EtsyKids Design Challenge: It's time to Vote!

It's time to vote for your favorite item! Voting will be open until April 27th. This month, EtsyKids members were challenged to create an exciting new item based on a theme "Show Me Your Baby Blues". We received a bunch of fantastic entries from some talented people. Please vote for your favorite item from the list below.

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Introducing Things by V

Today We Introduce You To Vianca from Things By V

Q: What motivated you to start your shop?

Well, it was between opening a shop on ETSY or probably be featured in the next episode of Hoarders! When ThingsByV first opened in Aug 2011 it was mostly home decor. I was in the middle of trying many different types of crafts so there was a bit of everything. All my stuff was taking over many parts of the house so I made myself a craft room. Then, every corner of my craft room was full of things. So, my walls, shelves and mantels where all full and now, so was my craft room. Instead of taking over another room, I opened an ETSY shop ;)

Q: What is the story behind your shop name?

I have played and made so many different types of things that I thought "Things By V" would be a pretty simple way to explain the randomness when I started my shop. When it first opened you would be able to find from book marks to Vintage window frames. Now, I have been able to bring it in a bit. I focused on Marble Coasters, Burlap Banners and my newest most addicted addition Needle Felted things.

Q: Do you have a favorite Etsy Shop (non-child related)?

Oh I have several! I try to support our ETSY community as much as I can so If I can find it on ETSY I will get it from ETSY! This shop would be my #1 with VERY cute accessories http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoftFullOfGoodies. I can't get enough of this shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/luxely. And I love the rustic primitive feel this shop has http://www.etsy.com/shop/PegandAwl

Q: What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?

That strangers thought that things that I made and loved were good enough to pay for! I think many of us do think that the things that we make are nice but when someone comes along, that is NOT related to you ;P and pays you their hard earned cash for it, give you a pretty nice sense of pride.

Q: What do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?

The most challenging part would be being able to find the time to share/promote my shop to the world! It's a combination of trying to figure out what the best places and types of promotions are and having the time to do those promotions having also a full time job. I do think I'm getting the hang of it though!

Q: What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?
I LOVE nature and I love making things out of natural products. I especially feel very strongly about natural toy, games and play. Natural toys are very basic, non plastic or electronic. The child has to actually use his/hers own imagination to play with them! Sadly, I feel that this is no longer the norm with our children.

Q: How would someone (other then you) describe you?

While you always hope that others will see you in a positive light, I think most see me as a very straight forward person. What you see is what you get!

Q: What music do you have on while you are creating?

Right now I am LOVING Adele! I think she is one of the true singers right now. She will sound as awesome live and on cd. I have many playlists on hand depending on my mood. I think you will find most types of music in those with the exception on heavy metal and punk music. Just was never able to get into that type of music.

Q: What do you do when you aren't working?

Work some more! ;P when I'm not making creations I'm either spending time with family or working my "day job" I work in education with ELL children (English Language Learners). In the summer time while school is out (means no work! Love working in education!) I volunteer at our local children's theater making set and props.

Q: Anything else you'd like to tell us or share?

I live in a suburb of Chicago called Oswego and I'm married to a pretty cool guy ;) We have 2 boys. Jeremy is 9 and Tim is 13. I have recently entered the parent of a teenager world and I really hope I can come out of this alive! Its like when he turned 13 a switch of attitude and opinions was turned on!

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5 Harmful Effects Of Disposable Diapers And Training Pants

From Anthony and Steph of SuperSkivvies. 

Because our company is an eco-friendly and sustainable company we feel that it is necessary to help people make an educated decision when it comes to choosing which products to use for their children. This is for the benefit of you and your child, as well as the environment.

It still amazes us how many people out there give no thought or regard to how the products they use are destroying the very Earth we all call home, even after being educated and shown the truth about harmful products. Unfortunately, a lot of people want to sweep these problems under the rug and forget about them. However, I think we can all agree that we need Earth in order to survive and give future generations the basic necessities of clean air, clean water, and healthy food. Simple right?

