Find of the year!

Ok, for those who do not know me that well should know that I LOVE me a good deal!

 Who doesn't?!?

 I think I actually cherish items that I got for free vs an item that I paid top dollar for.

 I don't know why it's that way but it is.

On the way home today my husband calls me up saying he saw a sofa in someones yard, he asks if they were getting rid of it and the answer was YES! 

It was FREE! 

Below is a picture of another sofa settee that we got for free from a family friend, passed down from his great grandmother....of course we did not receive it in this condition.....it was actually in worse condition than our newest find. 

I had it covered in this green velvet since I felt that green was pretty much a neutral and would go with just about any floral fabric! (I like floral fabrics ;)

Ok so my dilemma is what color or fabric choice do I get the newest settee covered in?? The green one you see above is currently in my daughters room and I would LOVE to replace it with the new one, the new one is much smaller and petite, perfect for a little girls room :) Here are some pics I found via pinterest of some that I like.....

LOVE, LOVE keeping it neutral so that I can change out the pillows to whatever color I please :)

Here is another neutral option but with gold leaf trim vs white. Casually elegant.

Here is brown, but think I'd prefer the other neutrals.

Ok, this one really speaks to my shabby chic side!!! LOVE IT IN PINK!!!!!

This pink one is TDF!!!!!! I think I'm leaning towards pink!! Yes? :) Comments wanted!

FALLICIOUS

Fall is definitely one of my favorite seasons. I think it's a toss up between fall and spring for me :) 

I enjoy the just about every detail that comes with fall. Pumpkin pie (with vanilla bean ice cream!!), knee high boots, my favorite sweaters coming out of storage, starbucks, Halloween, Thanksgiving, the changing of leaves, walks down a trail covered in fallen leaves, the smell of leaves....I could go on and on. 

Today I took my daughter out for a mini photo shoot to take pictures of my newest flower and had no idea where I was going to go. 

I knew I wanted it to be in the woods (a nice place in the woods where there are NO visible spiders!) with lots and lots of leaves. 

I didn't want to drive far (time management) so I just drove around until I found a nice place about 7-8 min from where I live. And get this, it had trails, BONUS!

 I can't wait to go back when I have more time to just walk and take in everything about nature that I love. 

The new flower that you see if my first ever done with a tutorial! Yup. 

Everything else I have ever made was made by me just playing with fabrics and seeing what I could make with them :) 

Me and anything with directions just do not get along! I am more of a figure-it-out-as-I-go person or I just wing it. I got this tutorial from Snazzie Drawers, ever heard of her? 

She's fabulous and puts my creations to shame!

 I just wish I knew how to sew better so that I could buy one of her sewing tutorials. I've been wanting to offer a different style of flower since I tend to get bored doing the same style over and over again. 

This is Snazzie Drawers London Tea Rose Tutorial and I made this one with an eco friendly felt and LOVE the results! Hope you like it too :)

I have fallen out of the blog world and I would love to get back in. I do love reading other blogs and being inspired by others that write blogs. 

I have a couple of other tutorials that I have attempted and can't wait to share them with you! Stay tuned....

My FIRST Matilda Jane Trunk Show!!

 

Ok, you can't see me but I am virtually dusting off the cob webs on my blog! PHEW! It's been a looong time since I have taken the time to do a blog spot. I have good reason to. I am hosting my FIRST ever Matilda Jane Clothing trunk show!! I am super excited about it too! The picture you see above is my FIRST ever MJC purchase, sad to say I bought it off of ebay and paid over retail for it. At the time I don't think I even knew it was MJC. I got it in the mail and fell in love. About a month or so later I had a friend hosting a MJC trunk show, at the time I had no idea what a trunk show was. I knew and trusted the lady hosting the show so I went ahead and bought several outfits from her show.....I was in love! Below are some of the outfits I got from their last fall collection, Field Trip....

