Fairy Princess Ribbon Wand

Looking for fun party favors? Click this tutorial for a perfect Ribbon Wand

Another fabulous fairy princess wand tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets! This project is so versatile (which I LOVE)…there are so many things you can do with this cluster of korker ribbon. I would play around with making brooches, wrist streamers (adding long curling ribbon in to the mix) or add a clip or hair bungee to the back, that way you could wear in the hair or even on a pair of shoes. Get creative and find various ways to make this tutorial your own creation.  Click the link above to see the complete tutorial.

Supplies List:

*5 or 6 Dowels (we used 12″ dowels)
*Hand-held drill
*Wood clothespins
*Cookie sheet and oven
*Assorted ribbons
*Wire
*Extreme Glitter Paint from Plaid

If you liked this tutorial on how to make a fairy princess ribbon wand and would like to check out some other wand tutorials, please visit Miscellaneous Accessories. Also, if you have a tutorial you would like to share with us, please submit it here. We’d love to give you credit for your tutorial and it’s a great way to get traffic to your website also!

The post How to Make Fairy Princess Ribbon Wand appeared first on Tutuology.

Since the landscape of websites has changed so much over the years, I am finding it ever-so challenging to keep on top of the BLOG-SPHERE dynamics. What I mean is this: when I built my first website in 2003, it was just that…..a simple static site. No frills, no meta this-n-that, no keyword frequency, no scientific degree requirements to ensure your site is indexed by the great and mighty GOOGLE BOTS! Today, BLOGS have squashed out static sites by and large and everybody demands fresh content, as if words were perishable.

All of that to say, “PEOPLE, I cannot! Will not! Write fresh content posts to satisfy this ridiculous paradoxical way of thinking that what I have previously written has a crude expiration date. Ugh! And more over, I tend to favor writing pages over posts. What that means (uhh-hemm: naysayers who accuse my site of being out-dated) is that pages aren’t time & date stamped. I have found (because I happen to be a CIS geek) that pages rank better than posts….so what am I to do? Is it really that difficult? It is not. I shall continue to write pages over posts. I shall “post” when something significant surfaces that is “perishable”.  Until then, please do not assume that I have abandoned my site, that it isn’t “fresh”, or that you haven’t gotten what you’ve paid for. Remember, the content within this site is an extension of the book. I may need to get creative and do some redesigning with the membership portion so that all is well in the world.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts, opinions, or comments. I do value your input and will regard it with consideration. Because commenting on the post can mess up analytics, please pm me, facebook me, tweet me, or email me!

The post Posts vs. Pages? appeared first on Tutuology.

For starters, I am back in college (it’s never too late)! For those of you who don’t know, my husband is… (*cough*)…16 years… (*cough*) my beloved senior.  Now, although I am certain he will outlive me, in the event that he gets injured or becomes ill, I would feel much more at ease if I had a degree under my belt in an emerging industry so that if need be, I can become the bread winner. Many of you also know that I struggle daily with active lupus and a host of other autoimmune related illness, thus making it very difficult to be able to work on a consistent basis.  When I have good days, I try to catch up with you all or spend my time creating.

The whole college thing feels “right”.  For 4  years, I’ve let this horrible disease define me. I’ve let it gnaw at me, I’ve let it brainwash me, and I’ve let it change me in to a person I don’t like very much. I’ve let it drain nearly all the hope out of me.  And then one day, my rheumatologist told me that totally healthy people feel like crap sometimes.  They too feel tired, achy, and unwell….that doesn’t mean they they have an incurable illness that would most likely end in their early demise.  In other words, she was telling me that not all of my ails are disease related. You have no idea how much that simple statement changed everything.  I stopped (almost) worrying that the pain in my side might be my spleen about to burst (because it’s way enlarged) and instead brush it off as some “gas”.

September through November was absolute hell.  Prednisone hell! I have a house full of kiddos, so you can probably imagine how hard it is to wear all the hats a mom wears, get back in to the groove of another school year and have prednisone hell to deal with (by the way, prednisone doesn’t make me crabby….it just makes me feel crazy, makes my heart race, makes me shake, makes me sweat uncontrollably, makes my muscles feel like I just got a thousand tetanus shots, etc).