Take a look at some of the information we found about disposable diapers and training pants:

1. 18 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills every year in the U.S. alone, adding 5 million tons of untreated human waste to the soil. And did you know that it is illegal to put human fecal matter in your household garbage? The American Public Health Association and American Academy of Pediatrics have advised parents that “fecal material and urine should not be allowed to be co-mingled and disposed of as regular trash. This contaminates ground water and spreads disease.” Yes, you must remove all of the fecal matter from disposables before you throw them out. (Click here for information on disposing of disposable diapers)
2. Sodium polyacrylate is a chemical that makes disposable diapers so absorbent that it can absorb up to 100 times its weight in water. However, it can stick to children’s genitals and cause allergic reactions. In the U.S., this chemical was removed from tampons in 1985 when it was linked to toxic shock syndrome. And when this chemical was tested and injected into rats, it caused hemorrhaging, cardiovascular failure, and ultimately death.
3. 500 years! This is how long it can take each disposable diaper and training pant to decompose in a landfill. That means that every disposable diaper and training pant ever used in the world is still decomposing in a landfill somewhere. And almost 30 percent of each disposable diaper and training pant consists of non biodegradable products such as absorbent vinyl layers, Velcro, absorbent gelling material, and plastic packaging that will never break down.
4. Dioxin is a by product of the paper bleaching process used in the manufacturing of disposable diapers and training pants. It is the most toxic of all the cancer causing chemicals and causes birth defects as well as liver disease in laboratory animals.
5. As many as 100 viruses can survive in soiled disposable diapers or training pants for months. This includes the live polio virus and hepatitis excreted by recently vaccinated babies. These viruses constitute a potential hazard to sanitation workers and garbage handlers. No to mention the critters that will crawl into the landfill to find a meal and the birds that will pick through this garbage and fly to who knows where.

This is obviously not an exhaustive list of harmful effects. Ultimately, the choice is yours.

Later this week, in honor of Earth Day, we'll showcase some of the amazing fitted cloth diaper options available from EtsyKids shops.

SuperSkivvies can be found online at their blog, facebook, twitter and of course on Etsy:

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EtsyKids Design Challenge for April: Show Me Your Baby Blues

"Show Me Your Baby Blues" is our challenge for April, picked by our last month's winner maddywear. This month we'll be featuring a variety of items that are for BOYS!  Prints, applique, fashion, accessories, room deco, art, greeting cards etc.  

EtsyKids members will have until April 20th to submit their entries, and voting will be open to everybody from April 21st to April 27th. So, be sure to come back to the EtsyKids blog for a new post on the 21st to see all of the entries and VOTE!  In the meantime, please click here to get a sneak peek at some exciting entries so far!

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Handmade Business 101: Choosing A Price Point For Maximum Profit

Business 101 is a new monthly series from Sarah of CuriousWorkmanship designed to help you improve the success of your handmade home business.  

Last month we learned about the difference between revenue and profit. This month we're going to focus on profit and learn how to make the most profit we can.

If you want to make more money, you might think you should just sell more crafts. And if you had an unlimited amount of crafts to sell and a steady supply of materials at the same cost, you'd be right. But you don't. There are only 24 hours in your day, and a large number of those are spent eating, sleeping, cooking, cleaning, traveling, shopping, and (if your life situation is like mine) wiping noses and behinds. So the amount of product you can make has a maximum. You might think that if you sold that maximum amount of product, you'd make the maximum amount of profit. But you'd likely be wrong. Your profit depends not just on how much you sell, but the price at which you sell.

If you can sell your goods at a higher price, you make more profit per item. And if you can sell all your items at a higher price, then you should do that. But, as my dad always told me, the price of an item is precisely that which the market will bear. If I could get people to buy my baby booties at $100 a pair, I'd be selling them for that much-- but few would be interested at that price.

It's widely known that people generally buy more of stuff when the price is lower, and less of it when the price is higher. But allow me to illustrate how selling more items might actually mean LESS money for you. (I'm going to pick some nice round numbers to make the math easier, so bear with me if they're not 100% realistic costs and prices. We're also going to disregard labor as a cost, just to make it easier to illustrate the point.)

Suppose you make hair bows. The materials for these bows cost you $1.00 per bow. You sell them for $3.00 each. Each hair bow you sell profits you $2, so if you sell 50 of them today you've made a profit of $100.

Now suppose you raise your price to $5. Your customers are looking at these hair bows and saying "Gee, it's cute, but is it $5 cute?" Some, the ones who think they're so cute they'd have them at just about any price, are plunking down the $5. Some are not. At the $5 price you're only selling 30 of them today instead of 50. "Oh no," you say, "I've driven off nearly half my customers!" But how much PROFIT have you earned? At the $5 price point, your profit on each hair bow is $4 ($5 minus the $1 cost). So your profit from today's sales is $4 times 30 or $120. That's $20 MORE than you earned selling them at a lower price!

Now you're thinking, "Wow, that was cool! Why don't I just raise the price to $20?" So let's try it. You raise the price to $20 and now you have only 3 customers. Each hair bow makes you $19 and so you've profited just $57. You can't keep raising the price forever; at some point your profits will drop off. Somewhere between $5 and $20 is a price that will maximize your profit on these hair bows.

