He looks excited, right?

My handsome Trevan modeling one of my hand made bow ties made from an upcycled vintage men's tie.  I love it!  I'm hoping to fill my Etsy store within the next few days.  Heaven knows I have enough products to do so it's just the taking pictures part, and filling out the description part that is so hard for me... 

You can check out my store HERE, and stay tuned for more!!

The Present Pantry on Facebook!

I have finally gotten around to putting my buisness on facebook - feel free to visit my page and like it!!  I'll be posting stuff for sale soon!! 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Present-Pantry/259173460783987

Show Review

I began my craft show season on July 3rd. It was a good show with only a few stories to tell.

For starters, some chick kept stealing my husband to help her with her very faulty tent. I'm all for charity. In fact, the first time, no problem. My husband is nice, and I would like help from someone if I needed it, but... it was taking a long time, and the event person kept coming and telling me to move my car, which had my kids in it, and I told her my husband was but he was helping someone else (which I of course pointed her out). She came by twice to tell me to move the van. Another time she just gave me a dirty look. Then, I wasn't too keen on the lady taking my husband to help her. She never got her tent up during the show.

For seconders, (new word...) I forgot my sunblock. I turn on the cell phone to call him to have him bring it to me, and the little notice comes up, "battery low, powering off." Super. Now, I have a tent, but it is crammed full of product, so I usually sent behind it. Well, that day was super sunny, and as much as I tried to stay out of it, it found me. I got toasted!

I was going to ask my neighboring tent to borrow their cell phone to call John, but they were a little strange... Strange, like, weird. Not just because I made a joke to him about trying to steal some of his shade (I could feel me burning), and he didn't even acknowledge that I said anything, he just kinda looked up at me... Also, strange, as in having your zipper down most of the day strange! AND John pointed out that he also was not wearing any underwear. So, yes. I was stationed next to an exhibitionist. Sweet!

Another thing that never ceases to amaze me is the people that try and bargain with you! Really?! "Will you take any less for this quilt?" "Since we are getting this other thing, will you give us this bow for free?" People! I'm practically giving it away as it is!!!!! Really??? (That's what I tell them. I'm not shy...) People! This is not a yard sale!

I think people forget the value of a handmade item. Let me share...

First, you have to shop for the supplies to make an item. That item might have four different supplies needed to make it. Ribbon, hot glue, hair clip... you get the idea. Not only do you have to shop for those items, but you want to try and find the best deals on those items to keep your cost low. That takes TIME! And, don't forget the gas it takes to go to these stores, or the shipping I have to pay for what I find online, after I've looked at a thousand sites trying to find the best price.

Second. You have to design an item. What looks best with what? Maybe this button will look better. No, try this one. Sometimes this takes a while when you are cranking out 100's of headbands. I am not an assembly line in CHINA!

Next, I actually have to make it. Not an assembly line in CHINA!

Depending on the product, I package it. Which includes packaging I buy online,or packaging I create online, and packaging I print off at home using my card stock and my ink cartridges.

Lastly, I pay a fee to enter shows and sit there all day to sell you that darling item you are holding in your hand...

"No! I will not give it to you for free!"

People do not value my time, but I do...

We watched some fireworks that night with some friends. I found the glow sticks that I bought last year for the fourth of July, but forgot about. Maybe, I'm becoming a little more like my mom after all...

New Product

I made this hair clip one Sunday morning to match one of Mallary's dresses. I will make more, and they will be available in my shop next year. An adult actually had me put this same cluster on a headband for them - so that is an option as well!

Craft Show Review Post

I am determined to finish blogging about my summer before December is over...

I said I would do craft show reports, and I'm a little behind. So, I'm only going to review on the show I did at the fair in August, and ignore all the ones I did this fall and winter.

Here's my little booth - almost each of my shows the set up is a bit different.

Two of my favorite Shaggy Chic quilts I made for the show (on the right above and below)- both sold.

I LOVED this seer sucker little skirt I made! (and it's still available... and I can custom make more...) I started making reversible skirts before this show as well.

There is nothing quite like sitting for five days at a craft show and people watching.

A few highlights:

1. I think I've mentioned before, that after sitting at a craft show you are able to sell your crafting neighbor's items. At this show, I really learned never to judge a book by it's cover. Quite literally. My neighbor crafter sold his self authored books. When I saw the books, I honestly thought, "Who is going to buy those????" (and you would think it too if you saw the titles) Well, let me tell you, that man made bank. Really. I was very impressed. His sales line to get people to his table was, "Do you like to read?" He was a very nice old man with stretcy waisted plaid shorts, and these:

Do you like how I slyly took this picture when he was talking to someone??