Finally, December brought me better health and spirits…..THANK GOD!  My entire family got the flu spread over the course of the entire winter break, except me, so while I was looking forward to some much needed r&r, I was tending to my little ones and my hubby around the clock.  It’s amazing how things work out

I signed myself up for a YEAR worth of mixed-media art lessons! YAY!!!!! I am so unbelievably excited about this.  I have 22 UH-mazing art teachers offering instruction and it is going to be an awesome year of creating!

Not sure if you know or not, but art is my first passion. I have been painting and creating since I was just 7 years old. Put a paintbrush in my hand, and I am good to go.  Put a sewing machine in front of me, and it takes me a bit to figure out. Go figure.  With that said, I will be shifting gears more over to the mixed media world of art. I am not going anywhere though. I am just going to take up an old hobby once again.

Well, I guess that’s it for now.  I am going to be busy today getting some new content up on the site and play around a bit with web development.

The post Catching Up! appeared first on Tutuology.

It’s the burning question. Social Media can be quite a conundrum, but it doesn’t have to be. I am guilty myself of letting the beast control me rather than be in control of the beast, but hopefully, I can shed some light and understanding on Social Media and help you embrace what could be a vital component of your business.

Social Media marketing is a new landscape in terms of marketing and it’s evolving so rapidly that what worked last year might not be as effective today.  Let’s be clear on another thing: it works nothing like traditional marketing! The key word in “Social Media Marketing” is Social. This is where a lot of people mess up. The worst thing you can do for your business is jump on social media sites and push your “product”.  People aren’t using social media sites to be sold to.  They are there to express themselves, connect, and to gain knowledge.

According to a recent Razorfish Consumer Experience Report, 49% of web users now make a purchase based on recommendations they received through a social media site. YET, only 25% of businesses have a Facebook page.

Facebook

If you haven’t jumped on the Facebook Freight Train, it’s not too late. Let’s take a look at some hard stats:

• Facebook has more than 750 million active users, and it’s growing every day.
• More than half log on at least once a day.
• More than half are out of college.
• Its fastest-growing demographic is those twenty-five years old and older.
• It offers fantastic online visibility for your brand.
• People are talking about you on there anyway. You may as well join in the conversation!

Facebook isn’t ”there” yet as a selling platform (despite marketplace).  People aren’t logging on to Facebook to shop and make purchases.  They are there first to express themselves and then….to connect. It’s the HAPPY HOUR of Social Networks.

Research shows that people use Facebook primarily to showcase their own identity—not just who they are, but who they want to be perceived as. The friends we make, the groups we join, and the pages we fan on Facebook are all offshoots of this basic identity creation and re-creation.

This is why you can never push products or services on Facebook. If you try to convert people directly to customers or clients, you will fail. However, if you are looking to attract consumers and build relationships over time, you will succeed. Your goal on Facebook should always be to attract people to your website, build trust, and gain visibility—all things that inevitably lead to sales.

Twitter

Let’s start with some Twitter Basics. You basically get a megaphone to display 140 characters of information that will lead people to your site. If your micro-post is intriguing, people will re-tweet it and your message will gain visibility. I love Twitter for numerous reasons, but let’s take a look at these impressive stats first:

• It has over 200 million users and is continuing to grow.
• It is one of the fastest-growing social networking sites.
• 18 percent of people between 18 and 29, 14 percent of those between 30 and 49, 8 percent of those between 50 and 64, and 6 percent of those 65 and older are using Twitter (Pew Internet – June, 2011).
• Teenage usage of Twitter has recently increased.
• It provides excellent online visibility.
• It’s a great way to attract traffic.
• It allows for instant communication.

“Marketing via Twitter represents a very unique and compelling channel for marketers. It’s ease of use, transactional speed, pure text format, and ability to reach a large audience in 140 characters offers simplicity and yet complexity. For big brands, the ability to connect directly with consumers offers a free fall of both good and bad feedback, and many are using Twitter as a customer service channel. Furthermore, for transactional products, a very compelling promotion can get unbelievable reach and offer a potential viral impact. For individuals, social media influence is driven by content and relationships. Many have built strong personal brands with Twitter by sharing and creating content and engaging individuals and companies.”

