Let's get crafty!

Let's talk about crafts, shall we? I'm a very crafty person. I was raised with a crafty mom and I adore doing crafts, which would explain my business. I love DIY projects and I'm pretty good at looking at something and going home and doing it on my own. I would rather do it on my own, anyways. It's a talent, I guess you could say. And there are some that don't have a crafty bone in their body. I have a few friends like that and it's a disaster when they're helping me do something. It's ok, they admit to it. I have lost count of how many customers, intrigued, curious, and nosy (it's ok, most of us are) people have asked how we make our accessories at Dainty Button. When I was first asked this, I would just stay mum and say "thank you." I felt like I would be letting out a huge secret and punished for it, somehow. I'm weird, I know. But the more we've expanded at Dainty Button, the more I've come to realize that it's fun to share ideas. I love getting new ideas and I'm sure you do too. So, that being said, I'm going to announce something that we think is really exciting and I hope you like it as much as we think you will.

Last week, we were cleaning out our supply cabinets and was amazed at how much we had accumulated over the span of 2.5 years. I'm not sure if any of you participated but we had a big crafter's sale on FB and it was such a success. Leave it to me to start brainstorming. My mind never quits. I started thinking back to previous conversation's with friends and family, emails from young girls, women and even other businesses about our production process, etc. And I realized that I want to share what we do here at Dainty Button. You have the crafters that love to make things on their own and even resale them and you have the non-crafters that would not go within 10 feet of a glue gun. So, why not offer the best of both worlds to our customers, right? We started off as an accessories business and have taken a little break, so to speak, but this week we are launching new accessories and trying to get back in a groove, after many customers have contacted us and frankly, we really miss it. But with launching new accessories, which we will always have available, we are launching...

The Krafter's Kloset

This will officially launch on Friday, July 27th in our etsy shop Dainty Button etsy and our website Dainty Button. This will be a place where crafter's and even other accessory businesses can purchase crafting and accessory making supplies at a really great price. Here's what you can look for...

Fabrics

Buttons

Notions

Trims

Lace

Pre-Cut Felt Flowers (made with our European wool felt in a ridiculous amount of colors)

Rosettes

We're bringing it to you! We thought we'd give you a little idea of what will be offered and you can actually purchase these items today...

Rosettes in a Bag

Rosettes in a bag on etsy....

And last but certainly not least. 

Headband in a Bag

So, my business partner and best friend (one in the same) and I were just throwing ideas around and she asked me why don't I do a "headband in a bag." Genius, right! There's been several occasions where we've gotten customers who wanted a custom made headband or maybe something altered on a headband in our etsy shop or website. Well, this is having your cake and eating it too, so to speak. Just don't eat the headband. We're introducing "headband in a bag." What is it?

This is our first one, so more options will be available soon. 

1. Blank headband

2. Pre-cut unglued/unattached European wool felt flowers

3. Buttons/notions

4. Trims, lace, etc.

5. European wool felt pre-cut leaves

These items will differ and alter, depending on what designs we offer. This is allowing you to put your headband together as you please, but with our designs. You can purchase the one pictured now in our etsy shop...

Headband in a Bag on etsy

We're really excited about this and hope all of you crafters will be able to get some good use out of what we offer. Check back on this Friday, July 27th for the complete selection of crafting and accessory making supplies. Until then, cheers!

Charity and DB Team

Kept Promises

This thought has been on my mind all week long. I've been swamped in VBS (Vacation Bible School) for the past month and as we kick off our VBS tonight, it's been extremely busy this past week. What does this post have anything to do with DB? A lot. Let me explain...

Many people always ask me, "How did you start your business?" Well, believe it or not, it didn't just pop up in thin air. It actually started about 5 years ago, although I was not aware of this. I don't just put this out there all the time because I'm a very strong believer that your lifestyle, actions, and character will speak for themselves. That being said, I'm sure most of our blog followers, as well as social media, know that I'm a Christian. A little bit about me...I come from a strong Christian background and my dad is a preacher. I was always known as "the preacher's daughter" at school. I started working my first public job at 18 and worked my way up to management position in the dental field. I then became involved with the children's ministry in my home church, here in San Francisco and I realized I loved children. So much in fact that I became a teacher. Prior to becoming a teacher, I was in a very stressful job in the dental field. I was managing an office and with the hours and demands of my public job and the various ministries at my church, I was exhausted, not to mention discouraged. My heart was where my passion was and that was the church. I knew as an adult I just couldn't quit my public job and go volunteer at the church, so I began to pray. I prayed fervently for God to open doors so that I could give 100% of my time to the ministries in our church. I never quit praying this prayer, even when it didn't seem that this prayer would ever be answered. I started teaching in a Christian private academy, not really understanding that God was leading me through an open door that would essentially place me where I am today. See, I made a promise to Him. I told God that if He opened the door for me to work for the church or at least present an opportunity that allowed me to dedicate my time to the ministries of the church without the demands and stress of a public job, I would always put Him first. Always. I remember this strong thought one day that I couldn't get out of my mind "Stay faithful to what you're doing." That was my motivation every day that I got up for work dreading the day. I didn't dread teaching kids but it was so discouraging knowing I was putting in 8+ hours a day and my evenings were crammed full of various projects and jobs for the church. I was beyond tired and knew a burnout was right around the corner. I knew I had to stay faithful to what I was doing. Two years ago a friend of mine presented an opportunity to visit Europe with her. I knew that I would never get to Europe any time soon on my teaching salary, so I started making headbands selling them on the side. I never knew that this was the answer to my prayers 5 years ago. To make a long story short, I was able to quit my teaching job and put my time into building my business. This was the answer to my prayers, although I didn't even realize this until I set down with my dad and some business mentors to draw up a business plan. I was able to generate an income on my own hours, while dedicating my time to the ministries in my church. This past week as I've been at our church working on props and preparing for next week's VBS, I'm reminded that I never would've been able to do this 5 years ago. Yes, overseeing a business and making sure it runs efficiently is hard work, if not harder than a public job, but over the past two years God has placed a wonderful team of people in my path to help me run my business smoothly and efficiently, where when projects or events come up at the church, I can devote however many hours I need to that cause and not feel exhausted or tired. I'm reminded that God is faithful and keeps His promises. Don't give up on praying that prayer, even when it seems like God's not hearing it. He hears every prayer and in due season will reward it. Be encouraged today!

