Christmas Bows,

I recently received so Christmas ribbon from my ribbon club, and I've been anxiously waiting until I had the chance to make some bows with it. I got that chance this morning.
The first that I want to show you is this adorable set of pigtail bows. They're made from red ruffled ribbon, stacked with a crochet lace ribbon, and finished with a red center knot. Perfect for that Christmas dress!

The second one I want to show is a another corker. These are quickly becoming my favorite bows to make. This one is all Christmased out with red and green ribbon, snowflake patterns, Christmas light patterns, and stripes. So cute!

You can find these bows as well as a few others (and more on the way) in the Holiday Section of my Etsy Shop. Happy Holidays!

Korker bows

This is my newest design. Aren't they cute? Look for lots more korkers in the near future!




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Sleepy Afternoons

Like today... I'm sitting on my couch, covered with my down comforter, coffee in hand, watching "Gnomeo and Juliet" with my kids. It's been a pretty productive day so far, so I think I'll just take it easy until it's time to make dinner.
The last few weeks have been pretty crazy with company and trips to Idaho. I started homeschooling the boys, and that's going really well. I'm really proud of how quickly Jay is catching on. He's doing so well!
Here's a couple of pictures of some bows I made as a gift this morning:






I think they turned out rather cute. They're for an older girl, and I think they'll look great on her.

I just caught

The Asher-man pulling baby wipes out of the container one by one and putting them on a blanket he had spread out on the floor. When I asked him what he was doing, he said that he was going to make a train with them. Argh. They're all cleaned up now, but, goodness.... What a waste!
My house is wonderfully busy right now. My sister-in-law is here with her kiddos for the next few days. I LOVE having them here. But, with 6 kids under 6, things get a bit crazy. (good crazy!)
Most of the kids are down for their naps right now, so it's relatively quiet.
I got some new ribbon, and made a bunch of new bows this morning. My favorite set is some pigtail bows made out of pink and brown 'cowgirls rock' ribbon. They're SO cute! Pictures to come soon!


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Time away

We're getting ready to head out of town this weekend. I'm really excited about it. There'll be lots of friend and family time in Idaho, and we haven't had that for quite a while. We're also working on getting all of my nieces and nephews from my side together. They haven't all been together for a couple of years since my younger brother and his wife live overseas. I'm sure we'll all be snapping lots of pictures.
Here's a couple of photos of some bows I designed for my niece Alyah. She's quite the little diva and looks absolutely adorable in these bows.





Aren't they fun? Check out my Etsy site for more pigtail bows. They're my new favorite thing!

It's been a few..

I just got an order off my Etsy site. I'm still getting a good amount of traffic to it daily, but not a lot of sales. I guess it's a good thing that I enjoy making the bows so much. ;) and my daughter and all of my nieces have and always will have all the hair accessories they need.
Here's the one I sold today. Enjoy!



There's also the pigtail version. So cute!

Adventures in toddlerhood

Yesterday was probably one of the scariest days of my life.  The morning went off without a hitch, and the kids were busily played as usual.  Then Haven came in the living room with something in her mouth.  I fished it out, and it was part of a watch battery.  Somehow the cap had come off while it was in her mouth and she swallowed the rest of it.  I flipped out and immediately called Poison Control, and was able to find an identical battery so I could tell them exactly what kind it was.  They told me that it wasn't one of the lithium batteries, but that it could still be pretty dangerous and to get her to the ER ASAP.  Which, living out in the middle of nowhere is easier said than done.
Thankfully, the hospital is right across the street from where Jim is working, so he was able to meet me there and take the boys to lunch so I could focus on Haven.  We spent 2 hours just waiting to be seen because the ER was an absolute mad house.  When they finally got us back, everything went fairly quickly.
They took two different x-rays of Haven's chest, and determined that the battery was already in her stomach or her bowels.  And that was a very good thing.  They were concerned that it would get lodged in her esophagus and the acid would cause perforations there.  Thank God it went all the way down!  Now we just have to wait for it to pass, and watch her to make sure there's no blood in her stool or anything like that.  I don't think I've ever been so thankful to have her still in diapers!

