This was a very long Etsy post I made that I thought should be preserved here in hopes that any stray readers will find it helpful.
Craft Show Advice from an Amateur Seller and a Pro Buyer!
(or A Craft Show Survival Guide)
I have been to my fair share of craft shows and I rarely leave empty handed. I have participated in a few as well on an amateur level and I'm happy to share my advice based on my experience as both a buyer and a seller.
Things you should definitely have on hand:
--LOTS of Inventory! If you didn't bring it, you can't sell it and it's horrible to run out of product knowing there are still people who would've bought on the spot but aren't interested in waiting.
--Bags/boxes for purchases
--Business cards if you have them to encourage repeat customers and promote your online shop as well if you have one.
--Paper, pens/pencils for keeping track of your sales, taking custom order information or anything that comes up
--Calculator for the big buyers
--A hefty cash drawer to make change
--A reliable friend to watch your booth while you use the bathroom or get a drink (more talkative the better, they have to sweet talk your buyers when you're away!)
--A nice table cover to hide the unsightly folding table that will likely be provided.
--Your craft show contract. You never know who will ask to see it to make sure you've got your t's and i's crossed and dotted.
Things that it would be to have nice if you can swing it:
--A stool. Being elevated even when seated gives you a better business presence than a chair. Your buyers will be standing after all and you don't want to have them looking down to you. If you can, stand as much as possible.
--A receipt book. It rarely comes up in small local craft shows, but some people who make a big purchase will want a receipt, so it's useful to have on hand. (If you're doing a juried event, I would move this suggestion into the must have category.)
--Your knuckle buster. If you have a propay account or another way to take credit cards, definitely have it with you. Do not take information and use your paypal account however. This is against their terms or use and can lock your account or possibly land you a fine or a sentence :(
--Snacks. You're likely in for a longish day. Having a snack will keep you at your table with your customers more of the time, just be careful to be discreet when you eat. If people think you're making a crummy mess, that will affect the way they see your work.
--Your mannequin. If there is room for it in your designated area, bring it! Change the outfit throughout the show. A manny really gets great attention!
--Tall slender shelving that is safe to stand on the tables. Vertical tables tend to attract more attention. If you have space behind your booth, consider using the area as a display for more products or for your banner if you have one.
--Vendor's license. I know not everyone on Etsy/Artfire/etc has one which is why it's currently in this category. You never know who will ask to see yours. (If this is a juried show, make this a must have)
Things to avoid:
--As much as I hate to say it, avoid crafting. It's great to demonstrate that you are the artist, but it prevents you from engaging your customers and takes your eyes away from your table and onto your hands. If you can do it without looking, go ahead, but make sure you're available the very moment someone needs you.
--Long conversations primarily with your reliable friend that came along. Some folks won't want to interrupt and it's a potential sale loss.
--Don't start taking your items down until the show is over! Last minute sales are always lurking! If you choose you can also offer discounts for the last half hour to help move merchandise. That's up to you of course.
--Don't block your table. Stand to the side or behind so that you're never a wall between your customers and your products.
What to do while you're there:
--Smile... a lot. A really lot! Engage your potential buyers. Don't hard sell, just be friendly and willing to answer questions and encourage them to touch your creations if it's clothing and try things on if it's jewelry.
--Be friendly to your neighboring craft tables. Maybe you'll spark a trade. Maybe you'll spark a collaboration! Or a get a discount. Who knows?
--Make sure all your items prices are easy to find. Not everyone will ask and that is a potential lost sale.
--If you plan on taking checks, ask for a driver's license and a phone number. The phone number will get you in touch with them if the check bounces and the driver's license number will get authorities in touch with them if they go AWOL. I hope this never happens to you :) Most people at handmade shows are completely trustworthy and responsible!
--Browse. Before the doors open, shop around. You won't be tempted to leave your stall during the show this way!
--Buy. If you see something you love, support your local artists! They will likely support you in return by advertising word of mouth and visiting your stall at some point.
--If you enjoy haggling and you will still make a profit, go for it. If your prices are firm, be firm. It's your business model and you're free to choose.
*Above all!*
--Be Positive. This is different than just smiling. Even if you're hardly selling at all and your back hurts and you're hungry, speak as if you've had the most profitable day ever, you feel like a teen again and you're as satisfied as can be. "I'm having a great time!" is your mantra.
