Let Wedding Season Begin

Contributor post by Nancy from JaysBoutiqueCrochet

Wedding season is just around the corner! Whether it is your big day or you are helping a friend or family member plan their wedding, we know how overwhelming the details can be. Luckily, your Christmas in July team is here to help, with this compilation of beautiful and unique products that can be the perfect finishing touch for that memorable day.

We would love to hear what Etsy items you have used in the past for weddings, or what wedding-geared items you have in your shop! But in the meantime, here are some products from our team members that will make your wedding that much more beautiful and meaningful!

It all starts long before the actual wedding day, of course, and StockLaneStudio has you covered. What better way to ask your bridal party to be a part of your special day than with these fun invitations? The owner says:

“I absolutely love weddings – just a wonderful feeling of hope and happiness and giddy blissful love. I really enjoyed designing SLS’s pink bubbly wedding party cards. I think they present a fun way to ask loved ones to be party of the wedding party. And apparently I’m not the only one. Here’s a nice comment from one happy bride:

“Loved this! Such a cute, different way to ask my best friend to play an important role in my wedding. Thank you!!!”‘

 

Ring Bearer Bridal Party Invitation

Pam from PearlsVintagebyPam offers us the perfect petticoat – an old-fashioned yet undeniably fun touch! This particular petticoat is made for a slim bride but seems to be adjustable and flexible regarding the amount of flare! She says:

“This is a great Slip/Petticoat Undergarment for the Bride. It Flares as much or little as need be. It has never been worn!”

Petticoat

Dawn Whitehand from DeeDeeSupplies suggested her flower acrylic beads as the perfect supply to have on hand during wedding season, and how right is she! These beads are not only inexpensive, but they are versatile and match just about everything! She says:

“These clear flower beads are perfect to embellish wedding or bridesmaids dresses, table decor, wedding bunting, bouquets and jewelry….”

Clear acrylic flower beads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WillowValleyVintage offers many beautiful decorations for your wedding day, including figurines, tissue paper novelties, and more! I love that all of these items are not necessarily expected to be at a wedding (no one would notice if they were not there) but they are a surprising and lovely touch that show a particular attention to detail and a true desire to make this day perfect. The owner shared with us this lovely stereoview card:

“This is a stereoview card from the early 1900s. It has a 3D effect when used with a stereoscope–similar to View-Master toys of today. We love all the pretty details and guests waiting in the background of the scene!”

Antique wedding stereoview

No discussion of weddings would be complete without a mention of the wedding dress itself! Cynthia from StraylightVintage offers an absolutely stunning array of clothes, but obviously the shop section we are most interested in here is the Vintage Wedding Dress section! Cynthia shared this darling (and incredibly affordable!!) wedding dress with a personal story:

“Sweet wedding dress worn one time ….by my aunt in the early 1950’s.”

1950s wedding dress

Lizzy and Boo from LizzysBibsandBobs thinks every bride should have a beautiful pair of Vintage Faux Pearl Clip Earrings, an ideal accessory for the retro Bride! These lovely earrings remind me of the ones worn by my Aunt on her wedding day back in 1962 – I was her Flower Girl!

Pair of vintage faux pearl earrings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every bride and groom want something extra special to gift to their flower girl, bridesmaids and other special people and Richard and Tatiana of DesignstheLimit have four shop sections devoted to Weddings Year Round! Our Wedding Registry Gifts also make great Anniversary Gifts and we can include an established date or any other requests! We have one section for groomsman, one for bridesmaids, and a section devoted to toasting flute and ceremony sets. We specialize in graphic design to gift wrap comprehensive wedding gift services and gifts for every gift giving opportunity! Get social @DesignstheLimit & Keep us in mind for all of your gift giving occasions! At Design’s the Limit, we find our niche and scratch it! We wanted to offer a gift option for junior bridesmaids and flower girls and have created our Personalized Juice Glass listing so that everyone can be included! These seven ounce juice glasses also make the best first glass for children and can be engraved with any name, monogram, or other request @DesignstheLimit.

Flower girl personalized juice glasses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love birds are often given to brides and grooms as a symbol of true love. Dorota from YOrnaments explains how

Love Birds marry for life – that is why they are a perfect symbol of harmonious marriage.

I love watching the birds nesting in my garden. They inspire me to create my Love Birds Ornaments. I am hoping that a pair of my birds will fly to decorate some rustic wedding table … and maybe later become a little ornamental keepsake for Bride and Groom.

I use beautiful textiles to inject patterns and colors into my felt creations. The photos were taken in my garden. Happy Nesting!

