In 2000 when our first Grandchildren were about 5, 5 and 4 , I was pulling ideas together to create something for them for an Easter Gift , other than a bunch of Cavity Creating Candy.
I decided I was going to make them Decorative Pillows for their beds here at our house for their sleep overs.
So I headed over to ebay, where I was already a registered user and seller, to find some Fabric that I knew they would like.
Since we are a Disney Fanatic Family and everyone has their favorite Characters, I found Princess Pillow Panels for the Oldest Girl, Tinkerbell for the younger girl, and BUZZ Lightyear for the oldest grandson. (Since then we have another Grandson too)
Once I received my fabric I headed to Wal Mart to buy the Stuffing for them.
The Pillows were a Huge success on Easter Morning ! Much more than the Basket full of Candy and Marshmallow Peeps and Jelly Beans that they each had.
They immediately headed upstairs to their rooms and proceeded to find the proper places for their new Head Rests !
The ordinary pillows were tossed to the side and the NEW pillows had found their place of Honor on each of their beds.
So the Daughter In Law married to the youngest son says to me " Mom why don`t you make some more of these and sell them on ebay "
So off to the computer I go to search for more Pillow Panels that would appeal to the children out there in Cyber Land..
Low and behold after sewing up and stuffing about 10 more I started listing them and within a few days I actually sold a couple.
Now I come up with the idea of making Toddler Bed size blankets to match the pillows.
So with a little help from my friends at the Fabric store with a sewing lesson on how to make a 3 Layer Blanket, I venture into the "Blanket Business "
Since we ( my husband and I ) already had a idea of opening a Craft Store for his woodworking projects (another blog coming ) we applied for a Ct Sales Tax # and I was off and running with
KDMORE CRAFTS..........
And since I also sell lots of odds and ends I find at Yard Sales and things around the house that are no longer neccessary, ( and not nailed down, as my Husband likes to say LOL ) like clothes that the kids have outgrown but not worn out, my ebay store became known as
KDMORE - CRAFTS-AND-MORE.
Through the last 6 years since making the first pillows and then the blankets I have also started signing up for the Craft Shows that are held in my area around the Christmas Holiday Season and have found that fun but also quite challenging..
You need to have a large inventory ready to do the Craft Shows so you will have a little different something for everybody and plenty of it.. Especially the Disney Movies
Because of limited storage space ( these pillows and blankets take up a LOT of space ) On ebay I always listed a picture of the fabric and explained how I would "make" and ship the blanket or Pillows within a 3 day time span.
I now had 9 Plastic totes filled with all kinds of different Fabrics that I have carefully selected to make the blankets and pillows with, piled in the corner of the spare room of the house which is dubbed " the EBAY ROOM"
And a 45 Yard Roll of Batting which is what goes between the layers of fabric, standing up in the other corner
With the Craft Shows I needed to start sewing weeks ahead of time so I would have plenty of inventory.
Now how to store all these before the shows ?????????
Rubbermaid to the resue !
Lots of Plastic Totes with the snap on covers, and there are 4 rows piled 3 high stored in the Utility Trailor that we bought to transport everything to the shows.
And in between the shows if I have sold a blanket or pillows on ebay that`s been already made up, I just go pull it from the totes and I`m able to ship it that much faster to make Happy Customers !!!
Then I can replace it at a later date and start all over again.
Last year I have also expanded my Internet Online Selling by opening a Bonanzle.com store and a store front on Etsy.com
You can find me on bonanzle by searching the sellers list for kdmoretti
On ebay my store is http://stores.ebay.com/KDMORE-CRAFTS-AND-MORE?refid=store
And on etsy my store is http://etsy.com/your_shop.php
On Bonanzle I can be found here: http://bonanzle.com/booths/kdmoretti
I hope you have enjoyed reading this and will follow me for additional blogs in the near future.
