Thrift Stop!

After writing this post on thrifty teaching aids:

http://michellescharmworld.blogspot.com/2011/03/thrifty-teaching-aids.html ,

I have gotten many e-mails, to keep updating my fun buys! Remember that you don't have to go to a specific charity shop, just go into one! I for one can be a total store snob, I admit it, but thrifting is FUN! There are so many treasures you can unearth and believe me, I've often times found new in box toys and books and game sets that are perfect for lessons or inspire new ones. 

Today, I ran in just to do a quick check at the local Goodwill (snob about to come out here). I cannot stand this Goodwill and if I were the company I would invest in making it as nice as the others I have been to (every single other one) AND be more careful about what they put on the shelves (stained items, torn items, broken stuff etc.) The minute you walk into this one, you just get that ick feeling, BUT I figured I will give it a shot, since I struck out at my 2 other local stops.Go figure I found some great stuff!! 

I did take the time today to write them a customer note on their website with my receipt information, so hopefully that will help somewhat! haha!!On to the good stuff!

Goodnight Moon is HUGE, it's the Lap Size for the classroom and perfect for all 3 kids to see while I read at bedtime! The Vintage Clock is a puzzle too! This is going to be very helpful in teaching Roman the Time basics and we can also use the numbers in different games too! My favorite purchase was the magnetic Pattern Blocks and Book, these were in a ziploc freezer bag, so I put them in the red pouch to make it more portable. I then dug through my supplies and found a cute little iron on to pop onto the pouch to make it cute and my youngest son fell in love! 

I took an iron on patch that I had in my supplies and put it right on this drawstring bag I had and now this little set looks good as new and Roman has already started carrying it everywhere to play!

Goodnight Moon .79

Magnetic Blocks and Book .99

Clock .99

Total spent today under 3.00!!!

Right Now...

Right Now, I am:

::Sifting through today's thrift store finds

::Drinking Chamomile tea out of a Disney World mug

::Wishing that today was Friday

::Thankful for my husband and children

::Debating on whether or not to start a new Family Central binder

::Wondering how to get my hands on a Waldorf set of log blocks and not spend a fortune.

::Wanting a hot bath and massage

::Listening to Vivaldi's 4 Seasons

I'm Late...I'm Late...For a Very Important Date!

Morning readers! Today the Eclectic Artisans Team blog ring is exploring time management. The question posed this week, was How do you find time to Create, be on an Active Street Team & have a life offline? It took some thinking, but what I realized is that I work best with a schedule. I'm talking large posterboard Super Nanny Style schedule. I use it for life in general, not just shop related tasks. I print out small copies daily so I can check stuff off. Checking off a task makes a feeling of accomplishment. I only work early morning and late night into early morning. Other than that, my laptop is open when I am in the house and whenever I pass it I check in on my Team (I am team lead), my Facebook pages, Twitter, etc. If I do this each time I pass the computer it's only 5 minutes of my time. I manage to answer convos, relist, renew, tweet etc. Whenever I get a chance. When we head out to run errands, my laptop is in the car in case we hit a hot spot. At th elibrary story time? I pop online while the kids are doing activities and listening. I'm only a step away from them and still able to work. If we hit up fast food for dinner, while they are in the play place after we all have eaten, I'm checking information.

Right now, we're headed out to school in a bit, so while everyone is locating their backpacks, shoes, hats and such I am checking in and posting things. It helps to do blog posts and write descriptions for Etsy listing at night. I save all my posts here on blogspot and just click publish when the time comes. For etsy, I do the full out listing and just save the URL and don't click FINISH. Then I put all the URLS with the title of the item in a WORD document and this way I just copy, paste and FINISH when I want to list something new. I easily am up until 330 am every day, but this is the only time I have to fully dedicate myself to where I need to be online and still manage to have all the time I need for my family. (3 kids ages 4,3,2). Read about how IndigoOrchid manages her day to day tasks!

A Little About Life...

It's been a great summer so far and last week had my children interviewing for preschool for the second time with this one school. I was nervous for them and we were obviously the over-protective parents because once again we were the only 'set' of parents (both mom and dad) there! hahaha! We waited in the lobby with the baby while teachers took them away into separate rooms! (We wanted to badly to peek in on what was going on!!). This was our first school choice for them because our little boy is 3 and if he could get into the class, it would be perfect for them to start school together. If he didn't get in, our Princess (4yrs) would head over to the Catholic School that only has a 4yr old program with no exceptions. We had to fill out a heap of forms, which my husband then told me a lot of them were the SAME ONES we had to fill out at the first interview!! (Maybe they wanted to make sure we were telling the truth??? haha).

