Whew!!

I was finally all caught up on orders for the first time since well before Christmas and was enjoying some time to do other things. I love to make hair bows but a break once in awhile is nice. Usually the last two weeks of January are a bit slow according to the last couple years of sales figures so I thought I was going to have a bit of time to spend on my messy house.

The weekend was spent cleaning out the basement and while that wasn't fun boy did it feel good when I was finished. All the junk is cleaned out and what is left I either need to keep or felt like it could be sold on Ebay.

While walking through Target yesterday with my mom (it was her birthday) we were commenting on how free we feel this week with no appointments, cleaner houses and bows all caught up. We planned another day of shopping. When we got home we had both lost power so that meant eating dinner out too. Yeah!

So this morning I sign on to find 11 (some rather large) orders all from one day! What a shock for one of the normally slowest weeks of the year. Today I am back to making hair bows. It is such a shame that I suppose that attic clean out will just have to wait. Ah.....too bad. (giggle)

What's in a Name?

I have been asked how A Crystal Garden got it's name since it has nothing to do with hair bows? When I made the decision to start my own little hobby (wasn't supposed to really turn into a business), I found that I enjoyed making beaded Swarovski Crystal Bracelets. Along with that I made a few little basic hair clips to sell on Ebay. The bracelets did really well thus the name A Crystal Garden since my bracelets were made with crystals.

While making the bracelets, I found that I had an obsession with ribbon. :) I started making the flower bows, basic clips and other small bows and they also began selling well. As time passed the hair bow part of the business dwarfed the jewelry part and I changed my focus onto the hair bows.

At this point I have stopped making any jewelry and now have a business name that has nothing to do with hair bows. Although I have considered changing it, I still like the name and think I will stick with it. :)

A Crystal Garden and Etsy....

I am so fickle! So I thought expanding in Etsy was a great idea and then during a car ride with my mom she has helped me see the light.

Her question was Why?

Hmmm...so I can get more business...

She says Don't you already have a hard time keeping up?....

Hmmm well yeah, I guess I don't really need to be doing that.

SOoooo I will not be expanding into Etsy. I was thinking I could put some easier to make items or premade items on there. But she is so right. Aren't moms great? I will add the sets that I already made for Etsy to my site.

Batgirl and smiley faces....

So have you ever wondered why there is a little smiley face on your packages that come from A Crystal Garden. My daughter wanted to know what job she could do to help me make bows so none other than batgirl herself is in charge of adding a little cheer to each and every Crystal Garden package.

Happy New Year! *Update on Shipping*

Orders are currently taking up to 14 business days to ship. After a four day holiday over Christmas I am much more back logged than anticipated. The 14 days is my best guess for once the kids get back in school and I can start moving these orders out of here.

Please be patient during this holiday time. As you know I try to always ship as quickly as possible but this has been an incredible business season for me. Thanks so much!!

Achy hands are also slowing down the process a bit. I used to be able to sew 50 - 100 bows a night and now that number has shrunk. We are a crafty family but I also know I have my Mom's and Grandmom's hands and wont be able to make hair bows forever but will continue as long as I can.

Thank you to all my customers for a really great year!

New at A Crystal Garden!

Double Ruffle is here!

This ribbon is just beautiful and I have no idea what took me so long to catch onto it. I do have limited colors available at this time and am still working on new styles but here is a sneek peek.I also have 5/8" double ruffle on the way for some super cute new Petite Baby Bows.


Double Ruffle Bows at A Crystal Garden

Color Chart - 10 Colors in stock now.

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Ok, so this year I don't really believe that but my last starts Pre-K tomorrow three days a week. Two of my kiddos have already been back to school for three weeks so the last makes it the end of the summer for us. We had a super great Labor Day weekend at the beach and what wonderful weather for the last summer splurge.

ACG is back open and ready to begin the super busy fall season. We have a few new products using beautiful Double Ruffle Ribbon coming to the store soon. I don't know what took me so long to fall in love with this super cute ribbon but I will spend some time the next few days coming up with some bow designs.

I also have DRR (double ruffle ribbon) arriving in my most favorite 5/8" size that will be perfect for the Petite Baby Bow.

Off to get a few Ebay auctions rolling! I love taking a summer break from Ebay but it is time to get things up and running full steam.