Closing Up Shop

Dear Etsy followers who may visit my blog:

I will no longer be taking birthday/celebration board orders at this time.  I have to begin a new full-time job outside of my home, and therefore, I need to close up shop on Etsy.  If you have ordered in the past, I will gladly supply you needed tags in the future.  But I will not be able to take on new customers at this time.  Thank you for your support and business in the past! I greatly appreciate the opportunity that working with Etsy gave me as a stay-at-home mom to make a little extra money and to beautify the homes of customers, along with helping them remember loved ones birthdays and anniversaries!  :)  Thank you again. 

Sincerely,

Tonya

One Day Only Sale!

Check my Etsy shop out on July 4th!  I will be hosting a one-day sale and discount my birthday boards for the national American holiday!  Happy Independence Day!!!  Let freedom ring!

Go here:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCozyHouse

PS - If you place your order July 4th, please understand it will be approximately 2-3 weeks before your order ships.  Thank you!

Purple!

I recently had a customer request a purple birthday board!  She wanted darker lettering and a lighter ribbon.  I really think this is pretty!  I don't have any purple in my home, though.  Hopefully she likes it when she gets it!  Pretty unique, too!  Especially using the family last name in the title.  :)

Next to Last Christmas Order!

So the next to the last Christmas order I had left to fill went out today!  It was an order of five boards with 250 tags total.  I have been busy this season! I love it, though.  I'm glad people are interested in my product and can use it to remember the important people in their life, while adding some style to their homes.  :)  One more order to go!  But check these out!! 

Precious Moments Custom Title

I was recently requested by a customer to create a celebration reminder board using the title, "FAMILY precious moments."  I really like how it turned out!  She even ordered a second one after she received the first.  I am glad she was happy with my product.  Thank you!

A New Title

I'm still selling the custom reminder boards for birthdays and anniversaries on Etsy.  Here is a title recently requested from a customer, and I really like the way it turned out.  Thanks for looking!!!

Celebrations Board with Multi-Colored Tags

Since I started selling my birthday reminder boards on Etsy, copycat sellers have popped up, which was expected.  I don't mind too much, unless they look exactly like my style and then I get a little perturbed.  It's so dang expensive to get a design patent and I'm trying to make money, not spend it!  Anyway, occasionally I get a customer who wants my work to look like another seller's work on Etsy.  This is slightly offensive and I try to coax them to the other shop if that is what they are looking for.  I like my particular style board.  I can't help it!  :)  It's my creation.  Well, recently, I did agree to color code the tags (which other sellers typically offer and I do not -- it's just so hard to match exactly what colors they want when I am guessing at what they want without pictures or getting shades of colors just right in pictures transmitted over the internet).  Anyway, I agreed to at least bend on the colors for the tags some, and I am glad I did.  I am actually thinking when I FINALLY make my own board that I will do mine similar.  (No, I don't have my own yet, and I've been making these for years now!  And I've been so busy working on these for others I've been missing birthdays in my families.)  So for this board, each color represents a different branch of the family tree.  It really was a good idea for such a large family.  Thank you, customer!  :)  Anyway, what do you think?  Pretty, eh?!

First Shipment to the UK!

I was so excited when someone from the United Kingdom became interested in purchasing from my Etsy shop!  I have shipped to Australia a couple of times before, and even Canada, but was really excited about something going to Europe!!  I am really excited to be an international shipper, though it does present its own challenges.  Anyway, my customer wanted 6 birthday boards and over 200 tags!  I was able to get the work done and ship it and I am happy to say that he received the items, and e-mailed me yesterday that he was impressed and happy with the product.  Thank you, Etsy and customers! :)

Shelby's Party Decor

Okay, okay, I'm guilty!  Almost all of these ideas are from Pinterest....except for the old book pennant "Happy Birthday, Shelby" banner.  But let's be real...how original is that?!  The unique thing about it is that the ribbon came from my grandmother.  I love inheriting craft supplies from my grandma from time-to-time when I'm back home visiting family. 
The giant "1" is made from coffee filters hot glued to a board I cut in the shape of the "1."  Then I spray painted it to give some color and add festivity to the look of it.
My favorite creation below is the crocheted triangle pennant banner in Fall colors.  I am going to save that and use it for an upcoming craft show and also for future Fall décor and/or home decorating in the girls' room.  :)
The doily table runner I hand-stitched together from doilies I either already had or picked up at JoAnn's.  I love the look of it and felt it added to the homemade Fall theme of the party.  The porcelain pumpkins I purchased years ago when I lived in Bakersfield, CA, at a Hallmark store.

I also made some brown paper bag flowers to hang around the room which I thought turned out super cute and fit with my "Autumn" theme for Shelby's party.  We had caramel apples, grapes, sandwiches, hot dogs, chips, vegetables with dip, hot pepper jelly with cream cheese and crackers, and cupcakes flavored pumpkin spice and caramel apple for dessert. 

Newer Custom Birthday Boards

I haven't posted pictures of these but I wanted you to see the custom variations I like to make and have been asked to make.  :)  Enjoy!

Blue and Green Birthday Board

I'm back to taking orders again for custom birthday boards!  Here is a newer color combo I recently put together.  :)  If you plan to order for Mother's Day, don't wait until May!  :)

Blue Birthday Board

I stayed very busy with my Etsy orders for birthday boards all the way until I gave birth to Shelby.  As a matter-of-fact, I just mailed my first international order to Australia two weeks ago to finish all the orders I received before her arrival.  I plan to resume making the boards after the holidays.  But for now, here is a pretty blue one I made upon request for a customer.  I think it turned out very lovely.