Couples gift love birds

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Some couples who are religious in nature might think about giving their special people these Love Scripture Cards made by Sarah from BellaBoutique23. They have been used by several brides that have given them to guests for their wedding favors. They include scriptures about love and on the back they have a special prayer that goes with the scripture. They also make a nice gift for the Bride and Groom. I have Faith, Hope, and Love themed scripture cards and put together they would make a lovely unique gift. “And Now Abideth Faith, Hope, and Love, these three, but the Greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13.

Scripture cards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is always a need for  ceramic square white dishes made by Dawn from DeeDeeDeesigns. These are ideal for weddings in many ways…. they can be used as candle holders on tables, bridesmaids gifts, parents of the bride & groom gifts, guest gifts and even name holders.

As gifts they will be a lasting reminder to the recipient and can be personalized if desired.

Ceramic condiment dishes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We must not forget our destination wedding loving couples! Connie from Bungalow42 says Beach wedding perfect!

It is said that the color coral gives a sense of calm and warmth. Two things I would definitely recommend for all brides!

These lightweight pearl earrings are so light and airy that they appear be floating. The luminous light coral freshwater nugget pearls will make any bride glow with happiness on her special day.

Hand knotted freshwater pearl earrings

And finally, one of the items in my own shop, JaysBoutiqueCrochet, that I can’t resist sharing because of its sweet story! A few years ago a soon-to-be bride approached me asking if I would make her some ivory slippers to wear in her wedding! I was absolutely honored to have my creations featured on her special day – but it got even better! She loved the slippers I sent her, and messaged me again asking if I would make slippers for each of her bridesmaids, with buttons to match their bridesmaid dresses. Of course, I was thrilled and sent off eight more pairs of ivory slippers! Here are some of them (can you pick out the ones meant for the bride?)

Crochet Wedding Slippers

We dearly love seeing your wedding-themed products, and especially hearing your personal stories! Thank you to all who contributed, and please feel free to comment with wedding products in your store or stories of how Etsy products were featured in weddings that you have been part of!

#EtsyCIJ Small Business Spotlight – DesignstheLimit

Contributor post by Opal  from ApronStringsOwlLady

Small Business Spotlight – Richard and Tatiana From DesignstheLimit 

DesignstheLimit

1. What made you start your small business?

Tatiana began her career in commercial construction specializing in sandblasted glass artwork in residential, commercial, and other applications. During her education, she has learned a number of skills and she loves to create artwork that is useful and appreciated. We started our Etsy shop while she was finishing her degree and we have been self-employed ‘Quit Your Day Job’ Etsians ever since.

2.  What do you feel is your greatest obstacle facing your small business?

Our biggest obstacle is time. As parents, our first obligation is to our children and they are at a formative age. We try to devote as much effort to their education and to improve the quality of their lives as we can. When we are done being parents, keeping house, and enjoying our lives we get the remaining time to work and share Tatiana’s artistic talents with the world. Our daughters are learning how to create their own artwork and will be selling their own creations on Etsy in the future!

3. What is the greatest strength you personally bring to your small business?

Our strength is diversity. Both of us have our own skills and use our talents in the manner in which we are able. We rely on each other for advice and to get a second opinion which is very different from our own. We are both educated and experienced in our trade, but our greatest strength is in our differences. We each have an very different abilities and between us we can take on a wide range of projects, incorporating our talents, and offering additional design and gift services to make our shop unique. We are making our way based on the service we provide and the manner in which we deliver.

4. What is your small business strategy? How have you set up your business in terms of goals, marketing, business planning, etc?

We are a B.B.B. Accredited Business in Hampton Roads Virginia, Winner of the Wedding Wire Couple’s Choice Award again in 2017, Member of the Virginia Glass Guild, and active both online and offline in making gift giving personal and creating artwork which is not easily forgotten. We have a number of social media pages, can be emailed directly, have a toll-free number, and love messaging with our customers here on Etsy. We plan to continue to expand our inventory and product selection in 2017 and look forward to making gift giving experiences moments to be remembered for our customers throughout the year.

5. What social media sites do you interact on?

GET SOCIAL @DESIGNSTHELIMIT
Facebook: www.facebook.com/designsthelimit
Twitter: www.twitter.com/designsthelimit
Pinterest : www.pinterest.com/designsthelimit
Instagram: www.instagram.com/designsthelimit
Tumblr: www.designsthelimit.tumblr.com

Best Friends

Contributor post by Sheila of BeadyEyedBird

Do you love the Beatles’ song ‘I get by with a little help from my friends’ as I do? It’s so true, because as we all know, it’s tough to be successful without the love, support and help of others. What does this theme mean to you in the context of your Etsy shop? Some of our CIJ Teamies shared some wonderful Friends stories and items with us.

willowvalleyvintage from WillowValleyVintage says:

I started chatting with Pam at Giddies over some vintage beauty salon “Hairstyle of the month” art in her shop.