If you're having a craft show soon, I hope you have a great time and many sales!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Color my World
8 Questions Game Part 5
5) What color are your walls?
Cream. We're apartment dwellers! Whadaya want from us? Unfortunately as tenants, we are unwilling to pay the extra charge for the privilege of wall painting so let's expand the question to include some symbolism and interpretation, shall we?
5a) What color is your life?
Kevin and I have had a color scheme right from the beginning. His favorite color is green. Any green at all. Kelly green, emerald, leaf, forest. Happily, you can make any green look good with any other green in the proper proportions. My favorite color is purple. Not all purples, mind you, but thick and rich royalty purple and crisp friendly lavender.
Add them up? What do you get?
Lilacs! Violets! Orchids!
You get a lovely garden. I like to think that it's a pretty decent metaphor for our living habits. We aren't the tidiest sorts (every garden needs dirt), but we don't let bad things get us down (a flower needs the rain to grow), and if you stand back you can enjoy the view (which we do!) Should I continue? Nah. You get the picture :)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Taking it Easy
8 Questions game Part 4
4) How do you relax?
What DON'T I do to relax? I think we shall break this down into 2 parts. Part 1 will include ways we relax by doing things. Part 2 shall be ways we relax by not doing things. I'll mention Kevin here and there, why not?
Part 1: Relax by Doing
Amanda: YARN! Knit it, crochet it, braid it, organize it, make a mess with it. YARN! Please feel free to have a look at some of my yarn creations in our Etsy shop.
I have also recently begun yarn bombing locally. Also called knit bombing, yarn storming and just plain old yarn graffiti, it is a new form of street art that was most likely begun in Texas by an individual but now a group called Knitta, Please. Knitted, crocheted, woven and embroidered pieces of fabric are sewn or tied into public areas. Trees wear sweaters, door handles receive cozies. Bike racks, street signs, hand rails, sculptures are all fair game. I am a solitary yarn bomber at the moment, and while I storm alone, my goals are thus:
Kevin: Kevin has taken up cross-stitching and he has really started taking on some ambitious projects. You can see some of his completed stitchery on his flickr page found here.
Kevin also has been writing and drawing a webcomic which he updates every other day. Idget has come a long way since he first started. While he does not at this point have any intention of making this a career, it's still a relaxing hobby and a fun read! I certainly have read the entire set (nearly a decade's worth!) a few times through! Around 2005 Kevin began coloring each and every comic and I really think most of his best work is more recent. One of my favorites:
Both of us: Together we have started a small garden. It's rather unsuccessful now, but with what we've learned this year, we'll surely be able to grow something or other next year. Until this, it's still nice to get outside once in a while.
We also enjoy cooking together. Someday maybe we'll be able to cook from veggies grown in our little garden!
Part 2, Relaxing by not doing
Relaxing the lazy but still entertaining way!
Video Games: We are big Nintendo fans and it's looking like we're going to stay that way for a long time. I love my WiiFit and Kevin is a Brawler. If you know Nintendo at all, this needs no explanation.
Movies: BAD movies are a kick. I recommend Rifftrax for those who are fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000. For those that haven't heard of either one allow me this explanation. Did you ever go to a bad movie and partway through you begin to snark at it? The acting is bad, the plot is iffy, the special effects are laughable and you just have to speak up. Let's have some comedians doing the commentary and you have Rifftrax. Making mediocre movies hilarious and even borderline good movies can be pretty darn funny!
Napping. It doesn't get more relaxing than that. I recommend it. Often.
4) How do you relax?
What DON'T I do to relax? I think we shall break this down into 2 parts. Part 1 will include ways we relax by doing things. Part 2 shall be ways we relax by not doing things. I'll mention Kevin here and there, why not?
Part 1: Relax by Doing
Amanda: YARN! Knit it, crochet it, braid it, organize it, make a mess with it. YARN! Please feel free to have a look at some of my yarn creations in our Etsy shop.
