Monkey-Toes Outlet

I know you love to get a great deal, and I have found the mother monkey-load!

Monkey-Toes Shoes now has an outlet store!

It's a great way to get all the Monkey-Toes cuteness for a discounted price.  However, availability is limited, so grab your favorite pair fast!  

Like this pair...only $14.99

As you know, Harper is a big fan of her Monkey-Toes...

Everywhere Harper goes...so do her Monkey-Toes.

(and she gets compliments all the time!)

Go shop now! At prices this good, you can grab two pair!

Harper Turned 2, We Had a Ball!

BALLS!

Harper loves playing with them, so why not make it her party theme, right?!? 

Invitation: Dimple Prints on Etsy 

Birthday Girl's Outfit: Preppy Poppy Shirt-personalized with a 2, Preppy Poppy Hair Bow, Tutu by Mom

She got so many compliments on her party outfit!  The shirt...super duper cute! I asked Angela at Preppy Poppy to make a shirt rather than a onesie, and use the 'boy colors' to match the party.  I also had it personalized with her age rather than her initial.  The tutu...my goal in making her tutu was for it to last through the party, it didn't have to be structurally sound.  I was definitely experimenting a bit, but love how it turned out.  Luckily, Kara at Jensen Haus Designs, was sweet enough to sew the waistband for me.  It turned out great for the party, certainly not perfect, and it's a fun dress-up accessory now that the party is over. 

Decor: Banner by Mom, Balloons, flowers, balls...everything was bright primary colors.

Food, mostly balls: Meatballs, Clementines, Cheese Ball with Crackers, Cheese Puffs, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Salad...it was kind of a random mix, but turned out to be great munchie food and very kid friendly!

Favors: Hi-Bounce Balls from Amazon, Beaded Necklaces from Party City

Dessert: Cake Balls, Candy Sushi

I really wish I had a close-up of the Candy Sushi, it was so fun to look at and eat.  I was very surprised at how excited even the adults were to try the candy sushi.  Bakerella's Red Velvet Cake Balls were a hit!  The only glitch was that I hoped to color them the party colors, but it didn't work out, so I made almost all of them chocolate instead.  Want to see more about how I made these desserts?  Check in with Sugar Loco in January and I will share all of my tips and tricks!

Most importantly, the birthday girl had a great day celebrating with family and friends...so, so blessed.

More Handmade Businesses Giving Back

I am very excited to share with you even more handmade businesses that are giving back...click on their links to check them out!

Sophie and Lili, along with several other handmade businesses are donating a portion of proceeds through the end of January to Hot Cocoa for Water...I know my son would love to set-up a Hot Cocoa stand help other kids just like him have safe water to drink, and my daughter would love a Sophie and Lili Doll-they're so adorbs!

Kayteedids Couture donated 50% of their profits from October 2010 to CureSearch, which raises money to find cures for childhood cancer.  Any charity dealing with children really speaks to us as moms, but childhood cancer is especially hard to see any child endure.  Kate from Kayteedids was really motivated by Eve's story. 

Creations by Crista Marie chooses a different charity to support monthly in a feature called Creations With a Cause!  A portion of Decembers profits will help support MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndromes) Foundation .

Destination Diva supports the Susan G. Komen Foundation by donating 30% of profits from sales of her Patsy Necklace .  In addition, Destination Diva has also supported the Pink Ribbon Boutique.

Stitches by Sara is giving back to a family that needs financial support to adopt a child.  I heard of this heart warming story from Crystal, and I am so glad she shared it with me.  An incredible 100% of proceeds will help this family achieve their goal of adopting a child.

Thanks to these wonderful women owned brands that are giving back this holiday season and all year round.  

May your holidays be blessed with peace, warmth, and family!

Sweet Harper Snow Day Sale

Celebrating a snow day with a SALE! 
Use the code SNOWDAY when checking out and get a 30% discount!!!
Click here to shop.

Jack loved the snow...dad didn't love clearing it so much, and the snow isn't even close to being done yet.

Hurry and get your shopping in, the sale ends Sunday at midnight (CST)!

Handmade Businesses are Giving Back

Last year at this time Sweet Harper, still a fresh little baby of a shop, was giving back to my local community.  For every sale during the holiday season in 2009, I donated hair clips to the Lewis House, a local emergency crisis shelter for women and children that are trying to get out of an abusive situation.  This year, since my shop has only been {re}open for a short time, I decided to give back in a different way...but first, here are a couple other handmade businesses that are also giving back!

Shey B. is donating 20% of each sale through January 1st, 2011 to Reece's Rainbow.  It is too late for the holiday deadline to get yourself a Shey B. product in time for Christmas, but you can still order something and feel great about giving too ;-).  Read more about Shey's giving on her blog, it's truly a very touching story!

Mela Kamin has another inspirational story.  Actually, her children do.  They are working together to sell Yo-Yo hair clips and raise money for World Vision.  So far they have raised enough to give 2 goats, and are working for more!!!  You can read all about these inspiring kids (and see cute pictures of them creating the clips) by visiting Mela's blog.

So, how is Sweet Harper giving back?  

Sweet Harper is hosting an online auction...but I won't be offering hair clips.  I am auctioning off a tweet.  For those of you that are not on Twitter, this may seem a little crazy, but I am coming up on my 10,000th tweet.  I want to mark this milestone in a really unique way, so I am hosting an auction to purchase this very special tweet.  ALL of the proceeds will go to charity.  

