Craft Weekend: Back from Kansy-Pants

Alright, so Jessica and I made it to Wichita.
In one piece.

And the lovely Kimberlee picked us up at the airport.
At 11pm.
Like a saint.

We headed to Meg's house, where we were greeted with what seemed like 534 smiling faces and big giant hugs. The girls there empathized with our airline dramz, and welcomed us west coast girls to the giant craft party!

It was time to get our craft on.

First order of business?
Ruffled apron.

First instruction - pick out your fabric.
The options were lovely.

Second instruction - iron said fabric.

I just about fell over at iron.

I. Dont. Iron.

Last time I ironed was several years ago, it was a church tablecloth that I took home to wash.
And melted onto my iron.
I was mortified to let the church ladies know what had happened.

I bought a new iron, and it is still in its shrink wrapped box to this day.
I was traumatized.
I feel like I'm good with housie things. And I melted a tablecloth.
Onto an iron.

But, I was here to craft.
So iron I did.

And then I sewed.
I actually did better at the sewing machine than I thought.
My stitches aren't exactly straight.
But I got the pedal to the metal.
I also was able to rethread the machine and the bobbin.
Yeah, I know. Mad skills.

Meg's home is beautiful.
Thank you for welcoming us into it.
Each bed had an antique quilt.
I am pretty sure we all were tempted to smuggle them home in our suitcases.
Unfortunately it was bigger than a breadbox.
So it wasn't gonna fit it in my suitcase.

Saturday morning I crept down the servant's stairs, and joined Kimberlee for a cuppa coffee.
We caught up on a little bit of life, and it was so fun to just hang out with my Kansas friend.

After the rest of the house was up and dressed, we piled into the vans and headed antiquing.

Kansas, you do antiques right.
Rock....chalk....vintage stock...
I wanted it all.

In fact, I wanted to ship the entire Bearly Makin' It Antiques shop home in a big giant crate.
Sadly, stamp rates went up last week, so it wasn't gonna happen.

I came home with a few treasures from the shop - a metal bird, a couple small items for my sister, and a gorgeous tin cake tray.

And back to the vans and down the road to the Barn.

The entire front field is rows of "junk piles".

But all organized.

Bikes. 

Porcelain sinks.

Old fashioned Singer sewing machines.

Radio Flyer wagons. 

Piles and piles of rusty, tetanus-y goodness. 

You gotta bring your vaccination card to craft weekend.

Inside the barn were lots of wooden treasures. 

And chairs. 

Shutters. 

Doors. 

Street signs. 

I found a peachy/pinky/tan colored breadbox. 

And an old sewing machine drawer.

I tried to decide what color the breadbox really was.

One of the ladies declared it "band-aid". 

I'm pretty sure that is the exact color.

I already know it's going to be Pantone's color of 2013. 

You watch out.

I'm a trendsetter like that.

A quick stop at Sonic and you had one happy cuppa.
Not having Sonic on a road trip meant I could get a Route 44 size DCL without having to worry about the proximity of the next pit stop.

And then it was back to crafting.
I had some serious catching up to do.
Ruffles to be made.
Bunting to be cut.

My master of disaster skills were in full effect.
My bunting looked like it was cut by edward scissor hands.
But after a little encouragement from the girls, I used the granny handle and trimmed up those rough edges.

Ashley Ann's craft for us was a free for all canvas. We had fabric, paper, ribbon, mod podge, and she whipped up stencils and fun letters as well on her Silhouette. I think this was my favorite project...
Although at one point, my canvas looked like the flag for an obscure Eastern European country.
Thankfully, I added a few more embellishments and I was no longer the national flag bearer for the 2012 Olympics.

Kimberlee cooked us a feast, including the most delicious chicken enchiladas.
SO.
AMAZINGLY.
GOOD.
Who knew you could get such great mexican food in Kansas?
They even had a little kick to them.
And by a little, I mean a lot.
I think Kimberlee brought the spice to the party.
Because the rest of the night was hilarious.

We had some InstaGram lessons.
A dance party with Waffle.
And hysterical tears of laughter on the couch.
Before we knew it, 2am had rolled around, and it was time to head to bed.
Where, the Read-Roomies and I were up giggling for another hour.
I mean, with California, Texas and New York in one room - we were gonna save the world.
It was an electoral college powerhouse in there.

Sunday morning was more coffee and delicious breakfast.
Peach bread from Georgia.
Uh, yeah.

Super sweet gifts from Washington...

Our crafts had a little photoshoot of their own.
Followed by a ruffly apron photoshoot as well.

I wore my plaid flannel, I like to call it Country Chic.
City Girl meets Farm Girl.

I packed up my breadbox...

and I said my goodbyes to Waffle.
It's my secret hope that maybe he'd be interested in being Mylie's long distant boo.
I'm gonna see if I could set them up on a Skype date.

And sadly after that, it was time for the Delegates of Crafts to head back to their constituents in Texas, Tennessee, New York, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama, Washington, and New Hampshire.

A quick bite to eat with Miss Alabama, Miss Tennessee, Miss Georgia, Miss Texas, Miss Kentucky, and Miss California at Wichita Airport's hottest spot, The Landing Bar, and we were on our way.

A much quicker stop in Texas on the way home, Dallas this time.
My first words off the plane were, "I need to find a Starbucks. And a power outlet. Pronto."
Thankfully, Gate 29 had two Starbucks, a Dunkin' Donuts, and plenty of charging stations.
Dallas, you speak my love language.
We charged up, literally and figuratively, and before we knew it, were back in the Golden State.
There really is no place like home.

Craft Weekend was fantastic,
I made some hilarious new friends,
Tried to convert a few to the iPhone cult,
Encouraged some new blog endeavors,
Refined InstaGram skills,
and have some killer bunting to show for it.

Thank you for a fantastic weekend Meg and Kimberlee.
You sure know how to throw a craftastic adventure!


PS I also want to give a super shout out (holler, you may now collect your prize) to one of my new favorite people JupeMom aka Amy Jupin - she had the giant honor of being my 100th follower!!!! Now, carry on! As you were!!!