Solar Lights
for Your Jewelry Booth

© by Virginia Vivier; all rights reserved

If you sell artisan jewelry at outdoor art festivals or indoor trade shows, perhaps you have endured locations where the lighting was poor.

solar light on Virginia Vivier's jewelry display Virginia Vivier's clip-on solar light
illuminates her jewelry display.

How can you achieve good lighting for your jewelry display without carrying multiple extension cords, bulky lamps, and paying an additional service fee for an electric outlet?

The last show I attended was at The Expo Center in Tucson, Arizona. The old building had antiquated flourescent light fixtures situated at least 100 feet above my table.

The lights cast a harsh bluish tint on everything. And to top it off, the flourescent light fixtures directly above my booth were burned out!

It took 36 hours (and a lot of pleading) to get building maintenance to replace the burned out bulbs. I suffered an entire day in the gloom of my space.

Not good for selling jewelry!

Here are some options to provide better lighting for your jewelry display. Be sure to shop around for the best prices.

Option 1:
Portable Battery Setup for Booth Lights

battery for battery-powered jewelry booth lights Battery for powering
battery-operated booth lights.

This option is more expensive, bulky, and fussy than Option 2 below.

It provides power for 4 desk lamps and 1 credit card processing machine or laptop computer.

You'll need:

(1) 12 volt, 50 amp battery - approx. $145 ($75 for 30 amp battery).

(1) 12 volt, 1.5 amp battery charger (approx $35).

(1) 400 watt inverter with 2 outlets (approx. $40).

(1) 6 plug outlet Power Strip (6 foot cord, 6 outlets approx. $10).

Total cost: approx. $160 with 33 amp battery, or $230 for 50 amp battery.

Total space needed for transporting this portable battery setup to a Show = approx. 1.5 cubic feet. Less space than one heavy duty 25 foot extension cord.

The 50 amp battery runs for 50 hours before needing to be recharged. It weighs 40 lbs, so you may need a hand-truck to carry it to your booth site.

Option: You can buy a 12 Volt, 33 amp battery ($75) that weighs only 25 lbs, but it will need to be recharged after 30 hours. You can charge it up at home.

The inverter is connected to the battery.

power inverter for jewelry display lights Power inverter.

It converts the battery voltage into standard 110 volts for your lights. The Inverter has 2 electrical 110 volt plug-in outlets. You can plug a 6 outlet Power Strip into the inverter for your lights and laptop or cc processor.

power strip for battery operated jewelry display lights Power strip outlet.

I needed to run 4 lights and my laptop computer (or credit card processing machine). The 50 amp battery provided enough power for a 2 day Show. I didn't have to lug it home for recharging after the first day.

Important:

You DO have to make sure the battery is not sitting directly on the ground in case of rain at an outdoor show, so bring a 2 x 4 board (or other type of riser) to keep it off the ground.

This is not a problem at indoor shows.

Option 2:
Solar Lights for Booth
- No Batteries!!!

I found a great new solar solution for jewelry booth lights!

Here are some alternative SOLAR ideas instead of the Portable Battery Setup:

flexible clip-on jewelry display light Clip-on light with flexible stem.

Flexible Tube Clip Lights (above)

This compact solar light clips to your display and can be pointed in different directions.

If you are in an outdoor show, it will automatically keep charging from the ambient sunlight. If you are in an indoor Show, you will need to recharge it overnight, or have ready-charged replacement Solar batteries on hand. (Solar Flexible Tube Lights - $35 each).

solar batteries for jewelry booth light Replacement solar batteries for solar clip-on light.

Note: These solar lights are quite powerful since they use LED technology. They provide 6 hours of indoor light per charge, so you will need spare (pre-charged) solar batteries for 12 continuous hours of running time at a 2 day indoor Show.

BONUS: These solar lights provide color correct lighting! And they are not HOT like standard light bulbs. Perfect for gem and jewelry displays.

Solar Options
for Credit Card Processing

Option 1:
Credit card processing via your laptop computer.

You'll need:

(1) JPOS Software - Operates on any Windows laptop PC. Software: Free.

Laptop Swiper for receipts: $79.

Note: You will need backup laptop batteries if you process charges continually during the day. Or, you can swipe the receipts and process them later in the evening.

Option 2:
Wireless credit card processing via your cell phone.

You'll need:

Wireless merchant account using cell phone processing.

You will need to swipe charge forms to provide receipts. Swiper: $39.
Alternatively, you can provide hand-written receipts.

Solar operated cell phone charger - $60.

Total cost for (4) solar lights: Approx. $144 (not including credit card swiper or solar phone charger).

Solar powered cell phone charger.

Total space to transport to show = Less than 1 cubic foot of space. No heavy batteries, no cords, no bulky lights.

I hope these ideas spark some creative solutions for your art festival jewelry displays.

flexible solar lights for jewelry display booth Flexible solar light to illuminate
your booth without electricity.

SPECIAL OFFER
from VIRGINIA VIVIER (author of this article):

25% off Coupon
for Solar Lights and Cell Phone Charger

I was so impressed with these Solar products that I purchased a large quantity of them and can offer fellow Jewelry Artisans a special 25% discount.

Please feel free to contact me, especially if you wish to purchase the Solar Phone Charger or Solar Flexible Tube Lights. Both come with a 60 day replacement guarantee.

a.) Flexible Tube Clip Light (red) $35 - 25% = $26.25

b.) Solar Cell Phone Charger $60 - 25% = $45

c.) Flexible Tube Light Base (silver) plus Flex Light & Cell Phone Charger $90 - 25% = $67.50

Please email me directly
if you would like to take advantage of this special:
Amulets@Esprit-Mystique.com

Virginia Vivier
Esprit Mystique

Author Virginia Vivier of Esprit Mystique creates one-of-a-kind jewelry you can wear as a spirit catcher, a mysterious amulet, a celestial charm, or symbolic talisman, to hold your secrets near.

Virginia says: "We also create jewelry from pure brass bullet shells found in the deserts of Tucson, Arizona. It is our way of recycling these abandoned brass shells and offering them as wearable art. Some of the brass shells are used in their original form, and others are melted down and re-cast into mystical shapes."