The Tiddliwink Designs Blog

Bailey's Room...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:03:00 +0000

This is kinda old, but I don't think I've posted it here on the blog. I've been MIA for so long and have little time to do much as I adjust to the kids being back in school, so it's at least something.

My daughter Bailey's room was fun to decorate. When we started the makeover it was to move out her sister so that she could have her own room. My budget was very tight yet I was able to accomplish this for about $300.

Bailey LOVES the color pink. But I can only handle so much of it. Therefore, I had to keep her away from the room as I started with the paint. The ceilings in here are 12 feet tall, so painting in its self was challenging. I went with a bright green through out the majority of the room and accented the entry way wall and the back wall with the bright pink. It almost looks red depending on the time of day.

The furniture is mostly all from my husband's grandmothers estate. She had passed away recently so I took a mis-matched bedroom group and painted it all white. The bed is an older style bed with spindles, so I painted the balls and spindles the same pink as the walls. The hardware was replaced with updated matte black pulls.

Because the colors are already all so bright I went with simple and plain white letters for her name and used mismatched black and white pattern ribbons. I don't like everything to match. So you will notice that the black and white patterns are all different. The bulletin board was made with a left over canvas and the remaining ribbons.

Bailey, REALLY wanted this circle pattern comforter set from Target. But it was a bit more pricey than I wanted to spend, but in the end I couldn't agree more with her choice. As you see the curtain is another black and white. The corner shelf unit was also from the estate and was in pretty bad shape and dated until I added the white and bright pink paint. The dresser was my sister's when she was a child and has been repainted a couple of times since my kid's have been around. I went with the ovals behind the hardware because regardless of how much I sanded down the wood I couldn't get the old hardware's indentions out.

So that's her room. I re-did all of the kid's rooms since then and hope to share those as well. Hopefully, you will have gotten some sort of ideas from this.

New Artwork

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:15:00 +0000

New artwork . They are listed on etsy and ebay but will be coming soon to TiddliwinkDesigns.com

This set, Hannah's Fairies, was created to cooridinate with the Pottery Barn Kids bedding set. I think these girls are adorable.

The nursery rythym set was created for my cousin and his wife who are expecting their first son next month. Humpty Dumpty and Hey Diddle Diddle are two of my favorite nursery rythyms!

This set was just for fun. I sketched it out a couple of months ago and forgot about it. It's bright and colorful and reminds me a lot of my earlier works, but I still like it a lot.

A paint spot makeover

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:28:00 +0000

My little painting spot has moved several times over the years. It started at the kitchen table, moved to our very expensive dinning table, then was moved to the downstairs in various places. Eventually I landed in the dungeon. The unfinished area of our house, which is also the home of our water heater, furnace and electricity central. I did this in an effort to keep my clutter out of sight from my husband, who HATES clutter. But all artists know that painting in dark spaces is very inhibiting. Even after investing in 2 true light lamps I still had a difficult time. Within the last 6 months I moved my stuff behind our sofa in the family room, which is directly in between 2 french double doors with LOTS of natural lighting. I quickly discovered how much I LOVED painting here. I could see the kids, I could see the television, I could see my ART!

Except it was getting pretty cluttered and messy. Mostly because I was doing this all on an old poker table covered in cardboard. This week I worked on cleaning up the clutter and created a nook I can now retreat to and feel relaxed!

Here is the outcome:

My dad helped me to make this really awesome ribbon holder. I HATE dowels going through my ribbon because if I want to organize by color and I add new ribbon then I have to take ALL of the other ribbon spools off and start from scratch. This holder has a lip on the edge of each shelf to prevent my ribbon from rolling off. I spray painted it black, and then stapled black poster board to the back. Lovin' it, right?? Dad's are awesome.

I moved my peg board from the dungeon to below the ribbon holder. So much more efficient.

This set of canvases I made out of scrap paper I had on hand, mod podge and paint. I love it!

I bought the black desk and book shelf and lined the back side of the desk with fabric and paint so that the unfinished edges wouldn't show. The storage furniture in the back I got on clearance, and is actually closet organization furniture. The shelves actually slide out. I like that a lot.

Of course, most of my stuff is still in the dungeon but that's okay. It's stored away neatly in the area that has no light. But I will now have all of the light I need, and it looks good enough not to have to hide.

