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Post by stampbooker on Oct 30, 2015 1:11:28 GMT
Update #2: Oooops, I forgot to come back and update again with what I am doing! Thanks for all the input, it was very helpful. I decided to have my crops from 10:00-midnight and provide dinner and drinks. I will charge $30.00. I will be holding the crops monthly on the 3rd Saturday of each month. My first one is February 20th. The (not so) funny thing is that I have lived in the area for almost 5 years and never once found a crop to attend. I decided to start holding my own and in the last 2 months I have found about 5 different crops advertised! I guess the good news there is that it is still popular! I noticed that a couple people asked me before if I was doing this just for cropping opportunities or as a money making venture. I am doing it as a business and will be teaching classes and holding workshops in stamping and scrapbooking. I hope to eventually add sewing classes also. Update: Yesterday I signed the lease on the space for my classes and crops! I am so excited! I will have my own permanent classroom and once a month will have use of the large hall to hold crops. I can't wait to get started. Thanks for all your input. Original: I have been wanting to organize a monthly crop for a while and have been looking for a space for a while. Everything has either been too expensive or not enough room or light, etc. I finally found the perfect space today and am very excited! So I wanted to get some input on time and pricing to start. So what kind of hours and pricing are the norm for crops? What meals should be included? I am thinking 10:00-  not sure what time it should end. I am planning on serving lunch, so if we end at 5:00 or 6:00, I wouldn't have to worry about dinner. Or I could go later say 10:00, then should I provide dinner too or would people prefer to go out or order in pizza or something? (There is a kitchen, so I can make and serve meals.) What is a good pricing? I will need to pay for the venue and the food and hope to make a profit too at some point down the road. I am located in central Massachusetts, if that helps for pricing. I would love any suggestions or tips. Thanks! Julie |
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Post by 950nancy on Oct 30, 2015 1:44:40 GMT
I live in Colorado and attend several different crops. The one that sounds the most like what you are thinking about is one that is two hours north of me. It is every three months and has about 100-200 croppers. Yours sounds much smaller, but maybe you want to offer similar things. The hours are 8-8. I think they make it longer so that if you need to leave early or arrive late you still have a reasonable amount of time. It is $50. You get half of an eight foot table for that. You can pay an extra $15 for the whole table. They provide a light breakfast of pastries and juices, lunch is sandwiches or pizza and dinner is chill or burritos or something like that. The crops are a benefit for a local women's shelter so I am sure they get lots of things donated. They have about 7-8 vendors and it is held in a large building that looks like a deserted Kohl's or department store. The bathroom always has nice soap and lots of paper goods. Ladies do use it a lot! They also sell tickets $1 for door prizes.
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Post by alissa103 on Oct 30, 2015 2:44:27 GMT
That sounds pretty good to me! I'd come if I lived there  One thing I'd suggest is to go longer with your hours, because for a lot of people, if they pack up their stuff to crop they want to make it worth their effort. So you could advertise it as a 12 hour crop (10-10pm works well). Food can get expensive. One of the LSS's I used to crop at would have the same sort of crop and NOT serve lunch, just dinner. If it starts at 10am you can get away with that a bit easier and just encourage people to go grab something or bring something, etc. It saved them money, I know. And we never minded going to get food, but it was also in an area with a ton of choices. So that wouldn't work if your space isn't near food options. I can't remember what they charged for those 12 hour crops. Maybe $25? But that was several years ago. I think if you're going to do them monthly you don't want to make them too expensive that people can't afford to go each month. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Oct 30, 2015 3:38:39 GMT
A lot is going to depend on what your venue costs and capacity are, you have to take that into consideration first and then decide from there what you can do for food based on how much the space is going to cost per person. If your venue is expensive, you might have to skip the meals and just provide snacks and people would be on their own for lunch and dinner. But if you can swing including the food, it definitely makes it more convenient for a lot of people but be prepared for some to complain no matter what you do. Also, doing the food yourself adds an exponential amount of prep and work.
When we had a place with a full kitchen we charged $45 for 9 am until 11 pm and we included lunch and dinner. We would do sandwich fixings and assorted breads with a veggie tray, chips and beverages for lunch and for dinner we would do those giant trays of lasagna (one meat and one veggie) with garlic bread, salad and beverages for dinner with cookies or bars for dessert. We had to be out of there with the place all cleaned up and put back together by midnight. When we had a place with no kitchen, we either had to do pizza or some other kind of takeout or people would be on their own, but then they didn't want to pay as much.
Many of the people I know don't really even hit their stride until about 5-7 pm, so the later you can go the better.
