Despite our difficulties with posting, we did have one very lucky Mama who was able to get her posts up for the contests (YAY!).

Congratulations to April-May, who has won the basket of hairbows from Busy Bees Bowtique!

This contest has been moved to the store side and will take place 12/12. We had serious technical issues with people being able to leave comments, and wanted to give everyone a fair chance to enter! So, if you missed the contest check out the store for free giveaways daily through 12/12 (including the super hero cape!)

 

Get 10% off at MBW today only use code turkey09

Use Code 15off for your discount! Happy Shopping!

 

Enter to win a Basket of Hairbows (above pic is just an example) from Busy Bees Bowtique. The contest starts today and a winner will be chosen Monday night. You can get up to 3 entries. Here’s how:

1) leave a comment on this blog (make sure your email address is available to me so that I can email the winner)

2) Post about this giveaway on your blog and link back here. Leave a comment with a link to your blog post below.

3) Join us on facebook! Leave a comment if you are a facebook fan

 

Enter to win a FFS Super Hero Cape (any design) from Snickers n Snuggles. The contest starts today and a winner will be chosen Monday night. You can get up to 3entries. Here’s how:

1) leave a comment on this blog (make sure your email address is available to me so that I can email the winner)

2) Post about this giveaway on your blog and link back here. Leave a comment with a link to your blog post below.

3) Join us on facebook! Leave a comment if you are a facebook fan

 

 

This week’s spotlight is on Adelle, of AbbyRose Creations. 

Adelle has been married for 4 1/2 years and has a 2 year old daughter, Abigail Rose.  She is a stay at home mom, which she says she loves, though it is very tiring (which many of us know all too well LOL!). 

 

Adelle plans to stay home with her daughter (and any future children) as long as possible and is considering home-schooling. Her husband works sales/service for a company out of town and thanks to his great working schedule, is often home for dinner (YAY for family dinners!!!). She would love to try for another baby right now, but her husband would like to wait another year, to which she says “We’ll see about that ”

 

When I asked Adelle how AbbyRose Creations got started, she said ” I have always been ‘crafty’ growing up and I did a bit of sewing in highschool, but never really stuck to anything until soon after my daughter was born. I figured, if I can make a baby, than I can make other things as well! Because my daughter’s birth was a starting point of alot of this creative energy, it’s only fitting that I named my business after her, Abby Rose Creations.”

 

Then of course I had to ask her what her favorite item to make was, Adelle responded by saying: “My favourite item to make… Hmmmm… I dabble in so many different crafts it’s hard to pick my favourite. I guess painting would be my number one. It’s so relaxing and much easier to cover up little mistakes than when you’re sewing or bending wire for jewelry. I’ve recently started doing custom nursery/childrens artwork and I’m super excited about it! I hope I can do some murals locally as well in the near future.”

 

You will see a variety of items stocked in AbbyRose Creations, Adelle says that her crafty hobbies include painting, jewelry making, and sewing anything from purses and wallets to baby boots and clothing. Outside of crafting, she likes to sing and read. She has also been helping out with a local theatre group and during their most recent production she did makeup, hair and costume changes. She even plans to audition for their first production in 2010. How cool is that?

 

I always love to be able to tell you something funny about our vendors, and Adelle has shared this story with us. ” I find it quite amusing that my Mother is still mad about this incident after all these years! I made this wonderful hunter green skirt when I was in grade 10. I was soooo proud of it and figured my Mom would be too. She was, until she realized I made it out of the brand new bed sheets she had bought for herself. Oops! I think I am going to buy her some hunter green bed sheets this year for Christmas to finally make it up to her.” Good idea Adelle!

 

This week, you can get a 10% discount to Adelle’s store by using the code abbyrose10%.

 

 

This week our business spotlight is on Sweet Child of Mine. The vendor behind the store is Erin Levier.

 

Star: Tell us about your family.

 

Erin: I’ve been married to my husband Jon for almost 5 years. We have two beautiful children:  Rachael who turned three this weekend and Luke, who is almost 5 months old.

 

Star: How did Sweet Child of Mine get it’s start?

 

Erin: My business started because I wanted affordable clothes for Rachael, but I didn’t want to shop at a huge store and have her wearing the exact same clothes as someone else. I wanted something affordable that looked great, but was inexpensive enough that she could play in. I found the perfect solution with the pillowcase dress. I love making dresses for her, and sometimes if I had  some extra material I’d make antoher dress and put it on eBay. This fall, I decided to just jump in feet first and turn my hobby into a business.

 

Star: What is your favorite item to make?

