Frozen Party Ideas and Decorations With Anna

  • January 18, 2015

 

 

 

 

Frozen Party Decoration featuring Anna


Isn’t this Anna doll this most adorable Frozen thing you’ve seen? My daughters found her at the Disney store as part of the Animator’s Collection. Can’t you see the cute little 5 year old knocking on Elsa’s door, begging to play?

I’m not sure why Elsa gets all the attention. Anna seems to be the forgotten sister –what’s up with that?  Just because she doesn’t sing “Let it Go?”

Poor thing falls hard for the duke, who turns out to be a buffoon, and heads out into the winter wonderland to save her sister.  Isn’t that noble enough? Elsa vs Anna might be a discussion for another blog…

Not claiming here that I’m a Frozen expert or anything, I mean I only saw it 3 times.

And by the way, one of those was a Frozen sing-a-long that nobody wanted to sing along to. What?!!?!!

Sure. Sing your heart out at home, in the car, and before bedtime. But in a theater only 1/3 full? My girls barely let out a peep!!

That was supposed to be a **sparkle moment**, but it was more like a dud moment. Anyone else have an awkward experience with the sing-a-long editions in the theater?

Back to the Anna party decoration.

sparkle day design (2 of 16)

Frozen party with hot cocoa bar styled by Whitney

So the fun part about purchasing this Anna Frozen wreath I created is that Continue reading

How to Fold and Organize Fabric

  • January 17, 2015

My fabric stash has multiplied as I have been unable to contain myself in finding fun fabric from thrift stores to use in my Sparkle Day Design wreaths. I’m not just talking about fabric from a bolt, but also shower curtains, lace panel curtains, sheets, table cloths..seriously this stuff excites me.

I recently put a kibosh on the fabric sourcing until I start using what I have.

Yay lots of material to work with.

Boo the chaos of the stash. I’ve tried rolling fabric to display on shelves, folding it in boxes, and shoving rolls in boxes.  Now I am inspired.

Someday soon I’m gonna measure those IKEA shelves downstairs and find some blank space somewhere to fold away. I sense a Before and After coming.

I wonder if the harder part is keeping it looking nice once I get it all folded…

 

5 Things I Learned as a New Etsy Shop Owner

  • January 3, 2015

My first post on SparkleDayDesign.com!! I am very excited that I am finally pushing past my procrastination to start posting on my website. I opened my Sparkle Day Design Etsy shop a year ago and have now navigated through all the seasons with my wreaths. Successful or not, I have definitely learned a few things. As I review the past year as a new Etsy shop owner, I made a reminder list of what I have learned so that I can better implement changes for 2015.

–Plan Ahead

–Expect Change

–Explore Other Selling Avenues

–Market and Hope For the Big Ones

–Create Items Intentionally For Key Word Traffic

1. Long range planning is key for seasonal sales.

“The early bird gets the worm.”       “You snoose, you lose.”

Both of these cliches apply to creating and selling seasonal merchandise. When Valentine items appear in stores for sale on New Year’s Day immediately after Christmas markdowns, it’s time to list your Valentine items on Etsy, not in February. When Christmas items begin appearing simultaneously with Halloween near the end of August, that is the time to have Halloween/Fall and Holiday items created, photographed, and listed. I was surprised to find that this year I sold more for Halloween/Fall than for Christmas. The few Christmas wreaths I did sell, sold in September along with the Halloween and Fall wreaths. Halloween/Fall/Christmas sales seemed to morph into one sales window which was September-early November.

I wish I had prepared for the Christmas season with a better selection of wreaths listed by August 1. I had great intentions to work on Christmas in July.  It did not happen.  It wasn’t “screaming the loudest” so time was spent with summer theater, at the pool, and ferrying kids to karate camps, sewing lessons, and musical theater camp.  Then all of a sudden, summer was pretty much over.  Luckily I managed to get a few Christmas items done in August because I applied to a local boutique and needed to have Christmas items in my Etsy shop for their application process, but the wreaths I created in November were too little, too late.

Though I have read on the Etsy boards that people shop year round for seasonal merchandise on Etsy, overall, I say think like a retailer in term of seasons. Watch your local stores for clues. Approximate Selling Windows for Seasonal Decorations

For me it can take 2-3 days to make a wreath, photograph it in good natural light, and then create the listing. Then another 2-3 days to promote on social media and blog about it. So that takes nearly a week to get the word out about a new item!

Plan. Ahead.

2. Your listings will evolve and you may end the year in a different spot than you started.

I opened my Etsy shop with the intent to sell tinsel wreaths with Disney characters on them much like this “Frozen” Elsa Wreath: Continue reading