Since then I have slowly transformed my daughters wardrobe into a Matilda Jane Clothing wardrobe! What I like about MJC is that not everyone down the street is wearing this brand. They have managed to become a highly sought after brand and most of the time if you do not order as soon as they release their spring or fall collection chances are there will be sell outs. I make sure I order asap to make sure I get the pcs I want! I must also mention how versatile their pcs are! I don't know how MJC manages it but items that I have bought LAST summer and fall still fit my daughter and it's been over a year! What's not to love about that!

Here are some from their spring collection, House of Clouds, from earlier this year...

Right now MJC is doing a wonderful promotion! If you spend $250 you will get the messenger bag (that you can get a look at if you click, here) for FREE, this weekend only! I have heard that this bag is fabulous!!! Another awesome deal is that no matter how big or small that your order is shipping is only $4 shipped to your door! Now that is awesome! Anytime there is a good shipping deal going on, I'm there! If you are not interested in the bag, no worries! No order is too small :) If you just want a pair of tights that is more than fine!

 They released their fall line, You and Me the 1st of Aug and there is still a lot of wonderful items you can still get! Here are just some of the pcs that I had ordered from their new fall collection...

The 2nd pic above was one that I took right when she got out of the shower (wasn't really in the mood for pics, ha!;)

Please don't think MJC is just for woman with girls! They released their BEST EVER woman's line this fall! So women, take a look by scrolling to the bottom of the page, here.

Above is a pic of a dress from their Home Room collection!! PERFECT for the girl that may have a dress code for the school that they attend. My daughter doesn't go to school yet but I still ordered from this collection since it was perfect for basics and also perfect for accessorizing to your hearts content :) And ya'll know how I love to accessorize!

So with the promotion going on and awesome shipping rate, now is the best time to start your MJC collection (if you haven't started already;)

Feel free to look at their entire collections Here! 

Email me at princynparis@gmail.com so that I can get you started on setting up your order. My show is for this weekend only so do NOT delay!!!! 

Getting ready for a big girl room

I haven't had a lot of time to blog but came across this picture and it got me thinking about how I need to start getting ready for Paris's BIG girl room.....I am so not ready for that!

I took this picture around this time last year. I sent it with my girlfriend, Stephanie, so she could take it to Furniture Market in High Point N.C.

RACHEL ASHWELL was going to be there and Stephanie (who is a buyer for the furniture store I use to work at) was going to have Rachel sign the picture for me :O) Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy! {hint: I'm a BIG shabby chic fan!!!!!}

I had ordered Paris's baby bedding from Rachel Ashwell's online boutique right before she closed her doors {she has since reopened, yay!} So I thought how perfect it would be to have a signed pic for her room:)

I am now thinking of what to do with her room to make it into her big girl room. I've lowered her bar to her crib {to get her use to being able to get in an out of her bed}....now to find a bed. I had refinished (or should I say my husband) my old furniture. I want to keep that but I am in need for a bed....thinking of making her an upholstered headboard or go shopping for antique iron bed....still unsure.

My dilemma is what you see in the next picture....

You can kind of see in this picture, my french settee....I am NOT about to get rid of it and we currently only have room for it in Paris's room. It fits nicely in there with her crib, but not sure how it's going to work with a twin size bed, ah! The dilemma!!!

You can kind of see (in the background) where the crib and settee almost meet....thinking I'm going to have to go the daybed route:( Which I really don't want to! But who knows, I may find some fabulous iron antique daybed somewhere, somehow.....let the searching begin! I'll keep you guys updated:)

American Girl Easter hat and sash

Phew! What a day!

Actually it's been quite a few busy days here lately!:)

I feel so blessed, I really do!

I've had constant orders pouring in since the beginning of January.

 I've been dreaming of this mini hat for a couple of weeks now and just haven't had the time to put aside and make it AND take pics:) Every Easter , when I was a little girl, I knew one thing.....I got to wear an Easter hat and gloves with my new dress!

I also have another one planned which is very similar to this one but it's natural colored hat with all white feathers and flowers:)

Same butterfly to.

