Easter recap, and some major milestones...

EASTER:

We had a great Easter weekend....busy, but really fun.  (For Miss Olivia anyway.  LOL)   Friday was *baby animal* day at a local historical farm.  The weather was AWFUL but the kids didn't seem to mind.  Liv had a blast holding all the baby bunnies, chicks, ducks, etc...  Her favorites were the piglets and she went around *snorting* to all of them pretending that she was a little piggie herself.  And wouldn't ya know that I left my memory card at home stuck in the card reader....so no pictures.  :(   This is where DH chimes in with a big, "I-told-ya-so."  I'm notorious for forgetting SOMETHING to do with the camera.  Ugggghhhh.  There's always next year.

On Saturday we spent the morning coloring, *glitterizing* and hiding eggs.  Don't ask me what I was thinking when I let Liv talk me into the "sparkly princess eggs."  We had glitter everywhere--and I'm talking REAL glitter...not the digital kind.  LOL    Here's a little storyboard I made to document  the ending  of our Easter egg hunting adventure:

Poor little thing.  She was devastated when her favorite little pink egg got cracked.  She can pout with the best of  'em.   I used an "acidify" action on the photos and tweaked some of the levels.   I like that the colors are super saturated and grungy.  Fun stuff!  Different than the normal Easter pastels.

Then on Sunday we made sugar cookies in the morning.  Went to church at 1:00  (which was a treat.....I'm the children's chorister and I think they had all consumed a pound of sugar before church.  Exhausting is an understatement.)  and then went over to my parents for an Easter dinner with everyone.  All in all it was a great day to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. 

And...because I'm a major recipe collector myself...I thought I'd share my sugar cookie recipe:

(Click on the recipe cards to see them bigger.)  These are the BEST!!!  I make them all the time and am asked for the recipe often.  They are a soft and puffy cookie with yummy fluff for frosting.  Seriously soooo good.   

MILESTONES:

So the last time I posted I completely spaced the most important development in our family.  Olivia is POTTY-TRAINED.  FINALLY!!!!!  Now some of you might not think that this is such a big deal, but to us it is HUGE.  She is over 3 years old so it is more like GARGANTUAN!  We've been *trying* to get her to use the big-girl potty since she was 18 months old.  No suck luck.  As with everything else, things have to be done on livy-time, and not a second sooner.  At one point in our desperation we promised her a bike.  (We are not above bribery.)  She has had this special one with purple streamers and a hello Kitty on the seat picked out for over a year.  We would take her to the bike shop and let her ride around the store on it....but no taking it home until she went potty.   We're so mean. 
So a couple weeks ago, she just took off her clothes, including her diaper, and went.  On the big-girl potty!  She comes running in and goes, "Mommy, I did it!  I got potty-trained!  You are soooo proud of me!"  And believe me, I was!!!  I did the nerdiest potty dance and jumped around squealing.  She thought it was great and has been potty-trained ever since.  I knew it would just take once and she would get it.  I could just smother this kid in kisses I am so proud of her.  :)  And she did get her bike- as promised.  But for some odd reason she changed her mind at the end and got a Dora bike instead of the Hello Kitty one.  Crazy child.  LOL

And now for Mr. Grazer-man's super huge milestones: he just sprouted his very first tooth,  AND he is sleeping through the night!  Yipppppeeeee, Wooo-HOOOO, hip hip-hooRAY!!!!  Can you feel my excitement?  We put him to sleep about 8:00.  He sleeps till 11:00 when I feed him one last time....and then it's complete silence until 7 am.  Now if I could figure out a way to get him to sleep until 8---hmmmmmmm.....Any tricks out there from you sleep guru's?  I'm not complaining though.  It's been an eventful and exciting week!!!

A LITTLE MARKET RESEARCH:

For those of you who aren't bored to tears by this long blog post....I'm needing some opinions on the hair flowers.  (Yes, I'm bringing those stupid things up AGAIN.)
I am planning on opening up my OJ & Co ebay store up very soon.  But I have no idea what a fair price is for the little clippies.  I like the whole bidding process for my clothing designs....but want to offer the flowers as *buy it now's*.  My friends and family have said they are worth anywhere from $5 to $12.  (With the $12 ones being more elaborate and fancy.)  But that is a huge range.  I have no idea what to set the price at.  So if you received one of my blingin-blooms and have an opinion on a price range...let me know. 

OK~  that is enough rambling from this chick!  Hope you are all doing well!
Be safe and happy out there-

Kim

Comments

[cat]

congrats on olivia's potty training! that's awesome! one and out...all done! yay on more sleep for you, compliments of "mr. grazer." lol.

i didn't get one of the blingin' blooms b/c i don't have a blingin' girl, haha, i would definitely put the buy it now price at $12, and then maybe auction a couple, with a lower starting price. the ebay market will tell you pretty soon whether to go higher, lower, what have you! hope that helps!