2. I swear if I saw one more person wearing an Abercrombie or an Aeropostale shirt I thought I might have to say scream - "SHOP SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!" It turned me off from ever buying something with a name brand across the front of it again (unless it's dirt cheap, like $1). Seriously, it was crazy, I wanted to start telling people they could be more original!

3. Speaking of original, or the lack thereof, are the couples I saw wearing matching outfits, matching t-shirts (especially hideous ones). I'm just not into matchy, matchy. Even if I had twins, I wouldn't put matching clothes on them. Just my preference. I guess I don't understand the idea behind it. The only thing I do understand is that if I had ten kids and we were going to an amusement park, and if I had the misfortune of losing one of them the advantage would be that I wouldn't have to think about what they were wearing. For adults to wear matching t-shirts, I don't get it - is it a insecurity issue? Like, "Sorry, she/he is with me." To their credit, most of the people wearing matching t-shirts were also wearing rolled up jean cut-offs, or rolled up sleeves on the t-shirts, and/or carrying fanny packs. So, obviously it seemed to be a generational thing.

4. One day, I watched a person who was talking to someone as they finished eating, lick around their lips for at least a full minute. It was really gross. Dear friend, I know that must have been good - but, that's what napkins are for.

5. The duplicators - These are at every craft show, I'm usually one of them, but I think I'm pretty discreet about it. There are people who usually stand at my booth for quite some time trying to figure out how I made something, or even bringing someone back to my booth to show them what they should make. Two ladies stood at something at my booth and said, "Without giving us your trade secrets, can you tell us how to make these, so we can make them?" I usually respond with, "Oh, I'm sure you can figure it out."

6. Location - It tells a lot about a place when you hear a frequent saying coming from the mouth of your shoppers, "Oh, I seen them somewhere before."

7. You can tell the fashion awareness of your shoppers by their comments. Two different ends of the spectrum of comments regarding my flower headbands. A shopper loving my stuff: "Oh, I wanted to get some of these headbands like the ones Tori Spelling puts on her baby." A shopper that doesn't have cable or is not up on the latest fashions holding up a flower headband to her friends, laughing, and saying sarcastically, "Oh, look you could start a trend!" I usually have to turn around and roll my eyes.

8. One shopper was making a purchase, started rummaging through her purse, and said, "Now I just have to remember where I put my money..." In that very instant, I pictured my mom standing in a check out line rummaging through her purse and her pockets trying to remember where she put her money. She usually had to do that at every store. It made me get a little misty.

9. A man walked buy drinking from a soup can! I was like, "WHAT?? I really am in red-neck country!!" I literally thought he bought a soup can with a drink in it into the fair. I then realized there was a booth making home made soda, and they sold them in soup cans. Too funny.

That's it. Craft Show season 2009 is over, and next year's craft show season proposes to be another adventure with a new baby...

Bad neighbors

A few weeks ago, I'm driving home from helping someone (only mentioned because that should have earned me some good karma... right?) and the thunder and lightening was warning us of a storm coming. I turn into my subdivision and the rain and serious wind start. I turn right, onto my street, and see my beautiful new tent used for my craft shows hung on my neighbor's gutter blowing crazily in the wind. OH MY GOODNESS. I park, leave the kids in the car, and try and rescue, not really the tent, but my neighbor's gutter. (We'd had the tent set up for Trevan's birthday party and John hadn't taken it down yet, and our backyard is basically a horrible wind tunnel...)

The heavy wind and rain literally take my breath away. I tried to hold down the tent just to keep it from ripping the gutter off offering silent prayers to make the wind stop. In that short amount of time I am already completely soaked.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a neighbor leave their house and shut their garage. "He saw me, and is going to come help," I thought to myself. Still standing there holding onto my stupid tent... Again, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the same neighbor driving his van, "Oh he just wanted to drive here instead of getting all wet," I thought, feeling a tad relieved.

He drove right past me.

Yes, he did.

Eventually, I was able to get the tent unhooked from the gutter and saw there was some damage, but the wind was still too heavy to leave the tent to blow into someone else's house, and the tent was too heavy and mangled to move by myself.

So, I am standing there soaked literally to the bone, in heavy rain, wind, lightening holding down a $200 piece of junk, feeling pretty helpless. I was so mad.

