Last Friday night the café filled up with rhinestones, glue and a whole lot of sparkle.
When we opened in Ascot Vale, the plan was never just to sell books. It was to build a room where readers actually spend time together. Craft nights were always on the list, and on Friday 4 September we finally got to run one.
An evening with The Booklover Society
We handed the night over to Sophia from The Booklover Society, who brought in her equipment, set the whole space up and hosted the workshop from start to finish.
Sophia is a romance reader through and through, and it shows in the way she runs a room. She's a creative soul who has built a genuine community around bookish events in Melbourne, and she was completely at home behind the counter of a romance bookstore. We adored having her here.
So what is book bedazzling?
Exactly what it sounds like. You take a book you love and you cover it in rhinestones until it looks like something worth putting on the top shelf.
Sophia talked everyone through it step by step, all the materials were provided, and nobody needed a single scrap of craft experience to walk in. Some guests brought a book from home. Others picked one off our shelves on the night.
A sold-out night
Tickets sold out, and every seat was taken. It was intimate and that turned out to be exactly right. Everyone had a book in front of them and glue on their fingers within about ten minutes, and the conversation didn't stop all evening.
The results were genuinely beautiful. Every single one came out different, and everybody went home with something they'd made themselves.
This is what the café is for. A room full of people who get it, where nobody has to explain why they love a book, because everyone there already does. Sophia gave us a night like that and we're so grateful she chose to run it with us.
What's next
The response was immediate, so we added a second Book Bedazzling Night on Friday 18 September and that one sold out too.
Book bedazzling is officially our new obsession, and there are more craft nights on the way. Keep an eye on our events page and follow us on @trilogyofromancebookcafe so you don't miss the next announcement. Follow @thebookloversociety_ too, for everything Sophia has coming up around Melbourne.
Need a book to bedazzle first? Shop online here or come and browse in person at 109 Maribyrnong Rd, Ascot Vale.
Thank you to Sophia, and to everyone who came and made it what it was. More of this, please.
