Anchored Chaos Soapworks

Hi guys! 👋 I had this idea toward the end of last market season, and I knew I had to make it happen before outdoor market season started again this fall.

A little backstory: my carport is probably 20–30 feet from my back door. Sounds easy enough, right? Except there are six stairs, then I have to carry everything through the back of my house, all the way through the living room, and into the room where I keep all my soap and vendor supplies.

And then the next weekend? Do it all over again… but backwards. 😂

It was SO many trips, so much extra work, time, sweat, exhaustion, and just general why am I doing this to myself?! 😂

So I decided to buy a cheap little metal storage shed and put it together myself!

Small disclaimer: You really do need a second set of hands for a couple of parts. You cannot, in fact, assemble the entire thing by yourself despite your overwhelming go-getter attitude. 😂

I also bought some pavers to put underneath it. The shed does have a floor, but half of my carport is basically just Florida sand/dirt, and it’s gross. 😅 I wanted the shed as close to the back of my car as possible, and it ended up being less than 6 feet from my trunk.

And then came the real test…

I hit record, walked to my car, opened the trunk, and started unloading everything. I finished unloading, walked back over, and turned off my phone.

The entire process took 4 minutes and 3 seconds.

FOUR. MINUTES. 😳

Something that would have easily taken me at least 30 minutes by myself, along with a whole lot of sweating and exhaustion, now takes basically no time at all.

GAME. CHANGER. 🙌

Now, one more disclaimer about the floor: even though the shed comes with a floor, I was hesitant to put my tent weights directly in the middle of it. The floor is built up into a sort of U-shape, and I was worried the middle might collapse under the weight.

So instead, I put the weights where the two pieces of flooring meet. I figured that joint should be one of the strongest points, and so far, it has held up perfectly! I actually had the weights sitting in there for quite a while before the market and had absolutely no issues.

My mom — who is also an off-the-wall-idea girl (which is where I get all my genius ideas 😂) — suggested putting some spray foam underneath the floor for extra support.

So… that’s my next little experiment! 😂 I haven’t tried it yet, so I can’t tell you whether it will actually work. Definitely make your own decisions about how and where you store heavy items if you decide to do something similar.

But honestly?

If you’re a vendor who has to lug your entire setup more than 20 feet from your car to your house/storage space…

100% worth it.

And just to be clear — I’m not getting paid for this, sponsored by anyone, or making any money from this post. This is genuinely just me sharing this idea that made my life SO much easier because I thought some of my fellow vendors might appreciate it too. ❤️

So please share this with your vendor friends! If you’ve ever complained about having to haul your entire market setup in and out of your house every single weekend, this might be the solution you’ve been looking for. 😂

Here’s to another market season! 🥳🧼
And hopefully… a LOT fewer trips from the car to the house. 🙌

Well the Chaos continues with my first outside market since last season! Forgot my banner and a box of soap 🤷🏻‍♀️ Story of my life. No matter how hard I prepare my brain always forgets something 😂
Oh well. We are at Cranes Roost Park till 5pm so swing by!! 🩵🩵