Hosting a Crop Question

Hi Kimberly,

I've been hosting a crop at my house once a month for about 1 1/2 years. I picked the first Friday of every month, so everyone can put it on their calendars for the year. Here are some things I've found out.

*Make sure each person has their own trash bag. I bought the Creative Memories trash bag holder and cup holder. They work out really well. No drinks on the table is a great comfort too. I'm always worried I'll be the one to knock my drink over and ruin everyone's work. Taping a paper lunch bag to the table would work out equally well. Taping a plastic grocery sack to the table doesn't work out so well.

*Have bottled water for everyone. I have other things to drink if they want, but we encourage each other to drink water here. Since none of us drink as much as we should.

*I usually make extra for dinner that night. I'm not serving dinner at the crop, BUT I have one friend that comes over right after work and it just seemed easier and nicer to feed her. I offer to anyone, but she's usually the hungry one.

*I set up a card table with all the cutting templates, punches, eyelets etc. I ask that everyone just bring their blades, because that's what wears out. Plus they are easy to pack. It lightens the load for everyone to pack.

*Be prepared to share. Seems we always need something we don't have to finish that LO like black letters or that special shade of yellow paper. We all know that we'll be paid back in the long run by needing to borrow something ourselves and don't ask for direct pay backs for that kind of stuff.

*Occasionally I'll teach a new technique. One night I taught making shaker boxes. One night I rolled out my stamps and encourage/insisted/challenged everyone to use some stamping in a LO. We've done eyelet night, fiber night and I think I'm going to do quilling next month. I bought a new book with the paper AND the patterns. It's fun to try new things.

*Other than dinner I don't generally serve snacks, because I'm afraid there would be greasy fingers. I do occasionally serve Kahlua and Cream though. :)

By all means don't think you need to have any rules. Set a time, set up a table or 2 and invite your friends over. You're going to have a great time. Some people will jump in and do some LO's and then there might be someone who just needs to organize their photos. Having company while cropping and organizing is great fun.

Kimberly, Start out light and easy. Don't try to put too much into the first few crops. You can build it up over time. Our group started out meeting in homes, moved to a church basement, then to a church hall and now we are meeting in the largest community building in the county. We started with a food theme and everyone brought in a covered dish and their own drinks. Each member also donated some small scrapbook item for a prize and we gave away a prize every half hour or so - using a kitchen timer. We had a stuffed animal we passed around. Whenever a person got a Lo done they called out to the group and got the stuffed animal. Whoever had the animal when the timer went off got to pick a prize. We are a more organized group (been meeting for at least two years now). We have two vendors set-up booths with items for sale, a Stampin-Up Demonstrator, and a CM Demonstrator at every crop. Membership is $20 every three months or $10 per crop. We use the money to buy materials for the make-n-take, newsletter, mailings, and any leftover monty every 6 mos or so we buy big tool items for the entire group to use.

This is our schedule for the next four months:

10:00 am - doors open NOON - lunch 1:00 pm - Make-N-Take 4:00 pm - Swap - 12x12 LO 4:30 pm - Stampin Up Demo

Below is what we came up with for the next 4 crops:

January 15 - IPL Building Food Theme - Mexican (bring a dish to share for lunch - leftovers in the evening for those still there or who come later) Swap Theme - Birthday (bring a LO to swap - remember: bring one - take one) Participation is always optional Make-N-Take - New Year's Theme

February 12 - IPL Building Food Theme - Chocolate (same as above) Swap Theme - Valentine Make-N-Take - Shaved Ice

March 5 - IPL Building Food Theme - Green (same as above) Swap Theme - Spring Make-N-Take - Magic Mesh & Metal Embellishments

April 2 - IPL Building Food Theme - Catered Meal (approximately $7 per person) Swap Theme - Easter Make-N-Take - Heritage

Our Stampin' Up Demonstrator (Kathy) has agreed to do a Make-N-Take at every crop. Each month she will turn in any orders given through the crop for Stampin' Up products as a party. One lucky member of the group will be designated as the hostess for the party and will receive the hostess gift and any premiums (based upon the size of the order). Each month a name will be drawn from the envelope to see who will be the hostess for the next crop. That way if you are interested you can even take outside orders or invite other people to the crop for the Stampin' Up Make-N-Take. After your name is drawn it will not be put back in the envelope until all who are interested get a chance to be the hostess. Like everything else participation is optional. If you are not interested you can leave your name out of the draw.

Hope this helps. Sandy

Hi there,

I think we do our crops a bit more simply than the rest.. but then again, everyone in our group has a fair bit of supplies, and just needs the time to work on their pages, and don't need the instruction in new techniques or anything.

We set up a time, and meet at someone's house. There are card tables set up, or whatever the hostess has... we just sit around and work... if someone doesn't have something, they will ask, and usually someone has it. At some point in the evening, there is usually tea and some goodies. We tend to start at 7 pm, and finish at midnight. Lots of talking thru the evening.

Sharon K Saskatoon, SK

Kimberly Haritos wrote: