craft

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop

December 16, 2017 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop | happy together
Last weekend I hosted my Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop. It was so much fun and to add to the fun it actually snowed the morning of this workshop! It never snows here in Southwest Louisiana so it was quite a surprise. The locals told me the last time it actually snowed like this was twenty something years ago. It was also the first time my two daughters were able to experience snow and that was a whole magical thing to watch in and of itself. So with snow on the ground (but not the roads thankfully), I prepared for my guests and we even made them gumbo and hot chocolate (from scratch!) to enjoy during the craft night.

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop | happy together
I kept the decor simple since our home was already decorated for Christmas. I made a simple sign with some card stock using my Cricut machine and used paper decorations that I have picked up over the years when I see them on sale. I highly recommend doing that if you host lots of parties. Then you have a stash you can always grab from. I laid out each space with the sign they would be painting, their supplies, and fabric covered plastic candy canes with their names on it.

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop | happy together
Once everyone arrived, we snacked some and then got to work. There were three projects: a Christmas countdown sign, oyster shell ornaments, and water color gift tags with pom poms. While the sign and ornaments were a “do it just like me” kind of project, the water color tags allowed them to be creative and make them however they wanted. I loved seeing everyone’s creativity and I enjoyed sharing with them skills they hadn’t learned before.

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Workshop | happy together
I’m so thankful for these ladies that support and encourage me in my crafting endeavors. They make these type of events so worth it! -jess

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Craft Workshop

November 10, 2017 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Craft, Snack, and Be Merry Craft Workshop | happy together
Christmas is just around the corner! If you live in the Southwest Louisiana area, I am hosting a ladies night out Christmas craft workshop “Craft, Snack, and Be Merry” that you are invited to attend. It will be held on Friday, December 8, 2017, at 6:30 pm in Sulphur, LA. The address of where it will take place will be sent once your ticket is purchased. Each participant will create three projects: a hand painted Christmas countdown sign, a gilded oyster shell ornament, and water color gift tags with mini pom-poms. All supplies are provided and there will be snacks too. The cost is $35 + processing fees and you can register here. There are limited tickets available, so make sure to get yours today if you plan on attending. I look forward to doing some Christmas crafting with y’all. -jess

The Crafty Social DIY Workshop Fall 2017

November 1, 2017 by Jessica 2 Comments

Last month I hosted my first ever craft workshop! It was a dream come true and what’s even better was that I was able to make it a fundraiser for a ministry at our church, so all the funds went right back out to helping people in our community. When I began to dream up this event, the first thing I focused on was a name. I wanted something that wasn’t too common, but would convey what type of event this is. Hence, it became The Crafty Social. I created a logo for it and we decided to hold it in October which is why the crafts have a fall theme.

We ended up having 40 women attend. I was pleased with the turnout and believe that next time we will have even more because it received such a positive response. It was open to any woman and girl age 13 and up. Next time we plan to allow ages 10 and up. I chose four crafts of varying skill levels, but still all doable for someone who might not have any craft experience. All attendees were able to create a mason jar pumpkin (six color choices offered), a fall felt banner (3 color choices offered), a tassel keychain (3 color choices offered), and then I had a pin button maker set up where they could choose which graphics they wanted. You can see more info about all of the crafts here. I placed all individual supplies in a bag according to what color options they chose.

To quickly locate whose bag was whose, I added their name tag on top of a folded paper doily attached with a paper clip that had a small piece of fabric tied on. Then once they had their bag, they could put on their name tags. We had many women attend who do not go to our church, so this made it easier for everyone to meet one another and help remember names.

I had already decorated our church foyer for fall, so I went simple and added some lights over one of the counters and draped streamers from the ceilings. I also added some large balloons that unfortunately began to pop the day I put them up hahaha. Gotta love that Louisiana humidity! We set up tables and taped brown craft paper across to create a cohesive look and also protect the tables.

The rolling wood backdrop is one I designed (and built by my friend Nekoda) after doing back drops for our church for a few years. I have always wanted a rolling back drop. It’s not quite as tall as I would prefer, but it needs to fit through doors. It is perfect though for all we do. My friend Dorothy helped me decorate it. I strung fishing line across the top and she hung all the streamers for me. Then I added the random garlands (mostly from Target and Micheals) and some honeycomb balls (from Target and Micheals as well) and small balloons (from Party City). The hashtag sign is one I designed and had made on Vista Print. I just put The Crafty Social hashtag (#thecraftysocialworkshop) over the regular one that’s on there.

