Blogmania 2010!!

YAY! I am officially a sponsor of Blogmania 2010! So excited :) Y'all know how new I am to blogging so if you asked me about Blogmania a few months ago you would've heard a big "HUH??" ...but thanks to Nicole of The Two Savvy Sisters I think I got it all figured out!

What is Blogmania?? This is how it was explained to me:

"Blogmania is a two day BLOG GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA, scheduled for September 15th and 16th, it is going to be FABULOUS. Over 100 blogs are designing giveaways that can be won on those two days only. No giveaway will be valued at less than $100.00, and many are much, much higher."

So, Nicole contacted me last week on Etsy...

"I am in LOVE with your hair bows and items, and think they would be an excellent match for the 'Party Like a Princess!' themed giveaway I am putting together for my blog's participation."

How sweet is she? Obviously I was super excited! We've been talking ever since about how great we think Blogmania is going to be. (and she's been soo extremely patient with me trying to fill me in on all the details!)

I gotta say...head on over to her shop, The Two Savvy Sisters and check out some of her items, you'll be glad you did! She has invitations, banners, note cards, you name it! SUPER CUTE!! Follow her blog too so you won't miss out!!

There are some FANTASTIC other sponsors for the "Party Like a Princess" giveaway too. Prizes include a huge party package from The Two Savvy Sisters, a birthday outfit, a tutu, and birthday bows (from me!) How great would it be to win this for your little girl's birthday party??!! Read up more on the sponsors and prizes here!

So mark it on your calendar. September 15th & 16th...BLOGMANIA 2010! Start getting excited....I think you can tell I already am!! :) :)

Brand Spankin' New!

Ideas of new items for my shop go through my head all day...finding the time to actually make them come "alive" is my problem! I have recently recruited my awesome Mom on board for Emmy's Closet!! She is such a great sewer and crocheter and we're having a lot of fun coming up with new creations! She is obviously the one behind the travel bow holders...(lord knows I can't sew like that!) and our most recent additions are the ribbon & fabric pacifier clips!! It has been really exciting to finally add a "boy" item to my shop and I've actually had some "boy" sales already too, so that was really cool!

Here are some of our fabric paci clips: (and I just added a bunch more today!) These clips are made with an elastic loop making them "universal" and can be used with any pacifier!





Here are some of our ribbon paci clips:


Check out these other ways to use a paci clip! Snack traps, toys, sippy cups...etc!


We have several more "works in progress" that we can't wait to finish up! Stay tuned...



Oh and real quick...GUESS WHAT? You know that post a few back about giveaways??!! And how I LOVEE to enter them? Well, I WON the kidorable umbrella one! So, Ry picked out his own little pirate umbrella this morning, can't wait to get it! See, I'm telling you, it's so easy to win free (adorable) stuff!

I just entered this giveaway for some great BornFree products! Their new cup and some pacifiers. I just recently stumbled upon Momma's Review, super cute blog & giveaways...go follow!

Alrighty, I'll let you in on one more ;) and this one I'm DYING to win. Momma Drama is hosting a giveaway for Piggy Paint. All natural nail polish for little girls...what a great idea and such cute colors!! Go enter here to win a $15 gift certificate!! I've become obsessed with painting Em girl's toes so this would be awesome! Fingers (or should I say toes) crossed!

Don't forget to come stop by Emmy's Closet to celebrate Christmas in JULY!! Now until Sunday at midnight take 20% off all orders over $20!! Mention "blogxmas" at message to seller during checkout. Happy Shopping!

EC goes international!!

Yippee!

For some reason the thought of shipping internationally always freaked me out a bit. Customs, cost, shipping times, insurance, extra forms...AHH! I just didn't know what to expect and thought it would cost way too much to ship overseas. Yeah, so turns out I was way off! I was contacted several times before and always, very reluctantly, told them I currently didn't ship internationally. Last week, I was contacted again, this time from someone in the UK that wanted a travel bow holder. (you know how excited I am about those travel bow holders!!) I was on my way to the post office anyway so I asked her if she would mind if I priced it out and got back to her. She agreed! To my surprise the package was just a little bit more than my regular shipping to the US! Long story short...I wrote her back, told her the deal, set up a custom listing, and now EC is in the UK! That gave me that little push I needed to switch my shop around to ship EVERYWHERE!

