Weavers of Orlando
Articles List
ABOUT THE SALE
-
History
-
Ideas for Items you can submit
PREPARATION
-
Venue
-
Event Communication
-
Application
DAYS OF SALE
-
Set up
-
Artisan Check-in
-
Inventory Display
-
Holiday Sale Demonstrations
-
Sale Support Tasks
END OF SALE
-
Artisan Check-out
-
Breakdown & Storage
-
Payment to Artisan
It's beginning to feel a lot like the Holidays.
Let’s make this year’s Holiday special. Join your fellow Members and sell your handmade creations.
Whether or not you’ve participated in the WoO yearly Holiday Fiber Arts Show & Sale, you will learn about what happens before, during and after the yearly event.
ABOUT THE SALE
History
Weavers of Orlando Guild – Holiday Fiber Arts and Show and Sale
A group of our members lead by Lorna Gillispie and Audrey Smith got together a committee to establish an event that provided Artisans with a venue to sell items created throughout the year without having to rent or take care of a craft booth as individuals.
The Holiday sale has been held for over 25 years at several venues in Mount Dora, the Masonic Temple, Chamber of Commerce Train Depot Building Baggage Room, Lakeside Inn and finally the Donnelly Park Building.
IDEAS FOR ITEMS YOU CAN SUBMIT
All Artisan’s handmade items are welcome.
Fiber and Textile Crafts: weaving, felting, spinning, knitting, crochet, embroidery, quilting and basketry.
Paper Crafts: origami, scrapbooking, card making, paper quilling, and bookbinding.
Ceramics and Glass Crafts: pottery, clay sculpting, glazing, and stained-glass work.
Woodcraft: carving, woodturning.
Metal and Jewelry Crafts: , wirework, beading and silversmithing.
Leatherworking: Stamping, dyeing, and stitching leather.
Candle and Soap Making.
Small Mixed Media, Resin and Art Pieces
PREPARATION
Venue
The Donnelly Park building is in the middle of the festive holiday events held on the first weekend of December every year. That and the size make it the perfect place to hold the annual sale.
The Committee Members turn the inside of this basic meeting place into a boutique style store, showcasing the handmade creations.
-
The Mount Dora Pavillion is reserved for next year, the day after the current year’s sale.
-
The Mount Dora Pavillion is an 1,100 sq ft facility
-
Tables and chairs are provided
Donnelly Park building Before
Donnelly Park building After
Event Communication
In the beginning, the advertising was done through newspapers. Currently, we advertise mostly through social media and ask artists/participants and members to pass the word. This year, we added text on to the Save the Date card to encourage people to contact us about participation.
Every year we have return shoppers who say they put our event on their calendars.
-
Save the Date Cards for the following year are printed prior to the sale.
-
Cards are placed in customers bags along with purchased items.
-
Cards are given to the Demonstration Committee, FTWG and Guild Members.
-
-
The Demo committee passes out “Save the Date” cards during their Community Out Reach and Education events.
-
Flyers are printed and distributed to members to post on community boards and local yarn stores.
-
Flyers are posted at businesses throughout Mount Dora.
-
Emails are sent out to Guild Members to encourage participation.
-
Event schedules are posted on various Facebook groups.
-
Holiday Committee members pitch the sale at Guild meeting.
Application
To participate in the Holiday Sale:
1. Participants need to fill out the application form.
Link to application form: PDF 2026 Application
-
Provide contact information: Name, email, address, phone.
-
Select the format you would like to receive inventory sheets and tags: PDF, Microsoft WORD or Apple PAGES.
-
List the types of items you would like to sell and estimated quantity of each.
-
Let us know if you want to work during the sale.
-
Mail filled out form with the application fee to the address on the form.
-
A $35.00 registration fee must accompany your registration form.
-
-
Percentages are taken from the sale of your items. Money collected is used to pay sale expenses and when possible, provide donations to the Weavers of Orlando.
-
WoO Members who choose to work the sale: 20%
-
WoO Members who choose not work the sale: 25%
-
Non-WoO Members (cannot work the sale): 40%
-
-
The application fees and percentages taken from sales are used to pay expenses.
