Hello, Friends!
Like a kid at
Christmas…here’s “Santa Sandra”…excited to bring you that special holiday
invitation you’ve been waiting for!
SSP 2024
convention registration is now open!!
I
hope you can join us for…
Registration and Fees:
• Registration fee for SSP's Magic, Mistletoe and Movies is $660 for
attendees who confirm with a deposit or payment in full by May 1st, and book a
hotel room in our room block. Registrations after May 1st will be an additional
$50.
• Registration
fee for those not staying at the host hotel is $725
• Flexible
payments can be arranged by request -- contact me to discuss.
• All
registrations should be paid in full by July 20th. Please notify me if this
becomes a problem.
• Registration fees are non-transferable.
• Please
understand that no refunds can be made, but cancellations can be converted to
absentee packages.
• Companion
requests are accommodated as space permits. Please contact me for companion
fees.
• We will not be
responsible for proxy registrations of any kind. The attendee is the only name
we recognize for the event and preordering fashions. They are responsible for
all payments and any necessary shipping.
Please note that any $$$ off coupons or gift certificates given at
convention must be redeemed at convention -- they are not valid if sent to
proxies.
Spaces are limited
and will be filled according to date and time stamp -- we fill up fast, so it's
important that you don't delay in emailing your registration requests!
To RSVP, please email dls6643@aol.com with Mistletoe Magic and Movies (or MM&M) RSVP in the
subject line.
Your email should
include: (I will remind you again of this at the end of this announcement)
Your confirmation with intent to register for convention
• Email address
(Including a second email address if you have one)
• Mailing
address
• Phone number
(Please also include a secondary phone number if you have one)
Payments:
• After emailing
your confirmation, a non-refundable deposit of $200 is due within 10 days to
hold your spot. If you have a problem making the deposit, it is important to
let me know before this deadline so we can discuss options.
• Though not a
necessity, it’s helpful if you would email me with the subject line “Mistletoe
Magic and Movies (or MM&M) deposit (or registration payment) sent“ once
payment has been mailed.
• Checks, money
orders or Zelle are accepted for payments. Zelle can be sent through my email
address, dls6643@aol.com. To make Zelle payments, check to see if your bank
accepts them. Then register and link it to your bank account. It’s very simple
to use – you can find instructions online or contact your bank for details. Zelle
only accepts debit cards or direct payments through bank accounts.
• A $35 fee
will be added to payments other than Zelle/cash/check/money order. If you need
to pay by credit card, contact me to discuss.
Please send checks or
money orders to:
Sandra Stillwell -
Mistletoe Magic and Movies (or MM&M)
173 N Main
New Haven, KY 40051
Attendee Mistletoe Magic and Movies registration will include:
• Saturday evening
opening reception
• One - two breakfast presentations
• One lunch
• Two dinners
• Table gifts
• Fabulous programs …and a very special guest speaker!
• Movie breaks, surprises, helper drawings, and lots of
fashionable dolly fun!!
• And certainly not
least...a gorgeous holiday wardrobe, created especially for your 16"
doll's festive weekend of parties and fun!
We make every effort
to have all souvenir fashions at convention, however there are times things are
delayed due to circumstances beyond my control. In that event, items will be
shipped to participants as soon as they are available.
Absentees:
A limited number of
Absentee registrations are available:
• These will be
filled on a first come basis, according to date and time.
• The absentee
registration fee is $695, including shipping/handling to US addresses.
International shipping will be higher.
• Flexible
payments can be arranged on request.
To reserve your
absentee package, please email dls6643@aol.com with ABSENTEE MM&M RSVP
in the subject line. Follow the same RSVP and payment instructions as for
attendees, above.
• Absentee
packages include all fashions given to attendees. While we will make every
effort to include convention table gifts, they cannot be guaranteed.
• Absentee
registrants also have the opportunity to sign up in advance for any tour
souvenir at the same price as attendees, as well as 1st opportunity (after
attendees) to purchase in stock fashions or place orders for the convention
collection before opening sales to the general public.
• Absentee
registrants get advance registration privileges for the 2025 convention.
Hotel and Airport Information
I’m delighted to
announce our convention hotel is the beautiful Renaissance Waterford Oklahoma
City.
I could not have found a better home for our 2024 SSP
holiday celebration… Everyone is SO friendly there, and each staff member I met
is enthusiastically looking forward to hosting us for the holidays!
This gorgeous four
star hotel is offering SSP attendees a fabulous rate of only $139 + tax
(currently 14.13%) including breakfast for up to two people, plus $10 for each
additional room guest. This special group rate is valid Friday, August 9th
through Wednesday, August 14th. Please contact me if you need a room outside of
these dates.
Less than 13 miles
(about 20 minutes) from Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers airport, the hotel has
complimentary parking for those driving.
