The Pinners Conference is a two-day long crafting, cooking, and organizing extravaganza! Basically, if it’s something you’d “pin” on Pinterest, then they’ll have something closely related to it there. There’s classes and shopping all day long both days and you are in for a real treat when you go.
Before I get into what you need to know, I just wanted to say that I loved that this conference was not featuring a ton of big businesses. Yes, it had major businesses like Home Depot as sponsors, but for the most part, almost all of the presenters were small business owners who just love what they do. That passion shines through in the things they make and in the excitement during class time.
Now let’s get into it. Here’s what you need to know if this is your first time at a Pinner’s Conference.
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Get your accommodations as early as possible.
We decided to go to the conference about a month before, so even then we had a difficult time finding anything close that wasn’t crazy expensive. We ended up finding a hotel about 20 minutes away that had free breakfast though, so I call that a win! I’m a sucker for free breakfast.
Map out the location of the conference and see what’s nearby. The conference-sponsored hotels aren’t necessarily always the best, so do a little research on your own to see what works for you.
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Make a plan
The conference itself is two very full days long. You can choose one day or both and there really is no right answer – just whichever works best for you. If I was to pick one day only, I’d choose Friday. It was so much less packed in the expo area and the classes were easier to get into.
However, if you’re looking for deals at the expo, the booths tended to have major sales on Saturday since they wanted to get rid of their product and not take it back home with them.
You’ll also want to plan ahead for your classes. The classes are about an hour long and they are back-to-back throughout the day. You can register for as many classes as you like. This reserves your seat in the class. It’s free to register for the classes. The cost comes when it’s time to buy the material kit for each class.
If you know you want to do certain classes, I would prepay for those material kits (but you also have the option to purchase them right before the class starts). We registered for one class and didn’t end up getting to take it because they ran out of materials.
Also, the system will allow you to register for classes the week of the event but will NOT let you pre-purchase the material kits. If you want to make sure to get a kit the day of the class, get to the entrance line for that class about 15 minutes before it starts.
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Be prepared for creativity overload
I love a good craft project. I love trying new things. So when I saw glass etching and chalk painting and macrame (all activities I have never done before), I was like “I need all of these!”. But in reality, I did not.
In fact, we found that less is more at this conference. You don’t want sign up for too many classes. We found that 3 classes each day was our max. Any more than that and we were just going through the motions and not enjoying the process.
Also, I feel the need to tell you to take your time. There is no rush. There is a lot to see. In fact, we spread the expo into two days. We did our 3 classes and saw one half of the expo booths on day one and then the other half on day two. It made it so much more manageable and we actually stopped and looked at things instead of just speeding past it all just for the sake of seeing it.
Take your time. Relax. Stop and do a make and take.
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Have a Budget In Mind
It is so easy to want to do and buy all the things. Trust me. If you’re a creative person like I am and want to try your hand at everything, it can be very tempting to sign up for more classes than I need and want to do tons of make and takes (I’ll explain more about those later).
So before you leave home, decide what classes you want to do. Those classes range from free (like the organizing one I took) to I think the most expensive I saw was $35. Have that budget set for classes and decide what you’re comfortable with spending.
Then decide on what you are okay with spending at the expo. The expo is basically a collection of food booths selling things like sauces, mixes, macarons, cookies, fudge, etc. And equally mixed in is home décor, clothing, hair products, and other boutiques. There are so many cute things and neat products that will be calling your name. I recommend bringing cash if you want to stay on budget.
You can also look for the deals. I loved the “make and takes” these were tables set up the entire length of the expo center that had a different mini project at each table. These mini projects were things like make your own leather earrings, painted signs, terrariums, embroidery, etc. You work at your own pace and with little help from anyone, but the projects were all $5 or $10, so they were super cost effective.
Most of them were mini versions of the hour long classes, so if you couldn’t get into a class, you could still try the project on a smaller scale.
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Bring a Friend!
Could have I went by myself and enjoyed it? Absolutely. I saw many women doing that and having a great time crafting and getting to know other like-minded people. But having my best friend go with me was a huge plus. Everything is better when you get to share it with someone else who loves to get crafty as much as you do.
And you don’t have to do all of the same classes! We did a few classes together and then some apart and it was neat because we were able to show each other out projects and talk about what we learned when we got back together.
Overall, if you’re going to the Pinner’s Conference, you’re going to have an amazing time! They do an incredible job of setting everything up and it is very well organized. If you’re into crafting, this is the conference for you!
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