Happy Halloween! Halloween Activities for the Family

Happy Halloween everyone!

This is one of my favorite holidays! I go all out. There's something amazing about the new Fall weather and spending time doing things just to make your kids happy. It just makes Halloween one-of-a-kind. Yesterday my family did all our Halloween activities in one night because we have been so busy this month! This is what we did.

Halloween Bingo!

This game has been a family tradition since I was a kid. My family played this every single year, and every single year I looked forward to it. In our married life, we have usually lived close enough to home that we could go to my Mom's house to play every year, but this year we are on our own, so I made our own Halloween Bingo cards! I think they turned out pretty cute. I got the pattern from Artsy Fartsy Mama. She actually has printables for it, and they are ADORABLE. Unfortunately for me, printables are for when your printer is actually working. I would have just printed mine off since they are so cute, but since I couldn't I made my own based on her pictures and bingo cards. It's ok though, it was hard work but I feel like it gave a more personal touch to it and I will treasure it a little more with each passing year.

So, bingo is a pretty simple game and the rules are basic. The only thing you do differently with Halloween Bingo is that you use candy for your markers. Then, when someone calls BINGO! you forfeit all the candy on your card to the player that won. Then after each round, you rotate your cards clockwise.

Vincent enjoyed himself immensely. As you can see by his huge candy pile, he won most of the rounds.

And as you can see by Max's lack-of-candy-pile, he didn't win at all. Haha, don't worry he's only pretending to be upset for the camera. It's actually funny, because he usually won almost every round in previous years. This bingo set must be enhanced with magical kid-advantage powers. =)

Another tradition we have is making Ghost Suckers!

All you need is lollipop sticks, aluminum foil, and chocolate. It is so much fun and tasty too!

This is something else I grew up with. My Mom had us make ghost suckers every year around Halloween. Once again, loved it and always looked forward to it. The picture above is Vincent's "Big Smile Ghost" and also his "Boo from Ruby Gloom" ghost. This is what we normally had when I did it with my Mom growing up - just melted white chocolate and milk chocolate chips. But now I am an adult. And like I said, I go all out for Halloween.

This is my ghost. She's dressed up for Halloween. This year she is going as Little Red Riding Hood. Unfortunately for her, in this version she gets eaten by the Big Bad Gela. =)

Here we have just a couple of the ones Max made. He made a Deadpool sucker for himself (left) and a Spidey sucker for Vincent (right). Turned out great right? He's so talented.

Here's another one Max made - The Grim Reaper! He looks so happy to be here for our Halloween party, doesn't he?

We just happened to have the red and black melting chocolate leftover from Eva's and my birthday party over the weekend. (More on that in the next post! Stay tuned!) But if you are feeling as ambitious as we were, melting chocolate in virtually all colors can be bought at most local crafting stores. I got mine at Jo~Ann. 

And of course, we also carved pumpkins!

Well, I have a long day full of trying to keep my kids' Halloween anxiety down before the fun stuff tonight. Wish me luck!

Happy Halloween!!

Made of Money Monday #2 - Button Bouquets

Hello again!! I have to say, I am really enjoying this blog. I really look forward to writing, you know? Even though I don't have many followers/readers yet, it makes me feel good, and so it's worth the time and effort. =)


Ok, enough of the mushy stuff. Let's go ahead with our Made of Money Monday!! So, if I were made of money today, I would probably be buying some of these....

Button bouquets!!! These are made by Angela D. and are sold in her shop, angel9. They vary in price range - some of the smaller flower girl ones are only about $18 - $23 (which is actually incredible when you think about how much buttons normally cost, and how much time it probably takes to make these), but some of the nicer wedding bouquets can get up to $150. But if I were made of money (or getting married again haha) then I would definitely shell it out for these. They are adorable, and it's such a cool and creative take on the traditional wedding bouquet. Here's some of the nicer bridal-style button bouquets:

I mean, it seems to me that whenever brides are planning a wedding, they are always looking for a way to stand out. Things that their guests are going to remember. And to me, this seems like something that may go unnoticed at the ceremony (just because they are smaller, and actually LOOK like real bouquets from far away) but when the reception rolls around, as guests approach the wedding line or just go to congratulate the bride in general, they would see it and go "OH MY GOD ARE THOSE BUTTONS?? Look how cute they are!!" I know that's what I would be doing anyway if I had never seen one before and saw my friend sporting one in her wedding apparel. It's something that is both traditional and unique at the same time, and also fits under the categories of "classy" and "adorable", and that is so rare a find. These bouquets are also made in less traditional colors, and I think could have an alternate use as some of the CUTEST CENTERPIECES EVER. I mean, picture one of these in a cute little transparent vase sitting in the center of your table at an event:

In fact, that last one is even pictured in a glass jar, and it looks so elegant in and of itself - just imagine if you were to adorn the jar with little gems and fill it about half-way with some of those transparent stones you can find at the dollar store, etc etc. So many possibilities wrapped up in such a cute little piece. I'm telling you, if you are planning a special event or know someone who is - keep angel9 at the top of your list. Her stuff is so cute and perfect for almost any occasion you can think of. As usual, click any of the above photos to be taken directly to that listing, or click here to be taken directly to her shop.

