popping in to share...

a GIVEAWAY!!!!

Win a FREE Have a Lovely plate when we reach 500 likes on our facebook page! 

Encourage your friends through email, blogging, share on your wall, and/or messages to LIKE the have a lovely.com facebook page. Once they “like” our page they then need to post on our wall that you referred them. We will keep up with the referrals and the friend that produces the most referrals will receive a FREE plate…wedding or birth announcement plate…your choice!

I am most grateful in your help spreading the word and good luck to all of you on getting your hands on your very own Have a Lovely plate for FREE!!

  { have a lovely's facebook page }

Hope you are all having a lovely summer friends!

introducing...

we are jumping into 2012 with a precious new addition to our line...

.: BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT PLATES :.

a precious way to celebrate the moment you announced your little one's arrival to the world!
{ same size, same price, same process as our wedding plates...and oh so cute! }

{ follow us on facebook! }

teacups & tadpoles site closing

cheers to 5 years!!!

we are closing our online site...everything is now 45% off!
{ think birthdays, baby showers, and christmas is just around the corner too! }

blushing. blushing, blushing

so many blushing thanks to ms. catherine @ design editor for the shout out about teacups and tadpoles's shopping cart covers...and a bit about the rest of my irons in the fire!

if by the slim chance you've never stumbled onto her beautiful online pad then quite the plethora of inspiration awaits you! click on over and be prepared to stay awhile!

my new favorite MUST-HAVE

picky as always...i am most excited to have finally found a shopping cart & high chair cover that i love, use,...AND share it with my customers! i have been on the hunt for one that provided the most amount of surface protection without folding up to be the size of a king size pillow. i have plenty to lug around without adding another large baby must-have to my trunk! plus...i wanted one that was comfortable enough without being so big and plush that it was bulky...we all know my little mister won't be falling asleep as we stroll down the grocery store aisle! so i didn't need a cover that boasted the ultimate dream-like comfort! ;)

the mister and i love this cover! he gets to chew on his attached toys and i get my hand and hip back as we head through the grocery store...all while i have peace of mind that he is touching his own space and not every one else's! in addition to the obvious stylish fabric choices i am most impressed with a few other features...

1. 100% soft quilted cotton - machine washable. Provides a 360 degree germ-free zone. Folds to a compact, convenient size that can be easily stored in a diaper bag.

2. Four elastic corners for easy one-hand installation.

3. Toy loops to attach baby's favorite playthings.

4. Extra wide safety strap comfortably keeps baby secure while attaching cover to shopping cart or high chair.

...and did i mention how small and compact it folds up to be...

you can find them here...

a whale of a sale

we are having a WHALE of a SALE @ teacups and tadpoles now...
with items more than 50% off!!!
so go ahead & stock up...think: back-to-school, birthdays, and christmas!
{ i am offering free shipping {in the US} for orders $100+...as always! }

t&t labor day SPECIAL

NEW nap n sacks to match our super popular lunch totes!

buy 1 nap n sack and receive 25% off your lunch tote!!

{the lunch totes have been discontinued so we have purchased their remaining stock...but when they're gone they're gone! so stock up even if your little one is only 2 and still eating lunch at home with mommy!}

*** Please enter the coupon code LABORDAY25 in the comments box at checkout and you will be refunded the savings after your transaction has settled. ***

Sale ends tuesday, 9.8.09, spread the word!!!

HUGE sale!

{ shop sale now! }

in the upcoming months...there will be some changes to t&t...slight changes and some of which I haven't fully thought out...but I want to simplify a bit. Right now I offer about 800 products...I want to pair that down to a more manageable and less overwhelming number! I have been running my new year's sale for a few weeks now...once these goodies are gone they are gone. I am making room for new lines and lovelies that I have been wanting to add and some I have recently found! and also...so so grateful for this postponement and all of your support and voice getting there...

