Maggie's Station Stationery Blog

Christmas Newsletter

2011-11-28T16:13:00.015-06:00

Dear Fans, Followers and Customers,

We've recently sent out our annual Christmas newsletter and wanted to share it with you. We all know how e-mails work at times where it can land up in the dreaded spam box or domains may not allow all e-mails but somehow, always allow the junk, letters saying, you've won millions but send your money first and the not so, desired e-mails.

We hope you enjoy this newsletter(link not working but check back soon it is posted on facebook) and if you like what you see check out our web site of www.maggiesstationery and our face book page of www.facebook.com/maggiesstation that you could win 50 Free Christmas cards!

Wishing all of you a safe and joyous holiday season!

The Creative Team

Autism Speaks... Are You Listening?

2011-09-26T15:44:00.000-05:00

Most of y'all know that I'm in a sorority, which is one of the reasons I got involved here at Maggie's Station. Besides keeping things fresh and hip, as I like to call it, I use all of the fab products that I can to make my sorority the best around. Every sorority or fraternity nationally pairs with an organization or a cause in order to perform philanthropic work. My sorority, Alpha Xi Delta, works with Autism Speaks, an organization created to help educate and combat this new social disorder.
A couple of weekends ago, we joined up with Autism Speaks as they hosted their large fundraising event, WalkNow, in Memphis for the first time. Seeing all of the people who came together in order to work with for this cause inspired this blog post.

Many people don't know much about Autism, at least, I sure didn't before I joined the sorority. Here are some basic facts that we know:

- one in every 110 children is diagnosed with autism
- it is more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined
- in the United States alone, one out of 70 boys is diagnosed with autism
- 1.5 million individuals in the U.S. and tens of millions worldwide are affected by autism

With all of this evidence on how prevalent it is, how could we not help? Autism is the fastest-growing social disorder in the world. You can help today, just simply by educating yourself! Here is the link to the Autism Speaks website: http://www.autismspeaks.org/. Autism speaks, and this is how we listen.

xoxo,
Maggie

Labor Day Cookouts & Folk's Folly Steak House!

2011-09-10T20:25:00.017-05:00

Blue Ribbon Bar-be-cue - Julia D. Azar

This week, brought us Labor Day and what a special day to celebrate with family and friends. These are tough times around the country for those who are out of work but it doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate their past accomplishments and friendships.

Normally, in our household, I would go shopping and buy items to prepare for our cookout but not this year. It was a time to support a local business that offered a fantastic deal for us to entertain our company. Our son, brought to our attention that Folk’s Folly Memphis Original Prime Steak House had a Casual Cookout Collection from the Prime Cut Shoppe. We purchased 12 half- pound prime burgers, buns, kettle chips, traditional coleslaw, and Key Lime Pie all for only $39.95. It saved me time and energy from running to a crowded grocery store and not buying more items than I needed.

We loved serving our guests the delicious food and making our lives simpler. Next time, a holiday comes around look up your local restaurants to see what specials they might have!

Check out some of these invitations that go great for a Labor Day celebration!

Wiggly Pig - Paper So Pretty

BBQ - Paper So Pretty

Yesterday in History....

2011-08-30T13:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we remembered Hurricane Katrina, a devastating storm with tremendous effects that are still present today. The countless families who lost loved ones, homes, and personal belongings still feel the impact as if it happened yesterday. Throughout that fateful storm six years ago, 1,836 people died. The total property damage estimated at $81 billion. At the pinnacle of the storm, some three million people went without electricity. Hurricane Katrina was the sixth strongest hurricane ever recorded and the third strongest hurricane ever recorded to make landfall in the U.S. An estimated 80% of New Orleans was under water, up to 20 feet deep in places. This travesty affected so many, and all that we could do was pray and attempt to support them. Today I ask that you still pray for these people, especially the ones who will never see their loved ones, homes, and personal belongings ever again. August 29th is a day that will truly live in our hearts forever. Maggie's Station was founded in April 2006 after the death of our loved one, whose namesake we use for our company. The debris and toxins in the air from Katrina inhibited the ability of our beloved Maggie and the other elderly around to breathe properly.

Picture taken on October 31, 2005 by Owner, Margaret Kelly

I found this prayer while researching Hurricane Katrina, and with the recent news of the Hurricane Irene, I thought it best to post as well.

In this time of darkness, let us serve as the light
That brings comfort and strength, hope and redemption.

It is our hands that move stones
And our hearts that move mountains
Sowing the seeds
Of unbroken tomorrows.

If you offer your compassion to the hungry
And satisfy the famished creature
Then shall your light
Shine in darkness
And your gloom
Shall be like noonday

Isaiah 58:10

Xoxo,

Maggie

Maggie's 90th Birthday!

2011-08-10T23:24:00.002-05:00

August 11 is my Mother, Maggie’s Birthday! She would have been 90 and in her words the “happy Leo”! Maggie is the inspiration and the reason why; we are going on our sixth year in the stationery business. For such a petite woman, she brought so many together thru her wonderful penmanship. I wasn’t that fortunate with my penmanship but still write notes just the same. Below you will find a short note I would have written to her.

