Candy Everybody Wants

For a while now I have been thinking about how I can create some cute upcycled items for Purplelicious. At the same point that I had that thought I saw a little girl in Target wearing a Skittles headband. That was pretty much all I needed. I started asking everyone to give me candy and snack wrappers. It is funny how the people at work feel like they are making some sort of weakness confession when they hand me candy wrappers. The prize for who collected the most goes to my daughter who would bring home 6-7 snack bag wrappers everyday from school. It caught on so much that one day she was absent and her best friend collected them from her. Here is just a small sample of all of the wrappers I have collected. What's your favorite?



The first creation made with the candy wrappers were bookmarks which I talked about in a previous blog. I have recently made one for myself from a Reese's wrapper.


Then I tested out some wristlet keychains. I brought these to a craft show and I sold a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup one to a guy named Reese. The candy wrapper keychains can work for guys too!


And then of course I made headbands. The headbands have a solid grosgrain ribbon on the back which is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. I had a few more styles of these but they sold at the craft show. Don't worry, I will make more, look at the pic above, I have PLENTY of wrappers!


I can even make custom items with your favorite candy. These were a special order for some good friends.


I am really having a lot of fun making these items and it feels good to convert trash into something fun to wear. I will slowly be adding these to my Etsy shop to keep your eyes peeled! These are a great way to enjoy your favorite candy without the calories...unless of course you are the one giving me the wrapper!

2 Weeks!

I feel like this blog is operating on "Money Pit" time! It seems I have only had time to blog every 2 weeks. Wow has it really been two weeks since my last blog post? I am so sorry to have kept you all in suspense as to the happenings of my fabulous life but maybe getting all of the information in bi-monthly updates is a better way to go? Well for now it will have to do because in restaurant terms...I am in the Weeds!

Picking up where I last left off, my fabulous little 5 year old graduated from Pre-K at the end of the month. Aside from her dance class performance I have not seen her in a group singing performance since her school doesn't really put them on. She had been talking about graduation for months and humming some of the songs so I knew I was in for a treat! She also teased me about a secret song that they weren't allowed to tell the parents about. I am impressed that she kept it under wraps for so long, I was definitely surprised! The graduation ceremony was only 20 minutes but it was adorable and Bella did great. She wasn't nervous, when it was her turn to speak she stood up straight and spoke clearly. she is so much like her mommy it is scary! So I still have a few months to come to terms with the fact that my baby is starting kindergarten in the fall but I am not going to think about that now!

In other news, Purplelicious is on FIRE! In a good way! I recently reached a milestone of 500 Etsy sales which was very exciting for me! To celebrate I had a Customer Appreciation Sale and offered $5 Headbands for one day. Everyone LOVES the $5 Headband Sale, needless to say it was a huge success! My mom thought I was a little crazy for having that sale a few weeks before two upcoming craft shows BUT I was strategic. While I was filling orders I was cutting a few extra pieces of fabric and building inventory! Productivity at its finest, ok not really!

Speaking of Craft Shows I evidently have taken some crazy pills as I have two, count them TWO craft show coming up, back to back. It is Wednesday and I have a good amount of inventory for my show this weekend BUT I have a very long list of things to do. But it will all get done, I am already very accustomed to the late night craft show prep that ensues when you are a procrastinator like me. Although honestly, I think some of my best work happens in the late night hours! As if that wasn't enough, another shop at the Jersey store now carries my products. Haven Boutique in Sea Isle City, NJ now carries Purplelicious Accessories. It is an adorable boutique with lots of great dresses and accessories. It is the first boutique that my products are in and I am excited to see how well they do there!

My 4th of July was great, thanks for asking! I didn't have any bbq plans and my pool still looked like a toxic green swamp so I took Bella to the movies. We saw Ice Age 3 in 3D. Can someone please stop me from paying more for the 3D experience when only 2 elements of the whole movie are 3D. When will I learn! On a positive note we got to see some Amazing fireworks. My mom's friend lives right across from the high school where they set them off so she was kind enough to give us some viewing space on her grass. I have never seen fireworks so close in my life! Bella really enjoyed them and it was awesome sitting there watching them with her. And like I do every 4th of July since I have been divorced, I hope that the next year I am watching them in the arms of an amazing man. Perhaps I need to make my wish at a different time of the year though, it seems the 4th of July wish is not really working!

