Another Giveaway!

Who doesn't like free stuff?? And coupons codes?!

I met up with  www.jessicalovestosavemoney.com through the bump when I offered to help someone with a pillow case dress daughter in a forum post. The lady I helped out with a dress loved it and it turns out someone else wanted one too. =)

That someone else turned into this review and giveaway on her money saving blog. The giveaway is for any item $12 or less and there is also a coupon for 10% off anything through Etsy. So GO and check out Jessica Loves to Save Money and enter to win my Alligator Lane Giveaway on her blog! (Plus - she does awesome deals and giveaways all the time!! )

Opened my new Etsy store!

I have finally loaded my new Etsy store: Alligator Lane with some items. I have many more ideas in my head and projects started that I plan to put in the shop soon. I am hoping naps go accordingly this week (:::crosses fingers:::) and I can get some more stuff done for my shop. Some things that will be coming soon to Alligator Lane on Etsy: no loop loveys (similar to the brand that starts with a T...who owns a particular patent that I will not mention but mine will have no loops), girl onesies with applique designs similar to the boy ties only girly, baby shoes, just paci clips, hooded towels/hooded beach towels, tutus, baby/toddler belts, big fat letters with no loops, waterproof play yard sheets, baby mini skirts, and more.  I can custom make just about anything you see in my shop, on the blog, or even someone else's shop on Etsy. I CAN make things with loops but I cannot advertise them on Etsy so I would have to do a custom listing for you. (patent thing again...booo) Please check me out, share my shop with your friends, make me one of your favorites on Etsy, and best of all - buy something from me! =) 

Etsy alligatorlane

  

 

A post not about baby!

I have had this blog a while now, 4 or 5 years?! I haven't always used it well. When I was just kind of crafting I would blog about that. When I got engaged I blogged about that. I would blog about things randomly and sporadicly. I would always forget about it a while and then come back and try to update it more. No one was reading it back then though. So anyone reading now, THANKS!!

So now most of my more recent posts have been about Alligator. I mean she's spectacular and all, but I do other things too. =) I make a lot of things. Here are some things I make. These items were all made for someone else as gifts, or somethings I made for Alligator. Most of them are in my Etsy shop, but if not they can be customized and added just for YOU if you want something. Let me know. =)

Hooded Beach Towels:

This one is the green/white with pink flamingos - made special for Sylvie's 1st Birthday!!

The lobster towel was made on special request from my best friend Angela's son Caden. We may or may not have already said that Alligator and Caden are getting married someday...we will see. ;-)
Gianna was modeling the hooded towel for me so I could show its sizing on Etsy. She is such a ham for the camera.
These are a bunch of letters I made. I call them Big Fat Letters. I had to remove my listings from Etsy because of the "loops" on them, but I can custom make them with loops for anyone. I am going to relist some without the loops and they'll just have heat sealed cut edges for baby to play with. Still very cute and functional to play with!!

These are what I'm calling the "Everything Holder" listed in my Etsy shop. I have them listed with ribbon options right now but I think I like the fabric better, so I will be adding that soon. Either way they work awesome for keeping stuff from hitting the ground in a stroller, shopping cart, highchair out in public, or just keeping a favorite toy close by and attached to baby or toddler.
These are some baby shoes I made someone for her 9 month old. She wanted something cute but not pink. I think they came out awesome.

Here I have Alligator modeling them for us. And lastly, a post wouldn't be a post without a smiley picture of the Alligator. She was playing on the floor with Bailey - see the tail? She loves that dog. He, however, is not exaclty a fan of her.

Thanks for stopping by!

2 posts in one night!

I'm trying to get better about my updates. I would eventually love to do a giveaway or two (or thirty...) and maybe pretty-up my blog. ::sighs::: Someday...


For now, what I do have to show off is my Alligator. She is getting so big! She went on the swings for the first time last weekend. You can see at first she was not impressed. I think that the way Daddy was swinging was too boring:
Then Mommy starting pushing her a little higher and the smiles started.
And then the giggles. She is a little dare devil already. She loved going fast and high on the swings.
Weirdly, it was her father that was a little freaked out by her swinging so much. "Not so high, not so fast" As Allison was squealing and laughing flinging through the air!

She clearly enjoyed it for about 15 minutes. I suppose I can't expect a 7 month old to enjoy much of anything for more than 15 minutes at a time anway, right?



We got a new toy around here too. I was lucky to get a coupon code for LeapFrog for 25% off and use their free shipping over $40 to get this new Learn and Groove table and a drum thing. She clearly loves this one. I should find a picture of her eating the legs of this table, she loves those too.


Notice the deep concentration (tongue sticking out like Mommy did when she was little) as she's playing.


I see this picture and it makes me think of a mad scientist or crazy piano player or something. She was going to town on this thing right before I took the picture. Squealing something crazy! I love it.


