Clean in Vogue’s First DIY Home Craft Decor Workshop in 2023!

In order to add value to the people I serve and to help grow a local community, I held our first DIY Home Craft Decor Workshop at the end of January 2023 in the spirit of the Valentine’s Day holiday.

I chose a Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ahead of February 14^th with the vision to give inspiration and unique ideas to people as they get ready to celebrate the holiday and make their home reflect the things that go with Valentine\’s Day; pink, red and white, hearts, and more hearts!

I chose a cool venue in the heart of Canton, Georgia, called The Mill at Etowah.

It aligns with the Clean in Vogue brand in that it is a reuse development and vintage.

From the destination’s website,

“One of the metro’s hottest adaptive re-use developments is showcased in the historic 120-year-old former Canton Cotton Mill on the banks of the Etowah River near downtown Canton.

The Mill on Etowah, in the former denim factory now features a brewery and taproom, a retail marketplace, restaurants, a co-working environment, and more. The 250,000 square foot destination in the former Canton Cotton Mill property overlooking the Etowah River is at 225 Reformation Parkway in Canton and also features an events green with stage and visual screen.”

On Saturdays, many families have other activities, kids\’ sports, etc. going on, and I thought a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon would increase the open calendar likelihood, then people would still have their morning and rest of the afternoon, if they wanted to do some shopping at the Mill, grab a late lunch or meet their family afterward, while there.

What happened at the DIY event?

The shopping center inside the reformed cotton mill has attached to it an amazing shared office space where they rent out rooms to small businesses like mine! The room had a really nice vibe with a huge wood table, comfortable chairs, cool decorative accents, a TV/computer screen, big glass walls, and ample lighting.

I provided snacks and some beverages and played some nice Paris background music for our DIY Experience!

What I made in advance and brought to the workshop to share with all of the attendees live, I did pretty extensive research on ahead of time so that

I loved it! And I made it with my own hands with only a pair of sharp scissors and a glue gun; no sewing required!
The pieces were “on trend” and had some neutral tones so that they could go with any personal décor preferences. So whether your home is a traditional, contemporary, farmhouse, etc., the wreath and the pillow would display nicely for the holiday décor.
I like to do things DIY on a dime, but have it look amazing and classy! So I kept that in mind while selecting our projects.

Some of my current customers attended and for that, I am so thankful. Some found us on Facebook or in an ad and some saw my LinkedIn post about the event. Others saw the event on Eventbrite. I connected the invite to Eventbrite, a trusted events portal where people can RSVP and pay to attend. That made it very easy for people to sign up and refer to directions and details.

It was a fairly, intimate, shall I say? group of people….less than 12 so it didn’t feel like a huge conference room.

All of the attendees came with either a friend, co-worker, relative, or girlfriend! I noticed that they all wanted quality time with the person they came with and so I facilitated instruction but didn’t let it dominate the tone of the two hours we had together to make something for ourselves with our own hands. I also noticed that they enjoyed getting to know each other and made new connections.

One of the biggest surprises we all walked away with from the event, is that although we were all making the same thing – a heart wreath and a heart-shaped oversized pillow – each person put their own flair on their piece and they all turned out different! We were all in awe of how special each person’s turned out and they all gave each other so many beautiful compliments. A couple of the ladies thought ahead to bring their own fabric for the pillow! I am not sure whether they gifted them or kept them for themselves.

The timing was perfect. We didn’t feel rushed or bored at all. When I asked the group whether they wanted to do it again, the consensus was, yes! When I asked whether they like the idea of framing it around the seasons when you tend to swap out your home décor, they all said, “yes”.

Many of them made “bonus” mini heart pillows to take home. So sweet!

As a parting gift, I gave them tinted pink and white dried hydrangeas that my mother and I made from her yard. I put videos up on the screen with ideas on how to use them in their home décor.

As we were closing, we took pictures of them with their friends holding the beautiful pieces they made with their own hands and beaming ear to ear! They posted to social media. It brought me so much joy and remembering now, it makes me so excited to continue to hold these workshops!

I read statistics this year (2023) that people are wanting more face-to-face interaction and quality group time like this workshop offered. People are also pulling away from so much online social media and replacing it with face-to-face intentional time to spend on mutual interests.

Post Covid, people are still feeling a deficit of quality face-to-face interaction in their free time.

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Based on that feedback and our next DIY workshop will be this April 2^nd, from 1:30 – 3:30 at the same venue. It is “Spring” and we will be making a Spring Wreath and an oversized bunny rabbit pillow.