a booth space really is. As a vendor you pay for the size of display, but it is hard for a first time vendor to know exactly what a 10′ by 10′ space looks like, and whether or not its enough space. This was particularly true for us, since our large music stations are 34″ tall by 18″ wide. Also, I will use this model to make a parts list, so we do not waste any building materials.  And last but not least, the vendor application process requires detail sketches and a booth lay out. Providing the organizers as much detail as possible regarding our needs gives us the best odds for being approved as a vendor and helping us with set up.

Now, with all of that being said. Our application is in! We’ve been approved! And we are going to be vendors at our first Makers Faire Houston! Comment below and let us know about your process. We’ll keep you up to date as we build this out. But now we have a plan!

Note: At the time of the Maker Faire we were focused on our music shop Noteworthy3D. You will find the same toys on Owen’s Adventures which we are focusing on now, until we can better balance two shops.