I am Pinterest Royalty

Ok, you can stop bowing down now. I’m not a Marie Antoinette sort of  queen.

But I am a Pinterest Queen. Really. I have the crown to prove it!

Last night, a friend and I went to a Pinterest party sponsored by Forsyth Woman Magazine and Winston-Salem WomenConnect at the gorgeous WinMock at Kinderton in Bermuda Run, N.C. What a beautiful venue; I’d love to have a barn sale in that barn!

Always up for a girls’ night out, this Pinterest party really appealed to us because we are addicted to Pinterest. We use it for inspiration and organization, and I don’t think we’d be exaggerating to say that Pinterest was the catalyst for our creative business. It kicked our crafting/cooking/DIY-ing into high gear.

The idea behind the Pinterest party was to stop pinning and start doing — to bring some of those pins to life. All the food served was inspired by real-life pins. I finally got to try those caprese pops that are all over Pinterest. Very good, very do-able and a great party food. And guests were invited to bring in something they’d made from a Pinterest inspiration.

My friend and I actually couldn’t decide what to bring, so we each brought several Pinterest-inspired creations. But we were only able to enter one each in the contest.

She submitted one of these gorgeous blooming camellia pillows:

And I brought one of my very first Pinterest projects, and one of my very first creations I made using vinyl I cut with my Silhouette Cameo:

An upcycled window decorated with vinyl, inspired by a similar DIY project at House of Smiths. (Sorry I don’t have a “beauty” shot; I got home from the party at 10:40 pm and had to bang out this post to have something for the blog today! Plus, I have a goodie bag to examine!)

Everyone at the party got to vote for their favorite pin come to life by dropping a pushpin into a cup — brilliant — and I won!

I was crowned Pinterest Queen. They gave me a sparkly foam crown and took my picture for the magazine. (And no, I’m not posting that here. This was at the end of the evening, after all my makeup had sweltered off while we were dining on the patio in the sticky August heat.)

I really didn’t expect to win. There were so many great projects, including that chair you see in the photo with my window. Can you believe that pinner found the chair on the side of the road and reupholstered it by following instructions you found online? Yes, you probably can believe it, because you’re immersed in the Pinterest/blogging world. That’s just how we roll.

I saw many projects that I’ve also pinned, tike this twine-wrapped letter — very well executed.

And other pins I hadn’t yet seen, like this school supply tower:

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It was pretty much a perfect girls night out.

Delicious food, especially these chocolate cupcakes from Creative Cake Designs

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Wine on the terrace from Raylen Vineyards

A little crafting time, as we painted mini versions of Van Gogh’s irises, embellished handmade cards with fabric button earrings we made and created altered book page art:

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Inspiration in the form of all those gorgeous pins come to life and ideas like this one for collecting raffle tickets:

And a crown! How could I forget that? I’ve now taken to calling my friend my lady in waiting — she’s probably going to slap me at some point. But it makes me feel one step closer to my dream of living “Downton Abbey.” Thank you, Pinterest.

And what fun it was to connect with other crafty, Pinterest obsessed women at the party. If you found your way here after meeting us at the Pinterest Party, we hope you’ll follow us on Pinterest. You may follow the Queen here, but I ask that you not step on my train.  And please check out the regular blog feature, Pin-Tested, where I write about pins I’ve tried.