Dear Mama,

You would have been turning 90 today! How great that would have been to celebrate with you another milestone. But that wasn’t meant to be. You are in heaven and I’m still here missing you.

Happy Birthday to a wonderful Mom, my best friend, and hero!

Love your daughter,
Peggy

There is nothing more fulfilling than writing to love ones. If yours are still around sit for a few minutes and write them a short note. It goes a long way and is always remembered. I still have all the correspondence Maggie sent me through out my adult years living away from New Orleans. (I’d buy her stationery and she would say, “It’s to pretty to use.” Then I would say, I will buy you more.) I can’t have Maggie back in my life (physically) but she still makes me smile rereading her notes. She would often write a small paragraph to my husband, her first grandson, and me.

I especially loved getting Birthday notes and cards from her. She would date the card and share with me exactly how old I was in two ways. In spelling it out and then writing a check for the amount of my age. I thought it was silly at the time but wish, I could get reminded again.

Not only would Maggie keep in touch with her two children who lived out of town but also she would write to her sisters, friends, and in-laws. She was amazing and her dream was always to have a “secretary desk” but always would use the kitchen table to write her heartfelt notes.

Writing is a lost art these days due to e-mails, face book, twitter, and Skype but it doesn’t have to be. Here at Maggie’s Station we have note cards, note paper and even lined stationery. We decided between now and Christmas that those who purchase $90.00 or more will get $9.00 off. Just use the COUPON CODE OF MAGGIE. Just think you can have a one box of Christmas cards - free!

Below are some of the examples of note cards and lined stationery we have on hand from Kris-10 Creations and Julia D. Azar. I would have loved to have given Maggie(she loved the color orange) either one of these for her birthday but probably more so the lined stationery!

Don't forget to write to that special person in your life it only takes a few minutes but it is worth a life time!

There's a New Maggie in this Station...

2011-07-28T14:59:00.000-05:00

To all y’all readers out there, I’d just like to introduce myself. My name is Maggie and I’m the new blogging girl for Maggie’s Station! It’s quite ironic that I got this job, especially with my name, but I think it adds a bit of flair, don’t you? Speaking of flair, one of the reasons I got involved was because of all the cute things that Maggie’s Station offers. I’m 20 and attend a private university in Memphis, and my sorority is always looking for cute little things to make us stand out. Some “extra flair”, if you will.

Not only that, but Maggie’s Station has some of the BEST items for tailgating at those football games. We may not be an SEC team here in Memphis, but we sure do tailgate like it! I recently made this video promoting all of our tailgating items, so you really should check it out! http://bit.ly/od4O2r.

Also, if you're looking to get ahead for the holidays, we have some of the best gifts in town! Check out our new travel mugs, napkins, plates, foam and frost-flex cups, coaster, invites, baby announcement and Christmas cards at http://www.maggiesstationery.com/

Until next time!

Xoxo Maggie

Teach Them How to FIsh! And bring out the happiness!!!

2011-07-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

Recently, Maggie's Station had a request to produce glittered cards for a customer from the Julia D. Azar products. We were very happy to provide the request and between Mary Ann and Margaret the request was filled. Here is what we received in an e-mail today. We hope it gives you a glimpse of parties you can give!

Margaret,

Thank you so much for the great invitations!!! They turned out awesome!!! My son Anthony was so excited when he saw them and so many people loved them including myself!! Thank you so much for all your help, you were excellent to deal with in so many ways. You answered every question I had in such a timely manner and I received my invites so quickly! I will be sure to spread the word about your wonderful products and service! I look forward to doing business with you again.

Thanks again!

Anita

A Salute to the Space Shuttle and NASA Space Program!

2011-07-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

There was a time that I was a young girl and television had just come into existence into the homes in the early 50’s. And it was all an exciting time having only 4 channels to watch. The neighborhood children would all gather daily on someone’s steps to talk about the funny and fascinating commercials in between the programs.

And then there was the launching of the space program and all the talk of being able to travel to the moon. Every child and adult had their dreams of one day going to the moon and seeing the planets. And then one day in (July 20) 1969 everyone got to see the Apollo 11 go up in space and land on the moon. It was an exciting time for the USA and NASA along with the 600 million viewers who had watched on their black and white TV’s (and maybe some had color ones). I remember being glued in front of an old RCA TV watching it with our parents and my brothers. It was then seeing an astronaut, Neil Armstrong walking on the moon (live) and stating, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It all gave us hope and now there will be no more generations watching the space shuttle launches or landings. It had been amazing since 1969– 2011 it has to be stopped.

There were times that all the young men, boys, and girls wanted space parties. I even have fond memories of throwing a Space Party (1991) for my son and all of his classmates dressing up as astronauts. The party favors were a calendar of all of the adventures in space. For more information on the last space shuttle of 30 years: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/jul/HQ_11-240_Atlantis_Lands.html

Here at Maggie’s Station we have many invitations to choose from here but we selected some of our space rockets(http://www.maggiesstationery.com/Products/prdct_desc/2093/)
and along with rocket address labels from Julia D. Azar and Paper So Pretty. We hope you will have a party in honor of all of those brave men and women who dedicated their lives to the study of the Moon. Remember creativity, dreams and imagination never die!