They brought out our 3yr old son first and YAAAAAY! He got it! He will start school in the fall with his big sister in the 4yr old program! We were thrilled! Then they brought out our Princess and WOOT WOOT! She got in too!!! Yaaaaaay! We were all thrilled.

Now that preschool was right around the corner, we wanted to start some way of having them accountable for what they do. My husband and I decided that the easiest way would be to start a chore chart. This way they would do the chores every single day and we would then give them a little money at the end of the day if all was complete. (.25 each day) They are just simple everyday tasks that they do anyways, but this way they make sure to do them on their own. We have been at it for a week and the kids love it. We printed them out and laminated them. (I keep the document on my computer so we can add things as the time goes by). I keep them on clipboards on each of their desks and I give them the wipe-board marker to check off things as they are finished. (Kids love markers, I find that my kids run to do something on the list just to get to use the marker!!). We made a tiny one for Nana and Grandpas house too, because they both give them money each time they visit, so this way they are doing something to earn the money.
I've also decided to go by way of the Bento Box Lunch! I love the cuteness and creativeness of it all, that I am researching the boxes and all that good stuff. I want the kids to have Bentos for preschool and I would love to start sending husband off with a Bento every day too! I will obviously need different sizes forthe kids and husband and I, so I am doing my research before diving right in! I want to be sure to have it all by the time school starts in the fall though! yay!

Have You Seen It?

Our new street team blog has begun it's week and more of giveaways! Please stop in to the blog every day to see who is featured and what they are giving away! Enter all the contests! Mine is tomorrow! I have an idea of what I am giving away, but I still have to think about it for a bit of time! For today you can win the cutest set of crochet strawberries!

Stop on into my shop today and check out the new sweets I have added in! Such fun goodies sure to make your wardrobe pop this year!

Breakfast Time Necklace by MCW 13.00

I have some new trinkets to list in my Destash Shop today too at some point! so be sure to check that out too! Have a great day everyone!

New Treasures!!

Hi everyone!! Stop on in and take a look at all the new goodies I posted!

It's going to be a busy weekend for me so ALL sale made today and tomorrow get a FREE pair of earrings! Just use the code: FUNWKND

I hope you find something you can live wihtout! CHeck out my sale items too! All purchased from my sale rack get a special little something in addition to the earrings!! Have a great weekend!

Featured!

Today, I find myself featured in a Treasury!! I got notified on Flickr! This is titled LOLITA and I love all the pieces on it! Those Spoon earrings on the right are mine! I think this treasury is so pretty and full of pinkness that i'm in love!

A big thank you and hug to SumikoShop for creating such a lovely piece of inspiration!

It's All On Sale!!!

Spend 25.00 today only in my shop and get a 10.00 gift certificate off a future purchase!!!

Step right in!

Word for the Year...

I was browsing the Lollishops Guild (a private forums for vendors) and I came across a thread by Jill of Bailiwick Designs. It was all about choosing a word to set the tone for the year. I thought this was a great idea and went and thought about it. I chose the word Patience. I am a very impatient person, think 3 year old pouting and demanding. The sad thing is, is that it always works. I was an incredibly spoiled child and only grew up to be a spoiled adult hahha! I would be lying if I said my father didn't still spoil me. I was also lucky enough to marry a man that spoils me a bit too much too. I feel sorry for the man our daughter marries! hahaha! So I have decided to really try and work this out. I found some charms with the word PATIENCE on them and I made them into a Purse charm and a cell charm. When I move to my new studio, I am hoping to put the word on the wall. I not only want to learn patience in business (my lack of views and sales on Lollishops is a big one for me). I also have 3 children and trying to juggle this business and being the perfect stay at home mom is difficult sometimes. I need to be patient and realize that having it all is not always important. So what is your word?

Here is the direct line from the thread:

Every year I choose a word to use as an inspiration
and encouragement to myself. I'll even print it out and put it up all around my studio (and the bathroom
mirror too!) to remind me. Last year my word was
"focus"; this year it's
"grow". For one thing, I want my business to grow.

Take a Moment...

HI everyone! Just wanted to encourage you all to take a browse in my shop! I will be giving away a free bow necklace if you purchase today or tomorrow (Friday). Just use the code: Bow110 in the Notes To Seller. Now stay warm out there!