.............
hope you all have a lovely March and I will see you once I return...toodles friends! thank you so much again for the prayers for safe travels!!

save handmade...{updates!}

updates to this post...

{ image borrowed from hasenpfeffer }

{recap} : mistletoe & magic...long overdue

When I was home for Christmas I was able to get all of my M&M pictures since the CD I had copied in November was messed up and holding my pictures hostage!...so finally...I have my M&M week to share! Therefore, this will be a very long post...just warning!
...................

What a fun, overwhelming, lots of standing, good eating, fun selling, new faces meeting, old friends hugging, talkety talk great week! By all accounts the week was a hit!!

{ set-up }

mom, my mil, and ms. rebecca getting the booth ready for show! I am so thankful for the help from all of them and I think we had fun "hard at work" too!!I made my price tags...big, easy to see, full of quirky yet pertinent info, and surround by crepe paper ruffles of course!


{ the show }


{ our booth }

mom made this t&t banner for my part of the booth...such a sweet surprise!!!!

new uses for an old time favorite!!!

yes...most certainly we had fun!

baby jack...one happy little customer so excited about his new baby legs!


{ dear friends }
It was such a wonderful and an unexpected joy to see, run into, hug, and catch up with so many wonderful friends and meet some of you too! Thank you for coming by to say hi!

finally got to meet dainty miss zoe... her momma and I go back to our school days and I was so excited to sneak in some time with the little miss during a long day of set-up!

ms. su introduced my sickly self to emergen-c this week! you are a life saver ma'am!! it was such a treat to see you and erica during "booth breaks"...as always!

I learned everything I know about dried and fresh flowers from steve!!! He was the floral designer at the flower shop I worked at during college...and my wedding planning days! He did all of the flowers for our wedding...love him and don't think I have seen him since that lovely day in june!

I was so excited to catch up with kelsey and jane! kelsey {my sister's oldest friend after me!} was in town all the way from lubbock so its not often at all that she and I touch down in tyler at the same time!!

our sweet little miss kensi kay! getting ready for her jingle dance no. ...she did great and most certainly remembered to smile!

and surely not the least... booth mates! a wonderful week spent with old friends and new!

As you can see it was a very busy and fun week! I was so thankful to have my mom...she housed, inventoried, and received shipments for all of my products prior to and was at my side all week...especially after I got sick on day 1 of the show, but I was grateful to make it through set-up! I am also full of thanks to Ms. Rebecca...for being a fantastic booth mate in addition to constant friend and for providing so many of the display pieces...I would have never been able to house, ship, and purchase everything myself! It was a huge help seeing as I'm not a local.

It was a wonderful way to ring in the Christmas season!!!

a little business...with big changes...

{ UPDATE }
thank you so much for those of you that have emailed, called, and left comments with "how do I help?". I have found a few more ways to help & become more educated...

• Participate in CPSC Public commenting: Until January 30th, 2009 the CPSC is taking public comments on Section 102 ofthe CPSIA. Email them here: Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov
• read the new law here...
• contact the Committee on Energy and Commerce {see kit}
  
• contact the President
• stay up-to-date on the current happenings
• this blogger does a fabulous job of "breaking it down"!
• for an idea of the costs this will be on small businesses...and then to you the consumer...
• recent Forbes article
• blog...take the button on the right and add it to your blog too!

....................

{ original post }
I am asking for your help friends...

There is a lot of chatter and changes rolling in the small business world...all of which increases my concern for what these changes will entail for my business and the products offered to my customers. I have heard from concerned vendors, read mommy opinions, and share in the weight of these topics with other business owners...

To share a bit of the most current topic on the table...
1st and the most pressing : as we all remember "in 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public's trust. They were selling toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small parts, toys with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.

The United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and updating their molds to include batch labels.

For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, however, the costs of mandatory testing, to the tune of up to $4,000 per toy, will likely drive them out of business. And the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007. Toy makers won't be the only ones impacted by the CPSIA, the thousands of US businesses who offer clothing, jewelry and other gifts for children --in essence-- the entire children's industry will be as well.

