{Milestone Moment} One year Etsy Anniversary

One year ago, on a night like tonight, I took the plunge and opened an etsy shop. I'd been going back and forth about it for a year and finally figured, "what've I got to lose?"

What I love about the etsy community is how it keeps me on my toes. I'm already a pursuer of excellence, but with etsy even more so. What started out as a meaningless pastime has become (at least in my mind) a corporation. Whereas I used to simply describe my products in a few sentences, I now outline a detailed marketing and advertising mini-campaign for each product I list. Can I tell you how much I LOVE that?

I truly enjoy tapping into so many of my interests: photography, digital design, styling, etc just so I can list a single item. For someone like me, who likes to stick her nose into all kinds of industries, and who gets bored easily if boxed into one area of interest, it's been heaven.

Being on etsy has given my a deeper sense of pride for what I do not only as a creative person but also as someone who is now making a valuable contribution to my family's finances. My son can attend a quality private pre-school two days a week and my daughter can enjoy ballet lessons all because of my etsy supporters.

I'm looking forward to what the year ahead brings. My goal this year is to have at least 10 items available in my shop at all times.

Here is a sneak peek at the latest items making their way to my etsy shop real soon

Thank you so much for taking a chance on me and trusting me with your events. To show my appreciation, I've set up discount code "1YEAR" that you can type in at checkout to receive 10% your entire order.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TiTisTuTus

xoxo,

Debra

{TuTu Tuesday} Mardi Gras

If you're from Louisiana, you are fully aware Valentine's Day is not the only celebration in February.

Here is a tutu set I designed last year around this time.

All photos courtesy of Patricia Bishop Photography

I love the bright bold colors of the Mardi Gras celebration.

I'm not planning on advertising mardi gras much this year, but if you are interested in a mardi gras tutu, headband, or garland, I welcome your emails at averagemeetsamazing@yahoo.com

Thanks for reading!

Debra

Valentine's Day Countdown

I gotta be really honest, Valentine's Day is not a really big deal in our house. We're kinda turned off by the whole thing, actually.

The commercialization of the holiday and the pressure to have a "romantic" evening on that specific day really rubs me the wrong way. Fighting for reservations, waiting for a table at an overcrowded restaurant, spending money on fancy chocolates nobody eats, bah! So NOT us!

Our Anniversary (7 years, this year!) is the following week, so we usually go on our formal date then. The four of us are crazy about each other and we try to live every day in a way that communicates that without needing to go overboard on one particular day.

BUT, if you know me, you know I love an excuse to party so, we've decided to do a countdown calendar with little activities under $5 for us to do every day leading up to Valentine's Day.

Here's a look at what we've done so far the first five days:

The kids get so excited when Daddy gets home! They run to the countdown calendar to see what's in store for our family that evening.

I'm still open to ideas, if you have a good one, I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks for reading,

Debra