And just so everyone knows (because I didn't specify last week) I am not compensated for any of this. This includes Made of Money Mondays as well as Feature Friday. I do it because I appreciate the work that these shops do, and enjoy bringing great products to the eyes of my readers. They don't sponsor me in any way, and I don't even tell them ahead of time what I am doing. But who is going to argue with some free exposure and a bump in traffic, am I right? So show their shop some love.

If I don't have something fun and exciting happen between now and Wednesday, then I will see you then for another What You Made Wednesday!! Remember I will have LINKY up on that day so you can share your stuff with me (and other readers), and I will also be giving a shout out to the listing that has the most likes from last week. So if you haven't posted your stuff yet, the Linky from last week is still OPEN, so go post your products and get people to like your stuff! Thanks again for reading, everyone~ <3 See you then!

~*~Gela~*~

Etsy Success Symposium

Well, originally my plan was to wake up on Friday morning, eat breakfast, then let the hubby take care of the kids while I bust out my notebook and watch the symposium all day.


........That didn't happen.


Life happened instead, and the hubby had one of those rare days where all he wants to do is spend time with me ( =O ), so I had to take him up on the opportunity and ended up spending most of the day with him. Not complaining! But because of this (and 2 screaming kids) I didn't catch as much of it as I would have liked. But this is what I caught.....

Storytelling: I don't know how much this relates to my product. I sell bows...... Not much of a story behind that other than maybe the decision that got me to choose to fabric and the style of the bow..... Not very interesting. I do think I need to go into more detail about how the bow is made though.  Like.... how I heat-seal all my bows' edges by hand from a candle to avoid fraying. That's important! It means that it's going to LAST. I should be telling my customers that. Definitely something to think about.


Prices: People don't buy into the "I'm selling amazing items for super low prices". I was selling bows for about $5 a piece..... That was almost no profit. But I thought to myself "I'm just starting out, people won't want to buy my stuff if it's too expensive, maybe I'll raise the prices later when my shop gets busier." ......But honestly, my customers are probably looking at my prices and saying "Wow, this bow must have been stapled together for that price." So I went back and repriced EVERYTHING. I gave them prices equivalent to how hard I worked on them instead of how much they costed to make. I need to start paying myself fairly. And you know what? I went back later and looked at my inventory in my shop with the raised prices, and magically felt BETTER about my work. I was definitely shortchanging myself. I also need to be able to hold sales and give out coupon codes without worrying about losing money on it. They need to be at a price where I will still be making profit even if I sold it 25% off or something. One person at the symposium pointed straight at the camera, and said something like "YOU ONLINE. Go to your store and double your prices right now. I'm serious." So I took that to heart, and I feel like my prices are more fair to me and also give proper credit to my bows and their quality now.


Photos: .......Oh my lord I have been over-exposing my photos to light. They all of a sudden look terrible to me!! One person at the symposium mentioned that if you're not sure if your photos are up to par, you should take some frequently Front Paged items and put them all in a treasury with one of your items to see if they blend together nicely. Mine totally don't. I feel like my bows are really like... IN YOUR FACE close to the camera. No bueno. Also, there was a little "commercial" between sessions that teaches you how to take proper and professional photos. I was already doing most of her techniques, but she said "Don't be afraid to experiment with props." And that is something that I haven't really done. I generally put the bow on the white paper, take a bunch of different angled photos, then slap it on my daughter and take some more photos. I should be trying them on teddy bears or in the foreground of some pretty jewelry that could work with it or something. I need to play around with it more and have fun with it.


Pinterest: ......Apparently a lot of Etsy traffic comes from Pinterest. I just barely joined this site myself.... And I still barely know how to work it. I need to figure it out. Seriously. If anyone has any tips or tricks about Pinterest, or just wants to teach me how to use it, I am open and thankful for your advice.