The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public's trust. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade children's products will no longer be legal in the US.

Thriving small businesses are crucial to the financial health of our nation. Let's amend the CPSIA so that all businesses large and small are able to comply and survive!"

You can find the proposed solution here...

As an eventual parent {Lord willing}...I will want the utmost protection for my child. I will want to purchase handmade items for my child that are not massed produced. There has to be a way to provide this protection to all parties...without wiping out one party. As a business owner...I want this protection for my customers and myself...I want to know that the product I am selling is safe and not harmful...again...there has to be a less harsh solution.

If passed as is, this law will go into affect on February 10, 2009.

{how you can help...}

• -write a letter to your Congressman and Senator. As mommies, parents, step-parents, grandparents, friends, business owners, babysitters, aunts, etc...I urge you to do the same! I have included the links so that you can easily access who these people are in your area...and you can use, change, and copy this letter template for convenience.
• -join the facebook page to spread awareness...
• -sign the petition...{you don't have to donate to sign}
• -encourage your friends to sign and support...via here, blogging, email, etc.
  

thank you in advance from one of the many concerned business owners!

{ I will continue to add to this post as I find through friends and research other ways to help! }

baby legs sale...{best ever!}

an exclusive offer friends...
BabyLegs are on sale now...

buy 1 get one 1/2 off!! or buy 2 get one free!
{ and so on if you are really wanting to stock up! }

I have added several new styles and many styles are being discontinued...so be sure and snatch up your favorites before they are gone...because when they're gone they're gone! Great stocking stuffers for the littles and a hip gift to welcome a new baby!

*** Please enter the coupon code HALMERRY in the comments box at checkout and you will be refunded the savings after your transaction has settled. ***

Sale ends 12.12.08

{recap} : home

Even though Mistletoe & M*gic was over a week ago now...I have just now landed with my feet on the ground back in PA. I got back from Texas in time to jet out the next morning to New Hampshire {which I just fell in love with...Manchester is such a precious small-town-feeling city!! I am excited to go back in Feb....more on that later.} I made it back from NH in time to help host a shower this weekend for some special friends patiently awaiting baby #1! So...here goes...a recap or 2!

..............

It was such a treat to be home for over a week {despite missing hubby and getting sick}...doctor hubby had a busy rotation this month so it worked out great...if I had been here I would have still been missing him as a hospital widow!

among the highlights of my first show {next post} I also...
-spent overdue time with my aunt and cousins {thanks so much for making the trek and picking me up from the airport Aunt Dora and Whitney!! It was such a treat to get to see ya'll!!}

-spent the morning baking with mom and Miss Lexi {is she not a doll!?!}

-got a much needed haircut {it was so sweet of my stylist/friend to come in on a "closed" day to chop off my locks...since I only get it cut when I am home}
-catching up with my brother after his {almost complete} first semester off at school {thanks for coming in to see me Dal! I love you!!}

-enjoyed getting to see my sister's new place {pictures to come later...housewarming party in the works...}
-catching up on family dinners {mom always goes all out!!}

-met my brother's new girlfriend {she's precious!}
-walked the catwalk in a style show at Mistletoe&M*gic {sister girl tricked me into it...thanks for being my backstage assistant as a compromise ChiChi!}
-enjoyed dinner and a great evening with hubby's family {we missed him!}
-ate at my favorite spots {oh how I missed those orange sherbet slushes!}
-decorated my mom's Christmas tree {so ready to put up ours now!!}

I feel blessed to have squeezed so much in during such a busy time "on my business trip", but there was so much more I wanted to do and time I wanted to spend with others. It is so good to be home though...spending time with hubby, loving on my yorkie boys, catching up on orders, catching up with all of you, embracing the snow, living with a fire in the fireplace {as we speak!}, and cooking for my love...there is a roast in the crockpot that I will be smelling all day {at his request}...

next post...the booth!