-Mike D. Merrill, MikeMerrill.com

Take a few minutes each day to search Twitter for relevant conversations. Knowing how to search on this platform is crucial and rewarding! If you don’t search, you won’t know who is looking for you, and just as importantly, you won’t know who has a complaint or concern. Twitter is what you make of it. There is so much you can do, but I won’t get in to all of that now. Just get started and don’t miss out on this amazing Social Platform!

LinkedIn

OK, LinkedIn is  not my favorite social platform but even-so, it serves a purpose that many find lucrative enough to invest their time in to. If Facebook is Happy Hour, LinkedIn is like a buttoned-down, black suit and tie event. It is especially useful for people in the B2B sphere because it allows you to connect with suppliers and game-players. It is known as an online portfolio or resume platform that allows you to toot your horn for all the world to see.  Check out the current stats for LinkedIn:

• It has 120 million users from over 200 countries.
• It’s a network geared toward professionals looking to network—the members are there to talk business!
• It is excellent for online visibility.
• It’s a great way to showcase expertise.
• It serves as the ultimate online Rolodex.

YouTube

In February 2005, three guys who were all employees of Paypal put their heads together and started a website. In November 2006, Google bought that website for $1.65 billion. The name of this website is YouTube! As far as being listed as a Social Network Platform, I think it is completely appropriate.  Some folks might think that video streaming is not social networking, but it is….and VERY powerful. Let’s dive in to some stats (and I have actually narrowed them down):

• The longest Video ever on YouTube is 48 hours (2 days!)
• The ‘how to’ video category is the fastest growing vertical on YouTube
• YouTube has 490 million users worldwide (unique visitors per month)
• It generates an estimated 92 billion page views each month.
• The average YouTube user visits the site 14 times per month
• The average user spends an average of 25 minutes on the site each time they visit.
• The average user spends 5 hours and 50 minutes per month (not as much as Facebook)
• Together, we spend 2.9 billion hours on YouTube in a month. That’s 326,294 years.
• More than 13 million hours of video were uploaded during 2010 and 35 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
• The amount of video uploaded in 2010 is the equivalent of 150,000+ full-length movies in theaters each week
• More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than the 3 major US networks created in 60 years
• 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
• YouTube is localized in 25 countries across 43 languages
• YouTube’s demographic is broad: 18-54 years old
• YouTube reached over 700 billion playbacks in 2010
• They have signed over 10,000 advertising partners to date, including Disney, Turner, Univision and Channel 4 and Channel 5
• Hundreds of partners are making six figures a year
• There are over 7,000 hours of full-length movies and shows on YouTube
• YouTube is monetizing over 2 billion video views per week globally
• YouTube says that on average there are more than 400 tweets per minute containing a YouTube link

These statistics are staggering! So what does it mean? YouTube is poised to be a key component in your marketing strategy.  To ignore this platform would be an epic mistake. Invest in a nice compact hd camcorder and develop a video streaming strategy that will point people to your website. People love video because the vast majority (when given the choice), prefer to watch rather than read. Use this to your advantage.

 Make Sure People Watch to the End

1.  Regulate Video Length

• within the first 10 seconds- 10.39% of the viewers are gone
• within the first 30 seconds- 33.84 % are gone
• within the first 60 seconds- 53.56% are gone
• within the first 120 seconds- 76.29% are gone
• this leaves a retention rate of only 23.71%

2.  Keep Things Moving

• Notice changes in camera angle and changes in scenery when you are watching video? If a scene remains static, we get bored and anxious and are likely to click out of the video.

3.  Transparency

• Give the viewer a behind-the-scene look in to your life. This will help them feel connected with you.

Did You Know?

• 53% of the vid’s on YouTube achieve fewer than 500 views
• 30% receive less than 100 views

The post Why Bother With Social Media? appeared first on Tutuology.

The Girly Girl Directory site has been a LONG time in-the-works and after a grueling 13 months of testing and developing, we are ready to meet the world!

We thought it would be pretty cool to have a complete A-Z resource for the Girly Girl Industry, and here it is!

The Girly Girl Niche Industry is huge and countless people are literally banking on this market. Their livelihood is nestled within this industry. They rely upon making connections via social networks, an active website (blog), and internet marketing. One of the greatest ways to get connected to your target audience is by listing on a relevant directory.

Why?

