Embarrassing myself

Welcome back from the long Thanksgiving weekend! Did you get filled up? Did you watch the parade and football? Did you shop on black friday? Did you make a fool of yourself in front of extended family? I answered "yes" to all of the above!

So we made the drive from Indiana to Alabama on Wednesday morning and stayed through Friday evening. We spent Thursday with waaaay too many cooks in the kitchen. Hubby & BIL smoked the turkeys and the ladies all did the rest. So this resulted in black turkey, runny green bean cassarole and over-garlic-ed mashed potatoes.

So then Black Friday rolled around. Now, I'm not one to get up at 2 am and elbow people, but I do like a good deal. So at about 7 we drove to the Huntsville Target to see what was left. So we got there, and I was able to pick up a few things on sale to cross that last few people off my list (yeah! I'm done!). (HERE COMES THE FOOL PART!) As we are strolling through the boys' clothing section looking at pj's. I proceed to hit a pole with my cart. This pole has a fire extinguisher strapped to it. I must mention that I am deathly afraid of these things. Growing up, my father had them all over the house. They were big and heavy and he always told me to stay away from them because they could explode. Well, I'm trying to get around this pole with my cart and to top strap breaks and the F.E. is just kind of dangling there. As I reach for it, the other one breaks and there it goes! It crashes on the floor, explodes and starts spewing the white chemical everywhere. There just happen to be 3 Target workers standing there that are on their walkies in a flash "We have an emergency!" Hubby and I are tripping all over each other trying to get away from the still spewing FE. He grabs up the cart and pulls it along behind us (we did just work really hard to find all that stuff!). He asks me if I really wanted those PJ's for our son. "Um, yes" I say meekly. He pulls his shirt over his nose and runs back for them. At this point, the entire back half of the store is filled with white dust clouds. I can't see him. Will he be able to breath? Will security grab him up? Will he get the pj's?

He emerges and we high-tail it to the checkout while the workers are still dristracted. We pay for all of our items. While laughing at ourselves, we hear people all around us talking about it. We can still see the white clouds from the checkout just gettting thicker and thicker. I snap a quick pic with my iphone and we are outta there! I am so glad that I don't live there and I only embarrassed myself in front of my in-laws. Have you every totally made a fool of yourself at a holiday function? Please share and make a comment!

Thank you to our Soldiers!

Good morning! THANK YOU to all our veterans today. We often take for granted the people that most deserve our gratitude. Make sure you take time today to kiss a soldier! Enjoy these lovely little patriotic finds from Etsy. Please leave a comment and let us know if you are celebrating today!

Little Gobblers

Call me crazy, but when the holidays come around, one of my favorite things is to dress my 2 boys in matching outfits. Only problem is that they are 7 and 1, that's a big range when you are talking about finding matching outfits. But they are boys so they always get the shaft when it comes to cute clothes anyways. So they usually end up in "coordinating" outfits instead of "matching" outfits. Hey, don't mock me, they make for awesome photos! Today, I've gathered a collection of too cute handmade items for your little gobblers for this Thanksgiving.

Preparing for Holiday Sales - Part 1

(stockings by rikrak.etsy.com)

Well, it's officially November and I already feel behind preparing for Christmas season. Being a retail stationery shop, Christmas Cards are a huge thing for us and a big chunk of our fiscal income. But preparing for Christmas while the kids are still on summer break just isn't my style. However, I am determined to be prepared this year! (don't I say that every year?) This list of ways to prepare for the holiday season are gathered from the awesome members in the Etsy Forums. Below you will find the first 10 of the growing list. Please make a comment and let me know what you are currently doing to prepare for this busy Holiday Season!

1. Buy plenty of packaging now. It's never fun to get twenty orders but realize halfway through packaging that you only have 2 mailers. Or, put Uline in your favorites. Their shipping time is A-MAZING. RoyalMailers.com is another great one and they were to my house incredibly fast...5% off with code "etsy" and free shipping. And of course, check our Etsy supply shop for cute ribbon and such for your packaging.

2. Keep your supplies plentiful. Some of us do make-to-order, and this is especially important. Even if you don't, it's important to keep the supplies for popular items that you do remake in stock. You never know when you might be featured on the latest popular blog and get deluged by orders.

3. Start fiddling with your work schedule now. You might be putting in longer hours, but figure out how you can get more work time in at times that AREN'T well into what should be snooze time. Start enlisting your family for help.

4. Decide on a holiday shipping schedule. Just when is it that you'll stop shipping? Remember, USPS can be slow in December.

5. Send out a newsletter to your mailing list letting them know of your holiday schedule. You don't want your loyal customers missing those important dates.

6. Sell Gift Certificates. Have you thought about making sure gift certificates are listed and ready for sale? These can be helpful this time of year for those late shoppers. Offer them via email, allowing your and your customer a way to get past slower delivery times. For more about gift certificates, read this.

7. Do some Christmas shopping now. If you haven't thought of it, suggest swaps to a few favorite Etsian. There'a a great list of traders here: http://etsytraders.blogspot.com/

8. Don't forget ordering your cards, labels, etc. I always do a Christmas calendar and design my own cards, but I always have to cram it in while I'm buried in work. Then, I run into the same shipping problems that my customers do. I'm telling myself to avoid that trap this year. (And I hope I do!)

9. Start posting Christmas items if you haven't already. They're selling right now--really!

10. Make some meals ahead and freeze them. You might need them, and it will certainly help take some of the pressure off you.

Stay tuned for the next segment. Don't forget to leave us a comment on what you are doing now to prepare for this holiday season!

Pack your Flip Flops!

Hot off the press brand new wedding invitation design now available! I'm calling it the Island Getaway. It starts off with a so cute Save The Date that features the wording, "You are cordially invited to...our honeymoon?"

Then comes the gorgeously festive pocketfold invite. featuring palm frond patterned cardstock (it's shimmery!). All of your wedding details are tucked neatly inside the pocket.

Your guests will being rushing to rsvp so that they can start packing their flip flops and sunscreen!

It's cold outside right now, but this invitation sure warms me up! Color & design can change to fit your event's style. This invitation is available for purchase at our Etsy store here.