Now if you're into calculus, you can use this information to create a mathematical model and calculate the price you need to charge to get maximum profit. But you don't have to do any advanced math to figure out (more or less) what the price is that will give you maximum profit. Just give it a try! Sell at different price points at similar craft shows (or similar times of year on Etsy). If you notice you make less money at a higher price, go lower. If you notice you make less money at a lower price, go higher. But now you know a business secret: selling more doesn't always make you more money!

Next month we'll discuss how to calculate shipping and handling charges and make them work with Etsy's system.

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April Showers Umbrella Craft

By Cori of Peace, Baby! Batiks

We all know April showers bring May flowers, but too many rainy days can make you a little stir crazy. These umbrella mobiles  from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman are a fun, easy craft for a rainy day that even little kids can do.

For each umbrella you’ll need:

Paper plate
Stickers, markers, crayons, or paint for decorating
Several blue rain drops cut from blue construction paper (we used eight)
A “J” shape cut from contruction paper for the umbrella’s handle
Glitter and glue (optional)
Thread or fishing line
Hole punch
Tape or glue

Cut the paper plate in half. Cut a slit in each plate, at the top of one and from the bottom of the other. I made my slits about half the width of the plate. Don’t cut all the way through!

Set your kids to decorating their umbrellas on all sides, leaving the area around the slits clear. If necessary, let them dry. My son is going through an ocean and “Finding Nemo” phase, so he opted for sea creature and fish stickers.

Punch holes along the straight edge of your umbrella pieces. I did two on each side of the slits. Slide your umbrella pieces together at the slits to form an “X”. I taped ours together to keep the shape.

If desired, glue glitter to your raindrops to make them sparkle. When they’re dry, tie them to your thread or fishing line and then attach the opposite end to the umbrella. Tie another loop of thread at the top of your umbrella.

Hang and enjoy!

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Introducing Mini-Mocs

Today We Introduce You To Annie from Mini Mocs

Q: What motivated you to start your shop?

Well my business actually started as a joint venture between my sister (who's also my bestfriend) and myself back in 2006. We incorporated that year and decided to do large national baby expo show that were open to the public. We had pretty good success at introducing our Mini-Mocs to the world at these shows but learned quickly we needed something to help sustain us when we weren't doing shows. I decided to build a website for on-line sales and the following year we joined the shops of Etsy.

Q: What is the story behind your shop name?

Not much of a story really...I've always loved the barefoot feeling of moccasins and quickly fell in love with designing our soft sole moccasin shoes. They are for little feet...hence the name Mini-Mocs!

Q: Do you have a favorite Etsy Shop (non-child related)?

Too many to choose just one! but I find myself often attracted to art, blown glass, lampwork glass & ceramics shops.

Q: What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?

How sometimes people seem to find my shop out of thin air.

Q: What do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?

In all honesty I have not yet mastered the Etsy world but the thing I find most troubling is the removal of the promotions forum thread. It has been a long while now since it has been available but it still bothers me. I have found that by doing away with that avenue for shop promotion the Etsy admins have made renewing and relisting and renewing and relisting an absolute must in order to have your shop seen which in turn makes them a boat load more money...don't get me wrong I BELIEVE in being in business to make money but I also believe in "you wash my back I'll wash yours" and Etsy seems to have a REALLY clean back these days! LOL

Q: What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?

Three words best describe my products...QUALITY, QUALITY, QUALITY! I could make my Mini-Mocs products at a fractions of the cost if I would compromise on the quality of leathers, suedes and materials I used, but my company name is on each of my products and I can confidently stand behind every item I make.

Q: How would someone (other then you) describe you?

I had to think about this one...so I cheated and asked my mom! She described me as someone who is willing to take chances. Someone who puts others before themselves and someone who rises above difficult situations and doesn't allow the negativity of others to sway my direction.

Q: What music do you have on while you are creating?

I listen to a VERY wide variety of music styles while I'm working but mostly music from the 70's & 80's.

Q: What do you do when you aren't working?

I absolutely love to cook, spend time with family, enjoy the pool & work in my flower gardens...in the winter the yard work and pool gets replaced with a bit of walking on the treadmill and watching movies.

Q: Anything else you'd like to tell us or share?

I'd like to thank you for the invitation to do this interview. I would like to say to all of the EtsyKids Team shop owners stay focused, be true to your vision and support one another when the opportunity presents itself. WE WERE CREATED TO CREATE...SO GO FOR IT!!!

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