[Tiff Brady]

I must have been at Baby Animal Days at the same time as me! I can just sent you some shots of Grace with the animals and you can Photoshop Olivia into them, lol.

You potty training story sounds exactly like how it was with Grace (she'll be 4 in June). All of a sudden, one day after her third birthday she just decided it was time. It's crazy how much you go through trying to get them to do it and then you realize that they just have to decide it's their time, lol. Too bad they don't decide ate 18 months.

I'm sorry that this is such a long comment, but I'd love to buy a blingin bloom from you. They are just too cute. I don't have any suggestions on prices, but let me know. Also (one last think I promise, lol) I'd love to see your stuff that you sell on Ebay. Okay, I think I'm done, lol. Have a great day!

[Holly McCaig]

Hey girl!! She's a doll.

So hair flowers - I was just at Target and almost bought a couple (ponytail holders with flowers attached) and didn't. They were close to $3.00 a pop and weren't even that cute. I can see myself buying cuter ones and paying $5.00 for them.

[Sara]

Yay Olivia! Kenzie potty trained on her own time as well, and it took bribing her with hello kitty bathroom decor to do it. But it worked like a charm.

As far as those darling clippies go, which I love and wore today...I would say like $5.50 to $6 a piece. I don't know how much they cost to make, OR how much time they take to make. But at around $6 each people are more likely to buy 2 or 3 (or more) clippies and a time, instead of just one.JMO. Pricing is very key.

I reccomend that you look at the prices of Gymboree hair clips, which I am addicted to. Then go from there based on the other things listed above.

When you finally get them listed let me know. I want a link to them and your store on my blog.
{plus I have to buy some as gifts}
Best wishes!
Sara

[Shabby Miss Jenn]

Oh how cuuute are these pics! I love the $12 each...or possibly a tad more. And a special if you buy more than 3 or 4? I make all of Chayce's huge hairbows..and have had too many requests to make these for others at her school. UM NO WAY! LOL They take me way too much time per bow..like an hour! Seriously...sooo definitely make sure you get the time you put into them! :)

[Debbie]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am so jealous. Tori wants nothing to do with the potty and we are fast approaching the Big "3". Stresses me out...she is big on the panties but chooses not to keep them clean. You are so lucky.

Anyway, love, love, love the hair flower you sent. I think starting off at $6 is a good idea. then see how it goes and you can decide whether to raise the price or not.

Thanks so much again. I linked you and am spreading the word about your upcoming ebay sale. Let me know when you start.:)

[Nina]

Congrats on Olivia being potty trained...WOW that is So great!!! I have a feeling Eva is gonna be the same way. Everything has to be on "Eva's time." And how great for Mr. G too!!!
As for the flower. I LOVE IT!!! I too have seen things like that at taget and other stores for $3-4. So for yours I would START the bidding at $5.50ish or so.
P.S. Thanks for the cookie recipe!!!! I am a recipe freak. i love them, so keep'em coming. *wink wink*

[Laurie]

Congratulations on the potty training!! How exciting is that!! She has to be awfully proud of herself too!! :) And yay for Gray too! Those are some big deals!! Gosh it seems like after that first tooth sprouts, they all start coming in. Libby got her first in September (6.5 months) and she's got TEN now!! *sniff sniff* Time goes too fast!!

I am SO trying your sugar cookie recipe!! I am such a sucker for sugar cookies with delicious frosting!! Can't wait!!

As far as the hair clippies...I haven't seen them in person, but judging from the photos I've seen they're gorgeous. I'd be more apt to pay 6 a piece and buy a couple rather than 12...I dunno though...I'm not really good at marketing, I'm just good at spending, lol. I will most definitely be visiting your ebay store and placing an order no matter what though. They are gorgeous little clippies!! :)

Have a wonderful evening!! :)

[Shannon B. (aka dancingirisheyes)]

Oh man, so much fun stuff to comment on.

* We got the glitter eggs too! And yup, I immediately regretted it. LOL! Poor Liv's little pout about her favorite pink egg.

* I am SO proud of Liv for going potty! We used bribery too so you won't find any judgement coming from me. What a huge milestone! So excited for you and so proud of Olivia!!

