The Calm After The Storm.

Well, you know you've been under a lot of stress lately when your trip to the store on Monday afternoon looks like this:

But really, I'm feeling better already. I think it was just my body saying 'really, Abby Jane? 2 showers, a new job, and a craft show all in the same month? get outta town.'

So speaking of craft shows...her she is!

I realize the picture is a little small but so was my space! A few important things I wanted to keep in mind for the show:

1. I wanted to offer the majority of products I make (headbands, hair clips, tie bibs, block letter sets, and yarn wreaths) to see if I noticed any particular difference in sales. I think I would eventually like to narrow down what I have to offer, so I thought this show might be a good starting point. Unfortunately, I saw people buy a little bit of everything! No one item was particularly popular, although I did get a TON more comments about my cute tie bibs. (I did find out there was another vendor selling them. Fortunately she was in another building. And one customer told me she wished she would have found me first- mine were cuter. Bonus.)

2. I wanted to offer items at a variety of price points. My items ranged from $1-$40. I found this to be effective.

3. I also offered discounts for multiple purchases. Almost every item on my table was sold at a lower price if you bought more than one.

4. I also found that no matter how many signs you make stating your prices, people will always ask you. Know your prices very well!

5. I also value pretty packaging. I discovered that about myself in preparing for the show. So did I spend a little extra money? Yes. Did my shoppers go home with a little extra "wow" factor after their purchase? Yes! Several of the items purchased were gifts so I was able to add gift wrapping at the end. I think my customers really appreciated it! I simply bought some reusable shopping bags on Amazon (for larger purchases like wreaths) and just some plain colored craft bags at Michaels- added my business card tied on with zebra print ribbon & a little tissue paper, and that was that! 

Here is what I went with:
18 headbands ($6 or 2/$10)
10 infant headband wraps ($1 to add to any hair clip)
7 small flower clips ($3 or 2/$5)
22 large flower clips ($4 or 3/$10)
13 tie bibs ($4 or 3/$10)
10 block letter sets (varied from $4/letter or 3/$10 to $10-$20 per set)
6 14" wreaths ($40)
3 12" wreaths ($25)

And here is what I came home with:
16 headbands
6 infant headwraps
3 small flower clips
14 large flower clips
5 tie bibs
5 block letter sets
5 14" wreaths
2 12" wreaths

Also came home with custom orders for 1 tie bib, 1 onesie, and 1 14" wreath.

So excited to get product pictures taken this Saturday and hopefully having all of these items up on Etsy by mid next week!

It's Go Time.

I couldn't have asked for a better week. While each night I have still gone to bed with items on my to do list, the timing of everything has worked out remarkably well. Dinner at my sister's on Tuesday night = brother in law preparing all of my wooden blocks for me. Friends having Halloween pictures taken last night = last minute phone call to me to bring some product over for a photo shoot.

So while dinner with my nephews and holding baby Ethan while they took the pictures weren't exactly on my to do list, I couldn't have asked for things to go better.

Only two more days until the show!

Stop Lying To Me.

I think a lot of times we tell ourselves pretty little things or we post that cute and inspiring quote on Pinterest or facebook because it makes us feel good about life or it has a cute chevron background. And then we begin to believe all of these things will lead us to happiness, love, and a fulfilling life.

But it seems as if the best lies are the prettiest ones. You see, once you strip away all the fluff of the lies it comes down to the truth, and the truth is they are anything but true. When reconciling these "inspirational ideas" with Scripture, they fall short.

It's not hard to find them- they are everywhere. I took the first few I saw on Pinterest this morning to illustrate my point. 

"One of the simplest ways to stay happy is letting go of the things that make you sad."
vs. 
^"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. " James 1:2-4


"Sometimes you have to forget how you feel and remember what you deserve." 
vs.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
Death is what we deserve!

"Good people bring out the good in people."
vs.
 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." John 15: 18-19

The last one is probably one of the hardest because it looks so pretty. It looks great, actually. Well meaning people post it everywhere. 

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
vs. 
^"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:15-17

When it comes down to it, our lives are not about us. We were bought with a price, and we need to remember that. 

What lies have you been believing? What pretty things have people told you recently that don't line up with Scripture?

Funny Moments Part 2.

Libbie and I have been best friends since 5th grade. This past week we spent a significant amount of time together preparing for a baby shower for our other friend Jess. Libbie herself is 38 weeks pregnant. It seems like everyone I know these days is pregnant or trying to get pregnant, but that's kind of beside the point.

Throughout our many years of friendship, I can probably count the number of times I have seen Libbie cry on one hand- with most of them occurring during a chick flick. I'm also talking like a few tears here and there, not outright sobbing.

Since Libbie has been pregnant, the number of times I have seen her cry has increased exponentially. She called me on Friday night, a little exasperated by everything she had to do in preparing for the next day. I tried to calm her down and remind her that at that time the next day, the shower would be over with and she could go on and have her baby.

We were meeting at the hall at 11am, and I had made sure they all knew we had to be there at 11am sharp. We only had a couple hours to setup, and I had no idea what we were walking into as I had never been to this particular hall. It got to be close to 11:30am, and Lib still hadn't showed up. I was getting a bit worried that maybe she had gone into labor or something and asked someone to grab a phone and call her. At that same moment she was calling to have us open the door for her.