I have also recently begun yarn bombing locally. Also called knit bombing, yarn storming and just plain old yarn graffiti, it is a new form of street art that was most likely begun in Texas by an individual but now a group called Knitta, Please. Knitted, crocheted, woven and embroidered pieces of fabric are sewn or tied into public areas. Trees wear sweaters, door handles receive cozies. Bike racks, street signs, hand rails, sculptures are all fair game. I am a solitary yarn bomber at the moment, and while I storm alone, my goals are thus:
- Enhance the mundane so that even areas that may be ignored can be seen as beautiful.
- Publicly display the beauty of pattern and texture.
- Encourage others to look carefully and seek interest all around.
- Offer street art which is neither offensive nor permanent so that people may see and smile.
Kevin: Kevin has taken up cross-stitching and he has really started taking on some ambitious projects. You can see some of his completed stitchery on his flickr page found here.
Kevin also has been writing and drawing a webcomic which he updates every other day. Idget has come a long way since he first started. While he does not at this point have any intention of making this a career, it's still a relaxing hobby and a fun read! I certainly have read the entire set (nearly a decade's worth!) a few times through! Around 2005 Kevin began coloring each and every comic and I really think most of his best work is more recent. One of my favorites:
Both of us: Together we have started a small garden. It's rather unsuccessful now, but with what we've learned this year, we'll surely be able to grow something or other next year. Until this, it's still nice to get outside once in a while.
We also enjoy cooking together. Someday maybe we'll be able to cook from veggies grown in our little garden!
Part 2, Relaxing by not doing
Relaxing the lazy but still entertaining way!
Video Games: We are big Nintendo fans and it's looking like we're going to stay that way for a long time. I love my WiiFit and Kevin is a Brawler. If you know Nintendo at all, this needs no explanation.
Movies: BAD movies are a kick. I recommend Rifftrax for those who are fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000. For those that haven't heard of either one allow me this explanation. Did you ever go to a bad movie and partway through you begin to snark at it? The acting is bad, the plot is iffy, the special effects are laughable and you just have to speak up. Let's have some comedians doing the commentary and you have Rifftrax. Making mediocre movies hilarious and even borderline good movies can be pretty darn funny!
Napping. It doesn't get more relaxing than that. I recommend it. Often.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Read to me!
8 questions game Part 3
3)What books are you reading right now?
What you have to know about Kevin and Amanda, we're bedtime story people. Kevin is the reader, and I am the listener.
Night after night, we go to bed at a very reasonable hour (which is obscenely early for most other people) and I bring my knitting, my crochet, or a mindless video game and Kevin lays on his stomach and begins reading out loud. Sometimes we get through a chapter per night. Sometimes more and sometimes less depending on the book.
We just finished Peter Pan and Wendy by J.M. Barrie. And before that we read 3 books by Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and The Witches.
Hanging out in the wings until we get to them? Treasure Island (oooo, it's leather bound and re published in 41). We have a couple of short story compilations which I hope we read from soon.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Question 2 - Grow up and Get a job
8 Questions Part 2
What do you want to be when you grow up?
This answer is incredibly boring, but I'm the kind of person that treasures security. I want to be a property owner. I'm still young, and I have lots of time to accomplish that goal, but for now? I'm impatient.
As a child I lived in a comfortable home with my parents and my younger brother and we had a modest back yard where we could play on our swings and help Mom plant her garden (sometimes slightly overgrown) and sit on the picnic table and blow bubbles while Dad mowed the lawn.
Some day I want that for myself.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
This answer is incredibly boring, but I'm the kind of person that treasures security. I want to be a property owner. I'm still young, and I have lots of time to accomplish that goal, but for now? I'm impatient.
As a child I lived in a comfortable home with my parents and my younger brother and we had a modest back yard where we could play on our swings and help Mom plant her garden (sometimes slightly overgrown) and sit on the picnic table and blow bubbles while Dad mowed the lawn.
Some day I want that for myself.
Friday, June 25, 2010
8 Questions Game
I've been tagged! Spinndiva of Rambling Designs poses 8 simple questions which will help readers know more about me! I owe her one because I now have a real reason to get myself on this blog and typing! Thank you for the nudge!
And to really get the most out of it, I'm going to give each question its own post, why not?
1) What's your staple meal? (What do you cook most often when you aren't feeling adventurous?)
