Pinterest Party Survey Results 2022

I recently put together and sent out a survey about Pinterest parties in hopes of getting some feedback on what's going well and what could be improved. I wanted to share the results with you because I figured people might be curious and I also wanted to write out some thoughts and ideas on the responses I received. I got 18 responses from the 64 crafters that are in the group. 

Here's a link to the survey in case you didn't get the chance to fill it out yet.

 

What's been one of your favorite Pinterest parties you've attended (theme/s?) Some themes have revolved around holidays and others have been Cactus & Succulents, Garden Party,  Disney, Camping & S'mores, Favorite Things, Self Care....

Disney, Halloween and "all of them" were popular responses

What has been your favorite type of crafts to do at a Pinterest party?

Use-able things, decor for the home or season and holiday crafts were a main answer to this question

The responses to this one confused me a bit. At first, just the bottom half had answers but then some responses came in that started to fill out the top. I kind of wish I knew who said what because honestly, I don't feel like we have used vinyl that much with crafts but maybe in some locations, people have felt like we do. I am working on a spreadsheet of the states I've done parties in and what crafts we did so I can make sure not to duplicate the craft mediums too much.  

I personally don't feel like we have done metal stamping for quite awhile. Last time I had that type of craft at a party was in Arizona in November 2021. Alcohol inks have been used at parties in UT and CA only, I am pretty sure. I don't think we have used them at a party in Idaho yet but I'd have to go back and check. I also don't recall using felt super often but overall this was good feedback to have. 

Thank goodness most people said no. I try to pick crafts that look really fun to do. The layered paper crafts have some pretty neat designs out there so it might be one I revisit in the future but probably not super soon. I am always open to ideas and suggestions for crafts as I have lots of supplies on hand and can figure out a way, usually, to gather enough for everyone to craft with.

What type of crafts are you not interested in doing at a Pinterest party?

The top responses for this one are crafts that don't pack up well, little decor items that turn into clutter,  little small fast things and gnomes. Aw, the gnomes. 

I personally have a lot of feelings about this one but am going to try something different for a bit just to see if it makes a difference. My feelings on this are that ~

1. People won't come if they know the crafts and determine them to be lame/not worth their time to do. 
2. I struggle to get people to attend, even after all these years of doing parties, and I feel like knowing the crafts ahead of time is just going to hurt things.

Sometimes it is difficult to set the crafts in stone as other ideas come up but I will test out announcing them early on and adjust if needed.

Is there anything you dislike about Pinterest parties? Be honest. I am looking to make improvements and attract more crafters to come.

"It is stressful to come up with a food to bring."

My response to this is that I try to give a good variety on the Pinterest party board of food options to choose from and help give inspiration. Irregardless, please don't hesitate to reach out and contact me for a suggestion if you are not finding one that works for you.

"I craft slower than others"  / "too many crafts for the time limit" / "more time / I have to hurry"

While I do like everyone to stay together moving from table to table for the crafts, I'm totally fine if you want to take your time and keep working on a craft. I don't think I display this option very well though and that's something I could be better with.

"Crafts that have been done aren't appealing to me."

I am always open to new craft suggestions, I typically try to choose a variety of mediums and crafts that I do well and am comfortable with so that I am able to guide and assist.  That said I am certainly willing to learn a new craft that people are interested in so we can have more variety at the parties. Or, depending on where the party happens, I have friends I can possibly ask to teach a certain craft. That being said, if you have a craft you'd like to teach, let's chat!

"Reminder texts"

Keeping everything in the Facebook group is the easy and most economical way to account for group events, which in turn helps keeps the costs of the party to you lower. Turning on notifications for the group or setting reminders on your phone are also options.

"Not knowing what to do with the crafts afterwards"

This is something that crosses my mind but I always fall back into, I can gift this to someone or I can enjoy it for a time then trash it or donate it. I also think that just getting out and socializing and crafting is the important part, not so much as what is done with the craft afterwards. Also, learning a new crafty skill that you might not have known before. Saying that, I do realize that people's time is valuable and the fact that anyone is taking the time to come spend time at a Pinterest party only to not know what to do with the crafts they make afterwards, is something that shouldn't be an issue and I need to think about.

So 1 was supposed to be a terrible value and 5 was supposed to mean a great value. However I am not seeing that was made clear so maybe the person that voted 1 is really a 5. Not sure. 

Thank you to everyone who feels like I am very organized and also thank you to those who don't care either way. 

I am torn with this one. I feel like 2 hours should be enough time to do 3 crafts and eat some food. Asking people for 3 hours of their evening (especially if they have a family) seems like a lot. Probably too much. 

Something I may not say enough is you are welcome to come for however long you can, if you come late or need to leave early no worries. My concern is that no one feel than they are not getting the full value of what they pay for or feel to rushed to enjoy the crafts or food.

On the other hand though, if you are paying money to come, you are likely expecting to be able to eat and do all the crafts. When I host the parties in Ridgecrest, I am not super strict of how late crafters want/need to stay. In other states it is harder to let the party run longer in the sense that I am using someone else's space and need to respect their time. Going forward, this will mean doing 2 crafts instead of 3 and/or starting a bit earlier if possible to allow for some extra time. 

As I got more responses, the answers changed the chart a little. I feel like what I may try is giving people the option to pay $15 if they don't want to bring a food. My other idea is to keep charging $10 and not make bringing a food mandatory to come. I would continue to provide a drink and 2-3 foods.

How well do Pinterest parties meet your expectations?

Very positive feedback on this one. Everyone who responded says they love the parties, they are fun , they are great, they enjoy themselves, etc. One feedback was "better home decor options". Noted!

How could future Pinterest parties be improved?