I'm going to offer this hat at a special price until a week before Easter. If orders come flowing in I may stop taking orders sooner than that. I never know how well an item will sell until it's listed. Some sell right away and then others take a couple of weeks and then start selling like crazy....so unpredictable:)

BUT don't wait on placing your order on this mini hat!! Especially if you're wanting it for Easter! I have been quoting 2 weeks as my turnaround time BUT I'm going to quote 2-3 weeks on regular purchases and focus on Easter orders since that is right around the corner!!!

Sooooo expect 2 weeks on Easter orders (maybe sooner) and 2-3 weeks on merchandise that is not needed until after Easter, hope that makes sense. This of course is my time frame for U.S. shipping.

I named this hat the American Girl hat because for some reason it reminds me of some of the hats that the American Girl Dolls wear but with my twist on them;) It's extremely sweet looking on and I have 2 ways you can attach it, one is with a thin stretch headband (that is sewed onto the hat) or with 2 clips (that are placed under the brim on either side) that attach to the hair. The one Paris is wearing is with a skinny stretch headband that is very stretchy.

Here are some pics of my youngest son Princeton. Once he found out I was taking Paris out for pics with her Easter dress on he wanted to join in on the fun......with his Easter clothes on as well, minus his blazer, its 81 over here right now?!?!!:)

I love that boy, lol!

The pic below is one of Princeton telling his sister how to pose.....

And this is the pic I got......

These two FIGHT so much! But they also have started to play well with each other! Hurrah!

Here is Paris trying to console Princeton, he had something in his eye.....

One more....

I am going to list the hat in my shop for $24.50 and the sash for $18.50. If you would like a hat and need a different color scheme, that shouldn't be a problem. I just may not be able to do much custom orders....for now:) Don't get me wrong, I LOVE custom orders and sometimes I feel like my best work comes from custom orders but they also take a lot more time to do and we are on a time crunch baby! :)

I'm sorry this is so last minute but better late than never.....right?!?

If you think you would like the natural hat with all white, I can set up a listing for you, it will be the same price as this hat. Happy Friday everyone!:)

New Winner!!

I'm sorry that I have to post winners on my blog but I'm playing it safe! Facebook has rules about doing giveaways and what not and I am a play-it-by-the-rules type of person!:) I spent the past 30 min looking for those dern rules and now I can't find them, once I do I will post a link;)

I took the day off yesterday and we went to Richmond VA to visit their outdoor malls:) I got to visit Anthropologie, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. We have some of those stores where I live but they are much smaller than the ones in Richmond.  I am SO in LOVE with this Industrial Chic look that is exploding everywhere! It's making it very hard for me to do soft, feminine shabby chic to my house (I'm about to redo some of my downstairs in shabby chic) here is one of the items I have to have (or a much cheaper replica ;)

It's a miniature dress form. I have already come up with SO MANY ways on how I would use this lil gal!!!! :) Ok, so on with the new winner....

I had to pick a new winner since the last one did not contact me. REBECCA BARNETT please email me with your address please:) Princynparis @gmail.com

Bee Happy and a WINNER =)

Well, I thought I would start this blog post with a new design that I have and will soon add to the shop, I call it the BEE HAPPY headband. Doesn't it just make you happy to look at it:)I have enough materials on hand to make about 6 and then I'm out of the bees. I bought all of the ones that I could find. I haven't made an effort to find more but if there's a demand for this hair pc once I sell out of the 6 I may be on a hunt for more;) It measures around 3 1/2" and is attached to a clip {like most of my hair pcs}so you can wear with or without the polka dot headband :)

For those of you who have been following me for a while may have noticed I seem to have a huge attraction to bugs:) Whether they are pretty butterflies or dragonflies, I LOVE them! I am a huge nature lover (mainly in the garden area) and love things down to the snails:) I don't have a green thumb that's for sure but I seem to do nicely with the fabric flowers:)                                       

I try and work in what I love about nature in with my flowers, it seems to flow oh so well!

Well, on to the winner for my Share on Sunday giveaway! I used Random.Org to pick the winner and here is the result....

