All About the First Fill Your Creative Cup Event

It’s been almost a week since the very first Fill Your Creative Cup event, and I AM STILL FLOATING YA’LL. My heart is so happy.

I know the event was called Fill YOUR Creative Cup, but MY cup was OVERFLOWING from this fantastic weekend with some of the most wonderful, creative people! I have ALL the feelings – from grateful and joyful to inspired and, already, nostalgic. Know that I feel so honored to have served all of the creatives who attended this event and shared their stories, hugs, and even a few tears! It’s hard to find the words to describe this incredible event, but I will do my very best to tell you all about it – just know that I’m likely tearing up as I write! Okay, so here we go!

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About Fill Your Creative Cup

When I was young, my grandmother and I would have tea parties. I always wanted to have one in her honor, so it was a dream come true to host this event and also share my passion for teaching others.

Fill Your Creative Cup is an in-person workshop and retreat for wreath making, memory-making, and friendship making! The first event was a one-day workshop on April 2 on the shores of Lake Saint Clair at MacRay Harbor in Harrison Township, Michigan. Over the course of the day, we created two gorgeous, patriotic designs, met new, like-minded people, dined on delicious food, had great conversations, talked business, and even had a few after-hours surprises!

This was the first event like this I’ve ever done, and I can’t wait to do it again.

How Was It, You Ask? AMAZING!

I’m not going to lie; when I was being introduced by my sweet friend Tammy Hodges, I got super nervous all of a sudden. I swear, my hands didn’t stop shaking until 11:39 – yes, I was so nervous, I knew the exact time I stopped shaking! But through the nerves and through the rest of the day, my community showed its love and support and made it so easy to share my heart, my story, and my techniques.

The Projects!

We were initially going to go live with the lessons, but I wanted this workshop to be more intimate – just my guests and me.

But not to keep anyone totally in the dark, we completed two projects at the workshop. The first was a patriotic wreath, and the second was a patriotic candle base. As you’ll see from the supply list below, we worked with ALL KINDS of supplies. Some attendees even worked with greenery for the very first time!

The great thing about in-person training is that people could ask questions as we went, raise their hands if they were having trouble, and get help. I was able to walk around and look at designs and be more hands-on with my teaching. And, of course, the amazing Tammy Hodges was there to help designers as well.

Designers who came from out of state could even ship their wreaths right from the event. We had the boxes ready to go once they were done!

The Supplies!

Upon arriving, everyone was given wire cutters, scissors, and an EZ bow maker to use throughout the day, and each place setting was fitted with a mesh mat, glue pot, and a box of all the supplies needed for the first project, including a wreath frame from Deco Exchange.

In the second half of the day, guests were given a second box of supplies for the patriotic candle base, including a wooden candle base from Hot Mesh Mom that I’m obsessed with.

The supply boxes are the same ones I use for teaching wreath making classes. I just love these simple plastic storage boxes! Everything fits in the box, and they stack nicely and fit perfectly into large trash bags, so I can just carry everything into the class myself.

The Swag!

While I couldn’t say thank you enough to everyone who attended this event, I thought a gift bag couldn’t hurt. And so much love and help went into each and every one. Each bag included:

• A nametag and lanyard
• A Sincerely Creative Mom button
• Cookies from the amazing Sweet Bee Cookies
• Taffy from Taffy2U.com
• A handmade wooden picture frame from a high school friend who owns King Customs
• A special tumbler from Damon at Deco Exchange and the Creative Coaching group

We also had giveaways of some fabulous items throughout the day, like no-sew attachments, wooden wreath attachments, wreath signs, stuffed wreath attachments, a quality stem cutter, and a free ticket to the next Fill Your Creative Cup Event. (Yes, another event is in the works!!)

And I just have to shout out all of the extremely generous business owners who donated the prizes, including: 

• Tiffany from Wood Ridge Designs
• Tess from Crafty Tessie
• Jordan from Designs By Jordan
• Dereka from Derekas Designs
• Tammy from Polka Dot Wreath Co.

The People!

