Elephant Collection

Elephant Kind of Day

  Curated By: thecrazyeleph...

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

Work Space

We did a remodel on our shop, so it is high time our workspace got a little work too! I used to share my workspace with Jayne's homeschool. This year I took over the room. We never got around to rearranging it though and it wasn't exactly user friendly.

Computer, clutter, and kids posters...it's time to go! Plus the doggy who's favorite spot is to lay on my foot while I sew.

Now that we have it rearranged the process from start to finish is much more fluid. Plus my rather large sewing desk is now in the larger part of the room. This odd shaped hallway of a room has never looked so big! We still need to take out some of the clutter and there are still some homeschool items that need a home. Some decorating and rearranging need to happen on the walls too. I would like to repaint as well. I am thinking elephant blue.

Great progression from sewing to photoing to stocking the shelf. Plus 1 kiddo that can't keep himself out of a pic.

Festival Basket

For the last 3 years a part of our holiday tradition has been to design a tree for Festival of Trees. The event benefits Hiawatha Homes, an organization that helps those who are differently abled. Since it is an area thing, just imagine a huge room filled with dozens of beautifully decorated Christmas trees. Christmas?! I know your eyebrow is raised, but festival sign ups are in the summer and it takes a long time to get a tree design together, these aren't your mama's tree!

This year we sold our 1 and only car, green and cost effective. It means we can't drive in to do tree setup and maintenance. Bummer, but we can still participate. I put together a sweet little gift basket for the silent auction and it turned out just wonderfully. Here it is...

There is a little of everything in there, all from The Crazy Elephant Boutique!

Tutorials Anyone?

Are you ready and waiting for some fun tutorials? If you are, you will be happy to know that they will be coming along as soon as the weather cools down and I am trapped in the house again. The plan is to do photo tutorials for reusable lunch bags, freezie sleeves, burpcloths, and more. In the mean time here is a little ditty about making your own cloth tissues...

This is a super easy project that anyone can do! Cut some money out of your budget and some extra paper from the landfill. Make your own kleenex with fabric. My favorites are made of flannel, which can be 1 layer, or t-shirt type material. This is a great way to use old shirts of other clothing items.

Decide how large you would like them to be. I either use an actual kleenex as a pattern or work with the size that my fabric is. Next you sew around the edge. Finish your tissue by pinking the edges and you are ready to use. I like to use 1 layer of fabric for heavier materials like flannel, but do 2 layers for lighter materials.

We just switched to fabric this year and I am very happy! None of us have had the crusty, red, dried out noses that we used to get with paper. It has been a very comfortable winter.

Don't sew? Turn those old shirts and whatnot into tissues anyway. Just cut them to size and when you are done using, just toss them. If the material is going to end up in the trash, it might as well get 1 more use. This is also a good way to use scraps from cutting up fabric that are not big enough to really become tissues.

Photogenic

Photos are so very important to an etsy shop! It makes me sad to see a poorly shot item. That item might be amazing if given half a chance. Now I'm not saying our photos are perfect, there is always room for growth and correction. I saw this photo on a competitors page and realized it used the same flannel that I have on some of my pads. Check out the difference here:


Competitor shot

The colors are so dark! I almost didn't recognise the fabric, if it weren't for the bees. They were a dead giveaway. Below is our shot. The colors are bright and as true to color as we can get. My hope is that our photos give our customers a good grasp for what they are going to get. I would love to hear how all of you like our photos. Feel free to share your photo to purchase stories!

Our shot

Cutting, Cutting, and More Cutting

Snow? Dandruff? Bamboo fuzz!

I think I still have fuzz up my nose! I spent 4 hours finishing up the cutting for our pad drive yesterday. Today is the last day of the official pad drive, where every 3 pads sold = 1 pad donated. My fantastic customers ordered enough for me to send 27 pads! I cut 34 to cover any orders I get today (plus some extras...I dare you all to make me have to cut more). I also had some donations for supplies to make additional pads to send and the total pads cut from that are 75. That makes a grand total of 109 pads! Thank goodness I have some sewing vollunteers. The plan is to work on them over the summer and send out about 20 at a time. A smaller package has an easier time traveling  overseas. I also want to throw out thank yous to our contributors, of time and money, We couldn't have hit our goal of sending 100 pads without you!

These are just the heavy absorbs of the 75, they make up about a third of the total pad stack.

Happy Allergies

Little Tissues in Bumblebee Buzz

Crazy thought, I know! Allergies have always left us misserable most of the summer. Between us we went through many , many boxes of tissues. By the end of the summer our poor noses were so sore and red. It is crazy to think that people ever switched to paper tissues in the first place. They are rough on your nose esspecially over long periods of time. Of course, our noses healed just in time for cold season, go figure!

One day, when we didn't feel like buying more tissues, we broke out the fabric scraps and the first little tissues were born. It is one of the best things we ever did for our family! Fabric tissues, and flannel in particular, are so soft and gentle on our noses. We never reach for a tissue and groan wondering if we wouldn't rather have our runny noses than blow them again anymore. Our days of sore and red noses are a thing of the past and we are loving it!

Our little tissues are made with 1 layer of flannel and are super soft for noses in need. Their small size is great for little ones and to pop in a pocket on the go. They are super easy to clean, just toss them in the laundry whenever you like. Plus when you run out, you don't have to go to the store, just wash and reuse!

Little tissues are about 9in X 7.5in and made with 1 layer of flannel. Fraying around the edges is natural and keeps the tissue from having a bulky edge that is hard on noses. All of our products are made in a nonsmoking home. Pattern placement may vary.
What our customers have to say:

"These are super cute and useful! Me and my son love using these!!"

"Very happy with my purchase! Arrived as described and can't wait to give my niece and nephew their new "nose towels!"

"These are so cute and soft. Plus super fast shipping, I love it. Thanks!"

You can find all our tissues at thecrazyelephantboutique.com!