Tututorial!

Every princess should have a tutu. I keep seeing them being sold for 20, 25 and more dollars at various online stores. Personally, I think it's ridiculous. I make all of my daughter's (and niece's) tutus. It so easy and inexpensive.

Step one, find some elastic. I have lots (since I make tutus for my ballerina bowholders,too), but the very first one I made using some elastic out of some old clothes waistband. Measure your girl's waist, add maybe a half inch for overlap (to sew together). You can handstitch it really quickly, no machine needed.



Next comes the tulle. You can purchase the 6" kind on rolls in craft stores. Get about 50 yards (you may not need this much, but the more tulle, the fuller and fluffier the tutu!). The rolls are usually 25 yards, so 2 of those (unless you want more than 1 or 2 colors in your tutu, obviously!). Those usually cost about $2 apiece.


Figure out how long you want the tutu to be. There are so many lengths, each with a different look. Cut the tulle double that length. The amount you use will vary.


Fold each piece of tulle in half, hold against the elastic and wrap it around, pulling it through the loop at the top.



Repeat with each piece until you get the desired fullness. Experiment; you can always untie if you don't like the way it looks! If you want, take some of your extra tulle (if you have any, and wind it around the waistband to hide the individual tulle tie ons(but it doesn't look bad as it is!). You can add embellishments like gems or ribbons, too.




Put it on your little ballerina, and watch her dance and prance and have fun!



Now how easy was that?!! Great gift for a little girl, especially if you're on a tight budget. If you still don't want to do it yourself, you can find more affordable tutus- I wouldn't suggest spending more than $15 on one, though. The other thing with a DIY tutu, it'll grow with your child for a while- just add more tulle!

Upcoming projects:

I've been pretty busy. I haven't been making tons of ballerina bow holders lately, but have been working on increasing my hairclip collection.

I've been making more of my Kutie Korkers, and with football season here, have been making a collection of team color Kutie Korkers.


I have been approached for several giveaways. I am all for giveaways, but am trying to get my new website up and running first. With a lack of product shown on etsy these days, it's harder to get real exposure or interest. I need an actual shop where I can display all of my work. So there will some Ballerina Bow Holder giveaways on some prominent blogs in the near future. :) I just have to get back to work on www.LLTreasures.com (not active yet!).

I am also getting ready for my first local craft fair. I am starting out small, as it's my first one, and I'm not sure of the reception or profitability of fairs for my products, yet. I'm optimistic, and as long as I get the vendor fees back in sales, I'll be fine with putting all the effort into it.

To all of my fellow small business owners: what has been your most effective form of marketing? Do you seek out your niche market, or promote to the general public?

Contest! Prize Package worth OVER $2000.00!

Announcing the Moms United in Business blog contest!
Are you a mom with a business? Need a little help with marketing, blog design, etc? If so, this giveaway is for you!!

Contest Deadline: Friday August 15, 2008 11:59pm EST
Winner will be chosen via random drawing and announced Monday August 18, 2008

Prizes have been generously donated by members of Moms United in Business.

All you have to do is blog about it, link back to Moms United in Business and give them the link! Easy peasy, and an awesome way to get your business more visibility!

Good luck! (Even though I hope I'll be the winner!) ;)

Keeping me busy!

So my etsy store hasn't really taken off. That's okay. The local orders are steadily coming in! I also just finished the custom order for my Bloggy Giveaway Carnival winner.

This is for my giveaway winner:


This was a custom order- for a little girl who is a 'princess'. :)

More of my recent work.

I named this one Jasmine. A lovely gold color- was going to be a custom online order that fell through. She turned out gorgeous, though.



Bodice closeup:





This is a pre-made ballerina, and I loved putting the princess touches on it.




This teal beauty was a custom order. The dragonfly on the bodice really finishes her off nicely.

Lately,

I've been doing most of my business locally. I put advertising magnets on my car(which Michael gets crap for when he drives, but he puts up with them in hopes I'll sell enough to keep my spending habits from bankrupting us!




This is a local custom order- pink sparkly bodice




This is a custom order for a friend. Gave one to her as a baby shower gift, and her older daughter loved it so much, she had to have one too, in her fave color- light blue. I named this ballerina Star.


I may post a couple more later..

Welcome to my little shop blog!

I figured I needed a spot to talk about my creations, progress, etc. I haven't been putting many new ballerinas on etsy, as I'm rather disappointed by the responses. Yes, I've sold some ballerinas & hairclips, but the custom orders can be tedious, time consuming, expensive in materials, and not guaranteed sales.

Some of the slow sales can certainly be attributed to my poor quality pictures. Everyone who has ever looked at the online shop and then received one of my ballerinas have exclaimed how much more beautiful they are in person. I know this and am trying to come up with a solution.

I've been looking into photo boxes to evenly distribute the correct amount of soft white light onto a product. Many are expensive, and I've already invested a lot into my little business. I did find a DIY macro photo studio on Strobist and I'm going to try it before turning to more expensive options.