(Thanks to Heather & Amity for your international shipping advice...I really appreciate it!)

Currently EC has gone to 26 states (my latest Hawaii!) and 1 country!

They say it's your birthday...

Probably my favorite part of planning my kid's birthday parties is the goody bags! Love finding good deals (I usually hit up The Dollar Tree, The Christmas Tree Shops and Target dollar bins) and coming up with cute little stuff that goes with the theme.

Let's see, Ry's 1st was all about Beach balls and all things "summery". I found beach pails at The Dollar Tree and I personalized them for all the kids. This is making me think now...but it was filled with bubbles, a beach ball and a few other "summer" things.

His 2nd was a Jungle! I found everything for this one at Oriental Trading. (LOVE!) I think every kid left with a zillion monkeys, lions and zebras after that party!


His 3rd was Fire truck. This was fun, found plates and cups at Party City, firetruck crayons from Etsy, wooden fire truck from Target $$ bins, some tattoos, books, etc. If it had a fire truck, I got it!

Notice the favor tags from Chickabug! ADORABLE STUFF!

and of course his sister had to be sportin' a fire truck clip!



Now, sweet Emmy girl has had only one birthday so far and it was a garden party. Flowers, butterflies, ladybugs, and all things girly! Found stuff on Oriental trading, Etsy (ladybug crayons), Target & Christmas Tree Shop :)

Favor tags from Chickabug, again :)


Ya know what else is great as a party favor??? Hmm...BOWS! Here are some bows I've made as party favors:

Polka Dot Party:

Hello Kitty Party:


Em's Garden Party:



Ry's Firetruck Party:


Jungle Party:


Ladybug Party:Twilight Party:

And let's not forget the birthday girl! Here are some great options for her:

Cupcake Boutique Bow

Cupcake Tuxedo Bow with RhinestoneDesign your own Cupcake Bow

Contact me if you have any ideas for birthday parties and are looking for some cute favors for the chickies! I can gift wrap them up real cute ;) and I also offer a discounted price for party favors over 10 :)

Here are some other fab places for you to check out:

Chickabug's shop on Etsy. She offers amazing invites, labels, DIY printables, banners, favor tags, water bottle labels, you name it!! Best customer service hands down!

Chickabug's Blog: Find great party ideas and wonderful pictures to browse through!

Party Like A Kid: This site is brand new and run by Jill of Baby Rabies. Find more great party tips and pictures here too! You can even send in your ideas and get feedback from others! Oh and don't forget to check out the ads on the right side...hehe! My first official ad space ;)

Some fab giveaways...

Oh, how I LOVEEE giveaways!! I probably enter 20 a day! (not kidding) AND...best part is...I've actually won two of them! An adorable set of girly burp cloths from Jackaroo. Erin and I have become "internet friends" and she is awesome! Her and her sister are super creative and have the CUTEST blankets and burp cloths around and check out these play canopies...so beautiful! Follow along with Erin & Jill on their blog!

Second, I won (are you ready for this) TEN packs of pull ups!! TEN! I was soo excited when I won this one it's ridiculous-ha! I ended up buying them for Emmy because Ry, my big man, is now dry through the night...phew! So whenever Emmy girl is ready, so are her princess pull ups!

Wanna enter some giveaways yourself? First GET ON TWITTER! Just search #giveaways, and you'll find TONS! Also, start following some blogs...people are doing them all the time..great exposure for us "crafters"!

I'll get ya started and let you in on two giveaways that I am currently entered in!