I do try my best to label everything. Although I mostly paint I have everything from foam crafts to embossing guns stored here.

This is where I keep most of my shipping supplies and canvases.

I used to put up images of my artwork on this back wall for inspiration, but I've been so busy that I stopped doing that a couple of years ago.

Old and new art...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:36:00 +0000

I found this picture of the kid's toy room when I first painted a mural in there. My sister did the cute little girls on the swings and the baby crawling in the grass. That was painted over for an underwater theme and then painted over again, but without a mural.

I've made a couple or three new designs. They will be listed at TiddliwinkDesigns.com soon. In the mean time they are on etsy and ebay. I've been swamped to say the least. In addition I'm working on my working area. I can't wait to post pictures of that stuff. Exciting.

Here are the new designs:

And when you plan a wedding...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:19:00 +0000

don't forget to make your entrance unforgetable!

I really loved this on many levels. But could you imagine being asked to be a bridesmaid and then told, "oh, yea, I am going to need you to dance your way down the aisle"?

But I still shed a tiny tear when the bride emerged. Not only did she get the crowd to stand but they applauded as well! What fun years this couple will likely have ahead of them.

Louisville Theatre Review...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:18:00 +0000

"The most glorious visual element of all occurs at the end, however. Without giving it away, I'll say that artist Keshia Tatum Smith has created something breathtaking that underscores The Secret Garden's message that with love and attention, regeneration is possible even after the darkest of times."

I am so proud!

You can see the rest of the review here.

And it's complete...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:53:00 +0000

I have finished the mural for "The Secret Garden." Darby and I went to see the show this past weekend and it was fabulous. The entire show as a whole. I was very pleased with the production skills of the Shelby County Community Theater. The cast was amazing and extrememly talented. If you are a local, you should definitly take the time to see.

Here are the pictures.

Now I can get back to my regular schedule. I have several custom orders to get working on and a LOAD of ideas floating in my brain. Just need the time to get working.

The Secret Garden is blooming

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Here are some more progress pictures for The Secret Garden. I will get started on the muslin tomorrow, which measures about 1/3 of the original wall.

Summer Time and The Secret Garden

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:09:00 +0000

Summer Time means that I am responsible for 4 kiddos who are out of school, therefore I am totally slacking in the blog department. My current task is completing the mural for the set of The Secret Garden which is set to open July 17th at the Shelby County Community Theater. I just started this week, and as I proceed I will post the progress pics. They are fun to look at. And I'm way too tired to talk about anything else.

Sale

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:04:00 +0000

Click on the image above and take advantage of this summer's sale of 20% off all of my children and nursery artwork, including paper prints and giclee canvas. I might even throw in an original hand painted piece or two while the sale lasts.

New Artwork

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:43:00 +0000

Suffering from yet another horrible headache, but here are a couple of new sets I have completed, just need to list. Enjoy.

School's Out...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:42:00 +0000

It's just the first day of summer vacation here but seriously, Calgon don't just take me away, drown me.

Here is a new set I finished tonight. It's all digital, but still cute and colorful.

Add a border and they will come

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:56:00 +0000

I'm not big on putting standard borders on my artwork because I think that if people decide to mat the work then it sort of defeats the purpose. Nevertheless, borders sell better. Here are a couple of sets I've recently finished, only to go back and put a border around them.

These will both be available at TiddliwinkDesigns.com soon. Also, my praying boys are finished and will be listed soon as well.

Working on

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:32:00 +0000

A new Christianity series of artwork. I've been contemplating multiple ideas but wanted something original. This is the beginning of the series. I'll have my praying boy's ready soon in addition to something else I can't wait to share.

Her hair color is available in 4 different colors and she can be personalized with a name and a prayer, just a name, just a prayer or nothing at all. I'll have the paper print listed on Etsy first, then at TiddliwinkDesigns.com.

So easy a caveman can do it

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:34:00 +0000

My kiddos are nomads. Well my girls sort of are. They are back and forth between their dad's and my house. They also are invited to quite a bit of sleep overs these days. Generally, what I do with their sleep over stuff is just put it in their back packs, but this is inconvenient when you have to dump all of the school supplies out first, and I use old back packs to store the 10,000 pounds of papers they bring home at the end of the year. I've been looking out for cheap over night bags, but lets face it, when you have 4 kids nothing is cheap. So I picked up some canvas bags earlier this week, at $2.99 each, and started to decorate.

