moving on...

i honestly did not think this day would come so quickly:

i have decided to close up the etsy shop... yes, i'm closing (at least to all "handmade" orders)! it's a bittersweet goodbye, really. staying up until 1 or 2am every night, rushing to get orders finished, and sacrificing precious time with my family, just isn't my idea of the freedom that you imagine having when you own your own business. my husband actually proposed the idea, thinking i'd eat him alive... but i actually told him that he had "rescued me". i knew he was supportive, and i knew he appreciated the extra income, so i didn't want to act like the late nights and craziness were taking a toll on me. but they were! i know that so many of you can relate to me as you run your own businesses. it's just not ideal for my family at this stage in life. (plus, i think some people are much better with time management that i am. it's always been my biggest weakness!) i'm sad that i won't be making and sending off beautiful headbands to babies all over the country, but i know beyond all doubt that this is the right thing for me and my family right now. i can look back on the past year with fondness, but i can look back on this day without regret, knowing i made the right decision. i have fallen in love with all things handmade and i'm still addicted to etsy, but running a shop? it's just not for me right now...

so, as of this evening, i'll be unlisting any and all handmade items from the etsy shop. i will continue to sell the do-it-yourself patterns (and will be developing many more in the coming weeks). i'll probably open up a new shop with a new name, and eventually start selling supplies too, so i hope you'll follow me on that new venture :) thank you for allll your support over this past year! it has been such a joy to create these hair accessories for you and your little ones. i have loved every minute- except those that came at 2am every night ;)

* any orders that have been placed or are in progress will still be fulfilled, don't worry :)

** OH, and i'll still be at the Queen Bee Market November 12 & 13, so if you're local you'll want to make sure you come and stock up while you can!!

*** oh, AND if you're super bummed that you can't buy any baby flair anymore, and you're looking for cute accessories for you or your little ones, here are some of my favorite shops that you should *definitely* check out. some of them sell items similar to mine:

Allora Handmade

Dolce Vita Mia

Whippy Cake

The Posh Bowtique

Lou and Lee

Tarabelles

Her Royal Fatness

Pink and Pigtails

hopefully that's enough to satisfy your craving for baby flair :) enjoy!

- aly

thank you so much to all of you who took part in our birthday sale!! it has now ended... but stay tuned for some more fun things happening in August! i'll leave you with some adorable photos from Breeze photography :)

CELEBRATING ONE YEAR!!

* photo by Sierra Studios Photography *

i think you'd all agree it's crazy how time flies! the etsy shop turns ONE today! i can't even really believe how fast the time has flown by, and how the business has evolved and changed in just one year (just look back to my first 50 or so sales, and you'll see what i mean :)

anyway, what's a birthday without GIFTS, right?!?! so, we're going to have a little sale/promotion/giveaway. here's how it will work:

Buy TWO items, get 10% refunded back to you through Paypal
Buy THREE items, get a 15% refund PLUS any free Annabelle headband
Buy FOUR items, get a 20% refund PLUS any free headband, completely YOUR choice
Buy FIVE items, get a 25% refund PLUS two free items of YOUR choice

can't beat that! you could potentially walk away with SEVEN headbands for about $50! (based on the average price of each headband i sell)

** IMPORTANT: to participate, please make sure that you type "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Anniversary" into Message to Seller at checkout, so I know to issue the refund. If you qualify for a free item, please let me know which item(s) you'd like at that time as well. Free items must be of equal or lesser value to the most expensive item you purchased. All Annabelle headbands can be seen in this section of my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/babyflairboutique?section_id=7085496

have fun shopping, and remember to check us out on papernstitch.com AND on The Funky Monkey blog giveaway where you can win an additional $35 gift certificate! soo many fun things!

papernstitch

i'm suuuper excited to tell you that Baby Flair Boutique is a featured shop on papernstitch.com until august 29th. this is the cutest website, "showcasing the best in art, handmade, and vintage." take a peek at all the wonderful things it has to offer, including some Baby Flair! anything you see can purchased directly from the artists'/designers' website or etsy, etc. even MORE fun- there's a "bailey" headband featured on the front page right now! yay! (look to the bottom left of the "daily finds" section). anyway, i hope you all become instant lovers of papernstitch.com like i did :) enjoy!!

Giveaway!

just wanted to drop in and let you all know that you can win $35 to the Etsy shop by heading over to the Funky Monkey blog and entering! thirty five dollars, to spend however you want in the shop! can't beat that! head over now and enter :)

*photo by Sierra Studios Photography :)

more DIY!

the second of the DIY patterns is now available in the shop! the "Peyton" blossom has always been one of the most popular and best-selling, and now you can make it yourself! head over to the shop to buy it... and tell all your friends! :)

ALSO, an important vacation announcement:

i'll be leaving on July 7th, and returning later the next week. the shop will remain open, with a limited number of items for sale. i'll be shipping out all orders starting monday July 19th, in the order they were received. this actually isn't any different than the usual 8-12 business days wait time. the only difference is that i won't be able to accommodate any rush order requests, or any totally custom orders during this time. also, from july 12th-16th i won't be available to answer any convos.

introducing... DIY!!

are you the kind of person who would rather make it yourself, than pay extra for a hand-made {though awfully cute} item? i am too, when it comes to certain things. so i've decided to offer patterns for some of my designs! starting with the "reese" blossom:

next is "peyton", and after that, probably "tessa". stay tuned for those!! as always, you can purchase at my etsy shop! enjoy!