Jewelry Party - A Photo Journal Recap

Two weeks later I finally have a full collection of pictures from the jewelry party! Looking back on the pictures, it's clear that the party was more successful than I had thought during the event - as the smiles on everyone's faces prove it! Here's a photo-journal recap :) Marla, our hostess with the mostess, was prepped with her blender and ice cubes and ready to produce a party! Our featured drink was called "Skip and Go Naked," which is a mix of frozen pink lemonade, vodka, and beer. I KNOW - it sound gross. BUT I swear, the drink didn't even taste of alcohol and was fabulously fruity and fun! The hubs and I got there 3 hours early to make sure everything was in it's right place for the party. He was so helpful in unpacking each and every piece of jewelry (I had over 200), and then packing them back up again at the end of the night! As one person put it, he had the patience of Job! Marla's House was very Halloween-ed out - and we had lots of cupcakes to contend! We even had a whole table of door prizes for our guests, including some Benefit cosmetics and handbags! I love what has become of my packaging - I had 100 Chinese to-go boxes ready with a Bead Up sticker on the front next to lime curled ribbon. Inside guests found a Bead Up magnet next to a business card - word of mouth is the best! My Asian table was perhaps my favorite display of the whole day :) The Hubs and I made this weird white necklace/earring stand out of plate displays we bought at a closing Crate and Barrel for $1 each. We hoisted them up on 1" dowels and secured the dowels on a thick piece of plywood. Add some white paint and you have this (ghetto) display! I made these napkin rings out of bracelet wires... they were originally meant to be bracelets, but when they seemed too tight - I figured napkin rings were the next best step ;) Though I love the tree and all the other displays we made, I couldn't figure out a better way to post the prices on each item. I found these cute little green tags on Etsy, and managed to write both the materials and the price on each tag, though they were a bit of a pain to put on and take off. I am open to other ideas (though at this point I have 300 of these things left over!). I also asked a friend from church, Courtney, to be my photographer for the day. I love some of the shots she took! :) Thanks again for your help, Courtney! I bought this dress form at a local thrift shop for $10. The lady behind me in line was shocked that it was priced so low - she had just previously bought one for $100 on E-bay! I figured I would bring in the cocktail theme, too ;) My grandma (RIP) gave me these little plastic glasses in case I am ever on the road and in need of a drink! I bought this little necklace holder at a lot sale at my workplace for only $3! It still has a $29 tag on the bottom! Cheryl, my co-worker and creator of Cupcakinitup, came ready with over 100 mini-cupcakes to share. She also had several jumbo "couture" cupcakes she had made in a trial run yet didn't know what to do with. I convinced her to sell them, also as a trial ;) She wanted to price them at $.50 each - for a jumbo cupcake! I reminded her that this wasn't a bake sale and that she could do better - so she marked them at $1 and $2. And with the placement of the last few cupcakes, we were ready to party! People started showing up BEFORE 3:30! Thankfully I had a few seconds before to re-do my makeup, though was caught eating lunch in front of a few friends :) A few minutes into the party I got a surprise of my own - my bff from Berkeley had flown down just for the party as a surprise! OMG! Thanks so much for your support, Erin! You can tell by the perfectly colored cups that drinks were a-flowin! This is actually the tree jewelry holder I use for my own jewelry on my dresser. I splurged on it at Urban Outfitters after I got a job last year - a whole $28! Kari is one of my favorite co-workers AND clients. She kept saying, "Woman, you are killing me! I am going to go home broke!" Melissa was ready to spend some serious dough! Before we knew it, the cupcakes were out! AND - Cheryl sold all the jumbo and couture cupcakes she brought - which she originally didn't think would sell! YOU GO, GIRL! By the end of the day, we had at least 60 ladies (and one man!) walk through our doors... a good 40% of them strangers to me! While the Hubs and Cheryl packed our things up, I tallyed up my earnings. Since I was still in the red in terms of profit, I had set a goal for myself that would at least earn me my outstanding balance and maybe make a few pennies. I figured it was a bit of a lofty goal but worth striving for, at least. I literally gasped when I saw my final total - I had made 50% more than my original goal, leaving me with a good bit of a profit! Best of all - Bead Up is no longer in the red! Now I can finally justify that manicure I have been dying to get! Overall, the jewelry party was worth every ounce of effort and time we had put into it. Even Cheryl, who came in exhausted but left exhilirated, agreed. Unfortunately, by the end of the night my throat was on fire and I couldn't stop blowing my nose, and for the next week all the sleep I lost caught up with me with a killer cold! TOTALLY WORTH IT, though! Thanks again to all of you who wished me well and supported me before, during, and after the show :) A special thank you to my hubs (who never once complained - especially when he saw that we didn't lose money on the show!), to Marla, Cheryl, and Courtney for all their help (it WOULD NOT have been the same with out them!), and to my homegirl Erin (and Sonia!) for suprising me with their visit! So, who wants to host the next party? ;)