How to Make a Front Page-ready Treasury

Narrator: Tabitha of The Pairabirds

I like making Treasuries in Etsy. And, I have been lucky enough to have several of the ones I curated hit the front-page. I'll give you a mini tutorial on how I go about creating a treasury. But, first, let me give you a few of the basics about front-page treasuries.

• Etsy Admin chose the front page from treasuries in the Treasury and sometimes the Treasury West.
• Images with watermarks can make it to the front, if the watermark is not very noticeable or below where the thumbnails are cropped.
• I think it is allowed for you to put your own product in your treasury, last I checked the rules. However, I'm not sure if those treasuries ever make it to the front. And if the treasury does make it to the front, your product will not be featured. The Treasury is best not to be used for self promotion. But, if you have any questions, its best to contact Etsy Admin.

Okay, now lets start. I build my treasuries way before I ever get a treasury. How? I use the Poster Sketch. The Poster Sketch is a little ingenious tool the Etsy Crew made around the beginning or middle of 2007. This tool allows you to copy item numbers into a grid, just like that of the Treasury. Not only can you use the Poster Sketch to pre-build your treasuries, but you can use it to promote yourself (just enter your own item numbers, take a screenshot, and use it for postcards, ads, etc). The Poster Sketch will save the information you enter, so that you can come back to it later. I don't believe you can access the sketch you made from a computer other than the one you made it on. However, if you have trouble getting your sketch to save, there is a nifty feature at the bottom of the Poster Sketch that copies all of the item numbers to your clipboard. Then, just paste that info into your destination of choice (MS Word, Notepad, etc). Don't forget to hit save when you paste it into your document!

Now, the real fun!

I look for products that have wonderful photographs. This part of the equation is *so important.* Since we are all selling online, we do not have the benefit of letting are customers hold and touch our products. So, we have to show the beauty of the products by having gorgeous photos. Sometimes I save things in my favorite that I would not normally buy. But, the product's photos are so beautiful, I just have to find a use for it!

I usually begin my treasuries by looking through things I recently marked as favorites. In this case, I chose Pillow Monsters's Simon the Frog. Isn't he cute?

I also chose Blossom Earrings by Contagious. A beautiful piece of ear decoration.

I drop these two into my Poster Sketch.

At this point, I have no theme in mind. I don't like to lock myself into a theme. Like if I a theme entitled, Wildebeest and Green Space Shuttles, chances are that there are not many products that fit the bill. So, I go with the go with the tried and true, color and material. I chose Rheta's Defragmented Ring to match the sterling silver Blossom earrings. Three Birds, Two Buildings by A Life You Love, has a pretty ochre color that you see in Simon's pants.

I need some warm colors now, to balance the cool blue tones. I added Shelby Healey's wonderfully unconventional My Mascot and Maye Rain's Screw Ring (I love rings as you will soon see); it has a nice warm pink background. Because I really like the ochre color, I added
Rifferaff''s hand-printed Jigsaw Scrapbook Paper (that paper would make some really nice abstract wall art *thinking of buying it to frame and hang on my walls*).

Now a theme is starting to come to me. All of these items have an unconventional, non traditional feel. So it looks like I have an Offbeat theme. Offbeat goods make my heart sing (la la la).

I saw this bag by Cork and Cotton the other day in the forums and had to showcase it. And, Pamela Tang's original art is just as beautiful as her clothing and bedding. Notice the Cork bag has similar color and texture as the Jigsaw paper. Pamela's piece picks up the warm yellows and abstract feel of several other items.

I wanted to bring out the red color of Simon's mouth. So, I headed to my favorites again. And, right there is Reqbat's self published book, Falling. Not only does the story look enticing, but the red cover goes with Simon. Plus (bonus), the pink hues match My Mascot and Screw Ring.

Just two more items, now. More cork colors and unconventionalness (is that a word?). Blushing Butternut's Turtle Diorama adds charm. Factory Trails by Fields of Aphelion adds drama. Into the sketch they go.

Oh no! We forgot the alternates. The alternates are the items that are not viewable to your treasury's visitors. The alternates serve as replacements, if the main items you chose for your treasury are sold or inactivated. The alternates should be just as grand as the main products. I typically do not save finding alternates for last. I add all of the items that work, then move the products according to where I want them. The thing about a good collection of Alts is that you have a hard time deciding if they should be main features or alts. I often go back and forth with what should be featured!


My alternates are: IMOTIME's Exit clock (wood and cork color in background), Lady Marmalade by Artsy (brings in more red), Jessica Sharrah's Back in Black Ceramic Ring (pulls out the black in the products, to anchor them), and Kitkuare's Not a Vampire (more pinkish hues). Done!

You can use the Poster Sketch's handy copy tool to copy to your clipboard.

Now you have a treasury all ready for when you get a real one. One tip about when you have a real treasury: Click on the item in your Poster Sketch. Check to make sure it is not sold before you put it in your real treasury. If the item is sold, I check to see if the seller has more of that item or similar ones.

I enjoy making treasuries. I don't make them to necessarily be on the front-page. Creating pretty and interesting treasuries is my main objective. The most important part about making a treasury is not "is it good enough to be on the front." The main point is to create a collection of things you find interesting and would like to share with the rest of the gang.