Pinners Conference California Trip: Day 2

On Friday 3/8, Jennifer and I woke up to a beautiful day in Ontario, California. After breakfast at the hotel, we walked across the street to the convention center where Pinners Conference was held. 

Checking in was quick and easy.

The VIPs (including presenters) had early access to the shopping floor before general admission started. I really appreciated the chance to see everything before it got crowded.

The floor had around 160 booths selling a wide variety of items, including She Sheds...

 ... kitchen supplies...

 ... jewelry and trinkets...

... and LOTS of painted, chalked, and/or decorated wood signs. 

There were booths selling makeup, hair accessories, clothing, protein powder, marshmallows, shoe insoles, massage pillows, totes, books, and more. We saw a lot of bunnies, which was awesome. I think that is because of the time of year more than anything. 

Some of the booths were offering make-and-takes in addition to selling product. Most of the make-and-takes were either jewelry-related or stenciling on wood. Most cost $10. Many were similar to, or the same as, the projects we'd made the night before at the VIP Party.

It took about 90 minutes for Jennifer and me to see everything on the show floor, which was perfect timing. We headed to our first class: "How to Create Unique Cookies." It was demonstration-style (rather than hands-on) with two large screens that allowed us to see what the instructor was doing. 

There is a 30 minute break between classes, which is supposed to allow 15 minutes for the previous instructor to clean up and 15 minutes for the next instructor to set up. In my case, it took 29 minutes for the previous instructors to clear out, leaving me just a minute to get myself ready to present. Fortunately, I didn't have materials to set up and was not selling class kits, so it wasn't a major issue. My class, "Destination Discovery: Family-Friendly Educational Travel," went well. I didn't have very many attendees, but those that I did have seemed to enjoy it and asked fantastic questions. 

Jennifer and I made a quick trip back to the hotel to drop off my laptop and other supplies from my class, then headed to our next class. We'd hoped to take a sewing class together, but it was full. We split up. I went to another lecture-style class, "Lifestyle Photography for Branded Content Creation." It was excellent. Jennifer went to a hands-on class to make a "Let Love Grow Chalkboard Sign." She learned a lot and had a good time.  

We went back to the shopping floor to look around and noticed there was another cookie class in progress. The room was 90% empty, so we went in and sat down. During the last five minutes of the class, the instructor let us come up and try our hand at decorating. So much fun! 

I've never piped with flooding glaze before. As you can see, I need to practice! I had a hard time keeping my initial barrier line straight, as I'm used to piping with thick icing that holds its shape. The instructor made it look easy!

After class, we walked a short distance to Spires Restaurant to meet up with 6 of our Southern California friends from back in our Fiskateer days. One of them had suggested Spires for its hearty, inexpensive, tasty diner food. 

The food was just as promised - hearty, classic comfort food like you'd expect to find in a diner. The eight of us had a wonderful time eating and chatting and catching up. 

Over dinner, Jennifer and I mentioned our plans for the following day. We'd be playing tourist, visiting a bunch of locations in the area, including San Bernadino. We had no idea, but apparently San Bernadino has a bit of a bad reputation. We promised our friends that we'd go during daylight and let them know that we made it back safely. Spoiler alert: We made it back safely! In fact, we had no problems whatsoever, and I'm going to do my convince you to add a specific San Bernadino location to your Southern California travel plans. I'll tell you all about it on Monday.

Pinners Conference California Trip: Day 1

A week ago today, I left home at 8:30 am to meet up with my friend Jennifer, who went with me to Pinners Conference in Ontario, California. (We were supposed to have a third friend with us, but Sheena had to cancel following an injury. Fortunately, she is improving every day.) The drive is around 430 miles and obviously took us the better part of Thursday. 

The drive was easy (says the person who wasn't driving - thanks, Jennifer!) and we made great time. We didn't stop for food, so we were both famished by the time we were approaching our hotel. We decided to head directly to Vince's Spaghetti, which has been at the same location since 1945. I'd seen great reviews, then when I contacted the Convention and Visitors Bureau and they recommended it, I knew we'd have a great meal. 

We arrived right at 4:00 pm when they open and there was already a sizable line to get in. Vince's did not disappoint. If you go, know that portion sizes are huge. Jennifer and I split a half-order of mostaccioli in their famous tomato sauce. (Yes, we split a HALF order. That's my portion below.) It came with two large slices of cheesy garlic bread, salad, and soup, all delicious. There was barely room for us to try their desserts, but we somehow managed to find the space. Yum!

Our next stop was our home for the next three nights, the Residence Inn. 

We'd chosen it when we thought there would be three of us, so it was more than ample for Jennifer and me. She and I had planned to share a room, but we each ended up with our own bedroom and bathroom!

The Residence Inn is right across the street from the Ontario Convention Center, where Pinners Conference was taking place. 

We got unpacked, then walked to a different hotel where the VIP Party was taking place. I was invited to attend since I was a presenter. Instructors at Pinners Conference are not paid; the only money we make is from selling class kits (which I did not do), successfully promoting a coupon code, and referring other presenters. In addition to attending the VIP Party, there are a few others perks for instructors, including passes to attend as many classes as you want.