Here's what we've been working on this past week for VBS...

We made hot air balloons out of bouncy balls, fish net and baskets from the dollar store.

Gobs of clouds made from insulation foam core bard, traced out with a hot knife and covered in batting.

Ha! Me on our "white carpet."

Our diligent workers getting the clouds done.

Clouds, airplanes, and kites hanging from our foyer.

Our friends for the week. 

We used blue plastic table covers from the dollar store to cover our entire platform.

This was not very easy. So glad it's up!

A man in our church made this hot air balloon for us. This is a picture pre-completed but you can still get the "awe" effect. I really hope that fabric is salvageable after VBS because I'd love to have it!

Clouds suspended above the pews.

And our final stage set!

Charity
xoxo!

Introducing...The Designer's Dress

Ok, I'm very excited to be blogging this. Deana had this done last week but because of our schedules, we are just now getting an opportunity to announce it. Are you ready?

Deana text me last week telling me she had a surprise. No idea what she was about to do. Later in the day, she sent me this picture of dresses.

Or so I thought. I was so over the moon excited about it and kept thinking, "Oh, my Lord! She's been slaving away on all of these dresses!" I swear she's not human, folks! Then she informed me it wasn't a dress. Actually, she did this whole little guessing game with me for almost 30 minutes and it drove me crazy, to be honest with you. Finally, she told me what it was. It wasn't a dress. It was what appeared to be a dress. You know when you wear something that goes so perfectly together and everybody tells you, "I love your dress!" and you reply with, "Oh, it's not a dress." Well, this is THAT outfit. This new item we're introducing is what we've dubbed "The Designer's Dress." Why? Here's why...

You get to choose:

Top (Color, print, sleeve length)
Skirt (Color, print, length, style)
Belt (color or print)

This is the top part of this ensemble. It's our newest item, which is a really big thing because we've only done skirts in our line so far and this is again expanding into new territory with handmade shirts and blouses. This top is offered in 12 different prints and a ridiculously amount of solids, which are featured further in this post. You're designing your own ensemble, so to speak, hence the reason we named this "The Designer's Dress." We have over 12 prints available in our tops and over 30 solids available to choose from. Amazing, right?

5 things to know about our new tops...

1. They have a wide elastic band that accentuates the waist and when I say accentuates, I'm not kidding. This band will make you look like a supermodel! Ok, maybe a little exaggeration, but it works wonders.

2. The band is designed to fit over the waistband of the skirts that we offer.

3. It can be matched with any skirt.
4. They are super comfy
5. You can wear a wide belt over the elastic band and change the entire look.

Here is a link to our updated Size Chart.

Top Print Options:

As mentioned above, this is the beginning of our top collection. We are going to see how the public and our clientele receive this. Here's the options you have at this moment on our website. We're only offering this on our website as of now because of the many options it provides as you'll be able to mix and match. Etsy does not allow drop down boxes and to make it easier on you as a customer and our production team, we're going to offer exclusively on the website, where you have the drop down box availability in choosing your selections. 

Mix and Match Options:

Striped jersey knit top paired with:

Skirt Styles:

Asymmetrical 

Full knee length 

Maxi skirt

Straight maxi

Colors:

Tangerine orange

Fuchsia 

Yellow

Red

Black

Not Pictured:

Coral

Minty green

Kelly green

Purple (plum, lavender, true purple)

Grey (charcoal, heather)

Nude

Tan

Cream

Navy

Brown

Burnt Orange

Neon Pink

Neon Yellow

Neon Green

Belts:

Polka dot

Any solid mentioned above

How does pricing and purchasing work?

We've made this super easy for you and the options are endless. This ensemble is not sold as one piece basically because it defeats the purpose allowing you to mix and match. Also, our skirts are priced differently. When you checkout you will be given different drop down options, such as this...

This is the most option friendly item we have. We are allowing you as the customer to piece your ensemble together. It's a custom feature we're offering you. You can now purchase HERE on our website. Hurry and get to matching!

Charity and DB Team