First Custom Order

Recently one of my sisters asked me to make a REAL custom order, (as opposed to asking me to make a duplicate of an item that I've already made). She wanted hair clips to match a dress that she bought as a Christmas gift for two sisters. Here is what the dress looks like:

From JCPenney

I was actually pretty excited about doing this, and I love how the matching hair clips turned out. The sisters are 5 and 2, so I made two different sized poms for the clips, (a little difficult to tell in this photo).

The greens matched better in real life, the blue ended up being a little off from the actual blue in the dress, but I blame that on the photo from JCPenney, since they appear to be the same on my screen. :-) My sister also asked me for two headbands for each girl, which proved to be a little more challenging than one might think, but only because the girls have red hair, so I had to make sure I made something that would look well with red. I already had a couple of headbands on hand, but also came up with two new headbands:

Rumor has it that the girls loved the headbands, and one of them HAD to wear hers the rest of the day. That's what I like to hear!

I have created two tutorials while I was making these items, so I'll be sharing those some time later.

Christmas is Coming!

It's time to start your Christmas shopping, and Betty Bow Blue items will make great gifts for the ladies in your family. I have already received a few gift requests for both custom orders and in-stock items, so if you are interested in purchasing items for Christmas, now is the time to start ordering! I will be heading back to work (part-time) on Monday, so the sooner I receive your custom orders, the better the chance that they will be shipped in time for Christmas.

A few points about placing orders (as described in the "Policies" tab above):

• To place an order, please email me. If you are requesting a custom order, then include all details in your email. 
• I do require payment before shipping orders. Please read the Policies tab for further details.
• On most orders, please add $1.50 for shipping. If you are receiving several items, then I will let you know if the cost will be different.

Not sure if a Betty Bow Blue item will work for anyone on your list? Here are a few things to consider:

Hair clips are the right size for a stocking stuffer.

Headbands are a great idea as a last-minute gift for your daughter's best friends.

Order a custom-made pin for your child's teacher this year.

Holiday headbands and pins are ideal for family Christmas photos or parties.

Ditch the holiday sweaters this year. Poinsettia pins and Christmas-themed pom necklaces add a subtle touch of the Christmas spirit, perfect for the office or workplace.

Don't forget anyone on your Christmas list this year. Betty Bow Blue items are perfect for your:

• daughter/granddaughter
• mother/mother-in-law
• grandmother
• sister/sister-in-law
• wife/girlfriend
• aunt
• cousin
• niece
• teacher
• friend
• roommate
• co-worker

Check out the items that I currently have in-stock, or the fabrics available for custom items, and place your orders today!

New Items: Rolled Fabric Pins

My first craft fair hasn't even happened yet, but my mom has already sold five items for me! Yay, Mom! Two items were single pom elastic headbands (one a mint green and the other a "Laura" pom), which I didn't get a chance to take photos of. She also sold one of the "Autumn Leaves" necklaces and a "Larkin" headband. The last item was the set of "Lucy" hair clips, which are no longer available as I only had a few scraps of that fabric. This leaves me feeling hopeful for the actual craft fair.

Of course this also means that I should really start a new stock of items for a potential craft fair in December, so I'm not scrambling at the last moment. I am starting to experiment with a few new designs and finished two rolled fabric pins last night:

Christmas Pin

Yellow and blue pin.

I really like how the Christmas pin turned out, and will probably add this one as a "made to order" (M20) item soon. I am contemplating adding a tiny pearl on the red rosette to hide the little bit of glue that is showing, but I forgot to do it before taking the photo. I really like how the red rosette looks by itself with the leaves and may make it into hair clips also.

The yellow and blue pin uses the "Sweet Aida", "Erica", "Allison", and "Kaylee" fabrics. I'm not too crazy about how this one turned out. In hindsight, I probably should have replaced one of the patterned fabrics with a solid, but too late now!

When I get a moment, or rather, remember to do it, I will take the measurements of the items, and also a photo of the pin on to get an idea of scale. But until then, opinions on these? Keep making or scrap? How would these look as headbands (in a different arrangement)?