Kevin and I (Amanda) recently purchased America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking for the Nintendo DS. Ever since then, I'm not sure we still HAVE a staple meal! Step by step instructions and encouragement read in a soothing voice for classic American staples have made us more willing to put some extra time into our meals.
We used to default to a frozen pizza, but the pizza crust recipe is so easy and quicker than one would expect that we now are quite happy to make pizza from scratch!
Our favorite toppings? Mushrooms, pepperoni, deli turkey and cayenne pepper.
I like anchovies, but I know when I buy them they are for me and me alone.
Wondering what we eat when we aren't following video game instructions? Pasta. Easy, fast and fun to embellish. Our toppings of choice? Chorizo and corn.
For those that don't know, chorizo is a delicious sausage available both refrigerated or smoked and is flavored with Mexican spices such as cumin, cayenne, and many different peppers. I prefer refrigerated because it cooks so quickly and there's no need to chop it up. Be warned though, it is NOT a lean meat! If you're on a strict diet, be prepared to sacrifice dessert!
Spicy Chorizo Chili Mac (for 2)
6 oz Spaghetti (macaroni, rigatoni, and shells also work well)
8 oz refrigerated picante chorizo
1/2 of a small onion, diced (vidalia is my choice!)
1 15 oz can of sweet corn
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
parsley for garnish opt.
cilantro for garnish opt.
salt for boiling water
Put salted water on to boil. Cook your choice of pasta according to package directions and drain. In a separate pan, place the uncased chorizo in a cold pan set to medium high heat. Brown the meat. Add the diced onion and saute with the chorizo for about 5 minutes. Add the drained can of corn to the pan just until heated through. Plate the spaghetti, pour the chorizo, onion and corn mixture on top. Top with cheese as well as parsley or cilantro. Enjoy and have water on hand to cool the burn!
And to really get the most out of it, I'm going to give each question its own post, why not?
1) What's your staple meal? (What do you cook most often when you aren't feeling adventurous?)
Kevin and I (Amanda) recently purchased America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking for the Nintendo DS. Ever since then, I'm not sure we still HAVE a staple meal! Step by step instructions and encouragement read in a soothing voice for classic American staples have made us more willing to put some extra time into our meals.
We used to default to a frozen pizza, but the pizza crust recipe is so easy and quicker than one would expect that we now are quite happy to make pizza from scratch!
Our favorite toppings? Mushrooms, pepperoni, deli turkey and cayenne pepper.
I like anchovies, but I know when I buy them they are for me and me alone.
Wondering what we eat when we aren't following video game instructions? Pasta. Easy, fast and fun to embellish. Our toppings of choice? Chorizo and corn.
For those that don't know, chorizo is a delicious sausage available both refrigerated or smoked and is flavored with Mexican spices such as cumin, cayenne, and many different peppers. I prefer refrigerated because it cooks so quickly and there's no need to chop it up. Be warned though, it is NOT a lean meat! If you're on a strict diet, be prepared to sacrifice dessert!
Spicy Chorizo Chili Mac (for 2)
6 oz Spaghetti (macaroni, rigatoni, and shells also work well)
8 oz refrigerated picante chorizo
1/2 of a small onion, diced (vidalia is my choice!)
1 15 oz can of sweet corn
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
parsley for garnish opt.
cilantro for garnish opt.
salt for boiling water
Put salted water on to boil. Cook your choice of pasta according to package directions and drain. In a separate pan, place the uncased chorizo in a cold pan set to medium high heat. Brown the meat. Add the diced onion and saute with the chorizo for about 5 minutes. Add the drained can of corn to the pan just until heated through. Plate the spaghetti, pour the chorizo, onion and corn mixture on top. Top with cheese as well as parsley or cilantro. Enjoy and have water on hand to cool the burn!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
The Particularly Late Christmas Specials Recaps
This year, Amanda and I decided to watch at least one Christmas special each day, starting from the first of December up until Christmas day. We chose which ones largely based on what we already had or could easily find at the library or on television. I had intended to write a blog post with brief thoughts on each one, but procrast - er, didn't find the time until now. So, even though it's weeks late, I still want to write this post!
