When the request went out for someone to attend a crafting party on behalf of CMB, you can bet my hand shot up in the air immediately. Crafting is part of who I am. It’s how I de-stress. When I learned that a few of my fellow contributors would be attending as well? I was all over it. Crafting + good people + wine is my idea of the perfect evening out. (And it was the icing on the cake that my husband handled dinner and bedtime while I got to enjoy myself.)
The GILD Collective is a Cincinnati based company that just started offering an awesome experience to our city (and beyond!) They are an all-female company founded and headquartered in OTR. The concept is simple, but the way they have implemented it is so much fun! This is not your typical house party where you are invited over and expected to purchase something from a catalog. A project is picked by the party’s host and everyone purchases their crafting kit before they arrive. And that’s it. That’s the only bit where you’re expected to pay anything at all. I love this no-pressure model so much. Your kit has everything you need for your project and you take home something awesome at the end of the night. Simple but awesome.
GILD Collective provides the project, the supplies, and the instruction (either an instructor or a set of videos) and all you do is invite any of your friends who would enjoy making a cool project and enjoying a fun night out. GILD Collective has a good variety of different projects to choose from right now, at least four of which I personally want to make very soon.
When Tara, Claire, Jamie and I got together we made a Morse Code necklace.
Rachel, one of the founders and the main designer of the projects for GILD Collective, provided easy instruction for us to make our necklaces. Written instructions with photos are also provided in the kits, but no one ever really reads instructions anyway, and Rachel was super helpful. She walked us through step-by-step how to make our necklaces, how to personalize them, and what works and what doesn’t work when using the materials provided. Even though I’ve made jewelry before, I’d never worked with a few of the materials in the kit, so it was fun to learn something new.
The best part about the necklace we made is that it’s completely personalized and unique. I made mine say my kid’s names, but you would never know because it’s in Morse Code. It’s such a cute way to wear an important name or date close to your heart.
If you’re looking for a unique idea for a party to get your friends together, take a look at the projects GILD Collective offers. It’s such a fun way to spend an evening with friends, and in the end you get a something pretty (that you made!) to take home. And as an added bonus to you, if 3 or more friends attend the party, the hostess (you!) gets her kit for free. Even someone who doesn’t think they’re crafty would be able to follow along easily and end up with an item they love.