What made me even more mad is that two more neighbors drove past right past me!

What???

If I saw anyone standing outside in those conditions OBVIOUSLY in distress I would totally stop. ESPECIALLY if it was a neighbor.

Eventually the wind died down enough, and I had the tent down enough I thought it wouldn't blow away and I went and knocked on my GOOD neighbor's door to help me shove the tent in the garage somehow.

He and his daughter helped me, thank goodness. John got home from work right as the storm ended and right after we got the tent in the garage.

So, that night for Family Home Evening I taught Trevan about helping others.

"Do you remember this afternoon when Mommy was standing out in the rain holding down that tent? Well, some cars drove by and the people in those cars didn't even offer to help. Was that very nice of them?"

Anyway, we taught him about helping people which also turned into teaching him about stranger danger.

"If someone asks you to help them look for their dog, or wants to give you candy or a toy, even if they say they asked your mommy and she said it was alright, what do you do? Come ask me first, and I can help you look for the dog too! You always have to ask me or daddy first before you do anything or go anywhere with anybody."

That was pretty funny.

This however, was not funny:

You see where it says, "EZUP"? It should also say EZ DOWN. Ugh!

I was able to salvage the top awning and two of the side doors. That's it. So when my other one's side doors break (I had to buy another one), I'll have a $200 replacement for it! That was just the start of a really bad week that week.

I had to add in Family Home Evening that maybe the neighbors couldn't stop to help because one of them had just had surgery, or the other had to go poo so bad if he had stopped he would have pooped his pants. I did try and give them the benefit of the doubt...

Check me out

I'm being featured over on this fun blog, AND it's a give away. Check it out!

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

announced in this very technical, professional, and serious drawing...

If you can't handle the suspense of waiting to hear your name here are the winners:

Winner #1: J
Winner #2: Heidi McCloud
Winner #3: DC Diva
Winner #4: Heather M.

Yay!! See which prize is yours, make your selection of the two choices, leave your choice in the comment section and/or email me at thepresentpantry@yahoo.com with your mailing address.

My first ever GIVEAWAY!!!!

To promote my new store blog (which is still under construction, oh well), I'm going to do my first ever GIVEAWAY!

AND, this GIVEAWAY will have four, that's right, 4 winners!

Winner #1 can choose one pair of earrings

Winner #2 can choose from one of these headbands

Winner #3 can choose any one Funsie Onesie posted on my store blog (winner can choose size, long sleeved, or short sleeved) OR an assortment of 5 note cards.

Winner #4 can choose any two hair bows or clips posted on my store blog , OR this headband.

All handmade by me!

How it works:

1. Leave a comment on my blog. This will enter your name in the drawing, BUT if you want to have your name entered twice in the drawing, increasing your odds, continue reading...

2. To have your name entered in the drawing two times, all you need to do is post on your blog about my give away, including a link back to this post, AND post a link to my store blog. Then leave a comment on this post stating x2. For example: "Pick me x2"

That's it!

Store blog address: http://thepresentpantry.blogspot.com/

There is also a link to my store blog on the side bar.

I'll post the winners names on my blog next Monday!

New products

Here are a few of my new products. Check out my Etsy store to see some of my favorites (link is on the side bar ----->).

First off, I have had this fabric for quite a while now, and have a few other things in mind for it as well, but here is the first outfit from it...

Second, when I was at Anthropologie last week, I was noticing some of the embellished shirts, and thought I should try to make some myself, so here are my first attempts. (more in my Etsy store) Don't be fooled when you see me modeling the maternity shirts, I am not making any type of announcement, I just have the natural ability to extend my belly just right. Just wanted to clear that up ahead of time.

Third, you have probably seen these everywhere on Etsy, but I wanted to make some myself. Introducing my Funsie Onesies... (Check out my Etsy store to see my favorite ones made with vintage fabric, and seersucker fabric.)

There are a few more items, but they aren't quite picture ready.

Anyhow, there they are. Next item of business: cleaning my work room...

Exploding Workroom

I've been REALLY busy.

My work room explodes when my creative thought process gets going! I get one idea and that leads to another one, and so on and so on. I'm so excited about the new idea, I don't want to clean up after I finish making the other one! I have five new products to show for this though, and one completed order. Now, I just have to clean up so I can get some work done...

Stay tuned to see my new products... TODAY!

Show Report

I have decided to do a little report after each of my shows, because it's that entertaining for me. In case you have never seen me at one of my shows this is what part of my display looks like, and it is usually set up different every time.


