Vacation and Referral Giveaway Winners!

I had a wonderful time in The Bay Area! We got to visit with family, spent the day in San Fran (where I went to an awesome fabric store), had some amazing dinners, learned some awesome recipes, and did a little shopping!

Enjoy all the pictures and Congrats to the Referral Giveaway winner!!!



Thank you everyone for helping me promote my business. The winners for the giveaways are Fallon Boyers of Silly.Beautiful.Life and lowercase letters

Crazy Busy!!!

REMINDER:  REFERRAL CONTEST ENDS TOMORROW, CHECK THE PREVIOUS POST FOR INFO!!!

I have been so busy this last week! I have been working on custom apron orders, inventory for a holiday bazaar, and taking care of my two kids and 6 pot belly piglets. I am exhausted! However I am finally on Vacation!!!!!However I did bring my sewing machine and my craft stuff, and I will be checking out a few awesome fabric stores.

Anyways there are a few things about Modern MayeFlower I wanted to discuss. First  the cut off date for Holiday Orders is December 15th. Since I am the only person who, cuts, irons and sews each apron, December 15th will be the last day to order to insure I get all the orders out in time for the Holidays. Also I know I have had some headbands and other things in my shop they will still be in there but my main focus is my aprons since I LOVE making them!! Third there will be an increase of inventory after the holiday season as well as a new item, reversible totes! I am super excited for them I have made a few and they are awesome!!! 

Now I want to Thank everyone for all the support you have given me. I have been so swamped with orders, it is amazing! I am so happy I have found a way to have an income, all while still being able to take care of my mother and wife duties. So Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me along the way! As of now most of my orders come through Facebook, so I want to remind everyone that I do have an Etsy Store. Also I now have a landing page so everything is easier to find. Click Here to check it out.
Thank you again and I look forward to an awesome Holiday Season!

Birthday Week!!!!

My birthday trip started with a short and sweet trip to the coast to visit my grandparents, who live in Westlake (10 miles south of Florence). They live right on the lake, it is awesome!!! We took the boys to the beach, wrote in the sand and collected sea shells! From there we had to stop at A&W to get Rootbeer Floats! That is a MUST!!!!! We spent the rest of the night visiting with my grandparents and just enjoying the time! We had a huge seafood feast, one of my favorite dinners!!!!  The next morning we relaxed had breakfast and went on an early morning canoe ride down the river. The boys picked me some flowers and on the way back it started to sprinkle. So in the middle of Reed singing "Row, Row, Row your boat", it turned in to "row faster daddy, row faster". So funny!!! Oh not to mention Reed thought the pirates were going to come out and get him! We headed home that afternoon and Ian dropped me off at Bunco! I have an awesome Bunco group, I am the youngest by a few years but they are so funny and rowdy!!!

I have been asking for a Greenhouse for awhile now, well this week. . . . Ian built me a Greenhouse!

Then My little piggy Rosie had 7 babies!!!

 Her babies are so cute, but she gets crazy when she has babies and doesn't want me anywhere near them. So i get pictures when I  can!  But expect a ton more pictures to come!!!!

Referral Giveaway!!

Hey Everyone!! I am excited to announce that I have finally set up my very own website. It is now so easy to find my shop and blog oh and to refer your friends! So in celebration of that and that it is my Birthday WEEK, I am having a referral giveaway!!!

There will be TWO $20.00 shop credits up for grabs!!!!

All you have to do is refer as many as your friends as you want, the two people with the most referrals (one from facebook, and one from my blog) will win.


1 Have your friends follow my blog and leave a comment at the bottom that you sent them. (if you like a friendly competition, then they can start referring also!)
2. Like my facebook and leave a comment  saying that you sent them!!!
3. Also by sharing this information either on your Blog or on Facebook counts too!!!

 Entries must be in by Sat the 19th by midnight! The winner will be posted Sunday the 20th



Good luck to everyone! Also be sure to check back for another giveaway next week!!!!

From Acute Designs: Let's talk about pricing!

 This came from Acute Designs and it is an amazingly awesome post! This is a must read for everyone, if you are a handmade business, this is valuable knowledge. If you are a lover and shopper of handmade goods, then this gives you an insight into what we think when we price our items! 

 

 

Let's talk about pricing

{image via here}

Yesterday, I took part in a GroopDealz deal and it didn't go over too well....


I am not sure if it was my product, the cost, or the mood of their customers.  Either way, it was a good experience and I plan on trying it again, but with a different strategy.


The headbands I chose to discount are super cute and the materials are very inexpensive.  The down side is that they take more time to make than some of my other products.


I was asked to go lower than my $9 price but I need to make a profit, so I kept it at $9.  Also, there was a comment made by a potential customer that "they are not worth $9."  


I am not offended by this comment - everyone has their own opinions and people choose to spend their money in different ways.  


What irritates me is that SO many in the handmade community devalue their products.  They price them just to cover their costs + a little more....thinking this is a positive selling strategy.  And in turn, they are breeding the idea that handmade products are not worthy of a higher price tag.

We are addicted to cheap goods and a handmade business owner cannot compete on price.

We all know that you can buy a flower headband at a big-box store for $5 or less.  If you want to spend less than $5 go buy one at a big-box store.  If you want something handmade, it going to cost a little more.


Why does it cost more? 

Because I pay myself a living wage.  

The people that manufacture the items at big-box stores are not always paid a living wage.  Also, these stores are able to keep their prices low because of the sheer volume of products they sell.


When I price my products, I consider materials, shipping materials, website fees, how long it takes me to make the product, how long I spend photographing, editing, and promoting the product, marketing costs, and a profit.


I also sell wholesale, so my wholesale price needs to be about half of my retail price and I still need to cover all of the above + make a profit.

{image via here}

If you own a handmade business and are not doing all of these things, you are selling yourself and your company short.  


If you just want to make a little extra money here and there and don't mind selling your products for far less than they are worth, that's fine, it is your choice.  But those of you who are trying to make a living need to make sure your products are priced to reflect all that went into each design.


People who buy handmade don't buy because it is the cheapest available.  


They buy handmade because they want to support local or small businesses, they like how each item is unique, they like the story of the artisan making the items...and so much more.


Handmade products cannot and never will be able to compete on price with a big-box store.  But they can blow these stores out of the water in almost every other way.

Value yourself and your products.  The right customer will pay what the product is worth.