RagsReborn, Street Cats and My Furry Valentine

My first time making catnip toys and they turned out pretty darn good!

It's almost Valentine's Day. Does everyone have romantic plans for their sweethearts? I have Valentine's Day plans with cats... well, not really with cats but more for cats. RagsReborn is proud to be donating two cat themed baskets to a charity gala benefiting a local cat rescue shelter.

My best friend in elementary school (go Kaiser Kangaroos!!) was a girl named Jessica. We hung out a lot and I have many memories of our childhood. One thing that sticks out in all of those memories is that she was obsessed with cats. It was a love I could not understand because I was allergic to cats and couldn't grasp what the big deal was about them. We lost touch but Facebook brought us back together a few years ago. We finally met up for coffee in December to catch each other up on our lives. Turns out that she still has a fondness for felines. Jessica is now a part of the Street Cats, Inc. organization in Tulsa. Street Cats is a non-profit volunteer based organization that shelters cats who have been abandoned, lost or surrendered. All of the cats they take in are adoptable and the shelter keeps the cats until they find their fur-ever home. Street Cats also maintains a spay and neuter program to control the feral cat population. One of Jessica's main jobs at Street Cats is to plan, organize and execute the annual charity gala, My Furry Valentine. That's where RagsReborn comes in.

Jessica told me all about her organization and the gala over our coffee date. The highlight of the event is a silent auction of items donated by local businesses and artists. She wanted me to make her some catnip toys for her own cat, Beau, and was hoping I could make a few extra to donate to the silent auction. Of course I would!! And not only would I just make catnip toys, I also agreed to donate some pillows and a tote bag. I told her I am a big supporter of animal shelters & rescue programs and would absolutely love to help. (^_^) I want to be involved in anything local! Although, this isn't a craft show, per se, I dedicated all of my time from mid-January to present to sewing items for my gift baskets. I'm hoping my hard work pays off and I can generate some extra money for Street Cats, all while getting my name out there as a local Oklahoman small business.

Auction item #1- two catnip toys and a pillow.

My Furry Valentine is scheduled for Sunday February 12th, 2016. The event will be held at The Tulsa Historical Society in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1:30pm - 4:30pm. More information on the event can be found here- http://www.streetcatstulsa.org/my-furry-valentine/. Tickets are still one sale! If you are in the area, I encourage you to go. I, unfortunately, will not be in attendance but Jessica agreed to represent RagsReborn on my behalf. I am honored to be a part of this event and hope my auction items get the highest bid!

Auction item #2- catnip toy, pillow and tote bag.

RagsReborn's first charity auction.

I had an absolute blast at my first Quarter Mania auction!! I will be participating in the next Quarter Mania (they happen quarterly & the show organizers are currently looking at available dates for the next one) and I highly encourage you to come. All proceeds benefit a different charity each time. 

Before I start, I want  to let you know that if you are looking for a home in Oklahoma, you should totally check out the city of Mustang. The houses are nice--aka new, large and in a quickly developing suburb, the people are beyond friendly and their community center is the nicest thing I have ever seen. 

       In the middle of town, there stands the Mustang Town Center. It is a ginormous complex that includes a library, fitness center, park, and multiple banquet halls. The auction was held in The Great Room (one of their larger banquet halls that had a kitchen). I've never been to Mustang, let alone the Town Center, so I parked on the entirely wrong side of the building. I must have looked bewildered because the first person I happened upon offered to help (she, unfortunately, didn't know where the auction was, either). I then wandered into the fitness center and the girl at the front desk gave me very detailed directions to The Great Room. She offered to walk me so I wouldn't get lost but her supervisor wasn't around to grant her permission and she couldn't leave her post. I found the room with no problem and checked in. The women running the auction were incredibly friendly and helpful. I dropped off my quarters & chose my table to set up my items for sale.

       Then came the task of hauling all my items in. As I was walking to my car, I saw two teenagers wearing shirts that announced they were "staff." I asked if they could help me carry in my trunk of pillows and they had no objection!! (I'm always stunned when I come across nice teenagers.) They were very polite and informed me that there was a much closer parking lot where I could move my car to unload the rest of my items. I parked right by the doors and managed the rest of the unloading on my own. Like I said before, Mustangians (or whatever they call themselves) are beyond friendly.

I set up right in front of the west window at sunset. Not smart.

Okay...back to the auction. This was my first Quarter Mania and didn't know what to expect. Luckily, I set up between two veterans. I was in between Brandy, who sold Pink Zebra and children's book author, Carly Cartmill. (Shout out to these lovely ladies!!) Doors opened at 5:30pm and patrons flooded in. All of our auction items were set up on a long table for viewing. Patrons could purchase paddles and quarters. There were so many in attendance that we ran out of paddles and the show organizers asked for people to sell their paddles back if they had bought multiples. There wasn't much time for shopping but vendors had tables along the walls just in case shoppers wandered by.

Pink Zebra to my right and Carly Cartmill to my left. She was promoting her latest book, Stuffed.

Patrons browsed & shopped, ate yummy Frito chili pie and mingled until about 7pm when the auction started. Here's how it worked:
1. The MC announced an item--which vendor the item is from, a brief description and how many quarters it cost to bid. Ex. OU themed tote and pillow gift set from RagsReborn. Two quarters to bid.
2. A volunteer (vendors were volunteers for the night) would grab the item and walk around showing it to all the tables.
3. Then the bidding would start. Each item cost either 1, 2 or 3 quarters per paddle to bid. If you wanted to be entered, you would drop your quarters into a little Tupperware that runners (that was my job) would pass out and collect. If an item cost 1 quarter and you bid 1 quarter, you got to raise one of your paddles, 2 quarters for two paddles, etc.
4. Once bidding ends and all the quarters are collected and all the paddles are raised in the air, the MC draws a number from the hopper.
5. If the number corresponds to the number written on your paddle, you win!

The OU basket was my highest grossing item.

It was simple & fun and everyone participated. It was crazy! I was on my feet all night running around everywhere collecting quarters and depositing them to the bank. What a riot! Everyone was in high spirits and items were flying off the table. After the first hour, we had a 10 minute intermission. I used that time to have a quick bite and make a few sales. I was able to network and meet some new friends.

Then the second half of the auction started and it was just as busy as the first. At the end of the night, I had a bag full of quarters and eight pillow sales! (That doesn't sound impressive but there was barely any time to for making sales, so I believe that was an accomplishment.) And more importantly, I passed out all of my Spring Craft Show schedule flyers & a lot of business cards. I talked to almost everyone in the room and gained some interest in custom orders. I even got invited to be a vendor at an event next weekend! I had to decline since I am participating in D.U.C.K Week.

I posted short videos of the auction on my Facebook and Instagram pages. I'm really glad I was a part of this and I am already signed up for the next one. I hope I see you there!