how i totally won at textbooks this semester.

a while ago i wrote a post about ways to save money as a college student. one of my key points was to skip the school bookstore (and textbook rentals for that matter) and use addall.com to find the absolute best price, and then selling those books yourself on half.com. 

this has always worked really well for me, but at the time i didnt have a concrete example of exactly how beneficial this could be, since it had been quite some time since i had done such a thing. but this semester i did. 

and i totally won. 

for my "career opportunities in fashion" class last semester, i bought the book (which was $106 in the school bookstore, as if) from amazon for $76. i used it all semester, and when school got out i put it up on half.com for the going rate on that site: $90. 

awesome, right? it gets better. 

last week the book sold. right at the same time that i went to the  school bookstore to get the ISBNs for this semesters books. three classes, three books. obviously i went straight to addall.com and found that one was about $10, one was $17, was $56 (prices from addall.com, including tax and shipping). total for books this semester? $83. 

as of right now, im turning a profit on books. (not supplies though, seems like im going to need a lot of those this semester which i am not happy about). 

so this semester seems to be getting off to a great start. plus, i still have another $90 book up for sale...

have you ever defeated the textbook monster? id love to hear the story in the comments!

2014 business goals + craft fair inspiration.

i know were two and a half months into 2014, so maybe its a little bit weird to be talking about business goals right now. 

but really, january comes right after SO many birthdays and holidays, so i needed a few weeks to decompress before digging back into this book:

which, to be completely honest, i havent really been using as a planner. but really thats because every time i think i get into a semi-structured workflow with the shop and blog, something comes along and throws it WAY off and im back to square one (as far as day-to-day operations are concerned). 

HOWEVER the productivity/goal setting prompts in the beginning of the book? those have been a lifesaver as ive been working on building this little business of mine while also doing way too many other things at the same time (though, thankfully its starting to look like a few of those other things can go away now). 

my favorite part of this book though is at the very beginning. the first prompt is to list your top 25 all-time goals, and the second is to refine that big list down to your top five priorities for just this year. since my first list was really all over the place (get a fashion degree! open a brick and mortar store! sell sewing patterns! get featured on a beautiful mess or something equally as huge!), figuring out the second list was very, very difficult. 

but i eventually got there. and in the interest of staying transparent in my growth as a business owner (and the interest of i havent talked about the shop in a long time and i wanted to make sure you didnt think id given up on it), i thought id share my top 5 business goals for 2014:

1. reach 1000+ bloglovin followers. even though this blog isnt strictly business related, it is my biggest platform for talking about my shop and reaching out to potential customers, so id like to continue steadily growing my following. 

2. reach/maintain 1000+ daily page views. in a similar vein, in addition to increasing my followers i also need to work on increasing my traffic, because in my year of blogging ive learned that though followers and page views seem similar, they are actually two completely different things. 

3. get/maintain 100+ listings in the shop. ive been doing a lot of research on running an etsy business (because thats what i do, i research things), and one of the big tips that ive seen in a LOT of different places is that in order for people to really get into your shop, you need to have options. and not just a few options, pages of options. so this year my main focus is to get my inventory to that point, and keep it there. 

4. bring in at least $1000 of combined blog/shop income. basically this means actually keeping income/expense reports like i never did with my first etsy shop. now, i say income here rather than profit because i know its unrealistic to expect things to just take off right away and pay all our bills. but we have to start somewhere. so if i can just bring in $1000 while still sticking to my business plan and not losing any money, ill be stoked. 

5. save up for/assemble a great craft fair setup and do at least one craft fair. this is the big one. i LOVE doing craft fairs, but since the past few years have involved a lot of moving and downsizing (and not to mention a pretty significant rebrand), im not exactly equipped to start doing events. i do have a table, and tablecloths, and hangers, and some small display pieces, but i still need a tent, rack, folding chairs, and some appropriate signage (plus maybe some better display pieces). 

since i just made custom bow ties for my friends wedding, i actually do have a bit of capital to invest back into the business, so of course ive been scouring pinterest for cute craft fair booths. here are a few of my favorites:

this display made from boxes is PERFECT for housing all different sized items (which i totally have):

source

this ladder shelf looks really practical and simple to make (though finding a ladder that fits in my hatchback may be an issue):

source

i LOVE these pennants hanging across the front of the table as opposed to a typical sign:

source

and while this isnt exactly the presentation id like for my hair bows, i think i could improve the concept into something a bit more, you know, me:

source

so, thats what ive been thinking about business wise, in case you were wondering. 

do you do craft fairs? what are your go-to display pieces? do you have a good source for clothing racks (im serious). 

my favorite sewing book.

last weekend i went to the baby shower of my childhood friends. even though i am not a big fan of baby showers (or any all-women social gathering, really), i was REALLY excited because for the first time since i was pregnant with alice, i got to make something from my favorite book! and not just any something, the very best ever baby swaddler that was an absolute lifesaver when alice was a newborn. 

and while i was making it i was reminded how absolutely wonderful this book is and just HAD to take a minute to tell you guys about how much i love it. you see, when i was pregnant with alice i spent a LOT of time in bookstores looking for sewing projects that were: 1. practical, i wasnt going to waste my time making anything that i wasnt going to actually use on a daily basis, 2. plain, i hate hate HATE foofy ruffly tacky "baby" looking things, and wanted projects that reflect my personal style, 3. unisex, because i didnt know alices gender before she was born, and 4. affordable, we didnt have any money for elaborate sewing projects, and i had TONS of super cute vintage fabrics, so i needed projects that didnt require tons of supplies. 

obviously this set the bar really high, but this one book fit all four of my (generally socially unacceptable) criteria for baby projects. 

the book is called simple sewing for baby by lotta jansdotter. you can find it on amazon here, or barnes & noble here for about $18 (i got mine at joanns with a coupon and it came out to around $13, but i dont know if they sill carry it) and it is worth every penny. 

why? well first off lotta jansdotter is from sweden, and you know how the swedish are the best at designing everything? well every single project in this book is super simple, streamlined construction, perfect for showing off awesome fabric prints. shes also a mom in real life, so every project works up super quick (most take less than 2 hours start-to-finish) AND is actually practical for real life babies. with real life moms who dont want to walk around with teddy bears and ruffles on everything. 

one of the best things about this book is that the projects cover a lot of different baby-type needs (clothes, toys, bedding, and travel accessories), so with just this one book, you can basically furnish an entire nursery. 

i mean, i did. ive made almost every project in it, and they are all fantastic. the bloomers, nursing pillow (saved TONS of money by not having to buy a boppy), crib bumper, changing pad, and of course, the swaddlers. my only complaint is that some of the project instructions are a little vague, so i wouldnt recommend the book to a complete sewing novice, and she doesnt include very detailed sizing information for the clothing projects, but those are really small flaws when you consider how great the projects are. 

so if you or anyone you know are about to have (or just had, most of these projects can easily be completed in a naptime, and this is coming from a mom with a terrible napper) a new baby and only want to by one sewing book, i would HIGHLY suggest this one. 

because really, its the only baby sewing book ive ever bought, and ive used it TONS in the past two and a half years. 

p.s. i did not receive any compensation for this post, i just wanted to talk about how much i like it, however, the shopping links are affiliate-linked and i do receive a portion of all purchases made through them.