Michael's Gold Rewards

Do you shop at Michael's?  You all know I do! Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and JoAnn Fabric are pretty regular stops on my weekly errands.  Depending on what I am currently working on and/or obsessing over, I can end up going a million times in a week or not at all -- although the not-at-all weeks are few and far between. 

Michael's also has a rewards program. You know the "frequent flyer" programs where you scan your little hang tag and get points you can turn into rewards?  Michael's has one, and their program is tiered.  I'm a gold member, and for right now that's the top level.

One of the cool things they do for their gold members is to hold crafting events throughout the country.  These are usually bigger events than just an open-house workshop at a store; they have "celebrity" crafters (I never know the celebrities, but there are quite a few big names in the craft-i-verse.) In any case, Michael's holds these workshops at various locations and invites gold rewards members to attend.  I've never been able to make one yet -- they've always been impractically far away.  Well, a few weeks ago, I got an email inviting me to an event right here in metro Atlanta!  They were hosting a  Mod Podge event in Norcross, and that's just a few exits down the highway from me!

(I am not a big Mod-Podger, but it's definitely in my crafting room.  I don't tend to do many paper crafts in general -- hence not being a big Mod-Podger -- but obviously I know what Mod Podge is, and so I wanted to see what I could learn.)

Who knew that Mod Podge was invented right here in metro Atlanta?!  The event was limited to 50 people and held literally 35 minutes away from my home.  I signed up, told Mick to pencil it in mark it in Sharpie that I had an event, and today I finally got to go.

(Note:  Mod Podge is made by a company called Plaid.  So although the company seems to really BE Mod Podge, the company itself is called Plaid.  Got it?  Good.)

I AM SO GLAD I WENT!!

First of all, it was fun.

Second, we got to meet all sorts of crafting celebrities, including the inventor of Mod Podge, who was I think 90-something years old and just as sweet as could be.  She was delighted to see everyone, and we were all delighted and quite charmed by her.  She reminded me of my grandmother -- if my grandmother had essentially founded a crafting empire.

Third, we got to make stuff!  Cool stuff!  Stuff I will actually hang in my house!

Fourth, I learned a ton and saw some really great craft ideas.  Stuff that I would have never guessed was done with Mod Podge. (Now I know!)  I also got to see some really creative things people did with the projects we all worked on today -- I know I sound like a geek, but it was so much fun to see what people came up with!


Fifth, they had all sorts of giveaways all day -- as I'd hoped they would -- and (also as I'd hoped) I won one of them!  Check out my loot:

I took this series of photos with my cell phone and the color is WAY off.  Sorry about that.  But this bag has at least $100 worth of stuff in it.  I'm not exaggerating.  It is huge!!

All this, plus every guest got a $25 gift card to Michael's, a T-shirt (in my size, which is always so refreshing.  Bonus points for a company that cares enough about its own marketing to ensure that the t-shirts they give out actually fit the recipients), and a goodie bag.  Plus, of course, the crafts we made ... photos of which will follow once the projects dry!

 

 

And I really can not say enough times how absolutely wonderful all the people from Plaid (and Michael's, but especially Plaid, who hosted the event) were.  They clearly love their jobs and loved hosting today's event.

Today was a great day!

Thank you, Plaid, and thank you, Michael's!

--Jen

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