Things I Learned At Last Weekend's Festival

If you leave duck tape on your vistaprint banners for too long, it WILL tear off the finish when you remove it.

You don't ALWAYS have to follow the rules and the guy with the walkie talkie can't make you.

If you forget your cell phone at your booth, it will NOT necessarily get stolen

Wine slushies are something that dreams are made of.

A pretty teenager to stand in front of your booth and smile at children is a valuable asset.

ALWAYS make nice to your booth neighbors, they might be on the board of directors for other festivals in the area.

It IS humanly possible to hike over a mile with your entire booth setup in tow... no matter how fat and tired you are.

If it's windy, tape down EVERYTHING! With duck tape. Pretty duck tape.

Bringing a full cooler of food and drinks will often mean you won't be hungry or thirsty and all that food will come home with you. Bring no food, and you will conveniently be very hungry the whole time.

If you have time, stop and say hello to as many vendors as possible. Sometimes they hook you up with cool freebies that they don't want to pack up because they remember how friendly you were.

People DO recognize you by your crazy rainbow colored yarn falls, whether they are in pigtails, a ponytail, a bun... whatever.

Glitter tattoos really do save the day when it's too hot for face paint.

I learned that Melody should have come and worked my festival with me and she would not have had to walk so far... or tell the guy on the walkie-talkie to go jump in the lake.

I learned that I like to paint to loud & upbeat gospel, reggae, blues-infested jazz and lots of Motown!

I learned that I AM brave enough to tell a man that I am not a babysitter!

I learned that I REALLY need a line manager!

I learned that having numbers to take for the kids in line doesn't work so well after all, especially if there is no adult there to watch them. Kids went through and picked out the number they liked! Total chaos and confusion!

I learned that kids will leave the line without getting painted and take your number thingy with them!

I learned that you CAN carry your cash box through a crowded park festival... as long as you get 2 really nice and good looking cops to escort you.

Don't worry Miss Ronnie, we have PLENTY of festivals and events to do together

LOL!


Mmm, wine slushy...

Those wine slushies are SOOOOOO delightful....

...they are the best thing about the NY State Fair, too!

Just one does me in, though

See I've learnt at festivals that you don't have to leave your phone in the booth for it to be stolen, sometimes you just have to turn your back. My friend had her iphone stolen at a festival we worked together last year and it was a 3mx3m stall she just had her head down doing henna and didn't see it walk away.

I painted at a huge military event (they hired 4 face painters for the day) and had to park a LONG way from our booth setups. I realized mid-day I had left the cell phone on the car seat in the parking lot and I couldn't remember if I had locked the door or not. I could not stop and go and check, so I just kept painting. At the end of the day, it was still sitting there, pretty as you please, right there on the seat where I had left it. WhEW!

What I have learned from festivals:

Don't hire a guy from church, down on his luck... He'll eat all your food, hit on the girls & wear shorts with a huge hole in the butt for the world to see....

Nine hours is too long to go without peeing...

Drunk people tip amazingly(maybe I should hand out those slushies)

Wind is the enemy... it steals your sponges, signs, gem sheets & sometimes your while tent (but a sift breeze is dreamy)

Grandparents love to upgrade!

You can survive the free face painters 2 booths down if you keep a box of baby wipes on hand & have a clean-up station

There is a small reserve, somewhere inside you to break down everything & pack it in your vehicle at the end of the night.

Head lamps are life savers

Boogers won't kill you (nor will chips, cotton candy or snow cones)

There's one in every crowd..... Take a deep breath, you only have to deal w/ them for a moment in your life... feel for their families that have to deal with them forever

You can take time to get great photos

You can have fun

You can take time to enjoy the pleasant moments

Thank you, thank you, thank you Linda!!!! I love your light-hearted approach to those poopy little circumstances that pop up at every festival.

And, you know what? I pee a lot at home - A LOT - usually about 3 times during the night, too. But somehow, the pee-pee gods allowed me to paint from 12:00pm to 9:00pm on Saturday without having to go in search of the dreaded port-a-potty.

Ronnie!! MEE TOOO!!! I love the pee fairy that lets me hold it! It's like my body goes into hybernation mode when I'm painting... everything shuts down that will be a distraction: hunger, bathroom breaks, thirst... although being a diabetic, I try to do better than I have in the past.

Heaven help me when it's slow and I can take a break... someone help me stand up out of this chair... and DON'T get between me and the bathroom... don't ask me questions, and PLEASE don't be a line at the bathroom stall! Thank you makers of Depends and Poise panty liners... you've been a life saver at times!

A couple of helpful things I've learned:

1. Never ever leave home without my reading glasses (I can't focus up close without them since my cataract surgery).

2. Never ever leave home without my special order thick memory foam coccyx cushion that saves my tail bone from excruciating pain after sitting for hours face painting.

3. Never, ever, under any circumstances, think that you're not old enough to appreciate the WONDERFULNESS (IS THAT A WORD?) that wearing a Depends/Poise pad gives you when your bladder just won't hold those last few moments it takes to UNTIE/UNBUTTON/UNZIP those pants/shorts you wore INSTEAD of your quick-drop elastic waist ones!

4. Just because the event is over, you don't have to be the FIRST ones packed and ready to go ... just because your hubby/significant other, says so.

It also helps if you're sitting while painting, to place another pillow behind your back for support..

These are fabulous tips! Love them all!

What I learned this weekend at the Pride festival:

Nipples are wonderful centers for one stroke flowers.

Henna does not squirt up on the underside of a breast if they have DD's, A's, yes, DD's No.

Love what you had on yours Linda, I need a clean up station! Brilliant! A sign that says, "Please wipe up food, nose stuff, and free face painting here before you get in the line!"