"Day time is better" , "More space maybe", "Pay ahead/frequent crafter card?" , "Simple trendy crafts that can be used" , "Start earlier/fewer crafts/different location", "Fewer small busy things" , "Better music" , "More Disney parties"

Are there any themes or crafts that you would like to do but you haven't seen yet?

"Beach theme" , "Stained glass/glass etching", "Resin", "Holiday / Home Decor", "Body scrub / lip balm/ face sugar scrub", "bead work", "decorate a t-shirt / paint / bleach / tye dye (with ice)", "vinyl crafts", "Mickey ear headband" , "light up shadow box"

For this one too, I wish I'd gotten locations from people for these answers. I think a beach theme would be lots of fun but doesn't make sense in the desert (CA), Utah or Idaho or Arizona either for that matter. I guess in my head I wouldn't ever consider decorating with a beachy theme unless I lived near a beach and 3 hours isn't exactly near. Haha. I will have to do a poll in the Facebook group about this theme and see what kind of interest there is. 

As for stained glass/glass etching - yes! This is on my radar and I am very excited about including these in the near future.

Holiday / home decor - always! Home decor is tricky because signs and wreaths are what seem popular but do people feel like they have enough of this already?

Body scrub/lip balm/ face sugar scrub...we have done some of this at the self-care Pinterest parties in the past. We did bath balms and body scrub which I'd have to look and see how that differs from a face scrub. Lip balm..I will look into this.

Bead work - we have done this a bit but not a ton. I do have a million beads so I will add this to my radar. 

As for t shirts, I'd love to do the ice dying but it works better with sun and since the parties are in the evenings, this seems a trickier craft to do. But in June-July-August and maybe September, if the heat outside is enough to melt the ice, then it would work. I'd also need to be in a space that this could be set up outside. I've done bleach dying once and it was really fun. I'd say if crafters are willing to provide a shirt (since there are a variety of sizes and fits out there), this could work for doing some t-shirt crafts. 

Vinyl crafts..ahh. Someone isn't a huge fan of the vinyl but I do love doing some good iron on vinyl crafts. Or other types of vinyl too.  I wouldn't mind doing a few more crafts with vinyl in the future. Sorry...

Mickey ear headband..I think CA has been the only spot I've done a few Disney themed Pinterest parties and at the last one, we actually made the headband ears. Since Disneyland is here, it makes the most sense but I know there are huge Disney fans in other states. 

Most everyone who voted said no but there was one tired of the Valentine's theme. Honestly, I gave up on this theme a few year ago and switched it to self-care/self-love because I felt like it was more fitting for today's society. I think I will keep the theme for now, until I run out of crafts for it.

If you haven't been able to attend a party yet, what gets in the way of you being able to come? Are there any things that would entice you to come?

"Childcare", "Family commitment & work keep me busy", "The crafts", "Out of town Dr. appointments", "Children/other activities", "I'm forgetful", "Not on Facebook", "Just really busy", " A later party would be better", "Problems with pre-pay", "Not interested in the crafts", "scheduling conflicts"

Wow. This was really interesting to read and think about. I can't do much to solve all of these problems but I had a couple ideas. 

First, problems with pre-pay. I am open to receiving cash . Or if you have a spouse/teen who can send the money electronically to me, I am totally fine with that. It's a lot easier for me to keep track of when people pay electronically but  cash is fine also if that is what works best for you. I would just need to have it by the RSVP deadline in order to count you as coming. Feel free to message me if you want to work something out like this.

IMPORTANT ~ the whole reason for paying ahead of time is to hold your spot for the party. To commit to come. I didn't charge for years but month after month of people that would bail on me left me with craft supplies I had to deal with trying to resell or return. I started asking people for $10 as a commitment to come.  While the $10 is not refundable, I am more than happy to set your supplies aside along with any food, for pickup or delivery. In special circumstances, I will allow the $10 to be rolled over to the next party but that is up to my digression. 

Next up - family commitments, childcare, other activities. I always post a poll to vote on dates for the upcoming party. It's the best I can do to assure the most people can come. Feel free to vote for any dates that work for you, you don't have to pick just one date. I'm sorry that I am unable to do anything about childcare and I know that family commitments happen, sometimes last minute. 

Forgetful / not on Facebook. I am not totally sure how to help with this besides just taking a moment to set an alarm, write a sticky notes etc. I will research a cost effective system, but until I am able to find one alarms etc. would be the best suggestion I can offer.

Not interested in the crafts. Unless you have sent me a private message or looked at the ideas on the Pinterest board I am not sure how you know ahead of time what the crafts are.  If you have and do not see anything that interests you, that's fine, not every party theme and craft is for everyone. The last thing I would want is for a crafter to come and not have a fun time.

Virtual parties are a lot of extra work and some crafts are not doable (like metal stamping or alcohol inks) because the cost of the individual supplies is not feasible for them to able to be given out.  Despite that, virtual parties in the past have been fun and I am still looking into good ways to do them, especially for people in states I haven't been able to do a party in yet or don't get to as often, I'd be down for that. Feel free to message me if you have any ideas. Maybe it means you acquire your own supplies and I just lead with how to put the crafts together.

Is there a location on the west coast that you'd like to see a party happen that maybe hasn't been done before?

Everyone seemed happy in the places I had done them. I have not heard feedback from friends in Oregon in particular who would like me to do a party there but I am thinking none of them filled this survey out yet. 

Again, for this question, 1 was the worst, 5 was the best. I am curious about those who said 2 or 3, maybe you do not have crafty friends, coworkers or family. Hopefully that is it.

Thanks for sticking through this super long blog post and reading my thoughts along with the results. I am looking forward to making some changes/improvements/testing out some new things out in the upcoming months.