First one: Bummas Cloth Wipes. These are seriously adorable! I love the color choices...so bright and fun! Life with the Lebedas did a review on these and is hosting a giveaway RIGHT NOW...ends 7/22! Don't miss out! It's easy to enter. Just remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. Let's just say if you follow them on twitter it's worth 2 entries. So on their blog leave 2 comments. "I follow you on twitter-entry 1" AND "I follow you on twitter- entry 2" There are usually TONS of different ways to enter...what the heck, do them all!

Second one: Also on Life with the Lebedas blog. (LOVE this blog...great giveaways!) It's for a Kidorable umbrella, ends 7/20. These are also super cute! I have had my eye on the cat umbrella and boots for Em and the dog umbrella and boots for Ry for a longg time. When I saw this giveaway, I had to get in on it! GO ENTER!

Last, but certainly not least: MY GIVEAWAY!! Going on RIGHT NOW on Momma Drama blog. Lara is awesome, she does great reviews and giveways on her blog. Follow her on twitter and facebook too for some more updates. Something new all the time! I am so happy she did a review of EC! :) Thanks, Lara! GO ENTER!! :)



Ok, I think I've overdone the "!!!!" and then " :) " for one night! :) (there I go again) Sometimes, I have to go back through emails and change exclamation marks to periods so people don't think I'm nuts...but really, I'm THAT excited!

I'm off to watch a movie with the hubs!

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR GIVEAWAYS!!

Sunshine for Suzanne Update!

For the month of June (actually until July 6th since I was away for part of June) I decided to donate 10% of my sales to Sunshine for Suzanne. Suzanne, the aunt of a very close friend of mine, has been battling breast cancer and I thought this would be a good way for us to help her win this fight! You can read up more on Sue here. She is so inspiring and has an amazing outlook on life, and somehow finds a way to end every one of her posts with words of encouragement for US! You go Suzanne!

The final total is $42.45!! Hope this will help her out in any way possible :) Thank you SOO much to those of you who bought bows during this time. I really appreciate it!

:)

July...already?

So you ever have something you really want to do but you put it off for a day, then another day, then a week, next thing you know you just don't do it?! Well, that's what happened everyday in the month of June! I had so many things to write about but between our family trip to Maine, birthdays, 4th down the shore, etc... I just never got around to it! UGH! Was going to blog from Maine about our trip but I'll just say this, we had a BLAST! I love my crazy family and am so happy for Anna & Christopher! Congrats on your marriage! Here's me enjoying some Lobstah! Before that it was Ry's 3rd birthday!

Another great time :) He had tons of fun at his firetruck birthday party! Can't believe my baby is THREE! Check out this awesome shirt my mom made Ry for his big day! Am thinking of selling them...any thoughts?

Oh and check out Heather from Chickabug's blog featuring all her cute stuff at his party! Then this past weekend ALL of us were at the shore house for the 4th. And by ALL of us I mean, 8 adults, 1 teenager, 3 kids, 2 toddlers, 1 baby and 2 dogs...FUN TIMES!

Now on to Emmy's Closet! I finally got my newest item up in my shop...Travel Bow Holders! We worked on these for a while and I am so happy with how they came out :) I used it for the first time with Emmy's bows when we went to Maine and it was great! (If I do say so myself) When I packed all her clothes I just took a bow for each outfit and clipped it right in the holder, I also had her name bracelet in the pocket. Loved being organized. I used to just put them in a little tupperware...so not cute! There is a variety of fabrics (had so much fun picking them out) and they are lined with white minky. The inside has 2 strips of fabric to clip your bows on and there is an inner pocket too!

I recently contacted Lara at Momma Drama to see if she would be willing to review my bows. I was so excited that she agreed and would host a giveaway too! I love reading her blog, she has great reviews and giveaways all the time, plus she's a Jersey gal, so I couldn't wait to get her bows out to her! I'm thrilled that she loved the bows and I thought it would be a great opportunity to spread the word about my travel bow holders and offer one, plus some bows to one of her readers! Go enter the giveaway right now!! Don't miss out, it is open until July 20th! Share with your friends too!

Ok, have a bunch more to update on, so I will be writing again VERY soon! No more of this "one post a month" stuff anymore! ;)

Gnite!