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Oct 30, 2015 3:47:08 GMT
My CTMH rep hosts a (mostly) monthly crop, noon to midnight. She charges $15 to cover the cost of the room. She also brings ALL of her stuff for people to use. No food is provided-- our location is near plenty of food options for people to take a break and go get food. Other people pack a cooler if they don't want to leave. (Depending on your venue's rules, people could probably order delivery as well.)
I'm not super germphobic, but I probably wouldn't eat food cooked by my crop host. (Well, I might now, I wouldn't have when I first met her.) Besides, why would you want to cook? Don't you want to crop?
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Post by stampbooker on Oct 30, 2015 14:51:19 GMT
Thank you all so much. I have actually had a scrapbook retreat business, but it was 4 years ago and in another state. Crops are a little different. I did make all the meals at my retreats (6 meals per weekend)so I am experienced in that department.
I think to start with I will try 10:00am-midnight and serve a late lunch and they will be on their own for dinner. I am going to charge $25.00 I will make adjustments as needed. How does that sound?
The space I found is really great, I hope it works out. I had a realtor show it to me yesterday. It is in a church hall, that the church doesn't really use and is wanting to rent out. It is a nice open space with good lighting. I saw that they had a bunch of tables in a storage area and told the realtor that it would be great if I could use those tables and not have to rent tables. He replied "Wouldn't it be easier to have everyone bring their own table?" What was he thinking? haha
He is showing the space to someone else today, so I am hoping it will work out for me.
Julie
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2015 14:57:42 GMT
Cool! I was just looking for a crop to go to. I'm just getting back into papercrafting, and the people I used to scrap with have all moved on. I would love to get some scrapping done with other people around. I'm north of Boston, so I'd be very interested. 10-12 sounds great, you cover both the early birds and the owls.
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christinec68
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,119 
Location: New York, NY
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Post by christinec68 on Oct 30, 2015 15:01:59 GMT
That's a very reasonable price! It's much more expensive around here to crop for the length of time and have some food included. Good luck...I hope you get the space!
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Post by crazy4scraps on Oct 30, 2015 15:07:44 GMT
Thank you all so much. I have actually had a scrapbook retreat business, but it was 4 years ago and in another state. Crops are a little different. I did make all the meals at my retreats (6 meals per weekend)so I am experienced in that department. I think to start with I will try 10:00am-midnight and serve a late lunch and they will be on their own for dinner. I am going to charge $25.00 I will make adjustments as needed. How does that sound? The space I found is really great, I hope it works out. I had a realtor show it to me yesterday. It is in a church hall, that the church doesn't really use and is wanting to rent out. It is a nice open space with good lighting. I saw that they had a bunch of tables in a storage area and told the realtor that it would be great if I could use those tables and not have to rent tables. He replied "Wouldn't it be easier to have everyone bring their own table?" What was he thinking? haha He is showing the space to someone else today, so I am hoping it will work out for me. Julie $25 for a 14 hour crop is a bargain even without the food. I go to a fundraiser crop that is $45 for the day (9a-11p) that includes lunch, dinner and snacks but the organizers prepare all the food. It's in a rec center that has a kitchen so they make it all right there. The sell the pop and bottled water and the money raised is a donation to the fundraiser, but you could do the same thing if you were running it as a for profit business. LOL one thing we learned when my friend and I were doing it is that some people can really guzzle the soda over the course of a day!  |
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Post by stampbooker on Oct 30, 2015 15:14:34 GMT
maryannscraps, I will be sure to let you know all the details!
I think $25 is a very good price, but I thought I would start there to get things going. I was thinking between $25-$35, but am leaning toward $25 to get started.
Julie
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Post by crazy4scraps on Oct 30, 2015 18:04:10 GMT
maryannscraps, I will be sure to let you know all the details! I think $25 is a very good price, but I thought I would start there to get things going. I was thinking between $25-$35, but am leaning toward $25 to get started. Julie Just remember, it is WAY easier to lower prices than it is to raise them. If you think down the road it's going to end up costing more you might be better off setting the price a little higher to start with and having a bit of a cushion than to find yourself strapped and stuck a few months in. If you really think you'll need the lower price to get them in the door initially, maybe you could offer some kind of a limited time special offer with the lower price but let them know up front that it's an introductory discount and what the real price will be later on so it's not a surprise when you do it. Then really blow them out of the water with a fantastic experience so they will feel like it will be worth paying the higher price for your crops after the "special" is up. |
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Post by LisaDV on Oct 30, 2015 19:16:10 GMT
That sounds like a fabulous deal! I'd pay easily pay $30 with lunch included for 14 hours. And I'm a cheapskate! It sounds fantastic!
