It's over, and I'm TIRED!

Okay. It's late, I feel like my body is literally shutting down, so I'll probably be brief on this posting. Or maybe not, I never really know what I'm going to say until my fingers magically type it out. Anyway, this is my booth. I was right inbetween 'Baby Sign Language' and some Scrapbooking thing. (the Scrapbooking ladies tried to nudge their table into my 10x10' space, so I put up the table on the right so they couldn't be in my booth. Greedy women.) And if I have have to hear the 'Potty Train' song one more time I'll freak out.

This is the vertical display I had my large bows on. On the table was my 'bargain basket' where bows and clips were only $3 (or $2 on Sunday) but you had to sift through it all to see what there was.

My friend Melissa made this display. I LOVE IT!
I didn't want to put the hooks in it so nothing could mess it up.

It could be a bit hard to tell, but the 2 neck busts are holding 'stretchy' headbands for those who don't have a ton a hair yet. The box held headbands I 'wove' ribbon around. And there's actually a picture of Claire on that big paperclip. But she kind of looks like a cat from a distance.

The 2nd board Melissa made. These were mix & match clippies.

Okay, so this is one of my FAVORITE things. I now do custom tutu's - but what I love, is the dress form. Thanks Pottery Barn Teen! (no - they did not donate, but they took my money and gave me that in return!) Weird story: I had a couple of adults ask if I could make tutu's for adults - to which of course I responded 'yes'. Then a lady asked if I could make one for a man. I still don't know if she was kidding or not.

I like these little spinning displays. I thought everything looked pretty cute.
(Can you see how close the Scrapbook ladies' wire spinning display is to my table?!?!)

So, now that this Baby Expo is all over, I can honestly say that I'm SOOOOOOO glad!!! No, I didn't make millions, nor did I even make thousands... but it was a great experience and I actually did a lot of networking. I have many new opportunities that I'm really excited about, and it's pretty amazing how this once little 'hobby' has now turned into a pretty cool little business. It was encouraging to get positive feedback from the 'public' since you feel like they're pretty unbiased. Although, quite a few moms from my 'moms group' came by to see me. But I wasn't counting them in that group.

Just so you know how hard I actually worked - here is an estimate on what I actually made:

500 - solid colored large bows
450 - solid colored small bows
250 - polka dot small bows
250 - small flower clips
50 - large flower clips
300 dragonflies
25 - woven headbands
30 - stretch lace headbands
5 - tutu's
too many to count - clippies

It's the FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!

Yes, it's official. I'm now entering the final week before the big Expo. Ribbon is being cut and folded. Glue is being melted and molded, and fingers are becoming little cramped, claw-like nubs. Okay, so that last part is a bit of an exaggeration. But my fingers do become cramped from time to time.

Last minute supplies and newly ordered graphics are starting to arrive. It's almost like Christmas - except better! TOTALLY kidding on that one. But it IS fun to get packages. Plus, I sometimes forget that I ordered stuff, and then I'm SO happy to see that I didn't forget something that I really did need.

I'll be taking alot of photos at the Expo so be prepared to check them out.



On another totally random note, I thought I'd share some tips on a really important topic. So, I hope you find this helpful:

How To Lose Your Pride: 101

1) After you take a shower, opt out of blow-drying your hair. Let it 'air dry'. Not only does this save you time, but it also saves you from having anything remotely close to a hair style. Also, your 'fringe' (or 'bangs' as some would call them) will then dry at an angle that will resist any form of 'shaping' - unless you completely re-wash the hair. It is best to discover this about 10 minutes before you're supposed to leave for a night out. Nothing makes you feel more confident then when you think you might be mistaken for a man.

2)For a Valentine's Day date with your hubby, agree to go with 3 other couples bowling. And not just bowling, but a 'come-in-matching-Valentine's-day-T-shirts-because-this-
will-be-so-funny-and-a-great-time' night of bowling. And of course, get REALLY into it. So much into it, that you are determined to create the best cheesy T-shirts EVER. And then show up to the bowling alley with jackets over your prize-worthy shirts so that you can make a huge reveal and everyone will be so jealous at your amazing creativity, and skills with a glue-gun. But then find out that no-one does the 'cheesy' route, but more the 'matching' route. So now you and your husband look like you just escaped from a pink/red/white/Valentine's Day looney bin.

3) Now this is the most important tip of all. When you bowl, fall down. And I'm not talking about a little slip, or a short trip by the seating area, but a full blown on HANDS AND KNEES fall. It's best if you fall right by where your lane begins. That way, when both your hands slam onto the ground, you can be sure to place them on the waxy part. And I guarentee, that if your hands touch that magical wax, you will NOT be able to push off to get your self up. You'll probably slide forward a little more, you'll freak out in your mind that your whole body is going to end up sprawled out in wax (which would also result in ruining your shirt), and your husband will run up to you thinking that you really hurt yourself because you didn't get up right away, but actually you just CAN'T get up quickly, you have to go really slow to stop the natural forward motion that your body wants to move. (Oh yeah, chances are, your sister might end up sitting down because she might wet her pants from laughing so hard)

So to sum it all up, if you combine the bad hair day, with being the only one's wearing cheesy shirts, with falling on your face in front of ALOT of people at a bowling alley, I promise you, and can 100% guarentee, that you'll lose your pride.

Take it from me, I should know.

Working Hard... and Killing Time

As many of you know, I've been MIA for a while trying to get stuff ready for the Expo. So I thought I'd post a picture of SOME of things I've been working on. If you double click the picture, it'll come up bigger, thus resulting in it looking like there's MORE. Ha ha!

So here are some of the polka dot bows I'll have. I'm still working on the 'solid' colors, headbands, flower clips, and a ton more than I won't bore you with.

Of course one cannot hide away and produce large amount of bows forever. So what is the alternative?!?!? Why, dress your child up in a bathing suit of course!

I bought this swimsuit for Claire last summer and of course it was WAY too big for her. So I thought I might as well put her in it now, since she'll probably outgrow it by this summer. (At least I HOPING she'll outgrow it by then!)

Here's another 'shot' of Claire modeling the suit. I think it's interesting how she tilted her head to one side... almost as if she knows how to pose. Hmmm. Maybe all my watching of America's Next Top model is rubbing off on her...