This takes absolutely no talent. Honest. All I did was trace a bunch of circles in pencil and paint them in with craft acrylics in different shades of blue. To make it a little more fancy I added the trim around the top. I sewed this on, but it could have just as easily been glued into place.

I also added these iron on rhinestones, which say "Sleep over bag". I seriously debated if I should have put anything on here, but Tatum is my more laid back child and wouldn't be totally devastated and embarrassed by those 3 words. Bailey, on the other hand, well she's 8 going on 15.

The little picture pockets on the front can be used for many more things other than pictures. A house key, a cell phone, money, and all of the other little stuff they won't want to go digging for later on. The total cost for this bag was under $10.00.

1 down, 3 to go!

"I get to keep your change"

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:33:00 +0000

Recently, my son and I went to retrieve his fishing pole from his Papaw's house. While out that way we met my dad for lunch at my favorite fast food Italian restaurant. Since my dad had given me $25 in gift certificates for my most recent birthday it was an added incentive. I even offered to pick up the tab for my father's meal. The total was $12.78. I handed over 3 gift certificates in the amount of $15.00 ($5 a piece.) The girl behind the counter, with all 4 of her facial piercings, innocently declared, "I can't give you your change back, I have to keep it."

I laughed at the girl, informing her that she couldn't do that, that it was illegal. She shrugged her shoulders and declared ignorance. My non-confrontation father quickly whipped out $3.00 in cash and handed it over, squashing my hopes for a debate of legalities.

Mind you, this was not a gift card, nope. However, there sat on the top of the counter a solicitation for gift cards. I asked my dad, as we stood at the register, why he didn't just get a gift card so as not to have caused this situation to begin with. He said he tried, but that they didn't know how to work the machine. Of course! How else do you swindle people out of a couple of dollars at a time??

Food just doesn't taste so good when irritated.

When I got home I informed my attorney husband of what occurred. He quickly ~~looked up the KRS statue regarding gift certificate laws~~ ignored me. So I took it upon myself to look them up. Of course, after reading more than 4 pages of the gift certificate act, I found out that I'm right. But I was also intrigued that gift certificates can not expire before 365 days, and only if the expiration date is clearly declared on the front or the back of the gift card. This is KY statute, your state's may vary. Check out this link for a basic summary of your own state's law. This knowledge is good to know, since I've gotten gift certificates in the past that say they expire in as little as 45 days!

And just so you know, my son got his fishing pole and even caught his first fish at the Annual Fishing Derby in Lawrenceburg Kentucky!

Working on

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:41:00 +0000

Listing this new series on eBay, Etsy and TiddliwinkDesigns.com

This would be super cute in a bath room or toy room. Of course, it would also work in an "Under the Sea" bedroom or nursery. I should have it listed on my website soon!

How it starts

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:03:00 +0000

Every product that was ever created had to begin somewhere. My grandfather had several patents. Selling just one of those patents provided enough money for my grandparent's to be the proud owners of a large house boat with enough sleeping room for their kids and grand-kids. My husband, an attorney/politician, has been working many hours for the last 6 months on his invention. The patent pending number has already been declared. Here is a video showing what it does. It's a tennis teaching device, still unnamed but an amazing tool in helping our children with their ball striking abilities. The idea is that the ball is dropped closer to their level making it easier for them to practice hitting, much like a "t" for t-ball players. Maybe we can one day have a house boat to call our own!

Diaper Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:48:00 +0000

Here are a couple of more diaper cakes I have made over the last few months. The yellow was for a boy/girl twin shower. Very simple, with just diapers, receiving blankets, ribbon and toile. I've found that fanning the diapers around is much easier for both myself and the recipient.

The blue cake was created with receiving blankets, diapers, ribbon, toile, some goodies in the middle and some gently used sleepers and outfits.

So just a couple of added suggestions when it comes to diaper cakes. Keep it simple and neat. Diaper cakes don't look very nice with tons of stuff clipped onto the outside. I know the idea is to show all that is included with the cake, but try making an "ingredient list" instead. Something that explains what the diaper cake is made of. Keep an open space inside of the top tier that you can toss all of the little things inside, such as pacifiers, bottles, ointments, etc. Just DON'T mess up your cake by plastering junk all over the outside.