December 1st - Blackadder's Christmas Carol
I love this one. Basically, Edmund Blackadder - who in most of the rest of the series is an arrogant, sarcastic jerk - is in this special known to be loving and generous. Though I don't want to give away the ending, perhaps you can guess how it ends anyway. This noteably features appearances by the younger Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, and Robbie Coltrane (who, pre-Hagrid, plays a scruffy giant).
December 1st - Christmas in Pac-Land I think this is the only Christmas special (listed here) that we watched online. I thought it might be interesting just because I like Pac-Man in general, but it's really basically a mediocre Hanna-Barbera cartoon in Pac-Man clothes. The big thing though, that I think this special has going for it is that the voice of Santa Claus is Peter Cullen....Optimus Prime himself.
December 2nd - Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas
It's pretty awful. I had seen it once before, and wanted to sit through it because watching bad movies can be fun, but I ended up regretting it. I think it's worth mentioning, though, that it features something that I would find rare in a Christmas special: a Jewish character! Well, a character who talks like a stereotypical Jewish person, anyway. Does that count?
December 3rd - Good Eats with Alton Brown (School of Hard Nogs, It's a Wonderful Cake, and The Cookie Clause)
Ha! Betcha didn't expect any non-fiction Christmas specials, didja? These are three episodes that will teach you not only how to make egg nog, fruitcake, and Christmas-style sugar cookies, but will also teach you the history and science behind those recipes!
Tidbit: In the DVD "Ask Alton" feature, one of the questions asks about "the actor who played Santa Claus." Alton, slightly puzzled, answers, "That...that was the real Santa Claus."
December 3rd - Mickey's Christmas Carol Why is it Mickey's Christmas Carol? I understand that it needed to be titled so as to separate it from other versions of the story, and Mickey is a favorite character but...as Bob Crachit, he doesn't really, well, do much. The plot affects him, but he does nothing to affect the plot. How about A Disney Christmas Carol or Scrooge McDuck's Christmas Carol?
Anyway, the secondary thing I have to say about this is...it's short. It's a cute interpretation of the book, but squeezing the whole thing into thirty minutes makes it seem very rushed.
Also: Is it just me, or would Peter Pan have made a much more fitting Ghost of Christmas Past than Jiminy Cricket?
December 4th - Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas Special
December 5th - The Christmas Toy There's not much I have to say about this that Brian hasn't already said. One of the things I really like about this is that it features almost every type of puppetry imaginable: string puppets, hand puppets, hand-and-rod puppets, robotic puppets, and even a strange Barbie-type doll which was ... I'm not even sure how it worked.
Also, this is the only family Christmas special I can think of in which the characters are threatened with the fear of dying. They may be toys, but they know that if they're even seen out-of-place by a human, they're as good as dead. It's surprisingly scary, actually.
December 6th - Futurama (XMas Story, a Tale of Two Santas)
December 7th - Santa Claus is Coming to Town
December 7th - South Park: The Spirit of Christmas
December 8th - Prep & Landing This was the most "fresh" Christmas special I had seen this year, by which I mean I saw it the very first time it aired. It was certainly entertaining and well-made. I like that it featured all-original characters (well, unless you count The Big Guy himself), the jokes and gags were funny, and the story was decent. In fact, I liked it so much that I think the only thing wrong with it was that it was too short. The story picks up quite quickly without taking much time to establish the characters. Because of this, it seemed liked I was watching an episode of a longer series, or the latter half-hour of a much-longer movie. So to summarize, the only thing I didn't like about it is that there wasn't more to like.
December 9th - Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
Tidbit: This one has a definitely Jewish character in Mr. Hooper.
December 10th - Wonderpets Save the Nutcracker!
December 11th - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas [Rankin-Bass]
December 12th - Invader Zim: The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever
December 12th - It's a Wonderful Life
December 13th - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer [Rankin-Bass], Rudolph's Shiny New Year
December 13th - Robot Chicken (Nightmare Generator)
The only part of this episode that has to do with Christmas is the final sketch (which I believe is called a "runner"), which is a Cold Case-style take on the murder of Santa Claus. Since Robot Chicken is a primarily stop-motion show, it's awfully appropriate that favorite Rankin-Bass specials are parodied.
December 14th - Animaniacs (A Christmas Plotz, Little Drummer Warners, 'Twas The Day Before Christmas, Jingle Boo, The Great Wakkorotti: The Holiday Concert) In "A Christmas Plotz," the plot of A Christmas Carol is retold in even less time than Mickey's Christmas Carol took!