* Yay for Gray's little tooth and sleeping through the night! That was always my "If I can just get to that point then I can survive" goal. LOL! I consider myself a bit of a sleep expert at this point (I'm an expert on so few things but baby sleep I know) and I'm sorry to tell you that 6:30am or later is considered an acceptable wakeup time. BUT...I can also tell you that with Kyla, if she wakes up before I'm ready, I can give her a bottle and put her back in bed and she'll go back to sleep. I never do this if it's past 7am because I feel guilty. But I have been known to put her back down at 6:30am because I'm not ready to start my day. I can't guarantee it will work for Gray but if he wakes at 7 and you want to try for a later wakeup, treat the 7am feeding like you would a middle-of-the-night feeding. No talking, keep it dark, stay in his room, feed him then lay him back down and leave. He might talk for a bit but give it about 20 minutes and see what happens. As long as he's not screaming himself into hysterics, it might just buy you a little extra sleep time. Maybe...!

* Now the flowers. I think people will definitely pay $10 for one. I'll admit that I am a Target shopper through and through. And if I couldn't find something similar at Target, I'd probably try to make one myself to save a buck. So I am probably not your demographic since my goal is "affordable to my budget first, cute second." But I have seen what people are willing to pay for this kinda thing and I think you could definitely get away with the higher price bracket. No doubt in my mind!

[tiffhix]

YAY!!!! Big congrats to you and Olivia! Isn't it great when they are potty trained?! My little trick was to just leave Gabe naken so he'd be more aware of what was happening when he needed to go and it worked like a charm! And a tooth for Gray, wowzers!!! Oh, they grow so fast! Sleeping through the night is wonderful! Alison, luckily, has been doing it for a while so I don't have any pointers for you but she's up any time between 7-7:30 each morning and I'm ok with that wake up time. If it's any earlier I just sit in the recliner and nurse her with my eyes closed and she usually falls back to sleep for a while longer, but I do end up sleeping in the recliner then too. Anything for a little sleep, LOL!

Your cookie recipe looks scrumptious, thanks for sharing it! I think $5-12 seems quite reasonable for your hair clips. REally the best thing you can do is test it. Start them out a little higher than you think most people would like to see if they sell, if they do, great, if they don't, lower the price.

I really like the post processing you did on the easter pictures, very cool effect! What camera are you shooting?

[Steve Teare]

Pricing one-of-a-kind products.

1. How much will you pay yourself per hour to produce fashion hair accesories? (hourly rate)
2. Multiply hourly rate by the number of work hours available per week (weekly cost of labor.)
4. Calculate the total cost-of-supplies to finish one product. (materials per piece)
5. Quantity you can produce in a week. (units/week)
6. Multiply materials-per-piece by units/week.
7. Add the weekly labor costs.
8. Divide this figure by units/week. (cost per piece)
9. For wholesale, multiply cost per piece by two. (100% markup)
10. Compare this cost to similar products on the market.
11. Make adjustments. Build it faster, sell it higher, etc.

Checking ebay and froogle, your price range is right. You should go high to start. Lowering prices is always easier.

There appear to be many lots and sets "buy it now". These are probably targeted at small shop and store owners for resale.

I'd bundle several bows (like 3 for $30) and test it. Some want "lots" bigger than that, like 50 at a time. You save time and money by not shipping to multiple destinations. You'll have to get out the calculator to figure how much that kind of sale is worth to you.

I recommend highly a flat shipping rate or free shipping and build it into the price. These ebay items always get more attention.

You'll probably be needing some good studio lights to shoot product photos of these bows, I imagine. :)

Don't forget to allow for the cost of shipping supplies, labels, etc. Plus you may want to design a packaging insert to encourage repeat sales. This is called "piggybacking."

Good luck in your venture!

-3B

[Chandra]

Love your blog (got the link from Gina Miller)! I wasn't lucky enough to get a flower, but from what I've seen, I'd pay $6 to $8 for a hair clip like that! Thanks for the sugar cookie recipe--looks yummy!

[BethMaat]

YIPPPEEE!!! it is so exciting when your child gets potty trained. my dd got trained around 3 also and i remember calling everyone like she one the lottery or somethng. they all thought i was crazy, but at the time that was one last child i had to change. (being that she has a twin brother). now he was a little older than 3 but when they get it, they get it and ya can't hurry them up any faster. so anyways, congrats!!!!! so exciting about your babe's first toothy also. that is something that i also was on the horn about to everyone that i know. i guess i am a phone freak when it comes to anything eventful in my house LOL. love your hair clips but i am terrible about 'guessing' a price for things. have a great day!!

[MandaKay]

I was so happy to hear all of your good news Kim!!! Can't wait until B is potty trained! No advice for ya on getting Grey to sleep longer - my kids are only until about 7 too! Flowers - I am wearing one right now and LOVE it!!! So want to buy more in more colors - price??? Not sure, but I pay $5 for just a ribbon bow on the same clip at a local boutique. Not near as cute! Also - I know your sister-in-law or someone does hair and she might be able to get those clips at a discount for ya - if she doesn't already. I know I get a 10% discount at Sally's and more at hair supply places!