Rocket Calling Card

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL action? Did you know the Super bowl is February 6?

2011-01-11T23:34:00.002-06:00

It might not mean much to some folks but here in our home FOOTBALL RULES! ! There is a season for everything and football season means everything to my husband. He lives and breathes football season. Watching every game there is and loves the competition.

We all know the Super bowl is coming up on February 6, 2011 and can’t wait to see this years new Champions! We loved seeing last years Champions, our beloved NFL Saints Team WIN! Wow, what a victory that was for the team and city of New Orleans! Not to mention, uniting once again all fans around the country who had been affected by Katrina and losing their homes. We were thrilled to have been a spectator at the first exhibition game at the Superdome in August 2009. And it was just wonderful to spend time with family and friends in New Orleans watching the underdog team of the Saints win their first ever-Super bowl!!! The city of New Orleans always never sleeps but it was rockin and partying like there was no tomorrow!

What team do you cheer for? Is your team in the playoffs or close? Don’t forget to invite your friends and family over to watch the game with you. Here at Maggie’s Station we are ready with all the invites you could need for a football party!
We’ve picked out a few to consider:

This is a good one from Paper So Pretty -what a fun way to invite for a Kick Off!

Are you ready for a Touch Down? Here the company of Julia D. Azar is sure to spark a touch down!

Also, there can’t be a party without food. Do you have any favorite recipes? Please don’t forget to post your favorite recipe!(Hint) Those who do post will be in a drawing!

This is one of our favorites and we hope you enjoy it!

Shrimp Dip

½ pint sour cream

1-8 ounce package cream cheese

½ cup celery

½ cup diced onions

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of 1 lemon

Red pepper to taste

2 small cans of shrimp

Combine sour cream with cream cheese. Add celery, onions, salt, pepper, lemon juice and red pepper to taste. Mash the shrimp with a fork and add to thee cheese mixture. Sprinkle with red pepper on top and serve. This recipe will make approximately 1 quart.

Taken from Cotton Country Collection Cookbook.

Have a happy & safe Super Bowl Sunday and may your favorite team WIN!

Thanksgiving---- We are thankful!

2010-11-16T18:53:00.001-06:00

In writing this blog for our company. I’d have to first say, I am so blessed and thankful for all the wonderful customers and future ones. When starting this business in 2007, it was a journey that had been in the background of my mind and a life long dream. But in the years of 2005- 2006, life taught me a valuable lesson of never to take life for granted and always spend every moment with those you care about. If you would care to read more about my story for Maggie’s Station, please look, at the About US section on our web site.

We were recently at a tradeshow in New Orleans for the Helen Brett’s Gift 2 Jewelry Show and there was a constant reminder of why, I stay in business.

The appreciation and gratitude were over flowing in my customers of locating our booth and the products.

They shared with us that they looked daily for our booth and some only came to see Maggie’s Station.

Today, while working on face book(our page), I came across one of our member’s blogs (http://networkedblogs.com/aveVc), and it reminded me of something a niece, who does this with her own family (and even dresses up as pilgrims). And these past few years, with the economic times, I feel it is a very necessary item to share. Mommy D’s blog is about recycling a shoe box and decorating it with the paper of your choice and putting a slit at the top of the box. Then by, keeping pieces of paper and pen/pencils by the box. The box then is called a “Thanksgiving Thankful Box!” Each day, a person writes something they are thankful for and then you can either read or make a scrapbook for Thanksgiving. What a great and simple idea! Hat's off to Mommy D! We love teaching others to communicate and this is a perfect way to show your appreciation about life. We can’t wait to start our box. We have a lot to be thankful for and the first one, we will write is about our valuable customers who bring much joy into our business.

Let us know if you like our idea or if you’ve ever done a box like this or even plan to do one.

Here at Maggie’s Station, our creative team wants to wish everyone a safe and thankful “Thanksgiving!

A Salute to Halloween!

2010-10-05T23:02:00.005-05:00

It’s that time a year again when all the ghost and goblins appear. They come in all shapes and sizes during Halloween time. And during the month of October with all the movies of past and new! While watching TV recently, there were all types of commercials with Elvira and other character’s (Frankenstein) advertising past movies. And now a new generation along with the past; loves the creepy, spooky movies of the 1950's to present day.

Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween - 1978

It makes you just want to curl up on the sofa with popcorn and a comfy blanket (also with someone you can lean on) and relive your teenage years, when your peers would invite you to go with them and see haunted/scary movies. And sometimes, even those black and white flicks on TV! I remember when in 1978, Jamie Lee Curtis, was in the slasher movies as an innocent babysitter & bookish teenager and she had to protect the children from “the slasher.”