So, today, we've had a normal day, and Haven's back to her goofy little self.  I love my girl!

Pigtail Bows!!!

I have them coming out my ears!  But, they're so much fun, and they really are cute!  Here's a picture of my favorite new ones:

I've also made some "Happy Birthday" ones.  These are absolutely perfect for a first birthday, or ANY birthday, for that matter!









There's bunches more, so be sure to check out the site!

And now, I want to show you the bottle caps I've been making:  Military!  They can go on any of my clips, and they look great on the patriotic ribbons.



Come on by the Etsy Shop and check out all the new designs!  And more to come later today!

Hi all!

I'm in the midst of a giveaway for The Finer Things in Life.  Amy agreed to host a giveaway for my bows, and I'm super excited about it.  If you comment on the post, you get one entry, and you get another for liking my Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/BabyDolls-Haven. You can win a crochet headband of your choice, and your choice of three clips to go with it!  There will be two winners.  I'm pretty stoked about it, and it's generated lots of traffic to my Etsy site.  I'm flattered that so many people like my bow designs!
I've made several patriotic bows for Independence Day, and I just got in some new patriotic ribbon, so look for some new designs in the next few days.  I'm also getting the word out that I can custom make anything!  Send me a picture of a certain outfit, and I'll custom design a bow to match it.  Got a girl in high school?  Let me know what the school colors are, and I'll make a bow to wear on her pony tail for all those games!  What's your favorite sports team?  I'll do that too!
Here's a couple of pictures of my newest designs, with more to come soon!  Thank you all!

Patriotic Bows

I recently had a request to make a bunch of these up to sell in a local shop.  They're so cute, and I'm working on adding some pigtail bows the my line up.  These are great for grown ups too!  Wear them on your pony tail for the 4th!

Hopeful

I think that's my new favorite word.  We're still waiting to hear about a position for Jim that we really want.  Well, we've heard a couple of times, but have been told we have to wait a little bit longer.  So I'm hopeful that it all works out.  I'm hopeful that we can trust what we've been told.  I'm hopeful that I can be patient until Thursday.
My Etsy shop was featured on The Happy Housewife's facebook page this morning.  http://www.facebook.com/TheHappyHousewife  I'm really honored to be there!  She listed my bows with the coupon code, and I'm hopeful that it'll generate more traffic to the site.  I also have a couple of giveaways in the works with other sites.  I'm hopeful that those will work out and all this will really help my business take off.

With that said, here's a picture of one of the recent clips that I designed.
It's really adorable.  Mint green with pink flowered ribbon stacked on top.  SO fun!







I think being hopeful goes right along with being thankful.  I'm still plugging away at my list, albeit slowly, it's coming along.

139. Ladybugs

140. Job interviews
141. Confirmation of HIS will
142. Sunny days to play outside with the kids
143. Day's end… Time to wind down after hard work and relax
144. That my kids help me grow and stretch my thinking.
145. That they have so many teachable moments
146. Afternoons at the park
147. Showing the kids how to roll down a grassy hill
148. The scent of freshly mowed grass
149. Opportunities still looming
150. Little boys so chipper in the morning… I wish I had some of that.

Have an absolutely amazing day!

Happy Holidays...

In May!  I had a bunch of holiday ribbon that I wanted to use and get on the Etsy site, so here they are!  I think my favorite is the snowman one.  Maybe I'll have a sale on them in the near future. :D

These really are so cute and fun.  I love the blue and silver one, too.  Perfect for Hannukah!  They're in the "Holiday Bows" section of my shop, where you'll also find the fourth of July bows.  Here's a couple to look at:

Enjoy!

Oh, and here's more of my list of things to be thankful for:

131. Waking up looking over the beauty of the river.

132. That FINALLY spring has sprung

133. That the entire family is hanging out in the bedroom playing

134. For handmade Mother's Day cards

135. A creative husband

136.Laundry

137. That my dog is not a diva

138.Tide washing machine cleaners… My washer smells GooooooooD now!