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Post by gmcwife1 on Oct 30, 2015 19:25:50 GMT
One of my friends does a quarterly 12 hour crop. We go from 9-9. She provides a 6 ft table per person, lunch and dinner. Her menu is usually a soup or something for lunch and dinner is usually something easy with a salad. She also provides canned pop and bottle water. People also set up a snack table and just do community snacks.
She charges $40. and averages about 30 people. She tried doing it more often but there wasn't enough interest more often. We did have a rotating crop group that did monthly potluck crops in their houses. Those were usually 10-2.
Have fun with your crops!!!
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Post by freeatlast on Oct 30, 2015 19:34:46 GMT
I like the time and I'm ok with the cost. I'm one of those who would not eat your food no matter what you serve (food allergies) so I would pack my own meals and snacks. If you charged more, I would ask for a non-food option.
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Post by myboysnme on Oct 30, 2015 19:55:41 GMT
One of my favorite topics! OK, here goes. Try to find a church space that won't cost you much to rent it. Then you can keep your cost down. Crops need to be AT LEAST 9 am to 9 pm to be worth while for me. I don't care much about meals, but if you are going to charge you have to provide something.
I would charge $10 and provide drinks and snacks. If people want to bring something to share they can.
If you charge $15 it has to be at least a 12 hour crop and you provide either lunch or dinner. But people have such varied food preferences this is dicey. I go to several crops and coordinate fundraiser crops and we have people who can't eat tomatoes, people who can't eat dairy, people who don't eat meat, people who eat meat but not pork, people who are vegan and bring their own food, people on special diets, you name it.
So we usually have kind of a make your own salad bar type thing with some type of meat to add like shredded chicken.
Do you want to do this so you can crop or do you want to make money? If you want to make money then you will have to provide lunch and dinner and giveaways and such because once you go over $20 expectations are high. A fundraiser crop can generate more because people are giving a charitable contribution. I just don't think you are going to find regular attendees who can budget $30 or more for cropping on any kind of regular basis. That $30 can buy a lot of supplies.
I know it varies by location but I take it you want regular repeat attendees so don't price them out. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2015 20:34:13 GMT
I don't know, myboysnme, I'd happily pay $35 for 12 hours of uninterrupted scrapping time. Sounds reasonable for the area --Massachusetts is generally an expensive place to do anything. I don't care if I get fed -- as long as there are places to get something to eat nearby. I'd probably pack my own snacks and drinks so I could have what I like. It sounds like bliss to me -- a table to myself and no work. I'd definitely go every couple months, but I'm not sure I could get away for a full day once a month. |
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Post by myboysnme on Oct 30, 2015 21:22:02 GMT
I don't know, myboysnme, I'd happily pay $35 for 12 hours of uninterrupted scrapping time. Sounds reasonable for the area --Massachusetts is generally an expensive place to do anything. I don't care if I get fed -- as long as there are places to get something to eat nearby. I'd probably pack my own snacks and drinks so I could have what I like. It sounds like bliss to me -- a table to myself and no work. I'd definitely go every couple months, but I'm not sure I could get away for a full day once a month. I would pay that amount but not every week or even every month because I just can't swing that. For me it depends if she is trying to get a regular thing going. If she can find a core group to pay that and make it worth her while then no problem. Also I like to at least scrap some of the time when I do crops so I would not want to be in the kitchen preparing meals. |
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JustTricia
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,825
Location: Indianapolis
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Post by JustTricia on Oct 30, 2015 22:42:23 GMT
Honestly, I'd flip and provide dinner instead of lunch. At lunch they'll only be a couple of hours in and will be ready to get up and move around, but once they settle in and it gets closer and closer to end time people will start to panic about how much they didn't get done and want to work through. If they have to get up and leave the facility to get food I'd be afraid they'd start to wonder if it's worth it just to come back for a couple of hours and decide to leave at dinner time. They'll remember it the next time and decide $x isn't worth it if they didn't stay the full time.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Oct 31, 2015 0:58:54 GMT
I don't know, myboysnme, I'd happily pay $35 for 12 hours of uninterrupted scrapping time. Sounds reasonable for the area --Massachusetts is generally an expensive place to do anything. I don't care if I get fed -- as long as there are places to get something to eat nearby. I'd probably pack my own snacks and drinks so I could have what I like. It sounds like bliss to me -- a table to myself and no work. I'd definitely go every couple months, but I'm not sure I could get away for a full day once a month. I would happily pay that too, especially when I lived at my old house which didn't have any space to host friends. Even churches charge something to rent their spaces around here. I don't think there is anywhere that could be used for free other than someone's house. The church I used for a while when my friend and I hosted crops charged something like $150 for the day and we had to give them a cleaning deposit too that we wouldn't get back if we didn't clean everything and take all the bags of trash out at the end of the night. It was a nice room with good lighting though so it was worth it. When we did food, it was mostly premade stuff like lasagna where you just take the cover off, stick it in the oven and cook it. Now that my studio is pretty much set up (still a mess but I'm working on that), I have been trying to have my friends come over once a month on a Saturday. I usually try to do it on a weekend when DH isn't home or can watch DD so I get the time to myself, that way they can come over when they want and stay as late as they want. I'm lucky because I have a big room and big work tables so I can have 4-5 friends over and each person gets half of an 8' table if everybody shows up, but not everyone has that. I would still go somewhere else to crop sometimes if it was a good group of people and a fun time. |
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Post by canadianscrappergirl on Oct 31, 2015 15:28:59 GMT
I would pay $25 and if someone cooked for me bonus but it isn't a necessity. I would do a longer crop because for me to pack up all my stuff for 8 hrs isn't worth the hassle.
