Get your party dress on!

Christmas time is a time of parties and celebrations! Dressing all nice and enjoying fun and games with family and friends!!
Our team members make and sell some beautiful creations and here are some of my favourite to dress up in this Holiday season!

Toddler girl's ruff... KriksisLV $55.00	Girls Dress Eiffle Tow... GirliePearlie3 $39.99	Linen girl dress - Rust... lefthandedcraf... $45.99	vintage style floral EM... ShereesAtelier $50.00
Kimono DRESS for Girls ... pinkmouse $44.00	As seen in Babiekins Ma... mysweetsunshin... $55.00	Girls Peasant Dress in ... BoutiqueElliEt... $32.00	Ruffled Neck Party Dres... thomaspark $45.00
Upcycled Children's... KingSoleil $78.00	Flower Girl, Birthday, ... sultrysplendor $45.00	Girls Hawaiian Dress Hu... HotLavaClothin... $38.00	Blue and Green Floral G... SweetChildofMi... $19.99
Girls Red Russian Doll ... wildthingsdres... $58.00	Children Clothing, Girl... PlayPrettyWear... $72.00	Classic Beauty Black an... AliBeanBaby $26.00	An Alpine Christmas Kno... ChewChewsClos... $49.00

And lets not forget the boys! With their snazzy ties, and jackets!!

School style - Knitted roy... KriksisLV $30.00	William . Bow Tie . Grey, ... ShanaCraneDesi... $12.00	Boys Handmade Hawaiia... HotLavaClothin... $34.00	Little Boys Vest, Rock Star pinkmouse $26.00
Baby boy bow tie red, w... allthingsforba... $15.00	Dark blue elephant waist... OliveAndVince $26.00	Mezzanine Appliqued Tie... ThePolkaDotTot... $15.00	Dr. Watson Vest and Bo... yellowbluebag $27.95

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Meet Etsy Seller LilBDesigns

Today we would like to introduce you to Rachel

and her Etsy shop LilBDesigns

LilBDesigns has been selling on Etsy since October 2006, she sells a beautiful range of handmade crayon wallets, chalk mats, art folios and more!! Today she is sharing a little about her shop and selling handmade items.

LilBDesigns $18.00

LilBDesigns $12.00

LilBDesigns $11.00

LilBDesigns $9.50

What motivated you to start your shop? 
A big family move prompted a career shift for me. My daughter Lillian was a toddler at the time and opening a shop on Etsy enabled me to be home with her and still contribute to our household finances. I loved the challenge of taking my sewing skills, combining them with my prior marketing and communications background, and crafting a home-based handmade business!

What is the story behind your shop name?
My beautiful 8 1/2 year old daughter Lillian inspired my shop name. It's a take on her name. About a year ago, she had this "ah-ha" moment realizing my shop name is derived from her name. Since then, she has certainly had a more vested (and vocal!) role with my design choices -- and she has become quite the marketer with her classmates and teachers, very cute!

What surprised you most about having your own craft / online shop?
Lots has surprised me! But, the happiest of surprises are my international customers. A large percentage of my sales are to amazing customers outside of the U.S. I keep saying I should have a map with push pins showing the various corners of globe where my products have travelled  My daughter's first question when I tell her about a new order is, "Where's it from?" My sales have been a really good lessons in geography for my 3rd grader!

What do you find most challenging about being an Etsy seller?
Keeping up! When I opened my Etsy shop in 2006, the Children's section had a mere 10,000 listings, which I thought was a lot at the time - silly me! Now it's in the hundreds of thousands, making it a daily quest to keep my items fresh - and found - by Etsy shoppers. Keeping up with Etsy's evolution with SEO, tagging, titles, and so forth has made nothing about being an Etsy seller a "cookie cutter" process. It definitely keeps me on my toes between balancing the necessary sewing time and computer time.

What's your personal philosophy behind your shop / products?
I'm a bit of an anti-technology mom, who prefers unplugged fun activities over electronic toys. Between all of the gadgets and gizmos it seems like every toy on the mass market requires a battery to operate. Encourage children with crayons or chalk to spark their creative imaginations...and let them soar.

How would someone (other then you) describe you?
Positive, funny, determined.

What do you do when you aren't working?
Time away from the sewing machine is time with my daughter - whether it's homework, Brownies, choir, building Lego cities, painting, American Girl tea parties, and now she's really into learning how to cook -- omelets are the latest! I also love DIY home projects - giving new life to old furniture, re-purposing household items, and painting. My home is definitely a never-ending work in progress, many thanks to Pinterest!

LilBDesigns is offering a a whooping 25% discount for our blog reader  To use the coupon, visit her etsy store and enter code 'ETSYKIDS25' at checkout. The voucher is valid undtil the end of December 2012.

LilBDesigns $11.00

LilBDesigns $9.50

LilBDesigns $18.00

LilBDesigns $12.00

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...And to top it all off...

Winter is most certainly here where I live, with snow fall for the last two weeks, it is getting nippy outside and you need to wrap up warm!
So when I came across this treasury created by team member myminimocs, I thought it had some great items to share for those needing some new winter warmers for the kids this Christmas.

CUSTOM holiday or wint... ThreeCsCustomD... $18.99	Flapper Hat - Silver Cl... UrbanBabyKnits $24.00	Grinch Christmas Headb... thebitsybeau $22.95	Mustache Onesie Bodys... zoegirldesigns $12.50
Beanie - newborn - 6-12... ZooKiecrafts $8.00	baby / children's p... WhatILOVEtoday $5.00	Children's Red Whit... tagyouritbykar... $16.00	Red Silk Flower Hat SweetPriBow $35.00
Apple Hat, Red Knit wit... ThatsTheCutest... $22.00	Children's Flapper ... Vanillaknitsan... $24.80	Knit Fabric Headband &... TheSewingLoft $5.00	Darling Dots Coat, Hat ... MaisieandMoe $125.00
Pixie Hat for Baby Boy ... WeThreeBees $22.00	Girls Owl Hat ...Pink &... TheTrendyTotSh... $20.00	Wee Wool Bomber Hat fo... weestitchery $38.00	Crochet Baby Snowflak ... SimplySoftBaby... $15.00

Visit Treasury Here.

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Bring the Outdoors in: Christmas Tree

By Christine from Belly Bear Baby Gear

Forget those gathering baskets, for this installment you'll need some heavier equipment :)  I had a different activity planned for this month, but my children showed me quickly that maintaining a live Christmas tree can be a learning experience.

The first step in the process is finding the perfect tree.  For the first time this year, we ventured out to a real Christmas tree farm.  Previously we had been leery of this task, but surprisingly enough, it was quite manageable.  They even provided us with a nice hand saw and pointed us in the direction of the style of tree we were looking for.

Sean and Isabel thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the field of trees touching, and smelling the trees as we searched for the perfect one.

Once we hunted down the perfect tree, got it home and perfectly in place, the fun began.

Sean and Isabel took immediate ownership over maintaining our tree.  After observing us watering the tree daily, they were interested in participating.

Sweeping up the needles was also very important to Isabel.

Who knew your Christmas tree could become a learning experience.  Thanks to my children, I do.  So take a moment this holiday season and let your little ones, "help" even it you end up with large puddles of water on the floor, they are learning valuable lessons in responsibility and pride.

Christine can be found online in the following locations:

Etsy

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