Craft Fairs: I really am interested in doing these some day, and those folks from Crafty Bastards really helped me see what will and won't work when that time comes for my business. How to decorate your booth, what to plan for, what to bring, what's important and what isn't, etc. I wish I had written down more notes about it to refer to later when my 1st craft fair comes up, but I didn't because I was busy holding a baby in my arms while watching. Bummer!! But hopefully with their guidance, my first attempt will be a fairly successful one. There are no craft fairs around these parts (I sound like such a hillbilly right there), but there is one in SLC every year. The deadline is coming WAY too soon for me to participate this year, but maybe next year I will attempt it. It should be a good starter fair before I (hopefully someday) move on to Renegade or even the Crafty Bastards showcase.


Well, I learned a lot. If you didn't catch it they still have all the videos available on the online labs page on Etsy, so you should check some of them out. Hope they help you as much as they have helped me so far!!


Remember to join me again tomorrow for Made of Money Monday #2!! I have some great stuff lined up. Thanks again for reading~! <3


~*~Gela~*~

Feature Friday #1 - DragonNerd

I am so excited about today! I have been looking forward to it all week. Today I am going to introduce a new concept to my little blog - Feature Friday! Basically the plan is that every Friday I will choose a shop to Feature here. We'll talk about their products, what makes them special and unique, and even have a little Q&A with the geniuses behind it to get better acquainted with the history of their shop - as well as get sneak peeks and advice from them! So, here goes Feature Friday #1!


This week I was lucky enough to work with Mike & Shaunna Fuellbrandt from DragonNerd. This is one of my favorite shops to browse on Etsy! Mike creates beautiful pieces of jewellery using wire bent in geometrical patterns called fractals. Here is one example of DragonNerd's work:

This is the classic Dragon Curve design by DragonNerd. Beautiful, right? They have this particular design in all sorts of colors, and some even have matching earrings! Check this one out!

But this isn't the only design they have. There are plenty of beautiful patterns to pick from! And they even offer to do any design in your own custom color choice, and they will even bead it with your choice of colors as well!

In fact, there are so many beautiful pieces that I wish I could just post ALL of them right here!! Here's just one more....

I had a few questions about this FANTASTIC shop. So I contacted DragonNerd and got to ask Mike a few questions. Here are some of the answers I got.....


Q: When did you start crafting?


A: I started in the summer of 2009. I was reading and getting interested in the "making" phenomenon; seeing these "makers" build these ornate sculptures with recycled materials intrigued me. Then I stumbled upon a project by the Evil Mad Scientist and it amazed me. It was an intricate 3D art piece designed by a mathematician/artist: George W Hart. The article showed me that *I* could make something like this, something beautiful and amazing. Before that, I had very little creative confidence. I was grounded in logic and never really thought of myself in any artistic capacity. I had a ton of cardboard in my garage (from a recent move) and I set out to create one of these for myself. That was the first time I threw myself whole-heartedly into crafting.


The article that started it:
(www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/frabjous)
The artist's work, on etsy:
(www.etsy.com/listing/87292191/frabjous-geometric-puzzlesculpture)


Q: What inspired you to start your own shop?


A: I had discovered a certain class of fractals called Lindenmayer Fractals. In particular, there was one called the Dragon Curve: AKA the paper folding fractal. I had a moment of inspiration that I could recreate this fractal in wire (and not paper). So I did, and gave it to my wife. Then I made some smaller ones, and arranged them in a cube. I was burning with a feverish desire to see this finished, so I was using every spare moment to make these 24 copies. I was making them everywhere I had a spare moment, even on the bus ride home! Eventually I lost count of the pieces, and made too many. My wife saw these extra pieces, and thought that it would look good as a pendant. We put the extra Dragon Curve on a cord, and she wore it out with her friends. They all went wild over this and wanted ones of their own. I made those, and then Shaunna introduced me to this little site called Etsy...


Q: What hopes do you have for your shop in the future?


A: I want to get back to creating. I really love that I am creating something that people would generally use a computer to express. I'm constantly seeking out new fractals to try out. I'm even trying to design my own! I am also playing with them and seeing how they look in different arrangements.


Q: Is it hard for you to keep your personal life balanced while maintaining your shop?


A: Not really, I make most of my fractals either on the bus or after everybody has gone to bed. My wife is really supportive and does most of the product write ups and chains during the day when our youngest naps. Sometimes we try things out in the evening after the kids are in bed. Taking pictures can be tricky, but with summer on the way, I should get more hours of useable sunlight.


Q: Any advice you would give to people that are interested in or just starting out on Etsy?


A: I think we were somewhat lucky to have an almost completely unique idea. The catch with that is that it's a bit harder to get the word out! Who's going to look for dragon curves - most people on Etsy haven't even heard of them. So I guess our advice would be to tell everyone, EVERYONE, that you are selling. And if you are selling something niche, to go and join forums and tell people that you are selling stuff they might be interested. Worse case scenario? They ignore you. (But don't get spammy - you don't want to get blocked either.)