We'd like to recommend a blog that we feel relates to Halloween and it is written by our very own social media, Courtney Mroch. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. "A travel blog for restless spirits ~ Your passport to paranormal tourism" http://hauntjaunts.net/blog/

Do you have any favorite scary movies? We’d love for you to share with us!

Well here at Maggie’s Station, we bring the innocent all together with fun party invites and to have that pure innocent fun of bobbing for apples, playing dress up and having fabulous parties before trick or treating in a group. And then of course, comes the fun stuff of sorting out all the candies and seeing who got the most!

We’ve chosen a card to show some an example and we hope you agree that it is a great value and can be either used for children or adult Halloween parties.
Below is a card from Picture Perfect! You’ll find more choices under our holiday section and more are added daily so please keep checking back. Boo!! - They won’t last long.

We would like to wish all of you a safe and Happy Halloween!

Featured Item Fridays: Photo Cards Aren't Just for Christmas

2010-08-27T08:39:00.018-05:00

It may not seem like it, but after Labor Day Weekend hits, holiday season is right around the corner. (Hard to imagine considering it's still summer and all, but we know what follows right on the heels of all the Back to School hubbub.)

This sort of seasonal thinking inspired us to post our newest topic under Discussions on our Facebook Page: Which holiday or upcoming festivity do you go all out for?

It also got us looking around at our inventory. Christmas is definitely one of our hottest seasons. We've got all kinds of cards, stickers and address labels for everyone's Christmas card needs. Check it out:

Christmas Cards by Julia D. Azar - Perfect for your season's greetings or as Christmas party invitations.
Christmas Photo Cards - We've got a huge selection of Christmas photo cards from Julia D. Azar and Sugar Cookie Cards. You pick the photo, grab some glue and affix it to a card printed with the greeting of your choice. Makes for a fun family holiday craft project!
Digital Holiday Cards by Julia D. Azar - You provide the digital photo via email, we'll do the rest!
Holiday Return Address Labels by Julia D. Azar - We have styles to match and color coordinate with your greeting cards and holiday invites.
Holiday Thank You Cards by Sugar Cookie Cards - These are great for the little ones to make thanking everyone for their gifts fast and fun.
Stickers & Gift Tags - You can never have enough of either at the holidays. We have a great selection of styles from Julia D. Azar, Kate Sumner Designs, and Sweet'ums Stationery.

We even carry a Hanukkah card by Sweet'ums Stationery.

Photo cards have definitely grown in popularity over the years, and are among our best selling Christmas items. But some people like to get the jump on their holiday cards and send their greetings at Thanksgiving rather than Christmas.

If you're one of those (or have thought about becoming one), we also carry Thanksgiving cards. Two of which are photo cards. (Not the digital variety, though. These are the assembly required, break out your glue and DIY kind. Again, like with the Christmas photo cards mentioned above, add in some hot cocoa, gather around the fire, and you might just create a fun new family holiday tradition!)

We've included a pic of one below to give you an idea.

Pumpkins Grande designed by Julia D. Azar

Also be sure to check out the Fall Wreath Grande photo card designed by Julia D. Azar

Stationery to Wag Your Tail About for Dog Day

2010-08-26T16:35:00.000-05:00

Because August 26th is National Dog Day and we love our four legged friends, we decided to let our Party Dog out to play.

This cute invitation is designed by Paper so Pretty. It's one of their Wigglers as you can see. He's just wagging happy!

But he's not the only one. We've also got a Party Puppy who's anxious to get the party started! (Be it this mini-celebration in honor of all dogs for National Dog Day, or one you're planning to throw.)

For those of you who have a canine for a school mascot, you might appreciate these Sic Em cups designed by Inviting Company.

If you happen to be a fan of bulldogs, we also have you covered. Georgia fans in particular. (We do carry some Mississippi State collegiate items too, but none specifically reference dogs for any of you Mississippi State bulldog fans.)

But here's some of the Georgia bulldog items we carry, like the Go Dawgs and Dawg Swirl cups, Go Dawgs Coasters, and Southern Belle who yells Go Dawg cards.

Who let the dogs out? We did! Happy National Dog Day!

And remember, if you're considering adding a four-legged fur friend to your family, please visit your nearest shelter and consider giving one of those dogs a home. They need help these days more than ever!

The Julia D. Azar Alligator Invitations Customer Appreciation Story

2010-08-23T14:20:00.000-05:00

In case we've never said it before, we love feedback. We love when people interact with us on Twitter, or Facebook, or even here on the blog via comments.

We especially love when we get emails like the one we received a while back from Jennifer Broussard. We decided it'd make the perfect blog post. Kind of our way of showing customer appreciation in return for the appreciation shown to us!

THE INVITES

Jennifer ordered the Alligator Invite designed by Julia D. Azar (pictured below) for her son's birthday party.

Apparently it was a big hit. Here's what she wrote to tell us:

Thank you Maggies Stationery for the wonderful invitations!! I received so many calls from Moms telling me how cute the crocodile invitations were and that they had to put them up so their kids wouldn't play with them. I even had one Mom tell me her daughter got a hold of it and she later found it in her toy box:) Thanks again for helping make my sons bday party a memorable one! I look forward to using your products year after year!!

