252 More Days

Well, it's only 252 more days until Christmas (less of course until the holiday shopping season begins).  I have so many ideas I want to implement & foods to stock in the shop before then!

It can be overwhelming and once my creative juices start flowing, I can have a hard time focusing on any task at hand.  Of course, my first priority is to be a good wife and mom (translation:  laundry done, house pretty clean, mommy plays toys with Grace often).  How do moms with online shops balance it all?

I'm learning a lot just by watching other moms balancing creating with day to day life.   Ashley, of Lil Blue Boo, is a true inspiration to me.  http://lilblueboo.blogspot.com/search/label/About%20Me  She's gorgeous & subsists on a breakfast of soda & fast food sandwich or donut every day so it'd be easy to hate her you'd think but she's so creative and friendly you can't help but love her!

She recently started a photography affiliate program with her shop.  She gives discounts on clothing to select photographers, etc. in exchange for awesome photos.  A few weeks later, as I was spending an hour trying to get a great photo of a felt food sandwich, then spending another hour trying to edit it so it would look better, it hit me.  I should get some pros to help!

Last week I put out the call asking for photographers to take awesome photos of my products in exchange for getting to keep them.  Two fabulous women answered the call:  Heather of Heather Ashley Photography (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Ashley-Photography/155482276581) and Abby of Lavish Photography (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lavish-Photography/200005516682013).  Both women take the most gorgeous pics and I can't wait to see their creativity in action.  If you are interested in becoming a Felt Food Kids photographer, please contact me at feltfoodkids@yahoo.com.

I gave myself a deadline of the last day in April to get boxes of food out to them.  I'm hoping to send out my entire breakfast line & my sandwich line, too. How on earth do I stay organized?

I looked to Lil Blue Boo:  she has clipboards!  Clipboards on the walls of lists to keep her organized.  So, I followed her lead & made a list for each photographer, taping them to closet doors.

Aren't these lists long?  I was overwhelmed at first but now I'm plodding ahead.

I'm trying to stockpile items a bit as I go.  My hutch started out like this:

Now it's quickly filling with pieces cut and ready to stitch.  I'll have to share a picture of that later. :)

As each item is completed, I'm placing them in labeled, zip lock bags, putting them into my shipping boxes at the top of the hutch (out of Grace's reach) and then crossing them off the list.

My current dilemma is waffles.  I don't want to copy other sellers but there are only so many ways to make eggs, bacon, waffles, etc.

Here's my round waffle.  I'm not a huge fan of them & am now working on a square waffle.  I figure I'll put both in the shop & see what sells.

Speaking of both, I'd better get back to work on those square waffles or I'll never have 2 options!