Tips on Selling and Displaying Your Art Bead "Snaps"

I thought I would share how we displayed and organized our "snaps" in our latest art show to give you some ideas.  Christmas shows are just around the corner and I know some of you are already thinking about that so I hope this will make it a bit easier for you.  We had quite a range of items to sell and so it took a bit more organizing.  For instance we had bracelets that took one "snap" and other bracelets that took 2, 3 or even 5.

For the single snap designs we found they sit very nicely into ordinary pegboard.  Dave cut pieces to fit into our various jewelry trays and we painted them with black chalk paint.  A while ago I came across this beautiful silverware cutlery case made from cherry wood for only $5.  It was empty inside and had a nice spacious drawer in the bottom half.  I instantly knew what I was going to do with it. Dave cut a piece of pegboard to fit in the top and I upholstered some black fabric for the lid to hang our pendants.  We use the drawer for more display and holding our "over-stock".  When we do a show, everything opens up for display and then packs away again nicely.

For items that took multiple snaps such as necklaces, bracelets or even cuff links (shown below) we organized and displayed them differently.  During a show, the customers do not have a lot of time to coordinate their snaps for their jewelry pieces so to make it easier for them, we organized the snaps in groupings onto trays.  We found these plastic cards and cut some of them down to hold the coordinating snaps in groups of 2's or 3's.  We have more of these cards on order and will have some for sale soon on our website in case anyone is interested. They are available in black or white.

We found these racks (in the kitchen gadget area at the dollar store) that worked really well for arranging the snaps but they could also be placed in trays or directly on the table shown above.

We also had a bin full of our "Jewelry Pick & Nail Savers" handy and sold them to customers who needed one but were also a bonus gift with a minimum purchase.  These are really handy for removing the "snaps" from the snap findings and preventing your nice nail manicure from getting ruined.  These are for sale in our online store and I show how to cover these with the clay in part 1 of my "Snap Decisions" tutorial.

Another thing we discovered is that these jewelry picks also work on helping to release those "Pandora" style bracelet clasps.  One customer told us she was tired of chipping her thumb nail when opening the clasp.  She not only bought one for herself but more as gifts for those who also had the Pandora bracelets

And my last tip is how we provided little shopping bins for our customers to use.  These came in so handy and made it easier to manage all the items they were choosing.  When you get several people shopping at once, these are almost necessary.  They are cute little bins we picked up at the dollar store that take up very little space when stacked and not in use.  They were also easy for the customers to hold on to and nice and deep to prevent spilling out if tipped.

So I hope this inspires you with ideas on preparing for those coming shows.  We really had fun with it and are looking forward to the two other shows we will be doing this year.

If you are working with polymer clay and looking for a new idea to sell at craft shows, the interchangeable snap pieces is an exciting new concept.  My tutorial is available in 2 parts and for a limited time only, (until end of September) you can purchase the two together at a reduced price. You can purchase it as an instant download in our Etsy shop or if you are from Europe and would like to avoid paying the extra 15% VAT tax, it is also available in our online store and we will e-mail it directly to you.

We have a wide arrangement of "snap" supplies for sale in our new online store which you will find here.  And for those of you looking for the "snap" supplies to use for your craft (polymer clay or other) we have the basic DIY findings for sale as singles or in bulk at a reduced cost.

I am happy to announce that Shades of Clay now also has some of the "snap" bases and findings for sale on their site making it more convenient to add to your order from there.  You will find them all listed here  (or click on their photo below).  We have been working together on this to find the most suitable and best products for you.  We do not benefit in anyway from Shades of Clay but are just very happy customers and they are our main supplier where we get our clay products from.