My pillow display...I love my antique trunk!
Today is the last day of February and March is upon us. Oh how time flies!! I didn't participate in any craft shows this month. Instead, I tried to dabble in something new...two something news, actually. I co-hosted an Arbonne party and joined an auction to benefit the Mustang Animal Shelter (will blog about the auction next week). Both were very different experiences from the craft shows that I am used to. I enjoy trying new things and had a good time at both but I am excited to get back into the familiarity of craft shows. Bring on March and April...two shows each month and I am pumped!
I just noticed how blurry the top picture is... sorry!
I co-hosted my very first at home shopping party a few weeks ago. Before I start, I wanted to extend a sincere thanks to Mrs. Sue Ellis for opening up her home to myself, my products and my friends. She let her daughter and I use her beautiful home as the venue for our party. And, photo credit for this blog goes to Kristin Ellis. It turned out well over all but I will never do it again. It was SO.MUCH.WORK and I honestly don't think it was worth it.
Wait, wait, wait... what is an introvert like myself doing hosting an at home shopping party??!? I seriously pondered this myself before I agreed to co-host and I concluded that, well, sometimes it's good to step outside of your comfort zone. You can't accomplish your goals if you don't take risks. And guess what...I sold 6 pillows that night!
I met Kristin at a young professionals event many years ago. Although I stopped going to the mixers, we kept in touch through Facebook. Last year, she contacted me to do a joint party. She is an independent consultant for Arbonne and suggested that we do a fun girls shopping night. I was hesitant at first but then thought, "How hard can it be? Display some pillows, invite some friends and that's that." Ummm...lesson learned... it can be hard... very, very hard >.>
After we planned the party and set a date, I promoted like crazy. I knew beforehand that people are wary of shopping parties due to the pressure to buy (I honestly never attended them myself for that very reason). I told everyone that there will be no pressure or obligation to buy from me. I couldn't speak for Arbonne but I wasn't going to pester my guests to purchase a pillow. I also told everyone that I'd be baking (that's always a good selling point!) I passed out all ten of my invitations and marketed all over social media. For about two weeks, I told literally everyone I knew about this party. I went as far as to get in trouble at my book club because I was trying to invite some of the ladies (they misinterpreted my sincere invitation as solicitation, which is against the rules.) At the week of the party, I had secured seven attendees!
I spent the entire morning baking cupcakes and cookies in preparation for the night. I was uber excited for this party! But then that all suddenly stopped and stress crept in... when the night of the party finally came, four of the ladies couldn't make it after all. Oh no! That's over half of my guest list!! I was completely understanding of things coming up but I was also worried. So, I texted my co-host. Surely, she would have invited some of her friends & family, right? Sadly, no, she had not. She had zero guests coming. I was too overly optimistic about this little event and now I was completely let down. I did everything I could to make this party happen but she had only invited a scant number of acquaintances and barely even promoted the event. I felt cheated! How could I have worked so hard just to find out that my co-host did nothing? Weren't we supposed to be in this together?
As it turns out, I was overreacting a little. Kristin and I had very different mindsets about the guest list: I wanted everyone to come & join us for a fun time but she only wanted the "proper clientele" to be there. This is definitely something we should have discussed as we were planning the party but I guess we just assumed we were on the same page. After I realized that, I finally let go of my anger & frustration at the guest list debacle and enjoyed myself. The evening turned out fine. I had a lovely time with my guests (thanks again Garrett, Lacey & Patti for coming) and Kristin's mother is a wonderful woman who kept our conversation going. We talked about travel, men and our jobs, sold some Arbonne & pillows and everyone loved my cupcakes & cookies.
Lemon cupcakes with vanilla frosting and white chocolate water lilies. Pecan cookies with chocolate caramel center.
This is what I ordered at the party: lotion and deodorant.
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