Jennifer Broussard

How neat is that? We LOVE hearing stories like that!

JULIA D. AZAR ONCE AGAIN GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND

But there's a little more to the story.

Jennifer also wanted return address labels to match the invitations. Many times Julia D. Azar's products have coordinating return address labels, but in this case they didn't.

However, when Margaret called to ask the people at Julia D. Azar for suggestions, you know what they did? They suggested they'd make some --custom!

And that's what they did. So not only was Jennifer happy with the end product, so were we. (And judging from Jennifer's email, so were the invite recipients!)

SPIRIT OF COOPERATION

The best thing about Maggie's Station is that spirit of cooperation. The people operating behind the scenes to help Margaret do her job helping customers pick the perfect products for their events all work together. And thrive on doing so.

But so do the vendors we work with, like Julia D. Azar's staff demonstrated in the above scenario. They are phenomenal. They have no qualms about going above and beyond.

In fact, above and beyond is pretty much par for the course for them. Which inspires us to do the same.

We hope when you order products from us you experience this same level of spirit. It's what we aim for every time. Because, as we're fond of pointing out around here, our philosophy is:

Your satisfaction is our passion. We'll get you exactly what you want. If we don't carry what you're looking for, we'll help you find who does!

Did You Know What Childrens Thank You Cards Can Teach Kids to Do?

2010-08-19T15:21:00.000-05:00

One of Margaret's passions is kids. That's why she stocks so much stationery geared towards children and why she has a Children's Stationery section reserved just for them. I guess you could say Maggie's Station is a kid-friendly stationery store!

One of the subsections within Children's Stationery is Children Thank You Cards. For the most part they're the fill-in variety.

Dear __________________,

Thank you very much for _________________.

From______________________.

Or some variation thereof.

Having raised a son herself, Margaret knows kids (boys especially) aren't always big on writing the thank yous. That's why Margaret thought the idea of fill-in thank yous were great, and why she loves designers who offer them.

From the mom viewpoint she knows it's a convenient way to get the thank you task done. But, now that her son is grown and she has some perspective, not only do thank yous teach manners and respect, but they can also help teach writing and spelling!

Plus, with the fun designs to choose from, kids won't even know they're practicing their penmanship, alphabet, and learning a good habit for the future.

Below are some examples of the types of children thank you cards we carry from Doc Milo and Julia D. Azar.

CHILDREN THANK YOU CARDS BY DOC MILO

CHILDREN THANK YOU CARDS BY JULIA D. AZAR

Featured Item Fridays: Eat Pray Love

2010-08-13T18:30:00.000-05:00

In honor of "Eat Pray Love," the new Julia Roberts movie opening in theaters everywhere today, we decided to gear our Featured Items Friday selections on those three themes.

So, below, please find our "Eat Pray Love" picks!

EAT

We found the following in our Adult Invitations and Cocktail Napkins by Naughty Betty for Inviting Company sections.

These Beverage Napkins speak volumes, don't they?

Turn up the heat on your next party with these
New Orleans Hot Sauce cards.

Laissez les bon temps roulez at your next dinner party with these

New Orleans Fleur de Lis cards.

Your guests will know you're inviting them to pinch some heads

and suck some tails when you send either these

Crawfish Boil cards (pictured above)

or the Pincher cards (pictured below)

Crawfish Boil designed by Sugar Cookie Cards

Pincher designed by Julia D. Azar

These Crab cards will get your guests a'cracking to RSVP!

A party will surely be sweet with these Dessert Cart cards kicking it off.

These Beverage Napkins will help answer the question your guests may be wondering.

PRAY

Need inspiration to remind you to be prayerful? Maybe something from our Scriptures section will help!

No matter how big your troubles,

keep this Mountain Loops mantra in mind

and nothing will seem insurmountable!

"I Can Do All Things Sports" plaques are great for athletes.

Reminds them where their strength and stamina really comes from.

Hanging this psalm on your wall will surely help you remember to "Delight in the Lord" 365/24/7!

With this cute God is Love tote

you can easily carry all of your "prayer-phernalia!"

These Beverage Napkins remind us there's always room for a little levity--

even in in prayer!

LOVE

We could have done something obvious and featured items from our Wedding Invitations & Stationery section or even from our Baby & Birth Announcement and Invitations section (because marriage and parenthood are love personified, aren't they?), but we didn't. Instead, we headed over to the Valentine's Day portion of our Holidays section!

Ah, Valentine's Day Sweets cards

--little else says love better than hearts and chocolate!

Several dozen pairs of Hot Lips...

oh, the (steamy?) love notes you could send using this paper!

Okay, so you won't find these

Beverage Napkins in the Valentine's section.

We snuck them in.

Again, the best kind of love is the kind

that comes with a healthy dose of humor!

Maggie's Station's Newest New Look: Orange Inspiration

2010-08-10T16:17:00.000-05:00

Once again we've given the blog a facelift. The other design we chose decided to stop working properly on us.

