Super Easy Display Board

Selling things online is one thing.  All you have to do is take a nice picture and--voila!--you have a nice looking display for your items.  The rest of the time your entire inventory can be tucked away inside a closet or under your bed and nobody will be the wiser.  But selling things in person?  That takes a little something different.

A few weeks ago I was trying to come up with a way to display my handmade buttons that fit the following criteria:

• It had to be cheap.
• It had to look great.
• It had to be easy for customers to peruse the buttons.
• It had to show off all color/size/shape options at the same time.
• And, lastly, it needed to be on the smaller side.

play kitchen potholders blogged HERE

Initially, I thought of displaying them in a cute little muffin tin.  (See above photo.)  I had originally picked it up for Olivia's play kitchen and I thought it might work well for this.  But it didn't work well.  The circles that I mount the buttons on were just small enough that they'd slip down if there weren't enough buttons in each muffin cup.  No good.

Then I searched "display" on One Pretty Thing.  It came up with several possibilities.  This earring display especially caught my eye.  I like the way you can see everything at once.  So, with that general idea in mind, I went to the thrift store in search of... something that would work.

When I spotted this sweet little bulletin board in mint condition (and for only $1!) the search was over.  I bought it and brought it home.

Now I know that the impulse these days is to make things over and transform them.  But I don't think that change is always the answer.  Sometimes (well, a lot of the time, actually) I think things look best as they already are.  I love the classic look of this little bulletin board.  I love the way it makes each color stand out on its own.  The products should be the most interesting thing about it.  And they are.  And it's because I kept it just the way it was.

So are you ready for the Super Easy Display Board tutorial?


Here it is:

• Step 1: Buy a bulletin board
• Step 2: Stick straight pins in at an angle
• Step 3: Hang product on straight pins

If you're not sure how you want to arrange things, I suggest laying the bulletin board down flat and playing with things for a while.  Once you get it the way you want it, just stick the straight pins in!  And if you're still not 100% sure you've got it right, just take the pins out and start over!  Oh, how I love easy things.  :)

And speaking of easy, I'm also loving how easy it is for customers to help themselves to all the buttons.  Before mounting the buttons on their recycled cardboard, I used an 1/8" hole punch to punch that little hole at the top.  It gives it a nice professional look and aids in functionality.

So for $1 and a few minutes of my time, I had a nice little display.  But I didn't go to all this trouble just so Olivia could practice her colors.  That's what these are for.  No, this display has another purpose.

Are you ready for my big news?

Rockin' my shades in front of Sew to Speak

My buttons are now being sold at a store!  Yes, that's right, you can now walk into a physical store and purchase these bad boys.  Sweet, no?

Sew to Speak is located here in Columbus and it could not be a more charming place.  It's primarily a fabric shop, but they also carry a wide variety of unique trims, a good stock of patterns, and a very friendly staff.  In addition to all that, they offer a ton of classes, all of which look amazing and fun.  If you're ever in the area, be sure to stop by and check it out!

And if you're feeling sour that you can't stop by the shop in person, you can also order things online or follow them on their blog.

And... (drum roll please)

Here are my buttons on their tidy display in their new home!

I really sheepishly snapped two pictures when I stopped by to show this off to my parents when they were visiting.  There seems to be this fine line between being so cool that you're selling stuff in a shop and being such a nerd that you stop by to take pictures of the stuff you're selling in a shop.  I'm not sure which side of that line I'm on.  But here's picture number two:

Ta-da!

Oh, and in case you've been trying to read that tag at the bottom, here's what it says:

It's written on a scrap of manila folder that my friend gave me.  (Thanks Alice!)  We had just moved in and I had zero supplies.  But, to be completely honest, I prefer it this way.  It looks local.  And handmade.  And that's what it's supposed to be.

All in all, I'm quite please with how it turned out.  And how easy and quick it was to put together!

But I was even more pleased when I got a call just a day or two after I dropped it off at the store.  One of the colors had already sold out.  Hooray!