-
Rental fee of Mount Dora Pavillion
-
Monthly storage unit rental for displays, lighting, wall displays, etc.…
-
Credit Card fees
-
Sales taxes
-
Supplies, Fixtures and printing
-
2. You will receive an email from a committee member with your Pin #, Tag and Inventory documents that you will use for the sale and Instructions.
Emailed includes:
-
You are assigned a Pin #, that is used to identify your items for accounting purposes.
-
The Instructions document provides:
-
Drop off Date/Time
-
Pickup Date/Time
-
Instructions for filling out Inventory Sheets and Tags – Example below
-
Labeling boxes or tote
-
Labeling display pieces for your items with your name
-
Check out process
-
-
Inventory Sheets – See #4 below for sample
-
Tags– See #5 below for additional sample
3. Work Schedule
-
The Holiday Sale work schedule is completed once application period is closed.
-
For those that are participating and wish to work, you will receive an email with the work schedule a couple weeks prior to the sale with assigned days and times and job.
-
Ticket Writer
-
Bagger
-
Cashier
-
Sales Floor
-
-
The holiday sale committee works all weekend so kudos to them!
4. Before dropping off your sale items, the Thursday before the sale, you will fill out an Inventory Sheet and tag each item.
A Committee Member is always available to assist or answer any questions about these forms throughout the year. We have all been first time participants and some of us goofed it up really bad the first time….so we want everyone to be successful.
-
Round all prices to the nearest full dollar amount (no cents.)
-
The inventory sheet and items must be tagged prior to arriving at the building for check.
5. Each item on your inventory will need a tag with your Pin#, Item Num, Description and Price.
-
Print sales tags on regular paper NOT HEAVY DUTY or CARD STOCK.
-
Tags must be firmly attached to each item WITHOUT using staples or pins.
-
Use a hole punch at the corner of each tag and tie with any cotton yarn to your item.
-
Overhand knots are great since they seldom come undone.
-
Use an additional tag with your contact information (name & email) and care instructions. Place it behind the sales tag.
DAYS OF SALE
Thursday
-
The key is picked up at the Parks and Recreation department, and we arrange access to back of building.
-
The Committee meets at the storage unit to pick up and transport displays, fixtures, lighting and decorations.
-
Items are taken to the building where other committee members are waiting to help unload cars.
-
Tables, lighting and displays are arranged.
-
We organize and set up inventory binders, sales slips books, cash box and Square (Payment Tracking Processing) for credit card, check and cash purchases.
-
-
At noon, Participants show up.
-
Participants are assigned the next available Committee member to check in your items.
-
A Committee member will sit with you and review each item, to make sure it is properly tagged and correctly noted on the inventory sheet.
-
Committee members begin to put out, and display all received items.
-
Merchandising begins and we work at making everything “pretty”
-
Hours the sale is open to the public.
Friday 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
The Demo team and others sit outside on the porch and do their magic. Showing people what fiber artists do and making new friends and sometimes getting new people to join WoO. We also tell people about the FTWG conference and help with whatever information people need.
Signs advertising the sale are placed all around the building and flyers are posted at local businesses.
Committee members manage the displays and arrangements of sale items as well as ticket writing, cashier, bagger and sales floor support.
The Holiday Sale Work Schedule is used to support the tasks needed for sales:
END OF SALE
Sunday 2:00 p.m.
Artisan Check-out
-
The sale ends at 2 p.m. and the doors are closed.
-
As quickly as possible the Committee sorts into pile what is left of each Artist’s inventory.
-
As participants arrive, they are included on the list for checkout.
-
We then call people in one at a time to check the items against the inventory sheet.
Breakdown & Storage
-
Meanwhile, in the background we have people pulling down fixtures to load into vehicles.
-
Tables are broken down and storedThe Donnelly building is cleaned and trash removed
-
Committee members go to the storage unit to unload all the displays, fixtures, lighting and decorations.
Payment to Artisan
-
On Monday, a Committee member returns to the Parks and Recreation department to rent the building for the following year.
-
Before checks can be sent out to Participants
-
All credit card and check purchases must be cleared and received.
-
Every tag and inventory sheet is reviewed against the Square (Payment Tracking Processing) totals.
-
All discrepancies are resolved.
-
-
Your check will be sent out no more than 8 weeks after the sale.
Updated: 5/5/2026