I hate sharing tables so a table to myself is a necessity and I don't like games or things where I feel I have to participate because sometimes I just don't want to be social because I am in the middle of something. I don't care about prizes or giveaways because 9/10 times I hate what I win because it isn't my style or is super old crap lol.
Good lighting is important or at least the ability to plug in a ott light from home and please no stairs to luge you stuff in or out of a building ugh. Comfy chairs are a must too so no metal folding chairs ugh.
I don't think you could charge much less then $20 at the least because you have to be able to cover the cost of the rental and incidentals like refreshments if you offer them. I have never been to a crop that was less then that and unless you get the building for free or you have a ton of scrappers don't undercut yourself and end up paying out of your own pocket for the expenses.
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Post by njinkerbelle on Nov 1, 2015 10:58:49 GMT
My local day crop is $45 and runs from 10AM till midnight with all meals and snacks included. You get 6 ft of scrapping space in a church hall.
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Post by salem on Nov 1, 2015 11:37:24 GMT
maryannscraps, I will be sure to let you know all the details! I think $25 is a very good price, but I thought I would start there to get things going. I was thinking between $25-$35, but am leaning toward $25 to get started. Julie Me too! Me too! I'm on the MA//NH border and haven't been to a crop in a very long time. I'd love to pull out the scrapping stuff and get going again. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2015 20:38:44 GMT
One of my favorite topics! OK, here goes. Try to find a church space that won't cost you much to rent it. Then you can keep your cost down. Crops need to be AT LEAST 9 am to 9 pm to be worth while for me. I don't care much about meals, but if you are going to charge you have to provide something.
When you go to a crop they are providing something to begin with...space, tables, electricity, lighting, heat, air conditioning...whatever...so that needs to be paid for...the rest is gravy.... I had a friend that just closed her crop space in CT because people didn't want to pay $20-$25.00 for a 12 crop that included use of her tools, cricut, etc. with drinks, coffee and....oh well...things are different all over. |
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,381
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Post by kitbop on Nov 3, 2015 20:59:41 GMT
Around here, $25 will get you an all day (12 hour) crop with 1 meal and snacks/drinks.
$15 is an evening crop with snacks/drinks (6-8 hours), no meals.
Have you considered doing something charitable to encourage people to come out for the first one?
Maybe donate proceeds to the food bank, and do a food drive that day too? Or the local SPCA and do a dog-food drive?
I'm always more willing to part with my money for a "cause". Especially trying a new crop/group. And if you get them there and they like the group, the set-up, the meal and the space, they would be more willing to come back.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Nov 3, 2015 21:14:44 GMT
One of my favorite topics! OK, here goes. Try to find a church space that won't cost you much to rent it. Then you can keep your cost down. Crops need to be AT LEAST 9 am to 9 pm to be worth while for me. I don't care much about meals, but if you are going to charge you have to provide something.
