Island Grove Christmas in July Sign Party was a HIT!!!

A BIG THANK YOU to Island Grove Winery for allowing me the opportunity to do a class! They were great hostesses and have amazing wine! 

A little back history, i wanted to expand my classes and had heard of others doing classes at wineries. So I thought, well it can't hurt to ask. So I sent Sara a facebook message and she answered me back! I was so excited and could not wait to go and meet with them. Our meeting went well and we booked a date! July 26th! Not only did we book a class in July but we also booked a class in October! To my surprise Sara is an amazing artist and designer with some really cool ideas! We decided on a Christmas in July theme for the first class with 2 sign options. Sara designed the Seas & Greetings Family Name Sign with the starfish and we also choose an ALOHA sign we would add decorative hooks too and a sanddollar.

OK, now what I thought? Class size up to 25. Yikes! Nervous only taught a class at 18 max. No problem, I got this I thought! So the planning began! As you will see in the pictures there are a lot of elements that go into these 2 signs. There is also a lot of supplies needed to hold a class! You better make a checklist and you better check it 20 times because you will forget something! Trust me!!

Continuing on... Event was created in Facebook and on our website. The registrations starting coming in! Yes!! I have 6 in the class all is well! Then I had 10, then 15, then 20 and finally ended at 22 students!!!!! This is when the panic started! The Seas & Greetings Signs are customized, what if I spelled someones name wrong? I better triple verify with them! I also brought my portable cutter and laptop "just incase". I am happy to say I did not need them!!!! YAY for me! LOL.I haven't always been so lucky!! HAHA

The ALOHA sign had 3 decorative hooks I found at HOBBY LOBBY. 15 students signed up for this sign. OK so I need 45 hooks. The hunt began! At HOBBY LOBBY every other week is 1/2 off decorative knobs, hooks. After 4 weeks and 5 HOBBY LOBBY's I had plenty of hooks! $2.99 per hook so waiting for the alternate weeks to get at $1.50 was worth it!  Well shoot,  now I need 5" sand dollars. I thought where can I find those in bulk? St. Augustine Shell Company is $4-$5 a piece. Need a better deal! SCORE found the sanddollars and starfish on AMAZON at the Seashell Company! Price was fairly reasonable so I ordered them. Next up, Starfish for the Seas & Greetings Sign. Need 10 5" Starfish! As luck would have it I was able to order from the same company as the sanddollars. Order placed! AMAZON Prime is the best!!

Now that we have all the hooks and sanddollars its time to go buy wood! After a trip to my favorite ACE Hardware in Melrose, I have all my wood needed for both signs! Chris and Jed at ACE always cut my boards to size for me. Boards bought so now it's time to sand them all! ALL 22 of THEM....For whatever reason I LOVE to sand! So sanding I did and did and did! LOL

2 days before class I cut all the stencils out for the signs and triple checked my list!

Day before I loaded my car with everything! If the kitchen sink would have fit, it would have been loaded too! HAHA

Day of... OH NO this is really happening today! I'm running out of time. OK pull it together gurl!!! New mindset needed. NAMASTAYE!

Well then it's now or never, Let's get this party started! Move out!! (you would literally think I was moving out with everything in my car)!!

My great friend Ashley headed out with me! I seriously could not have been successful at this class without her! She was my rock! Thanks BUG!!

Arrived at the Wine House and we got set up! The students started arriving and managing there way to their seats with wine in tow!

Class has began! All 22 present! The rest is history!

Everyone had fun sign paintin' and wine sippin'. They made some awesome signs and i am excited to share the pictures with you! I am one lucky girl I thought as I looked around at all these artists that were here tonight to make signs with little ole' me! Thank you to all! Thank you I am truly humbled!!

Until next time! Happy Signin'!!!!                                                                                                                                                      Kim Leonard                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        PSS!!!! We have booked another class! September 13th!!! See our Home Page for more details! Hope to see you there!