 

Erin: Tutu’s are my favorite items to make, because I love working with tulle. It is such a beautiful material and I just love the way tutus look when they’re finished. Also, since they are custom ordered, I have more communication with my customer than I would for an in-stock item. Most of the time, the customer tells me how old their little girl is and what occasion the tutu is for, so I feel connected with them  and it puts more meaning into what I am making.

 

 

 

Star: What are your hobbies?

 

Erin: Sewing is still a hobby of mine; I’m glad it’s still enjoyable and doesn’t feel like work. I love being creative. I like to crochet and cook. I like to read, especially mystery novels and true crime books by Ann Rule. I also love ice hockey. I used to play before I had kids, but now I settle for watching.

 

Star: What is your funniest memory of something you made?

 

Erin: I made Luke’s Halloween costume. I did it at the last mintues because I had so many tutu orders (which I am thankful for!). I decided that he would be a kangaroo, since I have a tan Ergo baby carrier. I just made the pattern up in my head and drew some sketches and went from there. I made the elastic casing in the waist a little too narrow, so it took forever to thread the elastic. I made him a fleece hoodie for the top. I used one of his onesies as a guide and cut the fleece about 2 inches wider than the onesie to allow for seam allowance. This was my first time working with fleece, so Ididn’t take into consideration that the onesie was a stretch knit fabric and the fleece was not. Even with the extra 2 inches, the hoodie was tight. I ended up having to cut a couple of inches up the side seam to get it off of him! But, we got a good laugh out of it, and I now have an awareness for how to work with fleece, so it worked out!

 

 

Star: Tell us more about Sweet Child of Mine.

 

Erin: The goal of my business is to make unique, affordable clothing. I donate 10% of all sales to charities that benefit children. I’m in the process of designing new items for babies that I’m excited about! All I can say is it’s truly revolutionary! I’m in the process of getting a patent, so once that’s completed, I can unveil my latest creation! Stay Tuned!

 

To celebrate Erin’s daughter’s birthday, you can use discount code kangaroobirthday to get a 10% discount at Sweet Child of Mine all week!

 

 

Today, we will be taking a look at how to make a thankful placemat. As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, you can use these as a game by having every person guess who was thankful for what. You can also do one for each family member, just because they’re cool!

 

Materials you’ll need:

• contact paper, 2 17.5 x 12.5″ peices for every placemat you make
• construction paper, fall colors
• turkey and leaf cutouts, if you want
• thankful cards, I printed these here
• scissors
• tape or glue stick

 

First, get your thankful cards ready by writing down what each family member is thankful for.

 

Cut out the cards and set aside.

If you have not already, go ahead and cut your contact paper to size. Peel the backing off the first peice of contact paper and lay flat (sticky side up!!). Place 2 peices of construction paper on top of the contact paper (they will overlap slightly).

 

 

 

 

Arrange your turkey and leaf cutouts on the page as desired. You may want to use a glue stick or a little piece of tape on the back to keep these in place. Add any wording you would like on them, and outline them to make them stand out. Likewise, add your thankful cards.

 

 

Once you have everything how you would like it to be, peel the back off of your other peice of contact paper and, working from side to side, affix it to the top of your placemat.

 

 

Using a firm hand, rub the contact paper across the placemat, smoothing any wrinkles. Trim around the edges as needed.

 

Ta Da! A wonderful decoration and keepsake for your family Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

With Thanksgiving just weeks away, I have been pondering the things in life that I am thankful for.

It is rare that life offers a quiet opportunity to reflect on the many things for which we can give thanks. Yet, it is vital that we take the time to be thankful!

 

Being thankful changes our attitude, opens our heart and brings light to our lives. It takes the focus from the things we don’t have and the problems we are facing and puts focus on the things we do have, the blessings we receive every day and the beauty of the world around us.

 

Take the opportunity this month to move your thoughts toward things to be thankful for. Encourage your family as well, in being thankful. Some things you can do to express thanks this holiday season:

• Make a thankful tree. We have made leaf rubbings, cut them out, and put them in a basket on the table. During the month of November, each person takes one “leaf” and writes something they are thankful for on the leaf, then puts in on the tree trunk (we usually put this on a wall or door).
• Write letters to people you are thankful for.
• Use leaves or turkey cutouts and write things you are thankful for on them. Cut out the papers you have written on and mix them up. Cut 2 pieces of contact paper the size of a placemat and line one with red, orange or brown construction paper. On the top of the construction paper, place the items that your family is thankful for. Make a placemat for each person in your family. On Thanksgiving, you can take turns guessing which “thanks” came from who.
• Take time at meals to speak to each person, telling them what you are thankful for about them! Let everyone have a turn.

This year, we are making thankful placemats. I will post some photos of our placemats tomorrow along with a picture tutorial.