how i set up my table at Native Plant Fest
not pictured: my intermittent anxiety around not having a tent
OC Zine Fest was the slippery slope I was happy to slide down into exploring Southern California’s community of independent artists. In December, I was accepted as a vendor at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center’s 3rd Annual Native Plant Fest, which brings together plant-experts, artists, and nature-enthusiasts alike. Painters, gardeners, sculpture-makers, native plant nonprofits, musicians, bird-watchers, crocheters — this event had it all.
Here’s a sub-one-minute recap of my experience, followed by notes on my actual setup:
the table setup
Just like at OC Zine Fest, I relied on the various tea-organizers, plate racks, laptop stands, and cookbook holders we had around the house to create a display with some height and depth. This time, I also snuck a plastic storage box underneath the orange tablecloth to add more vertical space — I set it next to a slightly shorter cardboard Hobonichi box I’ve been hoarding for three months because the Hobonichi unboxing experience is elite (shoutout my dear friend Steph who gave that box to me in the first place).
My pièce de résistance (if you can call it that) was the $5 IKEA clothing rack we had in the house that I: 1) removed all the clothes from, you best bet our closet is still suffering from that organization-removal, 2) strung a few pieces of twine across, and 3) hung up art and zines with the tiny clothespins I’ve been toting around since my college days when I used them to hang up polaroids on my wall. Behold, a hanging art gallery.
I was so deeply nervous about showing up without a tent for my booth … but it was completely fine without one, and there were several other folks also without canopies. The weather absolutely came through.
the DIY zine station
This was the simplest yet most rewarding part of my table setup. I set out some acrylic paint markers in a bunch of different colors, a few plant field guides, a list of (optional) plant-inspired prompts, and a giant stack of papers so that anyone who came by the table could make and take home their own mini-zine. I pre-folded and set out a bunch of blank mini-zines, too. I loved getting to chat with everyone who stopped by — it was a privilege to hear their stories and see the delightful things they created.
My partner Daniel and I made this stand-up foldy-sign out of two leftover shelves from our IKEA IVAR unit, a couple $3 door hinges, chalkboard paint, and twine. I have yet to see if the chalk actually washes out, but if it doesn’t, I’ll just paint over it whenever I need to.
in other news …
I tabled at another zine fest last weekend!
On March 2nd, I’m co-hosting a free zine workshop for youth at the Community Environmental Council in Santa Barbara — whether you know a youth or are one yourself, learn more here and tell a friend!
This:
I wish I could have been there