I did a show in my home town last weekend at a city festival, and it was a success. I saw a lot of people I knew, some didn't recognize me at first, and some said they wouldn't have recognized me if I hadn't said something. Do I look that different?

When I graduated from high school...

last Sunday...

Okay, maybe a little bit...


Anyway, here's some highlights:

1. As always, my dad was great helping me set up, take down, feeding me, etc. I also had two of my nieces to help me too. After walking around looking at all the other booths, my oldest niece, Laurajane came back and said, "I felt bad looking at all those booths and not buying anything." "Why?" I asked, "Because you know how much work goes into it now after helping me for two weeks?" She nodded her head yes.



2. My market has tripled. When I started making hair clips and bows I pictured mothers, and grandmothers buying bows for their little girls, but this past weekend I made the most money off of teenagers. I didn't know it was so "in" for teenage girls to wear baby hair clips in their hair. I am so behind. But, they were "in heaven." I also had a lady wanting to buy hair clips for her dog, that's a first for me.

3. I introduced some new products...

Molly Makeover Dolls, made from recycled sweaters

(when I made the first one, I thought I might have to call her Creepy Cammy)

and I made some new quiet books, here is one of them, a Halloween counting book.

4. I heard the name Aniken used in real life and not just in Star Wars. Really? Seriously.

5. I enjoyed the flattery when people asked where my store was located, when they walked around my booth with a smile on their faces (that's my favorite), when they took pictures of my stuff with their cell phones (not always my favorite).

6. Did not enjoy the people that would say to whomever they were with, "Oh don't buy that, I could make that for you." Or the people that would say TOO loudly, "We aren't going to buy anything, I just come here to get ideas... that's just a piece of wood painted... that's just a ribbon... that's just a patch sewn..." Yeah, I get it, it's not rocket science, but I'm selling it, if you don't want to buy it, please exit.

7. You would have thought I had a "No men allowed" sign posted. There seemed to be this invisible line where the men thought they had to stand behind. Probably only a few men actually came to peruse my little booth, the rest stood right outside and waited for their significant other. It was pretty funny.

8. Why do we as women ask for our husband's or significant other's opinions? I think it's so funny watching women ask men about hair bows, clips, or hair bow holders, "which one do you like better?" Usually I choose the opposite of what John suggests. But, a lot of women have to do it before they decide on a bow.

9. I like people watching while doing these shows. I always bring books to read, etc., but I end up watching people. One evening I was watching a 13 or 14 year old boy try to make out with his girlfriend, and all of a sudden I thought about Trevan and Mallary dating, and my stomach literally did a flip, I felt sick!!! Ugh... Then my dad came back and I told him about it, he laughed and he said, "Do you feel the same way about me dating?" I said, "YES."

Overall, it was a good show, good times, good money, and fun observations.

How I spend my "free" time

Yesterday, I finally put together my business blog due to popular demand. It has a long way to go, but it's a start. My Etsy store doesn't represent all the things that I make, and neither does this blog, but it has the majority of all the hair clips I make.

I haven't figured out how to put on all the things I make, because I would have to do so much individually. For example, I have a refurbished fashions line, kids clothes out of old shirts, dresses, skirts, etc., and they are CUTE if I must say so myself. But, I would have to post each item by itself, and I don't know if I want to do that. We'll see...

I just started adding flowers, ribbon, etc. to those hard headbands, and those seemed to do well at a show I did last weekend.

I even sold this big, lacy number last weekend... you never know what people are going to buy.

So, anyway, here's the blog, feel free to check it out. If you need some baby shower gifts, I could probably help you out. Like I said, it's still under construction, so if you have any ideas for me, I'd love to hear them.

http://thepresentpantry.blogspot.com/

Been working hard in my sweat shop...

Have you ever seen so many hair clips?

Punching the time clock

I have some new products...

These baby headbands are also available in more colors.

This next product happened accidentally. I was trying to make something else, (which didn't work) but these hair clips turned out cute.

Only available in the colors shown, will eventually add a purple.

I have to finish updating my wholesale blog, then I will copy it all into my other Present Pantry blog with real prices for all to see. My Etsy store isn't a good representation of my work. So, when I get my blog done you will get to see all the stuff I do.

Your wish is my command

So many people have requested or asked about interchangeable headbands,

and today I made my first two. Here they are!

I decided to sell them in gift sets with hair clips.

My store has been updated with new items. Check them out here.