FINALLY, since my Tie Dyed Cupcakes have become very popular, I decided to make them for the 4th of July. I will call them Patriotic Tie Dye Cupcakes. I made them for Bella's class and this time I made Tie Dyed Icing..fancy! How to make them, these are easier I think because they have less colors. Divide the White cake Batter into three bowls (about 2c of batter in each). Tint one of them red and one of them blue (I strongly recommend the Wilton Gel colors for this). Keep the third bowl as is. Line the cupcake tins and first add the red, I found about 1 tbsp per cupcake was enough. Although the last couple get a little cheated. to offset this, start the next color where you left off! Follow that process for the other two colors and bake. Now for the icing. I used the Wilton Buttercream recipe and also one of their techniques for the icing. I got some paintbrushes and brushed stripes of color into the pastry bag, then added the white icing. You have to squeeze some of the icing out until the color starts to come through but that is how you get the tie dye effect! Below are some pics! Enjoy!




Ok enough fun and frolic, I hope you enjoyed this rather long two week recap. I hope to post a blog next week about the 2 day Haddonfield Craft Show I am participating in this weekend but at the rate I am going on here, expect it in 2 weeks!

Sewing Like the Wind!

One of my favorite movies growing up was Three Amigos. My brother and I still quote it and my family pretty much always references the Village of Santa Poco because "We Can Sew!". When my mom, sister and I are getting ready for something that requires a lot of sewing we comment that we are in the Village of Santa Poco and are Sewing Like the Wind. For that past month, I have temporarily relocated to the Village of Santa Poco where I have been sewing like the wind pretty much every day! And of course I couldn't be happier!

Why you ask? Well summer is heating up fast for Purplelicious. I wish I could say the same for the weather! I am very excited that Purplelicious Accessories can now be found at two different shops at the Jersey Shore. The first shop is in Stone Harbor New Jersey and is called Alice. It is located on the famous 96th street where all of the shops are. Inside Alice you can not only find my accessories but great jewelry, handbags, painted glass, and a many other handmade items. If you are visiting Stone Harbor NJ, stop by and check it out!

The other shop is called The Maple Tree and it is located in Seaville, NJ. It is inland but right off of Route 9 and you can make a quick stop in there while you are en route to your favorite shore destination! The Maple Tree is an adorable shop filled with handmade gifts. You can find handmade candles, soaps, painted glass, quilts, hand painted garden art, purses, and so much more! The shop is amazing and as soon as you walk in you are instantly relaxed due to the calm and beautiful setting. The Maple Tree is also in the running for the Best of the Shore Hot List in the Gift Shop Category, last time I checked they were only a few votes from first place! Below is a picture of my item display at The Maple Tree, the keychains are selling like crazy there which is pretty awesome!


As if I have not been busy enough trying to keep two stores stocked with product, I forgot about my 3rd shop, VIX Emporium in West Philly. I am in the process now of stocking them up with some new inventory! I also have two craft shows coming up in July which happen to be back to back. I have been accepted again to the Haddonfield Crafts and Fine Arts Festival July 11-12 and the following week was just accepted to The Handmade Faire - Summer of Love Edition at Freedom Park in Medford which is on July 18. July is going to be a busy month but I can't wait, I love craft shows because I am able to showcase new products and most importantly meet some of my amazing customers! I am also excited about the Handmade Faire because I will get a chance to meet many of my Etsy NJ Team friends as they will be vending there as well!

I have not stopped there! In the midst of all of this sewing madness I have been introducing some new products! I have been using this time to tap into my fabric stash that has been sitting there screaming to be made into accessories! Below are just a few of the new headband styles I have created, check out my Purplelicious Etsy Shop for more!



Whew! I am exhausted just by writing this blog. All of this hard work is definitely worth it though! It just goes to show that all of those tiny little things that you do eventually add up and make you successful! Now if you'll excuse me, I have some, I mean a LOT of sewing to do!