Once upon a blog...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:28:00 +0000

What you may not know about me is that I have been blogging since before the word blog was cool. I began my exhibitionist adventure back in 1999, when we simply said we had an online journal or diary. My motivation at the time was to allow my family and friends to follow me as I went through my twin pregnancy (my first 2 children.) I had several hundred followers at my original domain of KeshiasKeepsakes.com. Over the span of the next 6 calendar years I was pregnant, therefore the journaling (or blogging) continued. Eventually I slowed down, until I stopped altogether. Perhaps it was the lack of a baby to be, but more likely the lack of time. Here is a picture I had posted of my pregnant belly when I was 22 weeks pregnant with my twins. Notice the graininess of the image. That digital camera was a gift from my ex-husband. All 1 megapixel of it, which cost upward of $500 at the time. Amazing to think of how far technology has come.

I'm now the proud owner of nearly 200 journal pages, printed out and placed into a binder. I can't imaging placing a label on the outside with the word "blog" as the description.

Saving the world from foam...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:53:00 +0000

One craft idea I'm passionate about eliminating from parties is foam. Not foam in its entirety, but the foam kits that you find at your craft store that leads you to believe that the little people at your party will make a special craft that will last forever just because it's so darn cute. However, this is the first thing mom will toss simply because it's a step below the McDonald's happy meal toy even though her own child made it. Therefore, in my next few posts I will be presenting craft idea's for parties of all occasions.

The first is the Jammy Party Jammies.

Here is a list of the items you will need for this project:

Men's tank style t-shirts

Printable iron on transfers

Rick racks and other embellishments such as gems and buttons

Fabric paints

As soon as the girls arrived at the party I lined them up for a quick photo shoot. I quickly transferred the picture to be printed onto the iron on transfer paper.

After the girls had their pizza and cake we started decorating their jammies. I chose the tank style men's shirts because they are inexpensive, however they can hang a bit long under the arm pit area. In this case, I sewed the gaps before the party. But for those who don't sew, the tops can be pulled taut and tied with ribbon.

Each girl selected the area she wanted her party picture to be placed and then decorated around that particular area. Some spent close to an hour dedicating their creativity to making their PJ's perfect. Once they finished I shooed them off to play games with the ever great Aunt Kara while I ironed on the transfer photo.

Each girl went home with jammies to remember. And my own girls still occasionally wear theirs, even after 2 1/2 years.

How to Make a Diaper Cake

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:20:00 +0000

With so many expecting in my friends and family network I've been doing a lot of research on what's new in the baby gift giving industry. A few months ago I discovered the diaper cake and immediately was fascinated. I love giving diapers for showers. I do this because it's the absolute most practical gift. However, you don't get a lot of "ooohhh"s and "ahhhhh"s with a box of diapers no matter how nicely you wrap they gift.

I have a baby shower this afternoon and was eager to make my first diaper cake. Now I want to share with you just how to do it.

Diaper cakes can be made at so many different levels. I did a bit of research first and sort of put some idea's together before doing my baby shopping. Here is what I bought:

*80 size 3 Target brand diapers (she's a first time mom and may not be happy about generic but I'll give her a couple of months before she changes her mind.) They were 50% cheaper than pampers).

*15 new born baby diapers
*A baby bottle
*Baby Wash
*Baby Lotion
*4 Receiving blankets to go with her decor (I checked her registry for this info)
*A set of 2 Bottle Cleaners
*Comfort Blanket for the topper

I also had to buy the following to put the cake together:
*16 inch cake circle for the bottom of the diaper cake
*Wooden dowel to hold the cake together
*Assorted rubber bands for the diapers
*Various ribbons
*Pink Toile

Now here is a step by step on how I put this together. Let me first say that this takes A LOT of patience and practice for your first time. I think I spent about 2-3 hours messing with it, putting it together and taking it apart to start all over again.

For the bottom layer I wrapped 40 size 3 baby diapers with rubber bands to hold them into place. I needed 2 receiving blankets to completely cover the diapers. This is probably the most frustrating part because you want the blankets to be taut, not sloppy and loose.

I used a branch cutter to cut my dowel into the appropriate size and inserted them through the cake circle. This is important, because without it your cake will slide all over the place and will be a mess when you deliver it to your shower.