Room reservations can
be made by calling the hotel at (405) 848-4782 or online, using this link: Book your group rate for Sandra Stillwell Presents Attendees.
The cut–off date for hotel reservations is July 31st, but I
recommend you book as soon as possible, as rooms are limited.
If you have any problems booking your room, please contact
me!
Convention "Helper" Donations:
Unfortunately, registration fees rarely fully cover expenses
-- and this year's registration is no exception. So, that is where helper
drawings come in! And, in addition to being a HUGE help towards offsetting
extra expenses, they are always such great FUN!!
Dolls, fashions,
accessories, repaints, dolly "spa" days or gift certificates are only
a few ideas! New or well loved, they all add to the fun! Donations of all types
and sizes are welcomed and greatly appreciated - including "people"
prizes your fellow collectors will personally enjoy!
You do not need to attend convention to donate a helper or
door prize!
Helpers can be brought to convention. If you'd prefer to
mail them ahead of time, please send them to:
Att: Melissa Martinez
Guest: Sandra Stillwell
The Renaissance Waterford Oklahoma City Hotel
6300 Waterford Blvd
Oklahoma City, Ok 73118
We've had such
phenomenal helper tables the past few years -- and SO much fun drawing for all
the "loot" -- let's make it our goal to continue the tradition and
have a repeat performance this year!
We do not need advance notice of donations, but if you know
now that you have helpers and/or door prizes, it will help us plan table space
if you could email to confirm your donation.
Table seating, table gifts and special meal needs:
If you have friends you would like to sit with, please send
your request as soon as possible to dls6643@aol.com, with "MM&M table
seating request" in the subject line. Though we make every effort to honor
seating requests, please understand we cannot always do so.
Because certain
details factor into table seating, our numbers can vary between 8-10 guests per
table, and are subject to change at any time.
If you are doing
table gifts, please plan for ten -- you can give any extras to friends who
aren't seated with you or donate them to be used as door prizes!
We realize that table
gifts are a long time tradition enjoyed by many -- but they can also be a
burden for some. We do not want to interfere with any of your fun, so table
gifts will be left to the discretion of each individual attendee and/or table
-- but please give any such goodies in the fun spirit they are intended and
understand that not everyone will reciprocate.
If you have special
food requirements, please let me know in your RSVP. The hotel will do their
best to accommodate them. It's a good idea to follow up with me right before
convention to be sure your special needs have been addressed.
Tours (If links do not work, copy/paste it into the browser)
All tours are
tentatively scheduled and subject to change, depending on the number of
participants.
Our date pattern has changed, so our traditional (optional)
Thursday tour will be on Saturday this year. (Agenda and price TBD). We will
also have tours on Sunday and Tuesday if there is enough interest.
Our Saturday tour
will be a visit to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, where we will be treated to
a not-to-be-missed private tour of the Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume
Designer“ exhibition, with a “first hand” narrative by a very special
“celebrity” tour guide! Over 70 costumes
and other artifacts spanning the iconic designer’s 50 year career will be on
display…and we might even hear a few sensational secrets about the Hollywood
leading ladies who wore them!
In addition to the
fabulous Edith Head exhibition, the Museum of Art is also home to a dazzling
display of one of the world’s largest collections of Chihuly art glass and
other magnificent works of art!
www.okcmoa.com/edith-head-hollywoods-costume-designer-view-next-summer/
Sunday, we are planning a group “day out” with
transportation included. Our tour stops are not yet finalized, and Oklahoma
City has lots of fun and interesting things to do, so I would love your
feedback on what you’d most like to see… Suggestions are welcomed!
A few options are:
• National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum –
No trip to Oklahoma is complete without experiencing this
fantastic, one of a kind museum celebrating “home on the range” cowboys, rodeo
queens and icons of the Silver Screen! Impressive, unique and nostalgic, it
will surely bring out the inner child cowboy or cowgirl in us all!
https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/
• First Americans Museum
-- Further expanding on western heritage is this majestic, brand-new
museum honoring Indigenous Native American Tribes, in partnership with the
Smithsonian. It was not yet open when we did our site visit to OKC in October,
but from all accounts I have heard, this landmark museum is spectacular and
awe-inspiring.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/brand-new-museum-oklahoma-city-honors-indigenous-people-at-every-turn-180978742/
• Oklahoma History Center – Located next door to the
Governor’s Mansion and across the street from the Oklahoma State Capitol, this
Smithsonian Affiliate tells the story of Oklahoma’s rich and adventurous
history. Included in the museum’s vast archives is the Historical Society’s
fabulous costume and textile collection, featuring fashions worn by Oklahoma’s
society ladies.
