Teacher Gifts, Thirty-One Style

I was a little stumped about what to do for Logan's teachers for Christmas, but when Thirty-One announced their December Holi-Buys special, I knew right away that I was going with Thermal Totes! I chose 4 different patterns for the teachers I had to buy for and filled them with homemade biscotti! I hope they love the thermals as much as I do!!

My Thirty-One Journey

Last July, I bit the bullet and became a Thirty-One consultant. I was so blessed to find a fabulous sponsor (and now someone I am proud to call a friend), Eileen, through my fabulous friend, Karen from Karen at Home.  We both blogged about it at the same time, were placed on the waiting list together, then started our Thirty-One journeys together!

I can not express how amazing this company has been for my family.  It allowed us to have a debt-free Christmas last year and has really helped out financially, as our girls become more and more involved in activities (which costs more and more money!).  Besides that, I have been able to surround myself with wonderful and inspirational women who have become my friends.  God has truly blessed me by sending me on this journey, and when the times have gotten tough, those women (and God) have been there to guide me through.

In August, we went to National Conference for Thirty-One in Atlanta.  Let me tell you.  It was an amazing experience.  16,000 women (and men!) flooded the streets of Atlanta to celebrate, encourage and reward.  We had training sessions, general sessions, a fall product reveal, classes, and a rewards dinner and ceremony.  I left completely exhausted and feeling like I had been run over by a truck.  It took me two days to recover!  I can't wait until next year!

My registration table!

Live it up!

My blog friend, Thirty-One sister, and now I am so blessed to have her as my IRL friend, Karen!

My rockstar recruit, Sheena.  I am so proud of her hard work and her promotion to director!

What is your WHY??  Mine is for my family!

Our founder, the wonderful Cindy Monroe! 

It was pure insanity with 16,000 women packed into the arena!

The city of Atlanta was plastered with Thirty-One logos and banners everywhere!

At the airport, getting ready to head home.  So exhausted.

Interested in joining Thirty-One as a part of my team?  Don't hesitate to contact me or visit my website!  
www.mythirtyone.com/gia31

Thirty-One Open House Recap

Last Sunday was my Thirty-One open house. I was pretty nervous that my mom and mother-in-law would be the only people showing up, but I ended up with about 15 people at my house throughout the course of the day!

Here is my display. I used my wall hanging as a display piece. C found that pretty funny when i set up that morning. I even used a discontinued item because I wanted to show how I use Thirty-One in my daily life:

My $31 for $31 board:

I had the snacks set up in the dining room and I moved the table against the window, the way we did for Logan's baptism. It gives more space to move around and check things out (note the basinet...I wanted to make sure I remembered to give it to my sister-in-law):

I served cheese and crackers, BLT Dip with French bread, a veggie tray, and strawberries and cream cheese fruit dip.  I had some food leftover, but not a ton, which was good.  And most of it was gone later that night during my True Blood date with my two BFFs. 

Anyway, I was pretty happy!  I had another party on Tuesday and one on Friday, so I feel like I am off and running!!  I am booking parties from my parties and getting to spread the message and AWESOME product of Thirty-One!!

Planning My Thirty-One Open House

In order to get my name out there and to build up my inventory, I decided to have a Thirty-One open house.  I sent invitations to pretty much every female I know and my fingers are crossed that people actually SHOW UP on Sunday!  Here are some details about the event:

• I decided to go with a Sunday because most people have SOME time available on Sundays: after church, before parties or picnics, etc.
• I chose a 3-hour chunk of time, 1-4 PM, for people to stop in.
• I will NOT be doing a presentation of the product; I will be available to answer questions and talk about the product, but since it will be a fluid party with people in and out, I do not want to do 5 presentations in three hours!
• Food..there will be food!

And since it is ALWAYS about the food, here is what I plan on serving:

• Veggies and dip
• Fruit and cream cheese dip
• Cheese and crackers
• Homemade beer bread with bacon dip
• Taco dip
• Some sort of dessert
• Assorted beverages (water, soda, wine)

I am trying to keep it simple and I want to have everything prepped on Friday and Saturday.  I will be setting up my display on Sunday morning so that the cats don't get into it!  Since we did a major cleaning last weekend for Chuck's birthday, I am doing upkeep this week and will just do the bathrooms and a quick clean of the rooms and kitchen and we will be set!  I can't wait to share the results with you next week!  Stay tuned!

Adventures with Thirty-One: Business Cards

Okay, who uses Vistaprint and LOVES them? I use them as often as I can because, well, stuff is FREE (and who doesn't love free stuff?). I started using them way back in 2007, when we were wedding planning and I ordered our save the dates from them (a magnet with our info and a picture mounted on a postcard).   I ordered our housewarming invites from them in 2009 (I should probably post pictures of all of these, huh?) and my cookie exchange invite for last year.

So once I started to get the Thirty-One ball rolling, I decided to use them for my business card!  I think it cost me $12.00 to ship 250 of these and a yard sign (which I will be using for my parties at other people's homes).  I love them!!:

Um...I also ordered the cookie exchange invites for this year! Crazy? I think so. But they are super cute and kind of set the tone for the entire party (which is the first weekend in December again).

Up next in my adventures? Planning my open house, which is this Sunday! Eek!

Adventures with Thirty-One: My Mobile Office

As I previously mentioned, I had been kicking around the idea of joining as a Thirty-One consultant.  One night, I bit the bullet and went for it.  I was signed with an out-of-town director and I wasn't too happy with that.  I talked to my bloggy/real life friend Karen (who ALSO just signed up) and she led me to her sponsor.  I was SO EXCITED that I couldn't tear myself away from their Facebook wall, looking at all of the pictures and gathering ideas for my parties.

One of the first things I did after the new fall catalog was released was order a new Organizing Utility Tote for my mobile office.  This will allow me to stay organized for ALL of my parties and have my papers and hand-outs easy to find!  Sorry for the bad pictures...taken with my Droid.

See? Everything pretty and ready to ROLL!!  I was SURE I wanted the Thirty-One logo on it, along with a Thirty-One rosette, in the new Black Parisian Pop print.  LOVE!

I have much more to show you in regards to getting ready to sell, as well as prepping for my Open House on August 14th!

Thirty-One Gifts

Okay, many people know about Thirty-One.  Many blog hosts give items away on their blog and promote it.

I am OBSESSED with their product (more on that next week and how I use it!) and thinking about becoming a consultant.

Does anyone have experience SELLING it?  Suggestions?  Advice?