I will never forget her face. I was standing in the entrance to the hall and when Hannah opened the door for her, she came straight towards me with a crock pot of chili. Her face was a hot mess, looking like she had had a total meltdown. She looked at me, handed me the crock pot and said,

"I've had a bad morning."

sniffle sniffle

"I had two crock pots of chili..."

sniffle sniffle

"and now I only have one."

sniffle sniffle

"The other one is in my car."

sniffle sniffle

I'm pretty sure I just said "okay. okay. okay." over and over as the rest of the girls calmly went out to her car to see the damage.  She had been on her way to the hall when an ambulance came by and the girl in front of her slammed on her brakes. She had to slam hers and, well, you know the story. They got her car mostly cleaned up, and we went on to have a great time at the shower. The best news was- we didn't even need the 2nd crock pot of chili! We had plenty of food to go around.

I will never forget her face as she walked into the hall.

I will also never buy a crock pot without a locking lid.

(just an hour or so after the disaster...all smiles!)

Funny Moments.

I like to laugh. A lot. Sometimes things happen that I want to remember so I can laugh all over again.

Two of them have occurred in the past two weeks.

Funny Moment #1:
I had the opportunity to travel to Charlotte, NC to visit some friends of mine from college. They have the cutest little 3 1/2 month old you've ever seen, and they had also recently acquired a new puppy, who was absolutely adorable. We had a great few days of catching up, relaxing, shopping, enjoying the Charlotte weather, and, of course, babies and puppies.

While Laci and I were at Panera one day, she realized something terrible. You see, their car is fancy in that the ignition is a button and the key just has to be in the car for it to start. Unfortunately, it is also possible to lock the key in the car pretty easily that way. However, since Laci is supermom, she was determined to get in the car- and we had left the sunroof open.

So in the middle of the Panera parking lot, she began to climb on the hood of her car. Unfortunately, the Charlotte sun had baked the hood of her black car, and she couldn't stand to climb on it. I then decided me cheerleader-proping her up over the side of the car was the best idea. So while laughing hysterically (and I mean, hysterically), she used my leg, the door handle, and the top of the car to pull herself up and in through the sunroof. The good news? The key WAS indeed in the back of the car (it had fallen out of the diaper bag), and she let Judah and I in. Where was baby Judah this entire time? Sleeping in his carseat of course, missing all the action.

I am proud to say that for the two most embarrassing moments of Laci's life, I have been present. It just made a great trip that much better to be able to be present for another one!

Funny moment #2 to come tomorrow...

It's my favorite season of the year, and I'm currently sitting on my couch sipping some hot apple cider thinking about what to write. It's a pretty dreary day here, but it gives me a good reason to just sit.

I've been wanting to get back to blogging for a few weeks now. Ironically, I'm taking the time to start now when this has, so far, been the busiest month of the year for me. But I've been learning that there is no better time than the present and if I don't do something now, I probably never will.

So instead of continuing to talk about my long absence on my blog, I'm going to ignore it from here on out and just simply start again.

Truth: I have a craft show in less than two weeks and I'm scared to death. The last show I did was in the spring, and I was a fill in for a vendor who backed out. I had approximately three days to freak out, prepare enough stock to get me through the show, make signage, business cards, and table displays. Everything. 

I didn't have time to think about the big elephant in the room- the root of my fear:

What if I fail? 

I've been working for almost two months in preparation for this upcoming show, but what if no one buys anything? What if I've put all of this time, effort, and money into something that is completely going to flop?

Almost a decade ago, I remember having a conversation with my friend Marcia in college. I was telling her I didn't want to apply to be on SAC (Student Activities Council) because I wasn't sure I would get in. I think her words were, "are you telling me you've never experienced not getting something?" I had to be honest- I hadn't. Now, before you think what a spoiled brat I am (which I'm pretty sure you already are), let me explain.

No, things were not always given to me. I had to work through high school. I had responsibilities. I had chores. I, however, could not think of a time I had applied for something, tried out for something, ran for something, etc....and not gotten it. Jobs. Positions. Sports teams. Weird, right? I was 18 years old and had never experienced that feeling.

Well, truth be told, here we are almost ten years later, and I still haven't. Have I had disappointment? Sure. Have I experienced tragedy? Yes. But have I ever been rejected or turned away from something I really, really wanted? I can honestly say that I haven't.

So maybe I feel like I'm due. Maybe I think it's this big thing just hanging over me for me to get screwed royally at least once.

I know that I've been blessed. I know that all of these good things have come down from my Heavenly Father, and I have learned to appreciate even the little things.

So I guess I'm ready. For a year and a half I've been thinking/dreaming/creating/working, and I'm ready to give it a shot. I've made promises to open my Etsy shop after the show with the excess stock. I'm having product pictures taken on Saturday. I've been meeting with a friend about how to promote my shop and enter into the blog world next month. I'm about to learn a lot of things about technology I'm not even sure I want to know.

And I'm completely prepared to fail. And I think that would be okay.

But I'm kind of hoping I don't.