A few reasons come to mind. For starters, Link Popularity, Page Rank, Link Reputation…whatever you want to call it is still a major factor in search engine rankings. Directories carry a punch in that department. They help search engines understand what your site is about and in turn, it helps determine your relevancy.

Directories (if created properly) will bring you substantial referral traffic and targeted traffic. That is the purpose of the Girly Girl Directory! We have honed in on a Niche Market and our directory stays within those boundaries. This weeds out the businesses and consumers that are not relevant to the Girly Girl Industry.

 Free Listings!

It is east and FREE to list on Girly Girl Directory! For your convenience, we have created categories relevant to the girly girl industry. Just sign up, log in and add your listing. Choose the very best category for your business listing and submit. It’s that easy!

 Banner Advertising!

If you are interested in maximizing your exposure, consider placing a banner ad with us. Your banner will show up on the front page and all other pages of our Directory! We have a couple of options available at this time. If you are an existing Tutuology Book Owner or ePacket owner, you get a FREE BANNER AD for 1 month!

Rate & Review!

Ever been to Yelp!, Amazon, or TripAdvisor? These sites do double-duty because they not only LIST the businesses and products, but users can rate and review them as well! This is big stuff It keeps the bar raised and offers compelling reason for companies to put their best foot forward. Check it out and leave an honest review. This helps potential clients make a an important buying decision!

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DIY Window Frame Jewelry Organizer

 View this tutorial for How to Make a Window Frame Jewelry Display

Window Frame Jewelry Display

Ever drive by a ratty-tatty old window frame set out for the garbage man to pick up? Well, if you had seen this great tutorial on How to Make a Window Frame Jewelry Display, you would have thought twice about letting such a versatile object slip through your fingers and in to the local landfill. The importance of  Recycling, Reinventing, and Reusing in this age of waste is immeasurable. Do your part and turn someones trash in to treasure. The earth will love you for it!

While strolling through the miles and miles of virtual tutorials on other peoples craftiness, I spotted this great Window Frame Jewelry Display DIY tutorial project provided by The Borrowed Abode. If you did a google search on “window frame jewelry display tutorial” or “frame board jewelry organizer”, you would find a ton of great variations! Click on images and you’ll finda gazillion pics. I didn’t choose this tutorial because it was my favorite looking, but because the general idea is conveyed clearly and easily. Follow the basic steps that The Borrowed Abode gives and you can veer off in any direction you’d like.

Close up of a Window Frame Jewelry Organizer

I think this is a great alternative to expensive and bulky jewelry boxes and stands. Be sure to take necessary precautions when working with old window frames. They look harmless but the paint could contain lead and the original hardware could be sharp or rusty. You will need to remove the glass from the frame if it isn’t gone already. Safety goggles, gloves, and a mask are highly recommended when working on this and other craft projects. You cannot see or feel lead, but if it is there, it is dangerous. Protect yourself.

If you decide to give this project  a go, please send us some pics and your story! We would love to hear from you. Hope you have fun making your very own Window Frame Jewelry Display.

The post How to make a Window Frame Jewelry Display appeared first on Tutuology.

View this tutorial for How to Make a Heartstring Magic Wand

OK, this has got to be one of my favorite tutorials on how to make an enchanting fairy wand – courtesy of the beautiful and talented “Dear Lizzy” and the Family Fun magazine. Lizzy was smitten by an adorable heartstrings craft she spotted as she was flipping through the pages of a Family Fun magazine, waiting in the…(you guessed it….) doctors office. She had the clever idea of transforming the cute “heart string” into a wand. This is exactly what happens every time I spot something cutesy….I see it as something else, then viola! A new original morphed version of something else that profoundly became something new with no effort other than a creative spark…lol!

BTW, I really love Lizzy! Did I say that already? Please visit her blog at http://elizabethkartchner.com/. In addition to this tutorial on How to Make a Heartstring Magic Wand, she has a sweet little collection of diy projects.  She has the type of blog that makes you think of comfort, family, and….love It reminds me that I can get too wrapped up in the things that don’t really matter and brings me back to what does. She has so many sweet ideas and I love her candid piccies

How to Make a Heart String Wand

This is a project that would be a blast to do with your little sugar boo’s on a rainy day, a Sunday, or a girls day

Magic Heartstrings Wand Tutorial

In addition to this tutorial on how to make a Heartstring Magic wand, we have many others  :) If you have a tutorial you’d like to share, please submit it here. Be sure to give credit back to the originating author.