I can’t get over just how wonderful the group of people who came to this event were. They were so excited, so inspiring, and absolutely just the sweetest, kindest, most creative group ever! And they came from all over the country – men and women from the Northeast, Midwest, West Coast, the South, and, of course, my home state of Michigan! I couldn’t believe we had people flying in and driving for hours to attend this event – it just makes my heart explode thinking about the abundance of love and support from this community.

Along with coming from different states, every person came from a different background. Some were brand-spankin’ new to wreath making, while others were design masters. Of the close-to-50 people who came, almost half had a business, and many were part of the Makers University creative coaching program. Several attendees had hosted a class, but only a few in the crowd taught live on social media. We had people who dreamt of turning their art into a business, some who just had a passion for creating, and some who wanted to learn how to make a wreath. Many sold wreaths on Etsy or in a boutique – and we even had a TikToker with millions of followers. To say that we had all kinds of people in attendance is an understatement!

And each one of these amazing people had something to share and something to learn from one another. Everyone was excited, energetic, and always smiling, helping one another through the projects, giving each other tips, planning collaborations, complimenting and encouraging one another, and even showing my helpers a thing or two!

I wanted to do hugs right away, but Tammy said we would never get started. So I expected a hug from everyone later – and they delivered ya’ll! Hugs and selfies were aplenty. We couldn’t get enough from the full day of events! After dinner, we had even more fun at the hotel, where we made bows, connections, and friendships and had LOTS of laughs.

I just loved to see how each person contributed to the event and found their space in this special community. I miss each and every one of them so much already!

Business Inspiration and Motivation

Along with learning a few new design techniques and walking away with a patriotic wreath and candle holder, I hope my attendees were inspired to keep making beautiful home decor. Whether they were doing it for themselves or creating and running a wreath making business.

Another big part of this event was helping wreath makers understand that they CAN DO THIS. They can grow their wreath making business. They can leave the corporate world and follow their dreams of owning a business and working for themselves. The day was filled with proof of that – from sharing my own story of how I got started and how this work helped me pursue the dream of motherhood to the stories I shared of loved ones who did it, too. The swag and prizes were all from people who followed their entrepreneurial dreams. And many of these were people who succeeded without spending a dime on advertising.

As I said before, it is NOT easy, and it doesn’t happen in an instant. It takes perseverance. Your race doesn’t have to be as fast as you think it does. One wreath at a time is enough. It doesn’t have to be all about having a huge business all at once. And it’s important to know your worth. Your cost is what puts something in your pocket. And that worth goes up as your training gets better, your designs get better, and you get better. You need to be able to fill your bank as much as you can fill your cup. As your business grows, it’s essential to keep all of this in mind.

This workshop wasn’t just an opportunity to learn design techniques. It was also to learn more about the business side of things. Attendees had the chance to ask business questions, plan collaborations, get professional pictures with their wreaths, and learn more about things like networking, funding your business, LLCs, business insurance, and marketing.

More importantly, I hope attendees were inspired by each other, by the connections and friendships they made. This was a day to join and delight in an amazing creative community. It’s one that is supportive, encouraging, and just plain FUN! When I looked around the room at the beautiful designs, the smiling faces, the hugs, the laughter, and the storytelling, I had more than enough to fill my cup – and probably hundreds of other cups! And I hope everyone who came to the first Fill Your Creative Cup left with cups overflowing, too. Not just with creativity, but with happiness and encouragement and the inspiration and motivation to keep going.

The Next Fill Your Creative Cup

I talked about how you should do something in your business that fills your cup – something you’re passionate about to keep you going even on the bad days. Filling Your Cup doesn’t necessarily mean filling your bank account. It’s filling your time with something you love. For me, hosting this workshop, teaching my techniques and offering my advice, and speaking from my heart are what fill my cup. So, OF COURSE, I will keep doing things like this!

While I don’t have all the deets just yet, I do know there will be another Fill Your Creative Cup! I’m even considering a two-day event, so we can do ALL THE THINGS. We’ll see what happens – but I’ll be sure to keep you updated. It’ll most likely be open to the original attendees first. But if you join my test group, you can be one of the first to know about it when details are finalized. Simply text 810-498-2310 to join. You’ll also get alerts when classes and challenges are available and get first dibs on boxes of practice ribbon up for grabs.