When we got to the VIP check-in, we waited in a huge line to get our swag bags and t-shirts. 

Then we headed into the party. It was held in a large ballroom with tables along the walls for make-and-takes. There was a stage with chairs at one end. Near that was a bar and food. 

Jennifer and I jumped into doing make-and-takes. I believe there were eight total. Two were jewelry making...

... four involved using stencils and paint...

... and the other two were an embroidery hoop project and a succulent in a mini jar. They were all fun, most designed to be very fast beginner-level projects, which worked well considering the crowds.  

Speaking of crowds, we learned the hard way that the first thing to do when you arrive is to stake out a chair. There were fewer than half the number of chairs as there were people. The chairs that didn't have people in them had jackets and totes reserving the spots. We had to carry around our wet painted projects and sat on the floor with our food and drinks.

The last portion of the evening was a raffle. There were a lot of prizes (maybe 30?), but neither of us won. That's OK though. Look at all the goodies that were in the swag bag!

The VIP Party was a lot of fun, but after the long day we'd had, we were both ready to collapse and hopefully get a good night's sleep before my presentation the next day.  

I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!

Coloring Book Cactus Gift Box

Awhile back, I posted 12 ideas for using completed coloring pages. Here's Idea #13: Turn plain packaging into a themed gift box! Affiliate links below.

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Coloring Book Cactus Gift Box

Materials:

• gift box
• Folk Art Licorice paint
• Folk Art Extreme Glitter
• Love Grows coloring book
• Prismacolor markers
• microtip scissors
• Mod Podge

Steps:

Paint the gift box with at least one coat of Licorice paint, allowing drying time between coats. Add a thin coat of Extreme Glitter in a matching color (black, hologram, etc) to give it some shine. 

Meanwhile, remove the "Every Day is a New Adventure" page from the coloring book. 

Color the image with alcohol-based markers. Use the microtip scissors to carefully cut out the image.

Use a foam brush to put a thin coat of Mod Podge onto the box lid. I used matte. Carefully press the cut-out image onto the box, then add a thin coat of Mod Podge on top (the colors won't run since they're alcohol-based). When it is dry, add at least one more coat of Mod Podge. 

Fill the box with a fun surprise. I used gold-foil Rolos for the photo, but when I actually send the gift, it will be filled with some cactus-themed goodies. Here are a few fun ideas:

 

Happy Birthday to Me... and Congrats to One of You!

Today is my 47th birthday! I told Steve and Trevor that I only want one thing for my birthday. I can't wait.

Baskin-Robbins makes the best cakes.

It's my birthday, but one of you is getting the gift! Thanks to all who left such nice comments on the VIP Swag Bag Challenge Hop.

The lucky winner from my blog is.... Georgann! You've won an AWESOME collection of adhesives from Supertite. Please supply your information here before March 19 so the hop organizer can get your prize to you. Enjoy!

For everyone else, be sure to visit the rest of the stops along the hop to see if you're a winner. There are six more fabulous prizes!

And don't forget that my Brightech Lamp giveaway is still going on! You have until March 17 to enter to win my all-time favorite lamp. You'll definitely want to win this!

Mendel Monsters

Sometimes Trevor comes home from school with creative assignments that sound really fun, like the museum design project for history a few months ago. This week, he came home with science homework about genetics. Working in pairs, the students flipped coins to determine the genotype of two monster offspring. The coin flips represented dominant and recessive traits, including: 

• Face shape (round is dominant, square is recessive)
• Neck length (medium is dominant, long is recessive)
• Body shape (round is dominant, square is recessive)
• Covering (scales are dominant, hair is recessive)
• Number of limbs (four is dominant, six is recessive)
• Digits (fingers are dominant, claws are recessive)
• Mouth (teeth are dominant, beak is recessive)
• Tail (no tail is dominant, tail is recessive)
• Horns (no horns is dominant, horns are recessive)
• Antenna (no antenna is dominant, antenna are recessive)
• Eye position (center of face is dominant, top of head is recessive)

Once they'd determined their offsprings' genotypes, they each drew one of the siblings. The drawing showed each monster's phenotype. While Trevor illustrated his monster offspring, Steve and I did our own coin flips to see what we’d each look like as monsters. Here are the results. Steve’s coin flips led to the hairy, square monster on the left, while mine inspired the scaly, round monster on the right.  

  

As you can see, our phenotypes differ for all but three traits (horns, neck length, and number of limbs). So what would our firstborn look like? In real life, Trevor is a blend of both of us, and the same is true of the monster version of our offspring. Monster Trevor has his dad’s arms, fingers, and mouth, and his mom’s round shape, eye placement, scales, and lack of antenna and tail.

I didn’t get to see Trevor’s partner’s offspring to see any resemblance between the two siblings, but I did grab Trevor’s and scan it before he turned it in. I love it. And I love that his science teacher incorporated art into science for this lesson.

I had great fun illustrating our family as monsters. What an excellent way to introduce kids to inherited traits, dominant and recessive alleles, and genotype vs. phenotype.