On Owning my own Product

After over 8 months, I have finally given myself permission to “own” one of my door knob items.  I asked my husband first (ha!) and then gave myself the worst of the leftovers, a broken hook that we put back together and a cracked knob (I know!) My bathroom hasn’t undergone much of a makeover yet, really just a tear out and while it is waiting it’s turn for new items, I figured I could at least have a cute spot to hang my towels.

This is where it is even more pathetic.  I convinced myself, to give the knob to my bathroom for “photo shoot purposes.”  We NEED a photo of the knob holding a towel….so lets put it up in the bathroom!

I know, I love myself SO much (sarcasm : )  )

But even a cracked knob, I smile every time I see it. I do wish I would have either painted it blue, or had blue towels though.  I think that would look so cute a summery!

We’ve sold over 200 crystal door knobs items, why am I only just now giving myself permission to own something I make every single day???

As a shop owner, I feel like “The cobbler’s children have no shoes” but with crystal? Ha! It’s true.

 

Have you ever held back from yourself?

Coupon Code

Things are blooming around here

And Magnolias are one of my favorites! I HAD more photos of our garden when it was covered with little tomato and pepper blooms….but our computer hard drive crashed and we are waiting on recovery of the drive…so by the time I have the photos back….

At least I caught our baby Magnolia Tree’s only bloom of the whole year. The flower is almost bigger than the tree!

Our coupon code for the summer is “SALE10″ type that in during checkout for 10% off your order! Even sale items!  Check out the SALE section of our shop for some affordable “needs special love” cracked and bruised door knobs. The same quality and workmanship of all of our knobs, just with some “extra facets” so to speak.

 

Do you have magnolias or other flowering trees in your yard?  Don’t you just love the silky petals???

Going Country

 

For our mom that helps us source door knobs, we went a little country.  She mentioned loving the black marble knobs she found, so we put together this coat rack for her as a thank you.

We sanded and painted a length of wood country white, and distressed it to allow the wood grain to show through.  4 matching brass door plates were painted leaf green and distressed.

We love the curvy feminine shapes and country styling…

But won’t be adding this to our repertoire anytime soon.  Just for our mom!

Quick and Easy Notecards

 

For our mothers day cards, I needed to pull together something cute, homemade and quick.  And I think these notecards are going to be great for any quick little notes.  I purchased a pre made card and envelope set at Hobby Lobby in kraft paper brown.  And used small paper doilies that I already had on hand. The only other thing you need for this is adhesive, I used spray glue, but Mod Podge or even tape would work.

 

Go far away from anything you care about, and spray the back of your doily with a light coat of Spray glue.  It will get everywhere, and will take forever to come off of your fingernails (see the black spot on my knuckle?? spray adhesive…)

Then simply open the card flat, and place the doily over the fold.

Refold the card before the glue sets all the way. Let it set, this should only take a few minutes.  And you are ready to write your note.

I think this would look cute with doilies in the envelopes as liners also.

And a set of these makes a super cute gift!

Did you make anything (big or small?) for your mom?

Cline’s Antiques

While visiting my family in North Carolina, we were able to go to Cline’s Antiques in Mount Pleasant. And it is HUGE, stuffed to the gills and affordable! We filled up a large lands end canvas tote bag with small antique finds for….are you ready…$8. Yeah.

Wear boots and bring a flashlight.  It’s all outside, with a few barns and trailers that your duck in and out of.

This is what most of our morning looked like, shuffling through the vast quantity of stuff (that’s my mommy and my scientist!).  Cline buys trucks full of stuff from people who are getting out of the antique business, that said, there was a good bit of reproduction “stuff” there, especially in the smaller items. Most of the furniture looked legit, and I would have LOVED to taken home so many  dressers and buffets to refinish, but we could only buy what could make the 10 hour trip back home with us and our puppy in the SUV.

I convinced my scientist that I COULD NOT LIVE another day without a tobacco basket, and we practically stole one for $10.  Not pictured: My redneck moment where I also decided that life could NEVER be complete without a skeet thrower and a basket full of gorgeous yellow skeet. That only cost me $20.

This is pretty much the state of things at Clines. But the prices are worth it. I see several chairs in this photo that I would climb this chair mountain for.

All in all, I will be bringing a trailer next time. The prices are worth it.  There were SOO many card catalogs and things that people do those great transformations with…I was dying that I couldn’t take it all home with me.

This is me with some sort of spider made out of a helmet and rebar?

Brown Paper Packages

Tied up with string.

In case you wonder what my favorite part of running a small etsy shop is….it’s probably the packaging. Yes, I love photographing the items, and coming up with new products; but fulfilling your orders and wrapping everything up is SO much fun.

Here is what some of my recent shipments looked like:

Wrapped Purchases

 

But you never know, tomorrow’s orders might be wrapped a little differently! That is after all, what makes it so much fun!

SALE! (and a coupon code)

Lots of items on sale in the shop!

Here are a few of the items on sale:

 

Here is the shop section for everything on sale: Click Here
Use the coupon code SALE10 for 10% off anything in the shop (even sale items!)

Sale Announcement

I am SO excited to let you know that a limited quantity of our London Door Knobs are now ON SALE for pre order and will begin shipping January 1st, 2012!

The price on these is usually $59 because of the labor involved binding the two objects together. But over Christmas we will have access to some tools to make this a little bit easier so we will be making quite a few during this time.  But once they are gone…the price will again reflect our usual labor.

The sale price will be: $42!!!  No coupon code needed!

I’m so excited because I know how much everyone loves these (including my mom!)

December Coupon Code

Lots of new items in the shop (and more knob styles are coming! I’m so excited about some of these!)

Whenever I can take photos (probably not great ones since the sun sets at 4:45!!) I will post them here and of course on etsy.

 

GIFT10 for 10% off anything through New Years Eve.  Gifts for others or for yourself…I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season.

 

Also ALL Shoe Clips have a coupon code for 50% off of shoe clips only.  That code is SHOE50

If you need to make two orders to use the coupon codes correctly, I will refund your shipping accordingly.  Shoe clips come in a cute little package ready to slip into a stocking.

Everything in the shop  is ready to ship, so you can order through Dec. 19th to receive your items by Christmas Eve.  Jewelry Type Tray requires two extra shipping days and needs to be ordered by the 17th of December.  If you need expedited shipping just contact me with your zip code and the items you want and I will give you a quote!

 

 

 

Black Friday – Cyber Monday

Today I am cooking a huge non-traditional Thanksgiving meal and doing my shopping online with tons of great handmade vendors.

 

In Evie Met Hugh we are offering a coupon code for the next 7 days:

Use “SAVE15″ on anything in the shop for 15% off

 

Also I’ve added several new styles of door knobs to the shop. Like this one, there are three similar knobs that would look great as a collection:

 

 

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There is also a super cute shop of inspirational necklaces for women where every purchase comes with a free gift!!  It is called The Tiny Shop and is only open until she sells out.  So hurry over there!

Here are three pieces from her shop.  They are made from vintage findings (click each one to go to her store to shop):