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Young Entrepreneur Fair Coming to Burlington's Generator

L.Thompson6 hr ago
If you have a young crafter at home, encourage them to apply for the Young Entrepreneurs' Fair this spring, a collaboration between Davis Studio , / and Generator , a community makerspace in Burlington.

The fair will take place at Generator on Saturday, March 22, and will be filled with youthful vendors selling a wide range of products. The only rules: No food or beverage items, no products that are indecent or illegal, and, importantly, parents and caregivers should be advisers only.

Students in grades 3 through 12 are welcome to apply; a panel of representatives from each organization will review the entries and select exhibitors with an eye toward both variety and professionalism.

Burlington ninth grader Iris Erickson encourages other young people to give it a try. She sews and crochets items including clothes, stuffed animals and knickknacks and sells them annually during Burlington's South End Art Hop . She sets up her display at her dad's shop, Champlain Metals, and calls herself "the Maker Queen."

Iris made almost $300 at this year's Art Hop. "Bags were one of my big selling points this year," she said.

She gave away 15 percent of her earnings to 350.org and kept the rest, putting it in savings or in her wallet — to pay for more supplies.

"I think it's really fun," she said. "You can take everything into your own hands." Plus, she added, it's satisfying to see people respond to your work.

Iris has a few tips for would-be sellers: If you're displaying things on a table, use a tablecloth that's not too busy, or it will draw attention away from your wares.

Also: Set up your pieces so that they catch shoppers' eyes. For example, if you have stuffed animals, don't lay them flat on the table. Put blocks behind them to tilt them upward so that shoppers can make eye contact. And use hangers so that items are in potential customers' line of sight, she explained.

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