the loot

When we arrived at the Maker's Summit last Saturday, we each got one of these cool tote bags.  They were filled with all kinds of stickers, notebooks, pens, and other fun samples. 

They were also full of monkey hats.  That's right- Steve and I now have in our possession matching knitted monkey hats.  If you live in our neighborhood, you should be very afraid.  We will  be wearing these on winter walks.  Along with our Smittens. 

 

The hats were a gift from MailChimp, one of the sponsors of the conference.  Before I realized this, I thought they might just be giving out random animal hats and was secretly bummed out that we'd both ended up with monkeys. 

Mid-afternoon, they drew names for the sponsor giveaways.  Here is a little known fact about me: I usually win these types of things.  It's weird and I don't know why it happens.  If there is a contest that takes actual skill or action to win, count me out.  But a random name drawing?  There is a 80% chance that I'll go home with a prize. 

So, needless to say, I won an awesome craft kit.  Most of the items in the kit are from Knot & Bow and now I want to buy everything in their shop.  For now though, I will be content with using up my big box of free supplies. 

I've been oogling baker's twine for the better part of a year and am now the proud owner of two big spools.  You may wonder why I didn't just go ahead and buy some earlier (it's not a high investment item) and the answer is that I couldn't decide what color to get.  So now the decision has been made for me and I'm thrilled!

Washi tape is another item that's been on my "want" list and I literally almost bought some last Thursday.  There were four lovely rolls in my gift box in various stripey and polka dot patterns.  Perfect. 

And just when you thought that gold and white striped tape couldn't be cooler- it came with this awesome wooden camera tape dispenser! 

Now, let's talk chalkboard tags.  What do you tag with them?  I know they'd be super cute on gifts and will probably use some for that purpose, but I also want to display them around the house.  I'm thinking of tagging my kitchen canisters or maybe writing secret notes to Steve on them. 




If you'd like to see a bit more of our weekend, check out this cool video of the conference and craft party.  See if you can spot Steve and I- we're actually in there several times!

Today I am finishing up a craft project for my office that I will be sharing with you next week.  I'm also making soup (this one) and waiting for my brother to arrive.  Hope your weekend is cozy!