[Ange]

I'm thinking $7.00 (but that may be the Utahn in me talking... lol!) on the flowers. I agree with the person who said start high and lower if necesary. Don't start them at $5.00 just to hav to raise them. Hard call, but I know they will sell great! :)

Love Baby Animal Days... we missed it this year but have done it in the past and it's always so much fun! :)

-Ange

[lisa]

big congrats to you and olivia! it's sooooo nice to have them potty trained! i know i was estatic when all of my kids potty trained. but then i went through what seems like an eternity of wiping their heinies lol! still in that stage with a couple...
thank you for the cookie recipe, it sounds so yummy!!
looks like you ar getting some great advice on the clips(esp steve's)! i just wanna know where i can buy one- i don't know what i was thinking before, but my girls would sooooooo wear one of those cute flower clips!! me too for that matter!

[Maegan (Coffeebean)]

Yeah for the milestones! Both are fabulous! As for the cute clippies, I have no idea. I keep seeing pictures on everyone's blogs with pictures of their new clippies but I can't really tell. I think the $5-12 sounds about right. (Considering the pricing of Gymboree clippies)

[Gina]

Oh man! That *almost* happened to me once before we left for a fair... luckily I checked the card slot in the camera in the car so I had time to run back into the house.

I have sooo many cookie recipes but I'm always up for trying new ones and replacing the old! So thanks!

LOL We're not above bribery over here in the Miller household either. CONGRATS to Liv!

Hmmmm... no good sleep tips from me! I just got Andrew to stop taking his midnight bottle at about 17 months! Emily stopped at 8 months and Andrew... just a different kid. I tried not to sweat it and finally, he is sleeping a solid 12 hours at night. ;)

I say... stay in the single digits with pricing. I would easily pay $7-$8 for one of those adorable clips! I think once you kit $10, people won't be as inclined to buy, say 2 in one shot. But even $9.50...just a few pennies less, you'll get the sales. I love the number 8 so there you go... my vote is for $8. ;)

[Brittany]

Congrats on the PT! Yay!

I'm having a hard time officially giving the gorgeous clip to my 7 yr old cousin---I am seriously contemplating wearing it my hair for a formal I'm going to! LOL. I would definitely pay $5 for it (and consider it a steal) so you could probably get away with a little more. I'm with Gina....$8 sounds about right. (That way you can still have sales get $5 or $6 for 'em.)

[islandmom]

Congrats on all of the huge milestones!!! I can't wait to see the OJ & Co. store open!! Please let me know when it is all up!!! Looks like you got some great advice here on how to calculate a price!! Can't wait to see everything!!!

[Jennifer]

Um...I'm a little late! But, I would say $6.50 or so? They are soooo adorable. Let me know when I can buy some more! :)

[angela]

Way to go Olivia!!! That pout has to be the sweetest and sadest thing I have ever seen=) And, Yea for teeth;) Thanks for the cookie recipe, I have never been able to make a good sugar cookie, I will have to try this one!!!

[ShabbyPrincess]

OH MY...I have just spent WAY too much time reading the entire blog - LOLOL! Love it all...and I love the new tart burner - beeeautiful! And...OH MY GOSH - I had NOOOO IDEA that Chi had a pink iron...where did you get yours?!!! Toooo cute and a must have, I think - LOL! And....you are just tooo gorgeous for words! LOVE the photo of you! Hair flowers...totally agree with Miss Jenn!!! OK...I could go on and on...but, I'll leave it at that - LOL!

[Vanessa]

Oh Oh I would so buy them, I bought the girls x-mas head bands from e-bay I paid 10.50 each it was (buy it now) she had biding ones to so I would do both. Go to my gallery it my 1st x-mass lo :).
Girl you & Jennifer amaze me with your pictures I'm "learning" :D!
Congrats on the milestones I feel you excitement on sleeping threw the night, can you imagine get two babies to do it lol...... but know I was SOOOOOOOOOOOO LUCKEY!!! BOTH my girls started sleeping threw the night at 2 1/2 months. & for the potty training I always say when there ready there ready. So YAY for Olivia, which I LOVE her name by the way :-). My son was potty trained 2 weeks after his 3rd b-day, I just said do you want to wear your big boy underwear today & he said yes. From that day forward he was potty trained seriously lol! He did even wear a diaper at night it was that easy. But before that day he did go potty in the toilet a couple of times so he did know what to do, but he wasn’t “ready" till that day.

[gregorianthalan]

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