Jean Nguyen White please email me at princynparis@gmail.com with your choice of the Mermaid's Jewel shoe clips or the Orange Blossom shoe clips and your address! Thank you everyone who participated! I may make this a weekly event, it all depends on my workload and what is going on that weekend but I will make a huge effort to do more Share on Sunday giveaways!!

Have a fabulous Monday! :)

A good cause!

Well, it's been a while since my last post, what else is new:) Next to the dusting in my house my blog tends to be the last thing on my mind here of late. Well, I'll try to make this as brief as possible!

This morning I got up to start my daily routine, of eat, do dishes, check or answer emails, work on orders, make sure the dogs are fed and let outside, make sure Paris eats something for breakfast (she is NOT a breakfast person and I have to fight her every morning to just eat something!!!

Any other mothers out there with this problem!!???) get ready to pick up my son from preschool...ok I mentioned this was going to be brief.

Got a lil carried away!

I popped on Facebook to see if there were any messages and what not and saw a blog post from Matilda Jane, as always I took the time to read it:)

For those of you who know me or follow me on facebook may recognize the name.

Matilda Jane is my newest obsession!!:)

I ADORE dressing Paris in their clothes!!!:) Of course she loves it just as much as I do!  Ok, getting distracted again, ah!

Well, after reading the story about this women who lost her husband due to cancer had me in tears! I can't even fathom the thought of losing the man that has become my best friend, husband and father to my children! Just the idea of it makes me want to curl into a ball and cry my eyes out. I immediately push that thought out of my head and say a quick prayer of thanks for everything God has blessed me and my family with!

So allll of this to say that I am now selling in my etsy shop a beautiful children's necklace name Flora Bella.

I made the center of the pink flower with an extra button that came with my most recent order from Matilda Jane. If you have also ordered from Matilda Jane recently and would like for me to use one of your extra buttons you can simply mail it to me and I will use it for your necklace if you were to purchase one. Please note that I do NOT have these buttons in stock they are exclusive Matilda Jane buttons and I do not have access to them! If you do not have a button no worries! I will make your center either a small cluster of white pearls or a single crystal bead to replace the button that is pictured.

Here is a picture of the back of the necklace tied into a sweet bow:) So simple and beautiful at the same time:)

I will donating $5 from the proceeds of this necklace from now until Feb. 21. I don't normally do charity or donations unless it's for my church.

This story really spoke to me and moved me. 

I know $5 doesn't sound like a lot and I so wish that I could do more!

 I honestly don't make a lot doing what I do, by the time you take into consideration materials, etsy gets a small fee, paypal gets a small fee, taxes, shipping materials and of course my time, very little is left over, ha! :)

As long as I am able to pay for my sons preschool and I am able to buy the kids what they need than I am happy with what I bring home from my etsy shop. I just hope that I can make a small difference in this womens life:)

Feel free to spread the word! I've asked Heather from Fabulous Fun Finds to help spread the love as well:) Thank you Heather!! 

GIVEAWAY WINNERS!!!!!

Ok, first I need to apologize for doing this today instead of last night!!!! The hubby was working and I was here with all 3 kids that are ALL INFECTED with cabin fever!!!!!! So to put it mildly, they were acting kinda crazy! lol! I didn't want to be on the computer and have my house fall apart while I sat there and tried to figure out who the winners were!

Ok, second, giveaways are soooooo stressful on me!!!!!! I want to make sure that I do things ABSOLUTELY fair!!!!! I'm always worried, "did I leave someone out?!?!", "did I count right?!?!?" "did I give it enough time??!", "did I make it too confusing!!!??" AHH! you get the picture:) Since I did something a little different and it was a little confusing I picked a winner old school style! I found names all over the place, on my blog, on my wall and on different posts. Not wanting to leave anyone out I wrote EVERYONE's name down (that made a comment) and then wrote down who sent them. I tallied up the # of referrals and came up with a TIE!!!!!! Jordan Michelle Boyer and FORTY TOES, you guys TIED!!!!!!!:) I counted over and over again, trust me I felt like Santa Clause, made a list and checked it twice! Well, I actually checked more than twice, tee hee:) SO Jordan Michelle Boyer and Forty Toes send me an email at princynparis@gmail.com and let me know what you would like, the Mary Mary quite Contrary headband or a $25 credit to anything in my shop:)

Ok, for the next winner, I had my son, Angel, pick out a name! He witnessed me write ALL the names down and double check so that I didn't miss anyone!!! He picked the name and the winner is.......