Then the filler design we chose was okay, but it was one of those things. Kind of like that one outfit we all have in our closet. It's comfy and practical and suits our purposes but we only wear it because nothing else is washed.

WHY ORANGE?

We ended up fiddling with Blogger's Template Designer to come up with this new look. We really wanted something with orange, but do you know how hard it is to find non-Halloween blog designs in orange?

Pretty hard. Poor orange just isn't one of the most popular colors out there. However, it has special meaning for us here at Maggie's Station.

We've mentioned before how Margaret "Peggy" Kelly's mom, Maggie, is Peggy's inspiration for Maggie's Station. Well, Maggie's favorite color was orange. We like to try and work that in to our color scheme as much as possible, so we were excited Blogger's Template Designer allowed us to come up with this.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAGGIE!

But it's also a good time to unveil the new look because August 11th is Maggie's birthday.

Since orange doesn't seem to get a lot of respect, and in honor of Maggie's birthday, we thought it'd be fun to feature some of the orange products we carry at Maggie's Station.

We know she'd like them. We hope something might catch your eye too. Let us know if anything does!

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE ORANGE

This is some orange we found in our Camp Stationery & Camp Items section.

Address Book Boy by Penny Laine

The following items are from our Children Thank You Cards section.

Riley's Racercars by Doc Milo

(It's not just the race cars that are orange. Even the envelopes are!)

Chloe's Cupcake Thank You by Doc Milo

(Don't let the pink fool you. The graphics on this card are orange.)

Basketball Thank You by Julia D. Azar

(Because basketballs are basically orange, aren't they?)

We found this orange surprise in Adult Wiggler Invitations.

Surfer Dude by Paper so Pretty

And in Boys Invitations we have:

Riley's Racecars by Doc Milo

(Matches the thank yous above!)

Ryan's Rockstars by Doc Milo

Alex's Admit One by Doc Milo

In our Note Cards, Note Pads, Calendars & Flat Paper Stationery section we found:

Note Sheets by hen and barley press

Mod Mosaic Daisy Doodle Notes by Paper so Pretty

Orange and Pink Dots Daisy Doodle Notes by Paper so Pretty

FO VG Text Kitchen Veggies Note Cards by Sugar Cookie Cards

PS120 Personalized Stationery Note Cards from Kris-10 Creations

Who knew Placemats, Bag Tags, Tableware & Scriptures was loaded with so much orange?

Pink Floral "K" Bag Tag by Julia D. Azar

(It may be called pink, but who knew it paired so nicely with orange? Also comes in the letters "H," "E," and "B")

Beverage Napkins by Inviting Company

There's no shortage of orange in our newest section: College/Collegiate Items. Here's an example of school colors with orange pride (all of which are designed by Inviting Company):

Auburn University

Auburn Beverage Napkins

War Eagle Cups

Clemson University

Clemson Beverage Napkins

Orange Spots Dinner Plates

University of Memphis and the University of Florida

(since they share the same colors...)

Orange & Blue Travel Mug

Orange & Blue Band Cards

University of Tennessee

Vol Swirl Cups

Vol Swirl Cards

University of Texas

Spots Burnt & Orange Cards

Burnt Orange Travel Mug

Virginia Tech

Go Hokies Travel Mug

And we'd be highly remiss not to include a holiday very much brimming with orange: Thanksgiving! Here are the cards you can find in the Thanksgiving portion of our Holidays Stationery section. (All are designs by Julia D. Azar.)

Bountiful Harvest

Pumpkins Grande

Fall Wreath Grande

Twins and More Stationery for Twins Day

2010-08-08T14:02:00.000-05:00

According to the Brownielocks' Calendar of Bizarre, Crazy, Silly, Unknown Holidays & Observances for August, Twins Day is celebrated August 7-9.

Which is a little confusing since it's called a "day" yet it has more than one of them. Since August 8 falls smack in between August 7th and August 9th, we figured that's the day we'd celebrate Twins Day here at Maggie's Station.

And what better way to celebrate than by featuring some of the items we carry for twins? All are going to be ones we pulled from our Baby & Birth Announcements & Showers Invitations. That's where you'll find a section called Twins and More.

Except for one, and we'll start with it: the Boy & Girl Twins wiggler cards from Paper so Pretty. (It's also in the Baby & Birth Announcements & Showers Invitations, but under the Wiggler Birth Announcements/Showers section.)

$13.75 for 10 cards and envelopes

(There's also Girl Twins cards.)

Here a couple more fun twins cards you might like:

Baby Peas 2 by Julia D. Azar

$6.25 for 10 cards and envelopes

Twins Baby Carriage by Picture Perfect

$9.25 for 10 cards and envelopes

Twins by Inviting Company

$16.25 for 20 cards and envelopes

Twin Sailor Suits by Inviting Company

$20.00 for 20 cards and envelopes

Twin Baby Bottles by Inviting Company

$16.25 for 20 cards and envelopes

Noah's Ark Twin Baby Shower Invite by Paper so Pretty

$12.50 for 10 cards and envelopes

Maggie's Station Now Carries Collegiate Stationery, Mugs, and More!