I used 21 diapers for the center layer, in addition I added a bottle of baby powder to the center. These extras aren't necessary for a diaper cake, just fun for the mom to be. Much like finding a wedding cake has a raspberry filling. Yum.

I then wrapped my second layer with another receiving blanket. I had to play with this a few times because the blanket wasn't quite long enough. So I had to fold it in a triangle to get it to work properly. Then I inserted the 2 baby bottle washers along the dowels.

Next, I placed the baby wash and the baby lotion on top and wrapped several rubber bands around the collection of baby items to keep them in place.

Then I took my new born diapers and fanned them out around my baby supplies. Another rubber band was used to hold everything in place.

My final receiving blanket was used to cover the diapers on the top. and secured with another rubber band.

Once I was finished with the diaper cake I began to decorate it. This is the most fun. My topper is secured in place with the ribbon on the first tier. I used pink toile and a hot glue gun to cover my cake circle. Each tier has been wrapped with a ribbon and glued into place (onto the ribbon, NOT the blankets). Then I made about a dozen bows and glued them all the way around the cake. Voila. Tell me this isn't cute.

Baby Hideout...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:27:00 +0000

My sister and sister in law are both expecting babies soon. I am so excited to hold and care for infants that won't keep me up all night. I'm even more excited about shopping for all of the little baby stuff that is completely unpractical but absolutely adorable. I'm also amazed at how deprived I was when my children were infants. Have I mentioned that my youngest is not even 5 yet? Outstanding things have happened in the baby industry and I want to pout just a bit because it isn't fair.

For instance, the Baby Hideout is an amazing tool for nursing mothers. My other sister in law used this for her youngest daughter and I loved how it kept her discrete. Mind you I've never really minded nursing in public but I always did my best to cover up. I would take dinner napkins in restaurants and do my best to wrap it across my chest. I was determined not to be like some of the mother's I've seen in public (like the zoo or at a shopping mall) who just whip out their tata's and let their child go to town. Even I, a non people watcher, can't help but to gawk at a boobie in the middle of public.

My sister's sister in law (I know, a lot of sister in laws) actually makes these awesome things. They're like aprons in a way but large enough to give you and your baby privacy while feeding, or even sleeping. And they come in amazing patterns and fabrics. Check them out at Baby Hideout.

Yardsale Success Part II...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:28:00 +0000

Having a yard sale is much like giving birth to an infant. It's time consuming to prepare for, awful to go through yet when it is over the bad memories eventually fade and you are ready to do it again. I am not yet at that phase. In fact, I've been so traumatized by my most recent yard sale that I am convinced I will hang it up forever.

With that said I will first warn you that there will be no Yard Sale Success Part III. This is it. Once I write about this I will move on to more things that don't cause me to have post traumatic nightmares.

Once I was finished with tagging everything and organizing items into accessible boxes I packed up my stuff (2 FULL van loads) and hauled it all out to my dads. This took 2 full days, as I was also helping out my step mom with her own yard sale stuff. The following picture is the before and after of just the clothing items. I still had a lot of other *stuff* that my mom and my mother in law contributed.

I decided the day before the start of the weekend that I would be super crafty and I made a couple of aprons for holding money. One for myself and one for my step mom. Mostly my motive for this is because in the past I've always just kept my money in a zipper bag that I was notorious for leaving around. This way I could not lose my stash of cash.

A couple of extra helpful pointers for a successful tag sale is to collect your wal-mart/grocery bags for a couple of months before. People love to have bags to hold their items and the more they can hold the more they can buy. Another important pointer is to get about $40 in lower bills and about $5 in quarters so that you can give out change. And be certain to keep count of how much you started with and subtract it from what you made in the end. This way you don't get too excited if you think you made $50.00 when you started out with $40 only to forget to separate your money.

My own yard sale was overall successful. In the many years this event has occurred we've been fortunate not to have experienced weather interferences. However, this year, it rained the entire day Friday. This was not a good start because in the past Friday's have always been my money making day. I generally make about 75% of my total on Friday, partially because many Amish come into town on this day and another adjoining neighborhood has their big yard sale on Saturday.

Nevertheless, we sucked it up and went on with the show. We used my dad's car-port as well as his canopy to help keep our stuff dry, but it was an ongoing drizzle that just made everything damp, including our stuff. I was lucky I pulled a $200 day with all of the circumstances.