If you purchase from my Lollishops shop, just go ahead and pay through paypal and I will send you the bow necklace AND a free pair of earrings! I'm trying to build up my customer base over there! It's pretty slow, so stop on in please!

Time To Shop!

Shop Etsy for my Funky and Chunky Line

Come on everyone! Enter the world of online shopping!! Join me in either of my shops today and get a FREE Bow Necklace with your purchase. Use the code 104Bow in the Notes To Seller after you check out! Free necklace will only be given to those that pay with Paypal today.

Shop Lollishops for my Wearable Sweets Line!

Quick Saturday Tip!

First Page of MichellesCharmWorld on Etsy

I'm off shopping on Etsy and Lollishops today, and I am noticing some things (other than the face that I need to stop shopping). Close-up photos are an AWESOME way to show detail, but you then need a descriptive title. PLEASE tell me that it's a necklace, earrings, bracelet or what-not. I don't want to guess and most likely won't click if I can't tell what it is. Remember in photos bracelets can also be mistaken for necklaces. I always put what it is in the subject title. When doing a search, people will look at the page as shown above there. They will not always click on something that catches their eye if they have to guess. Descriptions are the last thing I do when shopping. First I look to see if it's eye catching, then I read the title, then I look at the price and then I click to enter the shop.

MichellesCharmWorld on Lollishops

I always shop using the Search Bar, it's the easiest way for me to be specific and see the most of what I am looking for. I love to bake, so i'm looking for a baking necklace maybe. I pull of a page of listings and begin to browse:

On this page, I first look at the photos (yay, check out my 2 items at the bottom! haha!). 3 catch my eye right off the bat, so I focus on those. (the other 2 were too dark and well then there are my 2). They all say Necklace and 2 even give the length. My click will go the the Cupcake Baking Necklace, since it is in essance what I was really looking for. So, are your titles detailed enough, without being crazy-Ebay titles? I automatically surpass anything that has more that 7 words in it. Too wordy is not a good thing :) Have a great weekend!

It's Here! It's Here!!!

Economy Booth Banner by MonsterPromos

Today I am taking a break from my normal posting schedule, due to the excitement of my new banner arriving. My husband ordered me a shop banner for Craft shows from the wonderful and awesome MonsterPromos on Etsy! It's absolutely fabulous and since it arrived quite delayed, it was no longer a Christmas Present, but an awesome YAY you're FABULOUS present! So I figured today would be a great day to acknowledge all the AWESOME customer service I have received from fabulous people on Etsy! This could be an amazingly long post, so I have to try and keep it short! I know I myself did not purchase from MonsterPromos this time around (I have purchased from them before though), but my husband raved about how great she was. The mail took a turn for the worst and she was ready to ship out a new banner!! My husband waited on the old one and it did show up. Great contact all the way through! Which is more than he had to say about a lot of other Etsy Shops that he bought my presents from. Too bad, he also had other great experiences too.
My next rave is for SewInLove. My husband purchased a money apron from her that I had in my faves and it's GLORIOUS! The workmanship is totally making me think she is UNDERCHARGING! hahaha!! It's made so well, very sturdy and lots of pockets for holding STUFF! I can also use it for Garage Sales! I'm taking it to have my shop name embroidered on it too! Very prompt shipping here too!

A+ work goes to JennGee, who made an AWESOME and super sturdy Coffee Corset! My husband bought this one too. It's thick and really does keep your hands from getting too warm!! I've even loosened it a bit to slide over my Venti Passion Tea from Starbucks, because it's too cold for my hands in the winter! haha! I've coveted one of these for so long, but of course never got around to buying myself one!

Windy1824, must be an angel among Etsy Sellers! She is one I have had to deal with on my own and it's been awesome! I had her make up my business cards and stickers and fell in love with the customer service. Even when she's busy with other orders, she keeps me in the loop. When I ran out, I emailed her and she had a listing up for me in no-time! I ran out again and this time I added in some earring cards and bag tags and she did them up so fast!!!! She also ships ASAP.

More fabulous, beautiful and great work awards go to MousseAuChocolat. I got some awesome knit goodies from her and they are funky beyond all reason! I looove them! I wear them every time I go out in my casual wear and I get compliments all the time! Fabulous!! I could go on and on, but I better wait for another day, otherwise this will be the worlds longest post and these sellers won't get the spotlight they deserve if there are too many to wade through!