I had a friend that just closed her crop space in CT because people didn't want to pay $20-$25.00 for a 12 crop that included use of her tools, cricut, etc. with drinks, coffee and....oh well...things are different all over. I agree with this 100%. The other thing you're paying for is dedicated time to work on your pages and the ability to get your scrap on in a place that is away from all of your usual distractions. Yes, I can scrap at home for free and I have a really nice studio to work in whenever I want. But to get there I still have to walk past the sink/counter with dirty dishes in it, baskets of laundry waiting to be folded and put away, tumbleweeds of dog hair in the hallway that need to be vacuumed up, dogs that need to be let in and out multiple times a day, and a kid that at times will.not.leave.me.ALONE!!! Even if her dad is sitting five feet away from her doing NOTHING, she will come find me for every little thing.  Some days, I would be happy to have someone to pay just to not have to deal with any of that and work on my stuff in peace. Scrapping without distractions? PRICELESS! |
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Post by myboysnme on Nov 3, 2015 21:28:55 GMT
One of my favorite topics! OK, here goes. Try to find a church space that won't cost you much to rent it. Then you can keep your cost down. Crops need to be AT LEAST 9 am to 9 pm to be worth while for me. I don't care much about meals, but if you are going to charge you have to provide something.
When you go to a crop they are providing something to begin with...space, tables, electricity, lighting, heat, air conditioning...whatever...so that needs to be paid for...the rest is gravy.... I had a friend that just closed her crop space in CT because people didn't want to pay $20-$25.00 for a 12 crop that included use of her tools, cricut, etc. with drinks, coffee and....oh well...things are different all over. That's what I'm saying. People don't want to pay much any more. In my area and many others I know of the days of crop wait lists and commanding higher prices is over. The Cozy Crop House in Lancaster PA just offered a fully catered weekend including sleep accomodations for $150 - that is a big price reduction for All day/all night Fri Sat and Sun scrapping, 3 meals a day and snacks and sleeping, bathing, a store on site. Even CKC can't fill a crop anymore for $25 that used to be 5 people crammed into a round table - now you get your own space with plenty of empty tables. A few people on here say they would easily pay almost $50 but how often? Once a week? Once a month? Does the OP want to make money doing this or have a group to scrap with? If she wants to scrap, then she can't be cooking in the kitchen and hostessing people. If you can find a church to lend you their space for say $150, you need 15 people and charge $10 each. That is doable. Some community clubhouses will rent space. Some churches will allow scrapping as an outreach ministry. Two of the crops I go to are like that - free, bring a snack to share, donation basket if you feel so moved. I just need to know more about what the OP is looking to get out of the crops for herself. |
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jediannie
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Post by jediannie on Nov 4, 2015 0:29:41 GMT
For all-day crops I've been to that were benefit crops, they were generally $45-$60 and included meals & drinks & snacks and they were able to get the food & drinks donated because it was for a cause. If you're doing it for a profit, make sure you take into consideration how much the space will cost first, then try and budget food. One for-profit crop I used to go to was $75 if you register before a certain date, then $90 if you registered after that day. It was from 8 a.m.-midnight and they provided all meals & sodas/water/coffee. They had a local sandwich shop do sandwiches or salads for lunch, and had Olive Garden do pasta & salad for dinner. You also got a 6 ft table to yourself, which is great for a scrap-spreader like me!  |
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Post by stampbooker on Feb 12, 2016 23:34:23 GMT
Update #2: Oooops, I forgot to come back and update again with what I am doing! Thanks for all the input, it was very helpful. I decided to have my crops from 10:00-midnight and provide dinner and drinks. I will charge $30.00. I will be holding the crops monthly on the 3rd Saturday of each month. My first one is February 20th. The (not so) funny thing is that I have lived in the area for almost 5 years and never once found a crop to attend. I decided to start holding my own and in the last 2 months I have found about 5 different crops advertised! I guess the good news there is that it is still popular! I noticed that a couple people asked me before if I was doing this just for cropping opportunities or as a money making venture. I am doing it as a business and will be teaching classes and holding workshops in stamping and scrapbooking. I hope to eventually add sewing classes also. maryannscraps and salem I hope to see you there sometime! pm me for info. Julie |
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Post by mikklynn on Feb 13, 2016 1:01:50 GMT
I would happily pay $30 for an all day crop with dinner. Good luck!
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Post by lisacharlotte on Feb 13, 2016 1:40:14 GMT
I'm attending a 3 day crop at our LSS. It starts 11am on Friday and ends Sunday at 5pm. Cost is $50. Attachments:
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not sure what time it should end. I am planning on serving lunch, so if we end at 5:00 or 6:00, I wouldn't have to worry about dinner. Or I could go later say 10:00, then should I provide dinner too or would people prefer to go out or order in pizza or something? (There is a kitchen, so I can make and serve meals.) 
Some days, I would be happy to have someone to pay just to not have to deal with any of that and work on my stuff in peace.