Also take good pictures. Practice and take a 100 if you aren't sure. The sun is your friend - indirect is best. We still take tons and tons of pictures - different angles, different backgrounds, any idea that comes to us and might work.


Q: Can you give us a sneak peek of what is coming soon?


A: I've been experimenting with some shapes - I decided to do a 5 pointed star. It was a little drab, so I did a second layer, and bent it up. I call them Star Flowers, and my family loves them.


He was nice enough to give me a picture of this exciting sneak peek! Here it is, people!

Well, I hope you have all come to love and enjoy this shop as much as I do. I also hope to be able to consider myself a lucky owner of one of these beautiful pieces some day!! If you haven't already discovered that any of the above pictures will take you directly to their shop's homepage, here's yet another opportunity!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/DragonNerd


So go check them out, buy their stuff, make a statement. Then tell your friends!! Together we can help DragonNerd become an even bigger success!!


A special thank you to Mike and Shaunna Fuellbrandt for allowing me to feature their shop in my VERY 1ST Feature Friday!!! Looking forward to doing this again next week. As for me, I have an Etsy Success Sympsium to attend ALL DAY (as I'm sure most of my fellow Etsy shop owners will be doing today), so stay tuned for my report on that tomorrow. Thanks everyone! See you next time!


~*~Gela~*~

What YOU Made Wednesday #2 w/ LINKY!

Hi everyone!! I am so excited about today!! I finally got Linky! (I know, I'm so behind the times.) So now What I Made Wednesday can officially be turned into What YOU Made Wednesday! So, this is what I worked on this week~

I call this my BRIDAL BOW! I'm pretty much in love with it. It's made from this beautiful white and metallic silver floral fabric that just looks DAZZLING. Plus the center finish is just SO classic. It's also one of the largest bows I've ever made, measuring about 5 inches wide. Definitely for adults rather than children. Which means I will need to find a grown-up model for this one.... Hmmm..... I'll have to think on that one.

So that's my sneak peek - It will be heading into the shop later today!! In the meantime - Show me what you have been working on!! My Linky is limited to one per person, but it will be up until 4/3 at 11:59PM, so if you want to add something later on in the week then feel free! Just make sure to follow my page ---> so that you can find your way back here. Remember to click on and like some of your favorites! We are all here to support each other =)

As always, thanks for reading! <3

~*~Gela~*~

Kameo Crafts banners!

Hi again! Hope you guys all enjoyed my 1st made of Money Monday yesterday! Tomorrow will be our 2nd What I Made Wednesday, but today I'm here to talk to you about something different. =) My shop just got a new look. Let me tell you, it's beautiful. Tom from Kameo Crafts was nice enough to design a new shop banner for me!! Check it out!!

Yeah, I'm pretty much in love with it!! It even features one of my hand-sculpted clay roses on the right! That was a nice touch. His idea, of course. Now..... Despite how embarrassed I may get, I feel obligated to show you this banner in comparison to my old one...... Don't laugh!!!

I know, I know!! Tom's is sooooo much better!! It's nice to finally have a professional-looking shop and it's all thanks to this guy!! 

By the way.... HE SELLS THESE!! Yeah, I'm serious. And for a reasonable price as well. Click the pic above to be taken directly to the listing. And go check out his other stuff while you're at it! He's got some really cool graphic pins and magnets that are really cute for a low price (I'm serious about how cute they are. I never joke about cuteness.)

Show him some Etsy love!!! Thanks, Tom!!!

~*~Gela~*~

Made of Money Monday #1

Here's my newest weekly post - Made of Money Monday. It's not a feature - it's just things that I have come across on Etsy that I LOVE and would definitely buy for myself if I was made of money. =) So, here goes!!


This week I found - ORIGAMI LAMPSHADES!! They are so beautiful. I wish I could replace every lampshade in my house with one of these. I can't believe I have never heard of them before! Check this one out. This lampshade is made by tyART:

So gorgeous!! As always, click the photo to be brought directly to tyART's listing. Show them some love!! This one is for the amazing low price of $25.00 and it comes in nearly every color you can think of! Amazing!! Here is another great one:

This one comes in different colors as well, but is approximately $120. Still very beautiful though!! This one is made by Studio Snowpuppe (click photo for listing), and they even have an adorable little story in the description of this item that you MUST read. So cute. Go check it out and show them some Etsy love!!

Guess that's all for today. As always, thanks for reading!

~*~Gela~*~