( We may organize a curator’s tour of the costume archives,
and there are tours offered at the Capitol and possibly the Governor’s Mansion)
https://www.okhistory.org/historycenter/
• Tuesday, following our farewell breakfast, we’re planning a
road trip to tour the historic Marland Mansion and Estate, the majestic home of
millionaire E.W. Marland, a U.S. Congressman and 10th Governor of Oklahoma.
Completed in 1928, the opulent 55-room Italian Renaissance Villa is an
originally furnished architectural masterpiece, recognized as one of “America’s
Castles”.
Our private tour guide will share the fascinating, sad but
scintillating story of the colorful oil baron, his family, the oil boom days in
Oklahoma, and the magnificent showcase known as the “Palace on the Prairie”.
Time permitting, we may also visit Marland’s Grand Home and
museum, the first home of the Marland’s in Oklahoma.
https://www.marlandmansion.com/
Important Tour Note: The Marland Mansion is approximately 1
hour 30 minutes from our hotel…but well worth the trip! (We will do our best to book a bus with a DVD
player so you can watch a movie on the drive – or catch up on some sleep!) They
are closed on Sunday, which is why we have planned our visit for Tuesday.
If enough people are interested in changing days, I will see
if they’ll book us on Sunday, but it’s doubtful.
However, the Museum of Art is open on Sunday, so if interest
dictates, I will look into doing the Marland Mansion tour on Saturday and the
Museum of Art on Sunday.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested
in going, and which days you prefer.
This Marland Mansion tour is a must-do experience!
So...to RSVP, please send me...
• Your
confirmation with intent to register for convention
• Email address
(Including a second email address if you have one)
• Mailing
address
• Phone number
(Please also include a secondary phone number if you have one)
The information below is also needed, but can be sent at a later time:
• Do you have
special dietary requirements?
• List any
tablemates you’d like to sit with – If your table is already organized, please
tell me this.
• Will you be
donating a helper or helpers?
• Tour options
you'd like to visit from the above list, or others
• Confirm if you
are planning to join us for the Sat/Sun/Tues tours outlined above
•Do you have a
preferred day for the Marland Mansion tour? Which day?
• What days/dates
you are planning to stay at the convention hotel, and the names of any
roommates.
Final Holiday Musings...'cause I just can't wait for it to be CHRISTMAS with you....
Everyone has their
own cherished memories of holidays and traditions, for example...
My favorite childhood
Christmas memories are of one glorious green tree glistening with decorations,
and nearby, a pastel-colored flocked
tree that was just my size. Sometimes I couldn’t choose just one color, so we
had two coordinating trees on either side of the entry! The doorway was hung
with pretty colored velvet stockings my dear Mother made… usually with a pretty
girl and poodle, accented by a touch of sparkle! Packages were adorned with
pretty pictures cut from magazines or greeting cards and tied with tinsel,
satin or velvet ribbon. I loved them so much I very carefully unwrapped each
package so we could reuse the wrapping from year to year!
Thanks for indulging me with some happy Christmas musings! I
would love to incorporate some of your fun holiday memories, too!
If you could please
respond to a few short questions below, it will help me in doing this… and it
will fill our heads with cool “CHRISTMAS” thoughts in anticipation of our
AUGUST holiday celebration! 😊
• What special traditions or fun ways to
celebrate the Christmas holidays do you have?
• Do you have
any favorite holiday treats?
• What are your
favorite Christmas songs?
• Favorite
Christmas movies? Favorite fashions in those movies?
• How do your
dolls like to dress for the holidays?
• What are your
favorite Edith Head movies and costumes?
• Are there any
holiday games you enjoy?
• Other holiday
related details you’d like to mention that I may have left out?
Please send me your
favorite childhood Christmas photo (or photos)…the sooner the better.
Also…Nothing says Christmas fun more than special jammies to
wait for Santa in, so be dreaming of your Christmas PJs for convention!
And, speaking of FUN…Santa says we will have a gift exchange
you’ll want to participate in, so be thinking of a great gift for your fellow
collector! (LIMIT $25) And remember to wrap it pretty -- or imaginatively! 😊
(There may be some fun games and little "surPRIZES" associated
with these)
SSP conventions were
born from my love of dolls and vintage fashion, and the desire for friends to
meet and “play” together. My goal has always been for everyone to feel
included. Our 2024 “Christmas” theme was born from my belief that every day
truly can be like Christmas! The idea was conceived from thoughts of beauty and
joyous feelings surrounding the holiday season, no matter how one celebrates.
In closing...
I can hardly wait to see everyone in August to share some
SSP Mistletoe, Magic & Movies with you!
The more the merrier…so please tell your friends who might
want to join us that they'll want to get their RSVP requests into Santa before
it’s too late!With Holiday Hugs,
Santa Sandra XXOO
May we never be too old to believe in Christmas Magic!