How does this work?  You bid. I tweet. Whatever you want (as long as it's family friendly, my approval is required).  

Maybe you want me to tweet about your business or blog.  

Perhaps you want me to help you "pop the question".  

Or you want me to share YOUR favorite charity.  

The possibilities are endless.  Well, the possibilities are actually limited to 140 characters.

Why should you bid?  

• As I mentioned, ALL of the proceeds will go to charity.  This will give you a happy heart.
• Your tweet will reach thousands!  Not only do I have nearly 2,000 Twitter followers, but it will also be seen by my facebook and blog followers too.  Plus, there's a good chance it will be re-tweeted by many of my lovely Twitter friends...which means, even MORE people reading your tweet!

Monday I will announce all of the auction details including revealing the charity where the proceeds will be donated.  

If you are a handmade business that is giving a portion of your proceeds back to charity, leave a comment below or contact me (sweetharper [at] ymail [dot] com) and I will feature your story!

The true spirit of the holiday season is giving...

Sweet Shop & Giveaway: Pocket Baby

What's not to love about this super cute and fun Etsy shop?  Your tots will look so stylish, and all the while keep track of some of their most prized possessions...sippys and pacifiers.  You can tell Pocket Baby is full of products designed by a mom!   

Practical + Modern = Pocket Baby

Wouldn't this be the ca-utest little romper for pictures Christmas morning? 

Kids just love bean bags...and the teacher in me loves that these teach letter recognition too! 

I heart anything personalized, as you probably know by now.

Giveaway!!! Giveaway!!! Giveaway!!!

Win :: Your choice---Pocket Baby Onesie and Sippy Cup Stay Put (yes, both!)

Shop :: Get 20% off you entire order through December 31st using the code Sweet20 & Complimentary Gift-wrapping (just add it in the "note to seller" at check-out).

Mandatory Entry: Tell me which Pocket Baby Pocket Onesie would look too cute on your little one!

(I know I say it every time, but please leave your e-mail address in your entry.)

Additional Entries (Please leave a separate comment for each entry):

1. Follow @PocketBaby on Twitter.

2. Tweet! Just copy and paste the following:

Practical & modern, obviously made by a mom. Win a @pocketbaby goodies from @sweetharper (20% off code too!) http://ow.ly/3miU4

Fine Print: Giveaway ends December 16th, 2010. Winner will have 24 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.

Open for Business: Sweet Harper Re-Opens on Big Cartel

I have had many inquiries (ok, maybe just Tiffany from Mom Nom bugging me over and over again) wondering when the Sweet Harper shop would be open once again.  Well, I am happy to say...

Sweet Harper is OPEN!

However, it may look a little different.  I recently switched from Etsy to a different type of online marketplace called Big Cartel.  I am not going to go into all the details of why (Gussy does a great job of that here), but I want to say that the biggest reason came down to the seller fees.  Which means, I am able to pass those savings along to you!  You will notice the prices in my all new Sweet Harper shop are lower than when I sold on Etsy.  Don't get me wrong, I big-fat-heart Etsy and have purchased four items from other Etsy shops in the last week alone.  However, I just felt this was the right move for Sweet Harper.

I have not been promoting my new shop because it's not completely full, but a few people picked-up on the fact that I have new diggs...and the clips are flying out the door!  The holiday ones are going especially quick, so get your orders in! By the way, all items are ready to ship, and will be mailed (via standard mail) by next business day.  Thank you so much for supporting handmade and Sweet Harper!

My Snow Angels

There is something so peaceful about looking up at the cool blue winter sky while you're making Snow Angels.  

The only sound you hear is the crisp winter powder brushing against your jacket.

I love playing in the  

Snow with my Angels!

Sweet Shop & Giveaway: Pixie Chicago

I did take a small break after Sweet Harper Holidays...whew, that was a LOT of posting.  However, I'm back today with a new Sweet Shop that I absolutely adore!  Pixie Chicago has stationary that is so fresh and modern.

Love the colors, the layouts, and the fonts!  Being that I'm a Twitter, Gtalk, and Texting addict...I am in love with the a text set from Pixie Chicago...

I also ordered a few of these for girlfriends for Christmas...so fun (and practical), right?

No one usually talks New Year's Resolution's until January, but I am starting a new trend.  I have already decided my New Year's Resolution is to send thank you notes.  Thank You's used to be a favorite for me, but since having kids, I have gotten way lazy about sending them!  So, I'm bringing it back in 2011...the year of the Thank You note!

Anyone else want to join me and my New Year's Resolution to write Thank You Notes?  If you do...Cassandra from Pixie Chicago is hooking you up!

You can also catch up with Pixie Chicago at their blog and on Facebook.

Giveaway: $30 gift certificate to Pixie Chicago!
**Are you new to entering and want some tips? Click here.**

Mandatory Entry: Visit Pixie Chicago and let me know how you will spend your $30 gift certificate!
(Please, please, please include your e-mail address. I get so sad when I can't contact a winner.)

Additional Entries (Please leave a separate comment for each):

1. Follow @PixieChicago on Twitter

2. Tweet! Just copy and paste the following:

Win $30 to shop for MODERN, FRESH, & FUN stationary from @PixieChicago and @sweetharper ! http://ow.ly/3iAq9

 Fine Print: Giveaway ends Thursday, December 9th at 10 pm CST. Winner has 24 hours to respond before another winner will be chosen.  Pixie Chicago sent me a complimentary sample of the text note cards, all other items were purchased by me.  All opinions stated in this post are my own!