Crafting at the Pinners Conference with My Big Sis
My older sister Julie and I at the Pinners Conference last month.
Last month my sister Julie and I attended something called the Pinners Conference. I think it’s called Pinners because it’s inspired by Pinterest and the idea that during the conference attendees get to make and buy things like what they’d pin on the app. So think cute home decor items, DIY crafts, foodie things (this year’s class offerings included a how-to on charcuterie bouquets), and clothing and accessories.
Most of the two-day event consists of hour-long workshops. The whole conference was housed in one of the giant halls in the Pomona Fairplex, which was divided into long rows of booths and classrooms. Surrounding the curtained off classrooms were rows and rows of vendors. Some of them were selling crafting supplies, some sold finished handmade goods, others sold women’s clothing and/or jewelry and accessories, and some vendors sold a random assortment of foodstuffs (think teas, caramels), self-defense tools, books, power tools, even rain gutters (which sorta stood out like a sore thumb I’m afraid to say).
Learning how to sew a pouch at the Pinners Conference
My older sister Julie and I went to Pinners last year for one day and had a blast. We crafted nonstop and were totally exhausted afterwards. This year we decided to go for the full two days and even stayed out in Pomona for the night at a Hilton Garden Inn. Julie is my dad’s primary caretaker and seems to handle a bulk of my family’s stress and drama. Since I live the farthest away, I’ve got a little buffer from most of it. So she needed a break. I always love (and need) a good creative breather, so I was looking forward to the time away.
Thankfully, she and I get along much better in our older age. When we were younger we fought all the time. Age has mellowed us a bit. Plus, now that our mom is gone we’ve found a nice solace in crafting together in her spirit.
On each day, Julie and I attended back-to-back classes that ran the gamut, from a doodling workshop to a sewing instructional during which we made a cute, zipperless pouch. We painted with watercolors, made a vintage-looking wood box, learned some photography skills, crafted a big crepe paper flower, wire-wrapped a ring, and wool-felted a floral scene. For each of these classes we purchased the supply kits that the instructors sold beforehand. Some of the kits were a good value, some less so. It didn’t matter, though, because it was just so much fun to craft in real time with the instructors and with each other.
Our instructor who taught us how to make big crepe papaer flowers.
In our very short breaks of free time between classes Julie and I walked the conference hall and oohed and aahed at all the cute stuff. It was nice to chat with the vendors—all seemingly women small business owners—and have them demo their craft kits or describe how they made their handcrafted items. We bought crochet kits, these really cool tie-dyed shirts with fun graphics, candle-making supplies, and brush lettering sets. We did one “make and take” of a car diffuser and a scented candle. Make and takes are simple, small crafting projects that you can do table-side with a vendor. They’re more informal projects that you can do when the vendor’s space has a spot available, as opposed to a large class with lots of people.
We could barely make our way to the car when the conference was over, we were so overloaded with bags and goodies. It’s funny, but we both hit a wall when we had crafted too much. We both just kind of shut down. We couldn’t sit through another class or look at another booth. So we made our way through the parking lot to the car and drove home, creatively recharged but physically spent. We’ll be back next year!