What I love about selling on ETSY

I love selling on Etsy as a market place for handmade goods. Almost everything I make is a custom item so craft fairs are not the best venue for me. I also don't have a lot of space for a large amount of stock so again Etsy allows me to take an order, purchase the supplies and make the item. That also gives me the freedom to customize the product for customers.

I just received an order last week for five, yes five Thing shirts! The person that ordered them is planning family portraits. What makes this portrait so special? Well, Mom and Dad (Thing 1 & Thing 2) are going to be holding up a Thing 5 onesie to announce they are expecting a third baby! What a great way to announce their exciting news, and I get to be a small part of the announcement! 

Here is a link to the listing:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/154157429/thing-1-or-thing-2-shirt-or-any-number

I am currently working on a listing for "Thing Mom" & "Thing Dad"

Stop by the closet and check out my other listings.

Glitter Tulle! What was I thinking???

I know what I thought, Oh this will be perfect for the girls' tutu's. our nephew and his wife just had their third daughter! I have noticed the cute trend to dress your kiddos up for theme inspired photos, and have been considering offering them in the shop. What better guinea pigs, I mean test marketers than my younger hipper Nephew and Wife? Well offered to make them for their three girls as props for pictures. I love the way the outfits turned out.

What I didn't love was the glitter tulle! When I was at the craft store purchasing tulle for the project I discovered they had glitter tulle in the colors I needed for the tutu's. I was very excited and loved the idea of making them sparkly little tutus. When I started cutting the tulle for the tutus I discovered the glitter fell off of the tulle in incredible amounts. I looked like a glitter bomb went off in my craft room. This is what it looked like after cutting the smallest tutu- the baby is a newborn and her tutu is so stinking tiny and cute. Don't worry the craft room wasn't the only thing covered in glitter- you can just call me sparkles! LOL

That was just after one, by the time I was finished with all three it was a huge mess. It was so worth it in the end! They turned out so cute. I am offering them in my shop, but I am sorry they will be made with glitter free tulle!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/154152616/thing-costume-twin-set-or-phot-prop-set

 

Of course I couldn't make something so cute for the girls and leave out my sweet little Grandson! I whipped these up to go with his Thing 1 t-shirt! Oh please excuse the clutter on the table and don't judge me. -lol

Pinterest Fail!

Okay I love me some Pinterest! But a few of the ideas have been total failures.

Like the glow sticks cut open to make glow in the dark bubbles, this was our experience as well- Fail!

http://scrappingartistry.com/2012/07/01/sunday-silly-summer-fun-glow-bubbles/
It seemed to make the bubble solution to thin and they just broke and we couldn't successfully blow a bubble. Or the Mountain Dew glow-stick bottles!  I tried this with a classroom full of students. Fail!

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch/?v=8CbE01hyjig&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%2F%3Fv%3D8CbE01hyjig
At least I suspected that this wouldn't work. I did it any how and we came up with a hypothesis and discussed that it was an experiment and they were acting as scientists. Most importantly not all experiments are successful. We also created a graph of predictions, will it work or fail. So in as a learning experience it was a success and I had purchased glow sticks as a back up- Win!

But this one is my biggest disappointment to date has got to be the biggest disappointment:

http://www.2wired2tired.com/fun-kids-craft-diy-sharpie-plates

We tried this in our classroom for Mothers Day. It kind of works, but when we checked on the plates 

after cooling it definitely wasn't permanent. The sharpie came of with very little wiping. if you want to use it for cookies or  something along those lines I am sure it would be okay. I just wouldn't want anything of substance that will cause wiping of any effort! It is possible that it works better with different glazes, after all we used cheap dollar tree plates. We are on a very tight budget for classroom activities. The kids still had a great time making them. We also added instruction that the plates are for display only. My kids could give me a pet rock for Mothers Day and I would still love it!

If you would like to try this and want have a permanent usable plate invest in some of the ceramic pens that are also oven bake.  I have also heard that that washing the prewashing the plates with a soft scrubby helps the sharpie adhere better. Sorry I didn't get to take any pictures of the plates the kiddos made. We had a really crazy afternoon thanks to Mothers Day and Teacher Appreciation Week. 

Check out my Pinterest boards for some of my favorite finds:
http://pinterest.com/kikicloset/boards/

Dinner tonight?

What's for dinner? As moms we answer this question hundreds of times a year! I found this recipe on Pintrest a while back and my family really enjoyed it, I served it over rice.  http://easy-cookbook-recipes.com/slow-cooker-teriyaki-chicken/  
I did make a few changes. First, I used frozen chicken tenders and placed them in the crock pot frozen. Second, while the rice was cooking I removed two Tablespoons of the sauce and stirred it into two Tablespoons of cornstarch, turn the slow cooker on to high and stir the cornstarch mixture into the chicken. This thickens the sauce nicely. The last change I made was adding in a bag of cooked broccoli. Again I am trying to get dinner on the table so I used frozen steam fresh.

If you enjoyed this recipe check out my Pinterest board of slow cooker recipes and my other boards. 

http://pinterest.com/kikicloset/crockpot-recipes/

I think of my life as semi homemade. I try to make wholesome healthy meals using mostly organic foods. A lot of my fresh items come from our local farmer's market.  My family loves Chinese take out, but I don't love the price or the additives. This is one way I try to keep my family healthy. What are some of the ways you serve up healthy meals to your family?