I had a few ladies bring some snacks to munch on. This event was at 10 am on a Saturday morning so we weren’t trying to provide a full meal. But snacks are always a good idea!

We set up a glue gun bar (which was just perfect! in my opinion lol) and had some great giveaways. Zoe Photography offered a free mini session, a friend made a wood yard game, and there were things like a felt letter board, fall platter, fall candle, and blanket added to the mix. Since it was a fall theme, I tried to pick fall like giveaways 🙂

I used a large foam board to hold three of the crafts. This made it easy for me to show what colors to use when I was teaching how to make things.

My goal was to arrange the tables so everyone could easily see me no matter where they were sitting. While this worked well, we had some smaller tables in the coffee shop area that only held two seats so they didn’t get to socialize as easily. Next time we plan on doing all big tables and making the small tables the snack area.

It was a fun experience to put this all together and I’m so glad I was able to do so. It also gives me the confidence to do this on a smaller scale with my business. I always thought one day it would be neat to have a store similar to the places you go paint at, but you can pick crafts to make instead. Sounds fun right?

And I have to give a big THANK YOU to my friend Dorothy (with me in the pic above) for all her help with decorating and being my helper at the event. And THANK YOU to everyone who supported me, brought snacks, helped with clean up, and attended. I can’t wait for next Crafty Social this spring! -jess

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My Craft Table and Wayfair Feature

May 30, 2017 by Jessica Leave a Comment

In the past, there has always been a way for me to have a craft table in a room that was dedicated to an office space. When we moved to our current house, my husband’s new job required him to have a home office which also had to hold a sleeping area for guests when they visit. I no longer had an area for my table. It really wasn’t that bad, but after constantly having to pull things out of storage and put them away every day we decided to make an area in our bedroom my craft space. Since it’s in our bedroom, I wanted it to blend in so it didn’t mess with the room’s feel too much. I used this long and narrow table that I had bought from a stationary store that was going out of business when we lived in Jacksonville, FL. I like how it gives room for all my equipment without sticking too far out. I added a coordinating indoor/outdoor rug runner that I found at Target to help catch the messes I will make. Then I added a few decor accessories to also help it fit in.

You can read a little more about my craft area on Wayfair here, along with nine other diy bloggers. It’s always fun to see how others create their space. You might see a great idea to implement in your own craft area. PS….I totally put all the cords away for this picture so it wouldn’t distract and look messy, but there are cords and typically my desk is covered in my projects. Although, I do try to keep it nice now since I sleep next to it hahaha.

-jess

Other item info: Chair-Hobby Lobby; Fur rug on chair, floor basket, and candle-Marshalls; Design boards, gold cup, and white pot-Target

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Easy Magnolia Wreath DIY

May 10, 2016 by Jessica Leave a Comment

I love having a wreath on our front door. It adds so much! Especially for us since our front yard has no landscaping yet 😉 I had bought a gorgeous dried floral wreath and sadly it did not do well with the few hours of sun it gets before night time. I thought maybe it might make it since it’s not in direct sun for too long but I was wrong. I learned my lesson. I’m sticking with faux wreaths for now since they will last quite a bit longer before they fade away. To rectify the situation, I went to the store and decided to make a magnolia wreath diy.

To make your own you will need:

Magnolia leave stems (I bought five at Michaels and ended up using only four; I happened to get them on sale for 50% off!)
Grapevine wreath (I reused one that I had torn everything off of already, but you can find these for less at thrift stores or at local craft stores)
Wire cutters
Hot glue gun and glue

Start by breaking down the stems into smaller bunches.

To create a more natural look, you can turn some of the leaves around so you can see the back as well. I have seen faux magnolia stems be all green, so you might not need or want to do this. I liked the look and felt it added more visual interest to the wreath.

Start by placing one stem in the grapevine wreath. Glue the bottom in place and at other spots where the stem is lying flat on the wreath so it will stay in place.

Continue adding more stems on top of the previous ones. Glue one in place at a time. I also found I had to bend the stems at times to make them more curved to fit the wreath’s direction.

Your last stem will be tucked underneath the very first one. From the front, flat on the ground, I liked how the wreath looked, but once I held it up there were some spaces I wanted to fill in.

If you feel the same way, take some individual leaves and glue them in the bare spots.

I also decided to glue down more leaves because we get a ton of very strong winds out here and I didn’t want the leaves blowing off. It made for a flatter wreath, but I wanted that security.

It now lives on my front door and I’m hoping it will make it through the summer. This is truly a simple and easy project and would be fun to make together on a craft night with friends. -jess