2010-08-03T18:34:00.000-05:00

Maggie's Station is very excited to unveil our newest category for your shopping pleasure: College/Collegiate Items. Just in time for back to school!

We're proud to offer travel mugs, photo cards, note cards, cups and more designed by Inviting Company for 18 different colleges. We've listed them below, as well as picked a few examples of the kind of collegiate gear you can now find on Maggie's Station.

Whether you're alumni or just a fan of a particular school, you'll find items perfect for showing off your school pride!

COLLEGES

Orange & Navy Travel Mug

$8.75

Geaux Tigers Cups

$20.75 for 24 (3 bags of 8)

Tide Swirl cards

$16.25 for 20 cards and envelopes

Spotted Gold Cards

$16.25 for 20 cards and envelopes

(Add a photo...as you see it makes great birth announcements!)

Carolina Blue Band cards

$16.25 for 20 cards and envelopes

(You know you got some school pride when you send these as Christmas cards!)

Featured Item Fridays: Themed Children's Birthday Party Invitations

2010-07-23T19:26:00.001-05:00

Themed birthday parties seem to be a big hit with kids and, recession or no, more popular than ever. However, if you are looking for a way to save a little on your child's birthday party extravaganza, invitations are one way to do it.

Don't worry. That doesn't mean you'll sacrifice quality or style. In fact, check out some of these themed birthday party invitations. We think you'll agree they're very budget-friendly indeed!

CHILDREN WIGGLER INVITATIONS

Let's start with the always popular Wiggle Card invitations from Paper so Pretty. All are priced at $13.75 for 10 cards and envelopes. (And in most cases, for $10 more per set we'll even personalize them for you. So if you ordered a set of 10, that'd bring your total to $23.75, a set of 20 would be $33.75, etc.)

Now for the themes...we've got wigglers to fit your sports themed birthday party needs, pool and swimming, princess, and yo ho, yo ho even pirates for the little swashbuckling mateys! Check it out:

Baseball Player

Strike

Rock Climbing

Pool

Water Slide Boy

Pool Party Girl

(For boys we have Big Splash Boy)

Water Slide Boy

(There's also a Water Slide Girl)

Princess

Princess Party

Buccaneer Ship

DOC MILO

Doc Milo invitations don't wiggle and move like the Paper so Pretty choices above, but they're still a lot of fun. And they have selections for your sports, pool and swimming, and princess themed parties too.

Doc Milo invitations are priced at $8.75 for 10 cards and envelopes. And the same personalization pricing quoted above also applies --just $10 a set! (So a personalized pack of 10 would run you $18.75, a pack of 20 would be $28.75, etc.)

Riley's Racecars

Sierra's Soccer Team

Bella Ballerina

Princess Madison's Meadow

Princess Peyton in Purple

Sebastian's Swim Party

Wedding Wednesday: Look What We Have to Eat

2010-07-21T17:26:00.000-05:00

Image from stock.xchng

Actually, you can't eat any of the Wedding Wednesday wares we're about to show you, but they all fall into an "eat" kind of theme. (If you're a fan on Facebook then you might recall a wall post where we said we were inspired by a preview of Julia Robert's upcoming movie "Eat Pray Love." This has to do with that.)

Food is a big part of any wedding. There are engagement parties, showers, rehearsal dinners, and of course the wedding reception.

We decided to feature a few items that might help make your wedding-related eating events a little more palatable.

Ring Bridal Shower Tableware from Big Dot of Happiness

$64 for 32 place settings (plates, napkins and cups)

No clean up required!

Dinner Setting Invitations from Julia D. Azar

$12.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

Perfect for wedding luncheons or anniversary dinners!

These next couple are for the brides who believe the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and she wants to make sure to keep her man satisfied!

Kiss the Cook from Julia D. Azar

$9.50 for 10 cards and envelopes

Cute idea for a recipe exchange bridal shower!

Mix & Measure from Julia D. Azar

$12.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

True cooks would appreciate a kitchen shower!

We're Pulling Rabbits Out of Our Hat for Rabbit Week

2010-07-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

In honor of Rabbit Week, which runs from July 15 thru July 21, we're pulling rabbits out of our hat. Well, okay, there's no hat except for the cute one in this "Magic" return address label designed by Julia D. Azar. But it works for our needs, which is to feature bunnies galore!

Or at least one for each day of the week. Here's six more rabbits we found hoping around on our site.

Cottontail Invite or Note Card designed by Julia D. Azar

$6.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

Cottontail Invite designed by Julia D. Azar

$11.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

Row of Bunnies designed by Picture Perfect

$7.50 for 10 cards and envelopes

Rabbit Placemat designed by Julia D. Azar

$12.00

Children are a Gift Bunnies laminated card with ribbon designed by Julia D. Azar

$11.00

Magic Circle Vinyl Sticker designed by Julia D. Azar

$10.00 for 24 stickers

When was the last time your child wrote a letter?