 

TEN new designs!

I've been working hard all morning trying to get my new designs made up and uploaded to the Etsy site.  I need a nap now.  If you want to see the new bows, check out the site.  I'm being a bum and don' feel like uploading them all here, too.  :)
In between making the bows, this is what my kids were up to:

The boys made "Sacks" out of their shirts and filled them with DVDs and games.  Pretty creative, I thought.

And Lil' Miss Haven was into EVERYTHING.  Why she felt the need to get into the drawer, I don't know, but this was just one of the strange places I found her this morning.  My kids are AWESOME!

Working hard!

So I've contacted several different bloggers to see if they'd be willing to sponsor a giveaway of my bows.  No news yet...  It'll happen eventually, though.  I'm pretty persistent.  I've been making several new designs, and I'm really proud of the way they're turning out.  Super cute!
Jim's working downstairs today.  We're really hoping and praying that something more consistent comes along soon.  It's so frustrating because every time something comes along that looks great, something happens, and the contract doesn't go through.  We know that we'll be taken care of, it's just a matter of time before he'll be back to work full time... I hate waiting, though.  Five months is a long time to be without a job.
I have the boys cleaning (as well as 3 and 4 year olds can do) their room...  That's always a good time.  They're actually doing an okay job today, though, and so far there hasn't been any fighting... (crossing my fingers that it'll stay that way.)
 Here's a couple of pictures of the new bows I've designed:

I'm really enjoying myself...  They're a lot of fun!

Blog Giveaways Pending???

I'm working on getting traffic to my Etsy site up.  I completely revamped it yesterday, and intend on making some more bows today to get on the site.  I'm actually really enjoying myself in spite of all the work this has been.  The site looks SO much better!
I've been contacting different blogs to see if perhaps they'd like to do some giveaways...  Hopefully I'll hear back soon about that.  I'm confident in my product, and I know that anyone who has purchased my bows has been happy with them.  I just need more business! :D
Anyway, here's some more of my list of THANKFUL!  I love that in spite of everything, we can look around and see beauty.  God is good!
114. That Jim is willing to slave away shampooing the carpets for me.
115. Clean barstools
116. The flexibility of kids' bones!  So glad Jay didn't break anything.
117. Watching all three of my kids eating and LOVING my Grasshopper pie.
118. Chocolate meringue surprises
119. That God made Day and night… The separation between the two.
120. Time spent with family
121. New ideas and inspirations
122. Baby's first steps and words
123. The servant's heart of my mother-in-law
124. TV dinners and movies with my kids
125. Resurrection
126. Stretching that feels so good…. Most of the time
127. The lack of drama in my life.
128. Hide and seek with the kids
129. A cool bedroom to go to sleep in…  I love it when it's not too hot.
130. That the Asher-man fell asleep so quickly tonight.




So much to be thankful for!  And my list keeps growing!  Eucharisteo!




Here's some pictures of some Tennessee Titans bows that I designed for my niece.  I think they turned out rather nicely!

Houston Oilers "Vintage" 4th of July Bow

I don't know why this is sideways...  Pigtail bows with Tennessee Titans Bottle Cap Centers

Tennesssee Titans Stacked Boutique Bow

Sideways Again... ACK!  PINK Tennessee Titans.  This one's my favorite!

Changes Afoot.

A couple of weeks ago, my Stars and Stripes Bow was featured in a Treasury on  Etsy.  While I was flattered and honored to be a part of the treasury, I spent some time looking at the others items that were included.  One of them was a bow very similar to mine, but the shop had had over 5000 sales and had over 600 items listed for sale.  WOW.  So, needless to say, it led me to believe that I needed to up the ante a little bit.

So I've been brain-storming, and doing some research about things that I could change.  The biggest is FREE shipping!  (I will have to increase the cost of my bows a bit to do this, but I think it'll help a lot in the marketing department.)  After all, who doesn't like to see the word "FREE"?  I've also found other ways to display my bows to show them a little better.  Here's one that I made last night:
This bow is pink and brown stacked.  Super cute.  Now for the changes in displaying it.  I got a Styrofoam head and a wig.