Classy Birthday Board

I had a customer want something a little different for her mom for Mother's Day.  Instead of the usual black and brown vinyl with silver accents and such, she wanted something in red and gold.  So I searched and searched my supplies and the stores and I think I came up with the perfect design for her.  Or so she said!  :)  This is how it turned out and I think it's beautiful.  I really like the gold accents instead of the silver hooks I normally use.  What do you think?

Birthday Board with Tons of Tags

I love this one! It has so many tags for a large family (she also included her daycare kids and friends) it just looks great! Thanks for looking!

Busy with Birthday Boards on Etsy

Hello! I have been soooo busy! Not only with being preggers and trying to keep my momentum up through the first trimester (now in the second), but with the kids' school and sports activities, Easter, traveling, etc. And I have had a big jump in my sales on Etsy for my birthday boards. I have sold many since the first of January, and here are a few of them. It's fun seeing how each person wants them to be customized! Thanks for looking!

Pirate Party!

Here are just a couple of things I took pictures of that I made for the party. I made up more stuff/decor, but I forgot to capture it....The bones are from Cricut's Gypsy Wanderings cartridge...and the font is Gypsy Font. It was fun to make this stuff up. They also ate "Skeleton Bones" (fries) and "Crumbed Fish" (my kids hate fish sticks, so we opted for chicken nuggets). Thanks for looking!

Pirate Party!

Adam's 7th birthday is coming up, and the boy has never had a big birthday celebration, other than his 1st Birthday. So this year, after a long, traumatic summer of a tonsillectomy!, I've decided we're going to do a little more for my little man. We (Adam and I) decided together on a pirate-themed party, and we're getting really excited for it! And I lucked out and have found pirate-y things at the Target dollar spot, as well as the Dollar Tree here in town. Here is the cover of the invitation I made for him, using my Cricut "Gypsy Wanderings" cartridge and some scrapbook paper and stickers already on hand. I also crumpled up old world looking paper and printed out the details inside of the card to look like a map. The inside of his card reads: "Ahoy there, matey! Ye be invited for some birthday spirits at Captain Adam's 7th birthday bash. He needs some shipmates to swab the deck and hunt for long lost treasure. Chart yer course for (time) on (day) at (our address). Wave yer flag if ye be attendin; if not, ye'll have to walk the plank! Yo ho ho, let us know! Call deck hand at (phone #) by (date)." I have to admit, I googled for some ideas and used most of it. :)

Princess Birthday Crown

I recently tried my hand at another princess crown from scratch. This is my second one to date, and I think it turned out markedly cuter than the one I made for Carly's birthday. This one if for a little girl that I babysit occasionally. She just had her 4th birthday, and she's so spunky and full of life! So I knew I had to use some bright colors and a fun, whimsical pattern for her. I found the fabric at JoAnn's. The diamond accent trim along the bottom is also from JoAnn's. The yo-yo accents, frilly fringe, and ruffly border were all handmade by me. I super enjoy the end result of this crown so I am really looking forward to getting more time to make another. Thanks for looking!!!

It's All in the Details

Today's birthday celebration for Carly will be "all in the details." We decided since we are taking a Summer vacation this year, we won't be having all of the kids' really big parties with friends. Instead, we'll try to make them each feel unique at home with a smaller family celebration. So for Carly turning 9 this year, I wanted to make it big in an elegant, homemade kind of way. Does that even go together? Elegant and homemade??? Well, I tried to pull it off, and for the most part I think I did. For starters, I found this tutorial here: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/08/blog-post.html a couple of weeks ago and began making some flowers. I already had EVERYTHING on hand and didn't have to purchase a thing. Score! These I laid in the center of the table, kind of random, like a table runner. (The tablecloth I borrowed from a kind friend willing to share for Carly's celebration. Score!) I also altered an old tin watch box for Carly's gift from me -- a glass heart pendant and necklace. I think everything I used came from Hobby Lobby on that...except the purple gems were from Target, and the scalloped circle and #9 I cut with my Cricut using the Simply Sweet cartridge. But again...I already had all of that on hand...except for the necklace! That's new for Carly! :) So score there on keeping it cheap! To make the large tissue paper flowers (pom poms) hanging from the ceiling I used this YouTube tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDAgjtScFpU. I think they add a nice touch to the room! And the tissue paper was cheap...I think I spent maybe $5 to make those. Score! To add a little detail to the dining chairs, I tied bows in netted tulle around the back tops and it did dress them up. The picture doesn't quite show it! But cheap...cause I have some left over and the chairs were dressy! Score! For the crown, my daughter loves purple so I used purple fabrics; purple felt; and Star Dust Stickles glitter glue. The lace came from Hobby Lobby. And I made those rosettes -- tutorials are on lots of different craft blogs for that. Anyway, all of it was really fun to make (ESPECIALLY THE CROWN)...spending nights while the kids were in bed, and I was watching my favorite t.v. shows. Carly will be home in a matter of minutes, and I can't wait to see her reaction to the way the dining room is set up...just for her!!! And a lot of it she can recycle and use to decorate her bedroom for an updated look. (PS - I am linking up to Lil Luna this week to share! I hope someone likes some of the ideas and can use them for baby showers, birthdays, parties, etc.)

***I'd like to add (after our homemade steak dinner with vegetables; Sprite with gummy worms in the glass [hey, my kids love that!]; and homemade strawberry cake with vanilla icing, that the family party turned out great. Carly even wore her crown all evening!