2010-07-13T17:05:00.000-05:00

Today we came across a post on the Giftsin24 blog called "Personalized Cards for Young People" by Christopher Hoffman. He wrote about how parents should encourage their children to send handwritten letters instead of relying solely on texting and email so that they learn the fundamentals of proper etiquette.

Bravo! Excellent advice!

Margaret Kelly started Maggie's Station to honor her mother, who instilled a love for letter writing in her. Her mother put pen to paper to keep in touch with family, share anecdotes, remember birthdays, and in general let people know she was thinking of them. And when Margaret moved away, it was her mother's letters she cherished most when the homesickness struck. It's why she's so passionate about all children learning letter writing doesn't have to be a chore. It can turn into a much beloved memory.

Courtney, Maggie's Station's Social Media Manager, knows this. She has fond memories of writing letters to her grandmother (who was Margaret's great aunt and who they refer to as Grandma Dot). Sometimes she used her mother's stationery, but she remembered when she got stationery of her own. And the nostalgia that struck her most as she read Hoffman's post was remembering how it felt to receive her grandma's return letters. The ones addressed right to her that would be delivered to the mailbox. It was exciting getting mail!

We all know kids don't like to do things that they think are no fun, such as eating veggies or brushing their teeth. But those are great habits to form. Ones that benefit them latter in life.

Knowing how to write short, simple, heartfelt letters is no different. But, as with eating vegetables or brushing teeth, children are apt to complain less, and maybe even look forward to doing it (though they'd never admit it), if there's some novelty in it to make it more fun.

That's where personalized stationery makes a difference. And why Margaret offers so many different kinds of Children's Stationery at Maggie's Station besides just Children Invitations. She's also got Children Note Cards and Children Thank You Cards. Heck, for those kids who go to sleep away camp, she's even got Camp Stationery to make letter writing home more fun.

PERSONALIZED STATIONERY

Below are a few examples of the personalized note cards and stationery we carry for kids. All were designed by Julia D. Azar.

Rocket

$6.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

Fish

$6.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

Surf's Up

$6.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

Circus Girl

$6.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

Cottontail

$6.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

Teeny Tiki

$6.00 for 10 cards and envelopes

FILL-IN THANK YOU CARDS

All of the following are fill-in thank you cards from Doc Milo. Saying thanks was never so easy (or cute!).

Riley's Racecars

$8.75 for 10 cards and envelopes

Princess Madison's Meadow

$8.75 for 10 cards and envelopes

Swim Party

$8.75 for 10 cards and envelopes

Princess Peyton

$8.75 for 10 cards and envelopes

Connor's Cupcake

$8.75 for 10 cards and envelopes

Don't Step on a Bee Day (Buy Stationery Instead)

2010-07-10T07:30:00.007-05:00

Have you heard the buzz? Today is Don't Step on a Bee Day!

Good advice. After all, bees are precious. Some species are even endangered.

The best way to save the bees and incorporate them into your life? We recommend using the following stationery. (And because our prices are so affordable, your wallet won't even feel the sting!)

Bee Happy Return Address Labels - designed by Julia D. Azar

$11.00 for 60 stickers

Bee Placemat - designed by Julia D. Azar

$12.00

Bee Happy Circle Vinyl Sticker - designed by Julia D. Azar

$10.00 for 24 stickers

Be Strong & Courageous Bugs Laminated Card - designed by Julia D. Azar

$12.00

Note Sheets (with a honeycomb feel) - designed by hen and barley press

$22.00 for 100 note sheets plus acrylic holder

PRODUCTS FOR BUSY BEES

Sticky Note Pads - designed by Naughty Betty for Inviting Company

$4.50 (40 sheet per pad)

Travel Mug - designed by Naughty Betty for Inviting Company

$8.75

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS GENERATE A BUZZ OF A DIFFERENT SORT

Martini Shaker - designed by Paper so Pretty

$13.25 for 10 cards and envelopes

Margarita Blender - designed by Paper so Pretty

$13.25 for 10 cards and envelopes

Wine Bottle - designed by Paper so Pretty

$13.25 for 10 cards and envelopes

Observances found on Brownielocks and The 3 Bears.

Maggie's Station Needs Your Votes!

2010-07-08T15:51:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. The time when StartupNation launches it's Leading Moms in Business Competition. They're looking for the 200 Leading Moms in Business. Once again Maggie's Station has thrown her hat into the ring.

Maggie's Station's owner Margaret Kelly's son Cliff may be grown and out of the house, but as any mom knows that doesn't mean she's free from mom duties. In fact, with Cliff helping her with Maggie's Station tasks, some could say she's more involved with him than ever! (And they could definitely say she's loving having the chance to do that!)

VOTING

A vote determines who the 200 Leading Moms are. It'll take place every day over the next few months. (Literally. People can cast votes once per day every day starting from the time a business enters the competition until it ends.)

Click HERE to vote for Maggie's Station.

Once you cast your vote, a screen will pop up asking for your email address. Enter it to be sent a daily reminder to vote for Maggie's Station.