Have you heard about the Handmade Nest? I had the opportunity to go to the first ever GNO put on by the Handmade Nest last weekend. It was fabulous!

The Handmade Nest is an opportunity for bloggers and non-bloggers in Arizona to get together and craft! It was held at the Power Ranch Barn, and let me just say it was the PERFECT venue for this event. There was plenty of room for all the tables, and I did not feel crowded, squished, or claustrophobic at all. 🙂

It was dark when I got there (it started at 7 p.m.) so I didn’t get a picture of the outside of the barn, but take a look at a portion of the inside:

This is only about half the room; there were a number of additional tables set up to the left that aren’t pictured here. Also, I have to mention, there was a nice & big bathroom located on the east side of the room. (I know it’s funny to mention a bathroom, but when you have that many women gathered for an evening…it’s nice to have that close by!)

When I first got there, I had to check out the giveaway table:

Just look at all that loot! They had amazing sponsors like Riley Blake Fabric (love them!), Downeast Basics, My Minds Eye, The Ribbon Retreat, DecoArt, Wood Connection, Vintage Rose Wraps, Petite Party Studio, Rod Works, and so many more awesome companies! And you may not believe this, but I WON something:

A gift card to Downeast!! I was so excited…I may have screamed out loud. 🙂

Then I was drawn to an amazing display on the north side of the room….the CAKE BAR!

Petite Party Studio and Inspired Sugar have done it again…a FEAST for our eyes!! Those cakes are amazing…and I love the logo made out of fondant on the middle cake. It looks perfect! Those fondant flowers on the other cakes are so cute. And look at that amazing burlap runner with ruffles to match the theme.

I just love all the banners on the cakes, too. See the sticks used behind the cakes as a backdrop? Perfect for the “Nest” theme. They had many flavors of cakes at the party…like pumpkin chocolate chip and vanilla with raspberry filling. Yum.

When they started the evening, we got instruction and got to crafting! I chose to make the “Nest” boards. There were 4 equally amazing crafts you could pre-order to make. My husband asked what we were going to do with “Nest” boards…and I said, “imagine how cute these would be with an Easter vignette…” and  he said, “Well, I guess we could re-arrange the letters to say TENS or SENT…”  Yeah, I’m pretty sure they will be re-arranged every time I walk by them! 🙂

While my boards were drying, I took a break for cake. I had the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cake and it was SO good. I’ve tasted a lot of cake in my decades of living…and this one just MIGHT be in my top 10! Really…it was that good. (Thank you, Inspired Sugar) I heard the other flavors were delicious, too. In the interest of fair reporting, I just may have to taste all the flavors next time and share my findings with you. 😉

I met some fun new people. I think one of the perks of going to these types of events alone is that you are kinda forced to meet new people. Even though I am sometimes a little shy, one of my goals for the night was to meet another blogger or two.

Here’s Melanie from Reasons to Skip the Housework and Valerie from Occasionally Crafty. (Sorry, Kaitlyn, only a part of your shoulder made it in this picture!) I was lucky enough to sit by them! And they made these cute signs…which was one of my top choices for the night. (BUT since my husband was recently in a bicycle accident I decided against this one) Now that I see how cute they turned out, I’m wishing I opted for this craft as well!

Thanks to all the brilliance of the event coordinators:

Take a look at what we got in our swag bags! A necklace from The Crafted Sparrow (fantastic Rebecca!) and a Vintage Rose Wrap (beautiful, Katie!)

If you missed it this year, think about going next year! It was completely awesome. I’ll meet you there?