Lastly, I'm going to pimp my Etsy store out here too. I sell some random little crafts I make in there, but the newest item is pretty darn useful. I'm calling it the "Everything Holder" because, well, it can hold just about everything.


Here is Allison showing it off. You can attach it to anything or even to itself around a loop of some kind and their toys, pacis, lovey, burpcloth, bottle, etc. will not go far. She decided to show me how it works. She did this all by herself, I didn't even have to pose her. She just chucked the thing over the edge when she was done and wanted to get out.

I think she was looking at it, like "Whoa, how did that stay there?"

I realized this one is a little long, so I'm making it slightly smaller to sell in my shop. This is like 20" long and I think 15" long is a bit better and less of a hazard. It also has different settings so you can put it on a small toy or a bigger toy. Or loop the snap side around something like a stroller or a strap and use the clippy side to attach to a blanket or lovey. Endless possibilities. ;-)

PS - This holder should be used when under supervision, just like any other kind of toy strap.

I'll leave you with a funny picture we took recently. She looks like we are just completley interupting her work and is giving the Lucchesi "What?" stare. She loves to bang on the keyboard, eat the mouse, lick the lights that blink on the front of mylaptop, and yank the cords. Computer geek already...Daddy will be so proud!

Thanks for reading!

My 1st custom order on Etsy's Alchemy

I got a request through Etsy's Alchemy store last week. Someone wanted a tie top bag in zebra with hot pink. I think it came out pretty cute. I hope she likes it. (I'm pretty sure she will I saw her other recent purchases through etsy and they are very zebra and hot pink!)


It is reversible and has a pocket on one side of each color with a button closure on both sides.


I'm trying to sell a lot of stuff/old clothes on eBay lately too. I found some stuff in my closet that still had tags on it from 2 years ago! Definitely time to get rid of it. I need to clean out closets and start really getting organized.

I also got another great Craigslist STEAL! I love Craigslist sometimes. I got this IKEA dresser for around $100 when brand new it sells for $280! I know exactly where its going to go and what I'm using it for, but I will mention that some other time. Here is a picture of it.The one I got from this nice lady is in PERFECT condition. I really couldn't believe the deal we got on it. I'm really excited to use it eventually.

That's all I have for an update right now...nothing much going on. ;-)

Etsy Shop Update (finally)

I have finally made some new things to update my Etsy Shop. I have a few grocery totes, some baby taggies in there, and a few other things. They are all very cute (I think). :-)

Someone I know will be doing a giveaway this week of one of my items...I will tell you when she posts it on her blog and I'll link it.

So if you like anything or you think someone will like something from my shop...please go buy it! :-) I also will appreciate any feedback you have to give on any of the items!

Thanks.

Why I love Craigslist

At our house our office is also my craft room. I used to have all my craft supplies in the closet. Combined with various office supplies and other things we had stored. We used to use the office also as Gianna's room when she slept over. She had her own little toddler bed and the TV cabinet had all her stuff for when she stayed. I decided I need to do something about my mess in the closet and office. Stuff kept spilling out onto Gianna's bed and the floor and it was horrible to work in. I had a talk with Gianna and asked her if she'd mind sleeping in the big girl bed (the guest room) next time. She was excited about sleeping on a big bed, so we'll see how that goes next time. So her bed was moved out and I was lucky enough to find an awesome cabinet on Craigslist that works perfect!

This is the cabinet I bought:It's from IKEA. The one I bought is actually an older model. Here is a picture of the new model of this type of cabinet (left)....it sells for $380! I also got another little cabinet like the one on the right. I got them both from one person on Craigslist for $100!! What a steal.
Here is the new and improved cabinet stuffed full of ALL my craft stuff. I cut a couple more shelves and painted them (all by myself with power tools) and I plan to make more and take out the plastic shelf unit so my sewing machine can go in the cabinet too.
I love the little hook on the side to show off a purse or hang up a work in progress. :-)
I am SO happy with this cabinet. I plan to organize my fabrics better by color. So far I just have them organized by types: bottom 2 shelves - cottons & top shelf - everything else. I installed some hooks to hang my squares, cutting mats, and rulers. I plan to install a magnet bar to the left side to hang all my scissors from.

The is eventually to make this room into a nursery. So this cabinet will then be moved into the new office whenever we make it along with our other office type stuff. The new office will be the front room (pool room) split into an office and a dining room. I am very pleased with my purchase so far.

I have another project to post in a couple days so check back. :-)

This looks yummy...

I cannot wait to try it out this recipe. I think I might make it instead of regular apple pie for thanks giving. I guess its probably similar to other apple crumble recipes...but oh well. I will try it sooner or later.

(I got the picture and recipe from Daily Candy.)