I headed to East Aurora, NY (new home for our weekend scrapbook retreats in 2016) for a quick meeting and to take some measurements of the ballroom. You'll be happy to hear that I confirmed that we have room for each cropper to have their own 6 foot banquet table! Now the trick will be finding a place to rent them from that has enough 6 foot banquet tables for our size group. The back up plan will be that we will use 8 foot banquet tables, with each cropper getting a 6 foot wide space for their own crop space.

While in East Aurora, I decided to explore the town a bit. I didn't have a lot of time, as I had to be home before the school bus dropped my kids off. So I only got to a few places, but I was very happy with what I saw! 

I spent some time in Vidler's 5 & 10 store! It was not nearly enough time... To be honest, no amount of time would have felt like enough. The store spans 4 buildings and two floors, and literally has a little bit of everything. Such a cool store that I look forward to visiting again and again! The best part is that it is an easy walk from the Hampton Inn!

Then I randomly selected a place to grab a quick lunch. I've heard that the food in East Aurora is known for being really good, but I was stopping by a tiny pizza place for a slice. I didn't have high expectations because pizza is pizza, right? Wow, was I wrong! It was so good!!

I had exactly 30 minutes left before I had to hit the road and get home, so I pulled up the Fisher-Price Toy Store (located at the Fisher-Price factory) on my phone and it was only 4 miles away. Perfect! Those of you with little ones to buy for, you must stop here! Since I was short on time, I didn't do much shopping, but I couldn't resist the wall of Little People - it was definitely the highlight for me!

All in all, a great trip and I'm excited to explore the town more in the Spring during our retreats. In case you haven't checked it out yet, details on our Spring Weekend Retreats can be found here.

I am happy (and relieved) to report that we were able to come up with great retreat packages for the Spring 2016 retreats!

When I first learned about the drastic price increase at Beaver Hollow, I sent out a poll. In the poll I indicated that switching to a new venue would be an option with an increase in price. Another option in the poll was to return to Watson Homestead where the pricing would stay the same based on a three night stay with two people per guest room. The results of the poll were split right down the middle with half of those who answered opting for a new venue and half opting for returning to Watson Homestead with no price increase. 

As I began looking around at new venues, I was starting to think that I may have been unrealistic in my hopes for pricing… I kept thinking, why is everything so expensive?! Not only were various venues more expensive than I had anticipated, but there was at least one major drawback with each place I had visited.

Fortunately, the stars aligned and I learned about the Hampton Inn in East Aurora, NY. Hampton Inns do not typically have large meeting spaces, so this venue had not been on my radar. Once I visited the Hampton Inn and saw what they had to offer, I knew it was the place for us!

What’s even better is that the Hampton Inn will accommodate two different retreats - one with all meals included and one where only breakfast is included and other meals are on your own. My hope is that by offering both retreats, everyone will be able to pick the package that suits them the best. You will see that prices range from $169 to $529, so there are package prices for everyone! 

Without further ado, here is the pricing for the Spring 2016 Retreats.

March 10 - 13, 2016 - All meals included
Prices as follows: 

Friday arrival, 2 night stay
1 per room - $419
2 per room - $299
3 per room - $269
4 per room - $249

Thursday arrival, 3 night stay
1 per room - $529
2 per room - $409
3 per room - $359
4 per room - $339

Please add 8.75% sales tax to all prices.


April 7 - 10, 2016 - Breakfast included
Prices as follows:
Friday arrival, 2 night stay
1 per room - $359
2 per room - $239
3 per room - $189
4 per room - $169

Thursday arrival, 3 night stay
1 per room - $489
2 per room - $309
3 per room - $249
4 per room - $209

Please add 8.75% sales tax to all prices.


More information can be found on the website.

The fall foliage at the Beaver Hollow Conference Center in October creates an amazing backdrop for a fun weekend of crafting, socializing, and enjoying lots of yummy food! These weekend retreats fill up quickly after registration opens. While this was the case for the upcoming retreat (October 15 - 18), we've just had a room open up. There is currently one guest room available, which can sleep up to 4 people. We also have several open seats in the crop room, so we can seat your group (up to 4 people) together as well.

Details about the retreat can be found here.

Pricing can be found here.

FAQ's can be found here.

Don't hesitate to contact me if you are interested in signing up or if you have any questions. This room will go fast!