December 14th - John Denver and the Muppets Rocky Mountain Holiday Wait a minute. The title means "holiday" in the British sense, as in a vacation! It turns out that I checked this one out thinking that it was the other John Denver and the Muppets Holiday special.
December 15th - The Little Drummer Boy [Rankin-Bass]
December 16th - Pluto's Christmas Tree
December 16th - Rifftrax Live Christmas Shortstravaganza
December 17th - Muppet Christmas Carol
December 18th - Whose Line is it Anyway? UK Christmas special
December 18th - The Small One
The ending to this one would be more heart-warming and special if it wasn't so darn predictable. So let's see, a boy needs to find a new home for his donkey. I notice it takes place in an Arab setting, around a couple thousand years ago - gee I wonder where they're going with this?
December 19th - Muppets Letters to Santa This year, assuming you got any paper cards or letters, you may have noticed the Kermit the Frog postmark in the corner. Apparently the U.S. Postal Service did that to promote this special, and in exchange, the special has a musical number about how great the U.S. Postal Service is. Yyyyeah. Embarrassing plugging aside, the special tries to be heartwarming and sentimental like previous Henson specials, but didn't really do anything for me. What I did like was the scene in which Beaker shows off a new Muppet Labs invention that grants instaneous wishes, and does so by making a busty lady appear out of nowhere. You go, Beaker! You horndog you.
December 20th - The Year Without a Santa Claus
December 20th - The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
December 21st - Sonic Christmas Blast
December 23rd - Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa, Mr. Monk and the Miracle
December 25th - Mythbusters Holiday specials More non-fiction goodness! Can a falling frozen turkey kill a small dog? Can the turkey be cooked on a radar dish? Which melts more quickly: a clothed snowman or a naked one? I would tell you the answers to these, but as with any episode I think it's more fun to watch how the question is answered than to just get the answer.
December 25th - A Charlie Brown Christmas
December 1st - Blackadder's Christmas Carol
I love this one. Basically, Edmund Blackadder - who in most of the rest of the series is an arrogant, sarcastic jerk - is in this special known to be loving and generous. Though I don't want to give away the ending, perhaps you can guess how it ends anyway. This noteably features appearances by the younger Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, and Robbie Coltrane (who, pre-Hagrid, plays a scruffy giant).
December 1st - Christmas in Pac-Land I think this is the only Christmas special (listed here) that we watched online. I thought it might be interesting just because I like Pac-Man in general, but it's really basically a mediocre Hanna-Barbera cartoon in Pac-Man clothes. The big thing though, that I think this special has going for it is that the voice of Santa Claus is Peter Cullen....Optimus Prime himself.
December 2nd - Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas
It's pretty awful. I had seen it once before, and wanted to sit through it because watching bad movies can be fun, but I ended up regretting it. I think it's worth mentioning, though, that it features something that I would find rare in a Christmas special: a Jewish character! Well, a character who talks like a stereotypical Jewish person, anyway. Does that count?
December 3rd - Good Eats with Alton Brown (School of Hard Nogs, It's a Wonderful Cake, and The Cookie Clause)
Ha! Betcha didn't expect any non-fiction Christmas specials, didja? These are three episodes that will teach you not only how to make egg nog, fruitcake, and Christmas-style sugar cookies, but will also teach you the history and science behind those recipes!
Tidbit: In the DVD "Ask Alton" feature, one of the questions asks about "the actor who played Santa Claus." Alton, slightly puzzled, answers, "That...that was the real Santa Claus."
December 3rd - Mickey's Christmas Carol Why is it Mickey's Christmas Carol? I understand that it needed to be titled so as to separate it from other versions of the story, and Mickey is a favorite character but...as Bob Crachit, he doesn't really, well, do much. The plot affects him, but he does nothing to affect the plot. How about A Disney Christmas Carol or Scrooge McDuck's Christmas Carol?
Anyway, the secondary thing I have to say about this is...it's short. It's a cute interpretation of the book, but squeezing the whole thing into thirty minutes makes it seem very rushed.
Also: Is it just me, or would Peter Pan have made a much more fitting Ghost of Christmas Past than Jiminy Cricket?