Thankfully, Saturday turned out to be beautiful. The weather was perfect for a yard sale. We were able to move the show to the actual *yard*.

In the end my total collection of money (I can't call it a profit because of course I spent much, much more on the actual products) was about $520. I say about because the kids bummed at least $20 off of me for food, ice cream and yard sale shopping for themselves. So I didn't include that amount. This was a bit low, but considering the rain on Friday I was pleased. Also, I left my dad's with just 1/8 of what I came with.

Just 3 days later I am still a bit traumatized by the event, mostly because of little old women who want a $40 Ralph Lauren sweater that still has price tags on it for 50 cents. At this point I am convinced I will just start to sell most of my stuff on eBay, but in a year I will likely change my mind.

Yardsale Success Part I...

noreply@blogger.com (TiddliwinkDesigns) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:42:00 +0000

Every year, since my twins were colicky infants, I have gone along with my entire family to Gatlinburg Tennessee for a fall getaway. Initially, my dad would fork out the cash to cover most of my expenses. But several years ago, after 911 and the stock market crashes, that halted. Sadly for me, an at home mom with minimal income I had to come up with some clever solutions to raise the money for a trip I wasn't willing to give up.

My dad's neighborhood has traditionally held an annual yard sale gala every second weekend in September since I was a small child. This is no typical yard sale event. People come from all over the state of Kentucky and the neighborhood folks take full advantage. Some people cook hot dogs and brats, other's provide doughnuts and coffee, my own children have set up tremendous bake sales with much success.

And I use the proceeds of my yard sale earnings to partially fund our annual Gatlinburg trip. Last year I set a record and earned $600. I'm going to share with you just how I do this.

Again, I'm not type A, so I don't care if my house is a disaster for a day or two. So let me show you just what I have to endure for at least a couple of days.

This is a small section of my downstairs. I start with collecting everything I've packed away over the last year and spread it out onto the floor and spray it with Febreze. This gets the *boxed away* odors out without causing me another weeks worth of laundry to do. Then I situate myself in the middle along with my handy dandy yard sale kit.

Here are the keys to my success. I'll explain more in a bit.

Tag Gun
Retractable Sharpie
Print out tags that are super cute (see images below)
Hangers, lots of 'em
Vibrant signage
Extra large paper clips

My tag gun is my best friend this time of year. Anyone wanting to achieve a successful yard sale MUST label all of their items. People will just walk away if they are not labeled or try to negotiate a price that is unlikely unfair. I got my idea for tag gunning my children's clothes several years ago when my Mother of Twins Club made it mandatory for everyone selling in their bi-annual yard sale event to have things tagged with a tag gun. Although I've only shopped at this event I found this extremely helpful and professional. So I have stolen this idea and made a few enhancements. Tag guns are extremely cheap. I think I got mine on eBay for about $5.00.

A RETRACTABLE sharpie is best for labeling the prices and sizes on each tag. The bold lettering looks professional and I suggest retractable because putting a lid back on a marker every single time you mark an item is exhausting.

Ultra cute tags. This is new this year for myself. In the past I've simply just cut a piece of index card into half and just wrote on it the price and size. This year I've gone a bit further and created some adorable tags.

Here are a few examples of my tags for my clothing. In truth I can't tell you if people will be excited about the tags or simply think I'm a psychopath idiot who definitely has no life. So I will update that in Part III (yes, it's gonna take 3 parts for my yard sale tips!) Nevertheless, my tags are definitely appealing to at least myself!

Hangers. I never toss out a hanger. I love all hangers. Every hanger that I get with my kids stuff I save. And I use hundreds for my clothes. Clothes on hangers sell much better than those tossed onto a table or into boxes. Last year, for example, after the first day of the yard sale I organized my items. Since I had available hangers (I always take my hangers back) I went through some of my boxes of stuff and began hanging up stuff. The funny thing is that in the box I priced the items for 50 cents. When I hung them up I priced them for $1.00. And they sold.

Signs. People need direction. When you go shopping in a store there are signs for everything. This rack is Hannah Montana, this rack is on sale, this rack... I separate all of the stuff I can not put onto hangers into individual boxes. Everything in the boxes are tagged but I also place a sign above the box with 2 paper clips letting people know what is in there before they start to dig around. Stay tuned for part II, I will show some of my signs.