Friday's Faves: Our Furry Friends

Hello, my name is Sophie, my human is busy today and she asked me to do Friday's Faves, so, naturally, I chose to do it based on my furry friends. So, carry, drag, or call over your furry friend and you both can drool over the finds I sniffed out today.

All Natural Dog Treats Cute As A Button

I would totally eat this. SignatureBonz $5.99

Three Blind Mice eco friendly cat toys

I'm not a huge fan of cats but Mommy said it was biased to do the entire post on dogs. Whatever biased means. And get this! This cat's human let them type of the description! MarvelousMelissa $7.00

Double Sided Hello Blue Pet ID Tag

I'll take two of these clever dog tags please, thanks. id4pet $11.00

Ivory Linen Small Pet Bed

OOooh... I could use one of these in every room. Yep. BreezyBeachCottage $48

Aqua Blue Leather Rose Collar

Bow WOW. I would be the envy of the neighborhood with this one. luxemut $69.95

Oak Canine Caddy Dog Treats Storage Box

Talk about snazzy. WoodTECHWorkshop $148.42












Well, that wraps it up humans and fellow animals. I think my Mom would be really proud of this post. I wonder if I'll get a treat for this?

Special Saturday Post: Money

Ah yes, money. Kind of one of the bigger reasons for doing a craft show other than trying to attract new people, right? Well, today, we're not going to actually talk about how to get more of it, we're going to talk about how you should price, er, display that price I mean.

There's a couple of ways to do it. One is the no brainer of individually pricing each item. But that's time consuming and uses all of your stickers and price tags and can even effect the look of your packaging in a not so good way. I like the idea of grouping items by price and then putting a sign near that group stating how much it is. You could just print a sign off of your computer on just regular paper but that's not very eye catching. My favorite idea of doing this is chalkboard paint. What ever you paint with chalk board paint (cute frame, cookie tray, whatever) it can be reused forever. Where the printed version will get messed up and end up in the garbage creating more trash in the world. It's much more eye catching and draws attention to your booth. It also let's see passerby's your prices which could draw them and see what's so special for it to be priced that particular amount.

Speaking of money, make sure you have some cash on hand to make change, including bills and the kind that jingles in your pocket and somewhere to keep all your hard earned cash safe. Last Saturday I had a yard sale, and I myself used a cigar box that I kept hidden behind a chair in an area that no customer should need to go. Another way of keeping it safe is in an apron with lots of pockets. It also helps to have a good friend helping you out so that you can have an extra pair of eyes to ward off those with sticky fingers and to help with customers fill out papers, place orders, and hand out pamphlets.

Special Saturday Post: The planning

How cute is this? I would definitely head over to this booth at a fair

Planning your own craft show should probably be done WELL ahead of time, you don't went to start making items right at the last minute (although knowing me I would probably do it anyway).

When planning, first thing you should do is figure out the date or at least the month you plan on having your show so that you can give yourself a deadline which will keep you motivated. I think the best time's to do it is right before a holiday like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day and Christmas and it should be on a weekend at the very least. If you do well in one weekend and you have time before that holiday you could extend it to another weekend.

Okay, so you've got the date set. Now, where will you have it? To keep it on the cheap, you can hold the show inside of your house or the house of a friend. If the weather where you live is nice when you plan on having it you could have it in your backyard or your friend's. If you don't have a place to hold your show, you could try renting a place or ask some local shops that could benefit from your show to set up there. But make sure you choose a place that won't be competing with your products, but compliments it. For example if you make and sell jewelry don't go to a store that sells jewelry, find one that sells handbags. You get the idea.

Now you have a place set, wonderful! Now it's time to compile a list of supplies to collect before the big day:

Tables (You can rent these often from party places or you could borrow them from your church or friend)
Business Cards
Information sheet (ask customers to put their name and email so you can send them a newsletter. You can also use this information to tell them that you're going to extend your show)
Pens (for the information sheet)
*Something to display your items on to make them even prettier!
*Some way of pricing
*Cash box
Change for those with big bills (remember to keep track of how much change is yours so you can put it back once the show is done)
*Bags
*Wrapping paper/ tissue paper
*Flier
*A friend
*Refreshments

Not all of what's listed are must have's, some are just suggestions. The items marked with an asterisk will be talked about in detail in another article. So stay tuned!

Distinctive Decor

Distinctive Decor

Tell us your name, the name of your shop and what it is that you do here on Etsy.
Rhonda Koebel, Distinctive Decor, Hand Painted, Personalized Gifts and Decor

What is your family life like? (i.e. how many children, their ages, names, are you a single mom? Are they supportive of what they do and so forth?)I'm a homeschool mom of 3 kids and have a wonderful supportive husband. He's actually the one that encouraged me to give Etsy and crafting a try.

Do you have another job outside of Etsy and outside of the home?
I homeschool all 3 of my kids which takes quite a bit of time.

How do you balance home life, Etsy and work?
I try to set a schedule to make sure I have time for everyone and everything. It works "most" of the time.

What made you decide to sell on Etsy? I've always loved painting and finally started doing craft shows. They were pretty successful so I finally got the courage to try Etsy.

Do you feel pretty successful in your Etsy shop or is there room to grow? If you feel successful is there a secret you'd like to share with us? I feel successful in my business, but I'm also the type of personality that has to be perfecting everything. I add new items frequently and offer discounts to repeat customers. I think the fact that most of my items are personalized help with my sales.

What do you feel makes your shop special and unique? Everything I offer is completely unique. Ideas come to my mind and I can't rest until I paint them. I love coming up with new ideas and products.

As Mom's, things get chaotic and find it hard to stay focused, how do you stay focused and motivated? I take at least one or two hours after everyone goes to bed, with the house completely quiet for myself or my shop. This helps relieve a lot of the stress of trying to do ten things at once.

Is there anything else you'd like the readers to know?
I'm always looking for new ideas and love to create things with the customer. I love a challenge and am happy to paint a completely new product.