        VICTORIA MORGAN!!!!
Contact me at princynparis@gmail.com and let me know what you would like as well!!!:)

P.S. Angel wanted me to let everyone know that he just woke up (right as I was starting to do everyones names) and still has bedhead, he was so embarressed, LOL!!!! He is really starting to become a young man! =)

I will be doing more giveaways here in the near future but will featuring them hear on my blog!!!! I've heard rumors that Facebook was closing pages down and I DO NOT want to be one of those pages!!!!! I think it's in their rules that you can't do giveaways. So I will be doing them here on my blog but Facebook will be my main advertisement tool!!! :)
THANK YOU EVERYONE who participated!!!!!!

GIVEAWAY time!!!!!!

Well, it's been a while since I've done a giveaway and I'm way over due!! I also promised one once I hit 500 fans on my fanpage!!:) So this a multiple giveaway! I'm doing TWO! One for you and One for a friend!


Here are the rules as follows....
1) Share this giveaway on facebook with a link, refer a friend to "like" my page and make sure they mention that YOU sent them:)Their comments MUST BE LEFT on my facebook Fanpage!! Winner for this giveaway will be the person with the MOST referrals! Feel free to share on any of the Matilda Jane fanatics pages since I offer M2M items for Matilda Jane pieces. Winner will receive my new headband or a $25 credit to anything in my shop. This will be the first giveaway
2)New followers will need to leave a comment on who sent them on my fanpage and I will use Random.Org to choose a winner from that post, Winner will receive my new headband or a $25 credit towards anything in my shop. This will be the 2nd giveaway.(note this giveaway is meant for the friend you refer and not the person who referred them, so that there's something in it for them too:)

Winners will be announced on Saturday evening at 9 P.M.! If winner doesn't claim their winnings within 24 hours a second winner will be chosen.

Ok, the other thing I will be trying out is my "Introduction Pricing"!!! This is when I will offer THREE of my newest creations at a LOW price!!!! I will only offer them at that price until all three are sold and once they are sold the item will be offered in my shop at regular price! I will be offering my "Mary, Mary, quite contrary" headband for $15!!!!! I will sell this for $24.50 in my shop once all three for $15 sell. I may not be able to do this for all new items due to cost of materials or time management. I won't tell you how long it takes me to make my flowers but I will say it takes OVER 2 hours and when you divide $15 into 2...well, you see I am making very little profit on them:)

You can purchase the $15 Mary, Mary quite contrary here on my blog on the right hand side where the buy it now button is. Shipping will be $2. To explain a little bit about why I am doing this (and I have to give 100% credit to Heather from Fabulous Fun Finds for this idea) I feel this gives customers a chance to experience some Princy n Paris products in their lives for those who may not have bought any of my items. I know $24.50 seems like a lot for a pretty hair piece but a LOT of it has to do with the time I put into each piece! I hand cut each petal and handsew each bead (with the exception of the tiny tiny seed beads that I sometimes use). This is very time consuming but I do it because I love making pretty things!:) Paris is just now getting to the age where she WANTS to wear hair pretties, lol!!! I use to fight her to get her to keep them on but now she goes and gets what she wants to wear for that day:) Momma may need to help her pick but so far that doesn't seem to bother her;)

Playing Peek a boo for our lil mini photo shoot:)

Ok, I tried to explain this as simply as I could but I just read the details to my husband and he was so lost, lol! Granted he doesn't participate in any giveaways and is not too familiar with how they can work. Please feel free to email me with any questions!!! princynparis@gmail.com