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| Hostess Appreciation Dinner - banner decoration (2009) |
Hello! I am still in Salt Lake City for the Stampin' Up! Convention and I'm having the most amazing time. Yesterday I did two presentations during convention too! I have been so nervous about this - but excited too. But I've certainly never been in front of a such a big crowd before. But it went really, really well and it also went by super fast. Stampin' Up! called me a couple of months ago and asked if I would be interested in doing a presentation for their "In a Nutshell" series about "Gatherings". Of course I was thrilled and honoured to had been asked and promplty said YES!
My topic was all about my Hostess Appreciation Dinners. This was a perfect subject for me because most of you know that this annual event is near and dear to my heart. These dinners are my way of showing my customers and downline team how grateful I am for them and what they mean to me. These are the ladies who are the core of my business and it's because of them I'm able to earn Grand Vacations, awards, cash bonuses, Manager's Reception at Leadership and soooo much more. So I cook a big dinner for everyone, we play silly games, I have gifts and prizes, we stamp and try out brand spankin' new products and the new catalogue is revealed too. It really is a great time! I've pulled up LOTS of photos to share with you today, that shows the variety of my Hostess Appreciation Dinners over the last few years....
June 2009
"Backyard BBQ"
...Fried Chicken, Salads and Cupcakes all enjoyed in the sunshine!
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| Hungry? |
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| Time to eat! |
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| We always have a good time together! |
June 2010
....time to move the Hostess Appreciation Dinners to a bigger venue so I rented a hall.
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| Pin cushions using our Big Shot dies and new flower embellishments |
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| Everyone loved these little sewing kits |
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| Notepads for prizes |
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| Displays and make and takes featuring new products! |
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| Even the napkins get stamped! |
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| Thee Famous Cupcakes |
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| My favourite kebab recipe was a hit! |
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| Checking out the new catalogue! |
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| Heather won this game - blow your card ALMOST off the table! The flap has to hang on over the edge! |
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| One of the make and take projects |
June 2011
....gifts were altered domino brooches which were a huge hit. Some of the ladies are still wearing them on their jean jackets today, three years later!
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| Altered domino brooch for the gift favours |
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| Gift box for the brooches that everyone received. |
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| More gifts! |
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| Even our bolts of ribbon made for a fun game! |
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| "Looty in Your Booty!" This was the best game ever. The object was to shake the stamp out of the box. |
June 2011
....I had just earned my first ever incentive trip, the Grand Vacation to Disney World! I hadn't started my themed dinners but this would have been a fun one to do. As it was, I literally earned the trip days before the Hosstess Appreciation Dinner. I did, however, adorn my Mickey ears to share the news with everyone at the party!
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| Denise won a package of new In Colour Card stock and Markers! |
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| You'll find the recipe for these cupcakes and more on my recipe page |
June 2012
"Carnival Party"
...I had earned the Get-away trip to Hilton Head Island, SC and based the party around some of our fun circus theme products.
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| Cute little necklaces |
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| Homemade caramel popcorn (thanks to my friend Kathy who made it for us!) |
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| Everyone loves making a different bookmark every year using the new In Colours. |
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| We had a ball with the games - my hubby was in charge of this one. Colleen managed to get a ring around her prize! |
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| One of the make and takes projects |
May 2013
"Caribbean Party"
...to celebrate the Grand Vacation Cruise I earned to the Western Caribbean
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| Invitations |
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| Everyone has a good time socializing. |
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| Caribbean Costume Contest! This was so much fun! |
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| Annette won for best costume! |
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| Keychains and flower 'corsages' |
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| Along with my traditional chocolate cupcakes, this year I added Tropical Vanilla and Coconut Cupcakes to the dessert table! |
May 2014
"English Tea Party"
...at the time I hadn't earned the Grand Vacation to Hawaii and since the party was on Victoria Day weekend everyone wore their best English hat!
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| BOGO sales are always popular! |
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| English Hat contest |
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| New Stampin' Up! product for Beth, who won the Best Hat contest! |
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| Since it was an English themed party the meal was Sheperd's Pie (my hubby's signature dish), Green Salad with Roasted Beets & Goat Cheese with Honey Balsamic Dressing, two types of Cornish Pasties as well as dessert! Yum! |
Oh my gosh - what a trip down memory lane. I sure love these ladies. All the work involved in my Hostess Appreciation Dinners over the years was always worth it because of them. I'm looking forward to continuing the tradition this year and I hope I was able to inspire other demonstrators to hold their own Hostess Appreciation Dinner too.
Enjoy the day and HAPPY STAMPING!
