Around the office, I'm pretty well known as the girl who tends to all of our "crafty" needs. When I first started with the Little Miss Party team, I had no idea my craft skills would be so useful to our daily work. Once we started styling tablescapes and coming up with fun party ideas, I was always telling Seri, "I can make that!" and she would get so excited. Because creating those little details was often something they were outsourcing before I was around.

Seri even coined the nick name Crafty Maggie last summer. Here’s the real story: As many of you know, we often head out to Seri's house on Long Island intermittently throughout the summer to work on events or photo shoots. At the end of the day, I would sit down to make jewelry or paint to wind down before bed, just like I do at home. The first couple times, Seri thought it was so funny and couldn’t resist poking a little fun at how I “do more work” after the work day is done. But fellow crafters out there will understand, it doesn’t feel like work! It feels like something to look forward to during down time.

What might have started out as a cute little joke soon turned into my true LMP identity as we took on more jobs that required custom crafted party decor. On a daily basis, I'm doing anything from creating handmade balloon tassels, to calligraphing guest names onto seating cards, to splashing gold leaf onto custom menus for our client's parties.

When we were invited to an event called Crafts & Cocktails with JOANN, I was beyond excited to attend and see what their reimagined store experience was all about. Shaylan was in town & while she shares my love of crafts, she really shares my love of cocktails...so we both headed uptown to check it out. We had no idea what to expect, and what we found was an array of inspiration, other women in the creative industry, and some amazing DIY stations with crafts taught by JOANN experts.

Not to mention, mixologists were involved so you know we were in our party girl element. The bar was stocked with creative specialty cocktails that incorporated stunning details including vibrant garnishes, floral ice balls, and even smoke!  

Paper flower cake toppers, luggage tag decorating and watercolor cookie painting  (RIGHT up my alley!) were just a couple of the #handmadewithjoann activities they had waiting for us. I easily could have spent hours there, but Shaylan and I had another event to attend, so we had to jet. And when I say jet, I mean Shaylan had to pull me out of there like a child who didn't want to leave the playground.

This event gave me a newfound love for JOANN, opened our eyes to the magnitude of creative inspiration they have to offer & the supplies we can source there to customize our events. Creation of any form (photography, video, painting, jewelry...I could go on for days) is truly a passion of mine, and I love having a platform to share it with the world. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll be the one teaching my favorite craft at a station for everyone else. In the meantime...be sure to follow-our crafty adventures on the DIY section of our blog! 

xo

Maggie