December 4th - Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas Special
December 5th - The Christmas Toy There's not much I have to say about this that Brian hasn't already said. One of the things I really like about this is that it features almost every type of puppetry imaginable: string puppets, hand puppets, hand-and-rod puppets, robotic puppets, and even a strange Barbie-type doll which was ... I'm not even sure how it worked.
Also, this is the only family Christmas special I can think of in which the characters are threatened with the fear of dying. They may be toys, but they know that if they're even seen out-of-place by a human, they're as good as dead. It's surprisingly scary, actually.
December 6th - Futurama (XMas Story, a Tale of Two Santas)
December 7th - Santa Claus is Coming to Town
December 7th - South Park: The Spirit of Christmas
December 8th - Prep & Landing This was the most "fresh" Christmas special I had seen this year, by which I mean I saw it the very first time it aired. It was certainly entertaining and well-made. I like that it featured all-original characters (well, unless you count The Big Guy himself), the jokes and gags were funny, and the story was decent. In fact, I liked it so much that I think the only thing wrong with it was that it was too short. The story picks up quite quickly without taking much time to establish the characters. Because of this, it seemed liked I was watching an episode of a longer series, or the latter half-hour of a much-longer movie. So to summarize, the only thing I didn't like about it is that there wasn't more to like.
December 9th - Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
Tidbit: This one has a definitely Jewish character in Mr. Hooper.
December 10th - Wonderpets Save the Nutcracker!
December 11th - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas [Rankin-Bass]
December 12th - Invader Zim: The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever
December 12th - It's a Wonderful Life
December 13th - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer [Rankin-Bass], Rudolph's Shiny New Year
December 13th - Robot Chicken (Nightmare Generator)
The only part of this episode that has to do with Christmas is the final sketch (which I believe is called a "runner"), which is a Cold Case-style take on the murder of Santa Claus. Since Robot Chicken is a primarily stop-motion show, it's awfully appropriate that favorite Rankin-Bass specials are parodied.
December 14th - Animaniacs (A Christmas Plotz, Little Drummer Warners, 'Twas The Day Before Christmas, Jingle Boo, The Great Wakkorotti: The Holiday Concert) In "A Christmas Plotz," the plot of A Christmas Carol is retold in even less time than Mickey's Christmas Carol took!
December 14th - John Denver and the Muppets Rocky Mountain Holiday Wait a minute. The title means "holiday" in the British sense, as in a vacation! It turns out that I checked this one out thinking that it was the other John Denver and the Muppets Holiday special.
December 15th - The Little Drummer Boy [Rankin-Bass]
December 16th - Pluto's Christmas Tree
December 16th - Rifftrax Live Christmas Shortstravaganza
December 17th - Muppet Christmas Carol
December 18th - Whose Line is it Anyway? UK Christmas special
December 18th - The Small One
The ending to this one would be more heart-warming and special if it wasn't so darn predictable. So let's see, a boy needs to find a new home for his donkey. I notice it takes place in an Arab setting, around a couple thousand years ago - gee I wonder where they're going with this?
December 19th - Muppets Letters to Santa This year, assuming you got any paper cards or letters, you may have noticed the Kermit the Frog postmark in the corner. Apparently the U.S. Postal Service did that to promote this special, and in exchange, the special has a musical number about how great the U.S. Postal Service is. Yyyyeah. Embarrassing plugging aside, the special tries to be heartwarming and sentimental like previous Henson specials, but didn't really do anything for me. What I did like was the scene in which Beaker shows off a new Muppet Labs invention that grants instaneous wishes, and does so by making a busty lady appear out of nowhere. You go, Beaker! You horndog you.
December 20th - The Year Without a Santa Claus
December 20th - The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
December 21st - Sonic Christmas Blast
December 23rd - Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa, Mr. Monk and the Miracle
December 25th - Mythbusters Holiday specials More non-fiction goodness! Can a falling frozen turkey kill a small dog? Can the turkey be cooked on a radar dish? Which melts more quickly: a clothed snowman or a naked one? I would tell you the answers to these, but as with any episode I think it's more fun to watch how the question is answered than to just get the answer.
December 25th - A Charlie Brown Christmas
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