Last Friday was a happy adventure! It was my first crafty meetup, my first time decorating for an event [the artistic gene is not to be found in my family!] and my first time providing Bake All The Things sweets for swag bags!
[P.S. I'm so new to this blogging thing that it didn't even occur to me to bring a camera - I just used my phone! And taking photos of the general ambiance for context? Something I need to remember for next time!]
The lovely Andrea from Four Flights of Fancy and Jules from Pancakes and Fries had this awesome idea for a Pinterest-to-reality party and The Craft Cabinet was born.
The venue: the quaint yet gorgeous vintage shop, Salvage Life in the adorable Bixby Knolls area of Long Beach
The decor: simple, chic and all-together fabulous. I showed up early to deposit my sample boxes into swag bags and roped myself in to party-prep with the fabulous Danni from Oh, Hello Friend. Look what we made – I am so proud!!
The food: yummy! Sandwiches and fruits and snacks and of course, dessert!
The treats: Salted caramel and raspberry cheesecake cupcakes, meringues, toffee and sea salt almonds [these were my faaavorite of the night and I hear you can get them at Trader Joe's!], wine, my secret favorite ‘fancy’ water, and Izze soda with paper straws!
The attendees: fun, LOCAL, creative ladies! We swapped stories and giggled over our craft projects. I feel awful that I never made it over to the other table – there better be a second event and I’ll get better at ‘working the room’!
And look, I MADE STUFF. Like I said, no crafty genes in the Miller family. NONE, I tell you!
This is a time-out jar. The concept is that the glue in the water creates a kind of ‘time warp’ for the sparkly glitter, and as a child watches it slooooowly sink to the bottom over two or five [or however long you make it for depending on the glue: water ratio], they CALM DOWN. It’s therapeutic for adults too, I swear! This will go into a grab-bag of holiday gifts for a friend with three boys!
I also made this adorable ‘things for me’ jar. Each popsicle stick contains an idea to either help me focus and get back to work [draft a blog post, find a new recipe to try, write to a mentor] or allows me a break to indulge, relax and reconnect [get a pedicure, go for a walk, call a friend]. I’ve already put this into action and it’s awesome!
Can’t forget the swag! SOOO much awesome crafty stuff! And and and and, and also, a little tiny sampler from Bake All The Things!
I included cake batter blondies, tiny Slutty Brownies, and a Nutella butterscotch cookie cup – hope everyone loved them!
Jules has a fantastic write-up [and WAY better pictures than me], that also includes a link-up to the blog posts of many of the wonderful women in attendance.
All in all, I’m SO glad I went and can’t wait for the next one.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks great!
This looks like such a fun evening. What a great idea!
Etsy Blog Team
Wish I lived out in California! Sounds like fun and I would definitely want to join in!
Oh my goodness! That looks like so much fun! What a great way to take all those things we pin forever and ever and actually DO them!
I’ll have to organize one of these myself–I’m a huge fan of crafting
Gena, it was lovely to meet you! I’d love to have lunch sometime next week, if you’re around
It sounds like you put together a truly lovely event! Your sweets look positively divine. I could definitely go for a box of those slutty brownies right about now.