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Wholesale tutu blanks

Yes! You read that right. We are ordering 5,000 wholesale tutus and you can be in on the action!
If you want to get your hands on the coveted tutu blanks, now is the time to do it. We’ve had a 6 year long relationship with THE manufacturer of the coveted 3 layer tutu blank and we joined forces with them to help get these fleeting tutu’s in your possession.

Now gals, we have this manufacturer listed in our book and on our site here under “manufacturers”, so if you are a Tutuology member or book buyer, you already have the info on this manufacturer and can order freely from them at any time. The stickler is that their minimums are pretty high and they keep very busy filling orders for Halo Heaven and other US wholesale distributors.

This manufacturer also produces fairy wings, nylon butterfly- dragonfly- and flower decorations, and  much more.  For the sake of demand and ease, we will only be ordering the tutus.

Please head over to the Forum to view the details of ordering.  The cost is $1.50 each. This is the same exact basic wholesale ballet tutu as what Halo Heaven sells. Numerous other firms are producing these as well, but if you are looking for the same identical tutu as HH, we guarantee the manufacturer. Alwaysunderpay has pretty decent tutu blanks as well, but they are not from the same mfg.

The post We are ordering 5,000 wholesale tutus! $1.50 each appeared first on Tutuology.

Wholesale Tutus

So, you want to know who manufactures those adorable wholesale tutus, fairy wings, flowers & hair bows?

You are not alone.

Because we are aligned with so many international manufacturers and trading firms, we have broken down the various companies by status (either manufacturer or trader) and we’ve indicated the goods they produce.  Some primarily manufacture flowers, others…tutu’s. An trading firm will provide a vast product line, maybe hundreds of product options that fall in the “Girly Girl” genre.  Their prices are competitive, and minimum buying requirements are substantially less than that of a manufacturer. Meanwhile, a manufacturer typically requires a much larger minimum quantity of purchase for an astounding price.

If you are shopping the market for good quality wholesale tutus and have found some domestic suppliers but they are sadly afflicted with CIDS (Chronic Inventory Deficiency Syndrome), you may want to consider your options. We have personally worked with the same suppliers as Halo Heaven, AlwaysUnderpay, Oopsy Daisy Baby, Wholesale Girls and many more. Buying from China might intimidate you a bit, but it’s worth it to give it a try. The experience alone is a valuable one. If you just can’t bring yourself to do it, we are happy to arrange your entire purchase from beginning to end. We add a 10% product cost markup.

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Hope you find this list insightful.  To see the complete list of manufacturers and trading firms who produce wholesale tutus, wholesale fairy wings, wholesale flowers, hair bows for girls – reference the Wish Source Book from pages 6 through 10 or the Girly Girl ePacket from pages 6 through 10.

The post Manufacturers of Wholesale Tutus Anybody? appeared first on Tutuology.

anthro brocco knockoffs

Sew Much Ado’s Tutorial Post

These little Anthropologie inspired brocco bobbies are AMAZING! I LOVE THEM! Big things truly do come in little packages with these little guys, as you can clearly see .  I am thinking that I have finally found a great way to use up my scrap fabrics and these brocco bobbies are so fast and easy to make….I might end up with a table full! Ye-haww!

I don’t know about you all, but I love Anthropologie. I love that their brand makes me “feel”. I can’t say that when I go in to JCPenney, it stirs “emotion” inside of me that makes me feel beautiful,  unique, and comfortable.  For a reason I cannot fully wrap my head around, Anthropologie markets to me “emotionally”. When I step inside, I feel inspired, I feel calm, and I feel like I am home.

It’s no wonder why I find myself drawn every single day to tutorials that are Anthro inspired (wink).

This Brocco Bobbies Tutorial is super simple and you can pound a whole lot of these out in a few hours.  Let us know if you tried it and be sure to send us some pics to post. If you have a tutorial that you’d like to share, please submit it here.  We LOVE it when you help us out with tutorials and people LOVE to peek through the collection…so be sure to share the love .  If you haven’t yet, hop on over to Sew Much Ado’s Blog. She has so many cute tutorials and I am really glad that I found her……a slice of heaven if I should say’so myself

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