Etsy allows up to five pictures per item, so this is how I plan on displaying my bows:  First, as pictured above, then to give a little more perspective, it will be shown clipped to a headband like this:

Then, I'll show it simply clipped into hair, like this:













And then, for another option, I'll show it on a pony tail, (or pig tails, depending on the bows) like this:

I've also taken pictures of all of my headband colors together, and plan on listing that on Etsy for all to see.

  I hope that these changes will make a big difference in my sales.  I also plan on getting in touch with a few different websites that a friend recommended to see if I can get some give aways and that sort of thing going.

I think these changes will help.  If you have any more ideas on how I can improve, please leave me a comment!  Thank you!

Crazy Times!

Things have been interesting around here in the last few days.  Jim has had several job offers, which is wonderful, but it's been tough deciding which road to take.  We think we know what we're supposed to do, but we're going to give it a couple more days of mulling over before we completely make up our minds.

Today we're cleaning up the house because we're going to have a barbeque tomorrow.  YAY!  Company!  I love to entertain, and I really haven't had that much of a chance of it since we moved.

Here's some more of my list.  I'm 1/10th of the way there!  And it's growing every day. :D

100.  Peace that passes all understanding.

101.  My friend Missie

102.  Grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches

103.  The wind blowing through the reeds

104.  Listening to Jay learning to read

105.  Baby toenails painted for the first time

106.  The way that Jim sticks out his tongue when he's concentrating

107.  Job interview phone calls

108.  Wine and sunsets with my man

109.   Clean clothes smelling so good

110.  Provision in the last moments

111.  My kids taking a bath, splashing and giggling.

112.  My children comforting me when I'm upset

113.  My amazing brothers

I know that even when things are rough and when the pressure's on, God always comes through.  He's really showing us through the things He's putting in front of us right now.

Not so busy...

I've taken it easy the last few days...  Something's going on with my abdomen, and we're not quite sure what it is.  It could be another kidney stone, but we're not quite sure.  I'm so thankful that Jim steps up and takes care of the house and the kids when I'm not feeling well.  I do have a back log of pictures of bows to show you, though. :)
I've also had some more time to keep up with my One Thousand Gifts list.  I would recommend this book to everyone.  It's SO good!
92. That my husband sees when I need a few minutes and takes control of the kids.
93. Dreams and ideas swimming around in my head and growing into something more
94. That all three of my kids are playing nicely together at the moment.
95. Status updates that make me smile
96. Listening to Jim teaching the kids about Sabbath.
97. The hum and whir and swish of the washing machine
98. A clean kitchen
99. The scent of blueberry muffins


Here's some pictures of some bows I made for the Mule Deer Association of Idaho:  I think they turned out pretty well.  I can just see little girls decked out in camo!

STOKED!

So, on top of the HUGE order that I just filled, I got another one today!  This is awesome.  It's been so long since I've had anything and then BAM!  Business!  SO good~!  God is good!  He knew we really needed this right now.  Keep praying for the job situation.  Lots of leads, but nothing definite quite yet.  We know it'll come, but the waiting is rough.

Here's a picture of my Haven in some of my clips.  I know it's more flowers than hair, but hey, it's cute.  She took her first couple of steps yesterday, so we're in trouble now!   She's into EVERYTHING, and keeps me on my toes.  (Well, more on my toes, since her brothers already had me that way.)

Here's some more of my list of things to be thankful for.  It's growing!

85. Convicting words that remind me once again to TRUST.  TRUST.  I cling desperately to that word right now…  But the thought occurs to me… I cannot TRY to trust.  Trust just IS.  It's a choice.  I choose to trust.
86. Friends who make me laugh when I'm having a hard time.
87. Antique silver tea spoons
88. The amazing feeling of work well done.
89. Watching my kids wrestle with their daddy. 
90. My daddy.  I'm so thankful that he set the example of the type of man I should look for to spend the rest of my life with.

91. Watching my boys fly a kite with their daddy.

Priceless moments.  Life is good!