Writen by Alison Glander
The 6th annual Etsy Jingle Bash came to Dallas Saturday, where Etsy vendors with followings of all sizes met hoards of cold shoppers searching for unique, handmade items.
A Dallas tradition that began in 2008, the Etsy Jingle Bash gets bigger and bigger every year. This year, more than 90 hand-picked artists, crafters and designers came from near and far to show off their handmade items to a variety of shoppers, while gaining more brand recognition.
Gabriela Aguilar of the Etsy shop InYourBones, traveled all the way from Austin to sell her homemade goods. A third generation seamstress, she specializes in crocheted and embroidered tea towels, picnic blankets and fabric bunting banners, which she began selling on Etsy in 2008.
Aguilar said, “This was my first Jingle Bash, so I was definitely nervous,” but she encountered friendly vendors and shoppers alike.
The fair was put on by the unaffiliated Etsy of Dallas, described on their website as a “Cooperative craft collective of artists and designers living and working in Dallas who sell their wares on Etsy.”
The doors opened at 11 a.m. and the first 50 shoppers received free Bash Bags. These sought-after bags were filled with handmade goods from participating vendors and served as an incentive for shoppers to arrive and line up early. By the time the fair started, the line of shoppers waiting to get in snaked throughout the parking lot and behind the building.
The event boasted free admission separate from a mere $5 parking fee and was held at the South Side Event Center at Gilley’s Dallas, a location that offered a restaurant and bar for the shoppers to take a break and grab a bite to eat.
The Jingle Bash also included a photo booth and live band playing Christmas music, creating a laid-back, party-like atmosphere. The fair wrapped up around 5 pm when vendors began deconstructing the booths they had set up after selling out of much of their stock.
Items for sale ranged from housewares, body care, and clothing to photography, art, jewelry and stationary.
Artists Shoshannah Frank and Casey Melton were among the returning vendors at the Jingle Bash. Selling under the shop name fisforfrank, they began making knobs and other architectural elements, later expanding their expertise by channeling that aesthetic into jewelry. They established their business in 2007 and began selling on Etsy in 2008.
“Etsy was really our first way of getting our products out there,” Melton said. “Plus, you can sell to people all over the world.”
Since then, they have attended many craft fairs such as the Jingle Bash, as it provides additional opportunities for them to reach customers.
“A big problem many vendors now run into now is how saturated the website has become,” Melton said. As Etsy increases in popularity, countless sellers establish a presence on the website, making it more difficult for vendors to be discovered.
That’s why craft fairs such as the Jingle Bash have become important for vendors to get their names out there. In addition, the fairs provide a place for shoppers themselves to discover new artists.
Vendor Mia Elvington agreed on the importance of craft fairs such as the Jingle Bash, as she also feels that the website has become too big for online shoppers to find artists.
Elvington has been selling handmade aprons and stockings on Etsy for seven years under the moniker Miamaria, and explained that the site is not what it used to be.
She said, “When artists blog, they drive traffic to their own Etsy shops.” Since she doesn’t blog, it causes even more of a barrier for her shop’s success.
The sheer magnitude of site traffic creates an issue for many shop owners, but inadvertently increases the desire for artists to attend craft fairs such as the Jingle Bash.
For Elvington, Etsy is simply a creative outlet rather than her sole source of income, and she enjoys attending craft fairs to see in person how happy her items can make customers.
“Etsy uses the same skills my job does, so it’s fun to do on the side,” she said.
Elvington works as a freelance costumer and her resume includes two Super Bowl halftime shows, as well as the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Etsy shoppers don’t often realize that some artists have stacked resumes such as Elvington’s. When people surf the site, they can purchase items from extremely talented and well-known artists, sometimes without even being aware. Thus, craft fairs give Etsy fans the opportunity to meet and get to know some of their favorite artists, as well as discover new ones.
With the popularity of Etsy still increasing profusely, it only makes sense that craft fairs such as the Jingle Bash welcome crowds of such magnitude.
In-person transactions among artists and clients have become so popular that vendors now can obtain Etsy credit card readers. These little orange squares that attach to smartphones offer the opportunity for Etsy artists to sell their products in-person. The reader pairs with a free app that merchants can download to their mobile devices in order to use the credit card reader.
With the desire for one-of-a-kind crafts ubiquitous, craft fairs have become popular in many cities. Dallas even holds a similar event in the spring, appropriately named the Spring Bash. Based on the looks of the Jingle Bash, make sure you’re ready to brave the crowd, and maybe you’ll find something that speaks to you.