She told me the story of the art–how she had bought one in a frame and later found a stack of prints inside–a nice surprise! She’s a Team Leader and invited me to join Teamkitsch. We’ve chatted nearly every day since. I was new to social media, so she told me step by step how to post and participate on the threads. She encourages me, gives expert advice and always has fun stories to share!

Little Red Riding Hood’s cheery face, along with her basket of treats and flower bouquet, represents sweet gifts shared with a friend.

Little Red Riding Hood Doll Keychain Vintage 60s 70s Novelty Toy Key Ring Molded Rubber Figural Girl Retro Collectible Gift

Woolly Momo from WoollyMomo says:

“I’ll get by with a little help from my friends…” in my case that would be my ‘Hubstar’ who is also my best friend.

I do the all the designing, knitting and photography for the items in my shop, but it is the ever helpful and endlessly patient Mr Woolly Momo who is the powerhouse behind the scenes. He’s always there to be my personal Post Office mail boy, expert-technology-trouble-shooter and all round assistant extraordinaire when needed. He even doubles as a somewhat reluctant model for some of my handmade items, as you can see in the picture I included!

Woolly Momo wouldn’t exist without him as he encouraged me to sell my handmade knits by opening my little Etsy shop and has been right there with shouts of encouragement from the sidelines ever since.

So here’s to the fantastic Mr Woolly Momo and all other loved ones everywhere who give so much for us to follow our creative dream and never get the credit they truly deserve. Hip hip hooray!

Knitted Beard available in all colours and sizes. Handmade and Knitted Beard for Viking and Santa Fancy Dress and Cosplay. Made to Order.

Linda from LazyYVintage says:

Jim is my husband and best friend. He is also our shipping department. I wanted to show a picture of a beat up box (see below) that was sent to me by a customer last Christmas. Even though the box was thoroughly battered, the 1940s glass bread pan arrived in perfect condition. But the system would not let me copy a .jpg here. It is amazing and I plan to do a shop update with it before the Christmas season this year. Most of our reviews mention how great the packaging was.And, that is what Jimmy brings to the shop. Integrity of doing a good job and making sure our glass items arrive safely and in good condition. And with over 25 years of knowledge in the shipping industry he has done it all; truck driving, loading, unloading, packaging, and distribution. He is a real asset to the Lazy Y.

And he has my back. In all parts of our life together. He is always trying to make me laugh and lightens the stress load daily. I truly love working with him on shop. It has added a new adventure in our lives together.

Stock Lane Studio from StockLaneStudio says:

I’ll have to say I’m really grateful for social media. It’s helped me feel connected to family and friends as I travel around from one country and state to the next. I remember writing long letters and waiting forever to get one back – now, with email and texting and Facebook and cheap phone calls and the like, it’s so easy to just say hi and tell my friends and family what is going on. And forget about phone calls back then – anything long distance was so expensive.

My best friend and I have been through it all – we have known each other for 40 + years and the coincidences in our lives makes it seem like we were destined to be best friends. We were born in the same hospital the same year in California, but didn’t need each other until we were 10 and living in another state! We both studied and lived in France and Germany, but didn’t really decide on doing that together, it just happened. She married a man from New York and I ended up living there. The list going on and on. Those are just little details though that make our friendship interesting. What keeps us best friends is the support we give one another the long talks and motivation and laughs. We’ll always have that no matter where we are.

Polkadot flower card blank inside, 4×6 floral modern art photo note card for her, fun French travel greeting friendship card for girl

Richard and Tatiana from DesignstheLimit says:

Tatiana uses her skills as a graphic designer and artist to provide the best combination of quality in both products and services. I love to be able to share her talents with the world and to provide customer service for all of our wonderful customers here on Etsy. As our friendship turned to marriage, our efforts to business, and our love into parenthood we “Drink to Good Health in Good Company!”

We are blessed to be able to operate our Etsy shop as a full-time job and working together has made us closer than ever before. From graphic design to gift wrap, the Etsy messaging system allows us to work with our customers to create uniquely designed gifts and provide the gift services are customers need to be able to ship their gifts in style. We offer our customers the option of choosing from our portfolio, submitting their own images, or having us create an inspired design for any custom order request. We also offer additional gift services including gift cards, gift wrap, and more!

Design Your Own Monogrammed Stemware Personalized with Our Monogram Design Options & Font Selection (Each)

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to everyone who participated!

Until Next Time,

Sheila