Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Every little Dutch girl needs a wooden shoe barrette

I decided a few months ago to make a few things to sell at the Christmas Bazaar at the school I used to teach at. It's held the Saturday before Thanksgiving every year so I have a while to get things ready. I'm trying to stick to things that parents would buy for their children since it's mostly kids and parents buying Christmas presents - a lot of little kids running around saying, "Mommy, I want that!" I think the hair clips I made the other day would probably do pretty well, but I want to make a few of my own designs instead of just the ones I saw somewhere else. I'm not sure about copyright laws with ones that aren't original and I'd rather not have to worry about it.

So I've been making more. They're kind of addicting. I had a bag of old felt scraps that I never use and I spent about $1 at the store yesterday buying a few new colors. Today I made 2 more of my own design - ballet slippers (to go along with the ballet/tutu bags I'm making) and a wooden shoe. A lot of the families at this school are Dutch and I've also been thinking about changing my Etsy shop name to "Little Dutch Girl Crafts." It's a little more cute and less obscure than "Kinderstikken." And the wooden shoe clip could be the signature item. I'm not sure who would buy it, but if I become famous everyone will want my logo on their head! Right.

P3040017

P3040018
The ballet slippers need a little work - the stitching shows where I secured the clip inside - but I think you can tell what it is, right?

P3040014
I made this one the other day to match a sweatshirt of Erin's - it's about the size of a half dollar, which is how big all of them are. I'll probably make a bunch more of this one, maybe some with a little leaf. I also have ideas for a ladybug, a star, a holly leaf, a butterfly, a snowflake, and a tulip. I'll take suggestions, too. Give me one I use and I'll give you the original prototype. It might be worth something someday!

**********
And here are some random photos from lunch. Erin had pasta with tomato sauce for the first time last night and again at lunch today. I could tell she liked it because she ate it before the banana, which is usually shoved into her mouth by fistful at great speed.

P3040002

P3040011
A satisfied smile.

And Luke wanted in on the action, too, of course. His latest thing is to stick out his tongue for cameras or to make any kind of silly face.

P3040005

P3040007

P3040008

P3040010

P3040012
"Ha ha! I'm so funny and cute!" That's what you think, Bub. Just wait until the next time I say it's time to go potty and you throw a fit. Then we'll see how cute you are.

**********
Yesterday I walked into the kitchen and saw this:
P3020001
I think I was ignoring Luke and he got bored.

**********
Last Friday I took the kids up to our local outlet mall to get some things for next winter. After I added it up, I got over $90 worth of clothes for $14.35. Score! I almost want to go back, but things were kind of picked over already and I'd want to go by myself. Too hard with 2 kids. They both fell asleep on the way home.

P2280001

**********
And last, but not least - Erin has slept from 7:30 to 7:30 without waking for the past 2 nights. PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE PILLOW! I'm hoping it's not a fluke and continues indefinitely. I was not looking forward to the sleep training I was going to have to do once her cold is finally gone.

4 comments:

Gayle and Rob said...

So how do the little hair things stay in place? They're really cute - I like the flowers and of course the wooden shoe.

Anonymous said...

I like the hair clips! Get that etsy store up and running again!!!

MLE said...

I would also vote for some sports related themes -- a basketball, football, soccer ball. I'm seeing around here that the craze is to buy babies (especially girls) these little outfits related to daddy's favorite sport. How cute would it be to add something for the hair? I know a basketball coach at this school who would put basketball barrettes in his daughter's hair every day, if she only had hair!

B said...

How cute! What about animals? A little puppy or bunny or something. Although they might be harder to make. You might get some good ideas just looking through your clipart files! And I love Erin's hat in that sleeping picture!