I love festival season.

Wine slushies...yum.

You could have one printed to say:

"To expedite the line, HAVE A CLEAN FACE, MOUTH AND NOSE, and PLEASE HAVE YOUR HAIR PULLED BACK. Because your design may not be fully dry, you may keep any clips I place in your hair."

Psalmbook wrote:
There's one in every crowd..... Take a deep breath, you only have to deal w/ them for a moment in your life... feel for their families that have to deal with them forever

Oh my goodness!! I laughed soo hard at that one!!
I swear someone needs to write a book soon!!

Lorie wrote:You could have one printed to say:

"To expedite the line, HAVE A CLEAN FACE, MOUTH AND NOSE, and PLEASE HAVE YOUR HAIR PULLED BACK. Because your design may not be fully dry, you may keep any clips I place in your hair."

Why does it always seem like a miracle from heaven when somebody comes up with such an insanely SMART & SENSIBLE IDEA!!!! That sign idea is BRILLIANT!!!! Why don't I ever think of sensible and brilliant things????

Poise pads.... another BRILLIANT idea!!!! I made it through the 9 hours without having to pee... but I was doing the pee-pee dance while packing up!

Lorie wrote:You could have one printed to say:

"To expedite the line, HAVE A CLEAN FACE, MOUTH AND NOSE, and PLEASE HAVE YOUR HAIR PULLED BACK. Because your design may not be fully dry, you may keep any clips I place in your hair."

thats brilliant. will be using that one:)

Linda, head lamps!!! We use phone flashlights, but this is so much better!

1. It's even possible to do better than someone else charging, as long as you have a good attitude, a sense of humor and a lot of fun.

2. A double sided window fan with a spray bottle of water, a washcloth from the cooler placed on the back of the neck and a bottle of melted ice really will keep me from melting.

3. Closing time is for every other vendor. For us, it's just a suggestion that people like to ignore.

4. Bare feet on grass really is cooler than any shoe. Whodda thunk?

5. A genuine, pleasant smile with a firm tone is far more disarming than any retort, no matter how good it sounds in our head.

6. A cute man with a wonky beard, in a kilt, is a wonderful attention getter.

7. Other vendors are in the exact same position we are, which is why they deserve our respect, kindness and humor too.

8. Rain is not the end of the world, nor does it mean a bad day.

9. There are no mess-ups. Just opportunities for creation.

10. Being sneezed on, coughed on, thrown up near, and slobbered on is survivable without contracting every childhood disease known to mankind.

11. The organizers don't really know what we do, or how to look for quality and safe stuff. And they are too busy to be educated. Just do what we do best and rock out.

12. Some parents will spend $80 on a bottle of wine, $50 on a deer head lamp and balk at $5 worth of face paint on their kids. It's okay. It's them. Not us.

13. Likewise, some parents will feed their kids only organic foods, homeschool for better education, put them only in 100% hemp and cotton clothes but will feel just fine letting the free face painter put acrylics on their precious snowflake. We can't get upset over it or it will color our day grey.

14. Sometimes parents want the kid to have their face painted more than the kid does. An arm is always a happy compromise.

15. No matter how much you have booked or how busy you are, turning down work always sucks.

16. No matter how good we are, how popular with fests there will always be "competition" who will bad-mouth us. Let them. It only makes them look bad. Head down. Strong art. Positive attitude. Lots of fun. It all works out.

Oh, and wine slushie:

Take a goodly amount of frozen berries of choice (I just buy the big bags at BJ's) and toss them in a blender.

Pour in wine. Last night I made a white zin and strawberry blend.

Blend until in smoothie form.

It's sooo yummy, icey cold and you don't have ice chips to dilute your wine!

Wine slushies.!!!!!!... I bought a slushie machine just to make them - but still haven't had a bunch of people over to enjoy slushies from my little slushie machine...

So sad

Oh my jelly! Thanks for the wine slushie recipe.

Fests......

Always take a couple of wipies with you to the port-a-potty. You will be glad you did.

Likewise, you will be so thankful you have a bottle of hand sanitizer in your kit.

Force yourself to take care of yourself. Customers in line truly won't mind if you take a five minute break, because it means you will actually be able to then paint their child without passing out/fainting from hunger/dehydration/heat stroke. Learned this one the hard way.

Vomit, boogers and other crusties won't kill you.

You will be thankful for having sandbags/buckets to weigh down your tent. Stakes don't always do the job.

Standing outside of your tent, smiling, waving and engaging kids brings in customers.

Painting a couple of freebies first thing will bring in customers. I really think parents don't trust the photos on the boards, they have to see the results live and in action.

It never fails, the day I bring less than $100 in change is the day someone wants to pay with a $100 bill.

Yes!! These are all awesome! I can't count the number of times I nodded, smiled, and thought "well ain't that the truth" as I was reading these.

Miss Ronnie wrote:Wine slushies.!!!!!!... I bought a slushie machine just to make them - but still haven't had a bunch of people over to enjoy slushies from my little slushie machine...

So sad

Oh, that's sad!!!

I make slushies all the time in my blend (which lives on my counter in the summer). For my son and his friends I mix ice with their favorite sodas. For us grown ups I make any drink into a slushie. I prefer frozen fruit as a base because I don't like diluted drinks. lol

We just got our new-to-us hot tub this past weekend. I have to tell you, slushies + hot water = heaven, whether or not there are people over! lol

HaaHaaa! Lynnie! Only the best for my child... except when it comes to "free face painting..."

Just so you know, barefoot in the grass in FL = attack of the ravaging fire ants

One last thought: One Stroke paints are the best invention ever!!! I can do a design that used to take 5-7 minutes in 2-3 minutes!