Ok, you convinced me!

After only 14 or so comments and many of them positive about my jewelry I am going to sell on Etsy. I have to tell you a little story though, so brace yourself.

Many of you know this story if you are a personal friend of mine. Not to exclude all of my cyber friends, but my friends that are around me hear my antics all of the time.

When I was a little girl (in my pretend world), my name was Stephanie Fox (I was related to Michael J Fox and I had a best friend named Stephanie). From 1st grade on I had wild entrepreneurial dreams. When I was in 1st grade I found some clay behind our home and shaped it and molded it into ash trays. I then went door to door selling my ash trays for $1. Many people bought them much to my mom's dismay.

Ok, it just gets better. When I was fourth grade I was a copyrighters nightmare where I sold Bon Jovi lyrics on the school bus for .25 cents. I made copies at the store for .10 (that is a .15 cent profit :))and then sold them until I was busted by someone who had gone to a concert and said that my lyrics were wrong. Short lived career, but a start nonetheless.

From fourth grade to sixth grade I had my pretend business world. My stores were carefully listed on paper. I was the CEO and founder of many stores including The Cubby Hole, Carpet and Carpet Inc, Mini Mart and Trailer Accessories, Inc.. I made a list of supplies that I sold, quantities and prices. I played pretend all day on a phone (made out of an Atari accessory). I wrote out scripts for my commercials that advertised my stores. I was the boss and everyone had to answer to me.

So all this to say, I have a really strong desire to have my own business. With the stage of life that I am in which includes: mom of two, working part time for a ministry, wife to a pastor, and the CEO of my home I do not have time, energy or money to start up my own business right now. But.... I do have time for hobbies like jewelry making in which I can sell my creations on Etsy.

I have a real fear that no one will buy my stuff, that my beautiful lovelies will break in someone's hands, and that I will make a mistake in signing up on etsy with a username that I cannot change and that I did not like (ok, that was reality, not a fear).

My fears are real, but my God knows the desires that I have. He says that He will supply all of my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. I cover this little Etsy shop in love, excitement, prayer and if you ever buy something from me and it breaks send all of your complaints to stephaniefox@*****.com.

Much Love to my real and cyber friends,P.S. My desire is to put my Etsy shop on my sidebar and my real hope is to have some really nice inexpensive pieces for you to buy for friends and family for Christmas. So make sure to subscribe or bookmark Clappy Shoes so you will stay tuned in to all of the upcoming details.

By the way, this will not become a jewelry blog, but just a convenient way to provide exposure. More news to come when I figure out how to set up my etsy shop with the shop name that I actually like.

Another Great Gift Idea

if I do say so myself!



I was visiting someone else's blog and she mentioned the sprinkles and cookie cutters. . .sorry I forgot who it was or I would link back to you. It gave me the idea to do Santa cookies for some of my friends and family.

The kit includes cookie mix, icing, sprinkles and Christmas Cookie Cutters. I am going to give them this sack of goodies so that they can make family memories and leave Santa some cookies on Christmas Eve. I might write a little poem or something to go with it if I get creative! I will update this post if that happens!

Do you think that they will like this, in lieu of making them cookies, or another gift? I would love to get your feedback on other gift ideas for friends and family! Just leave your link or comment below!

Fun Gift To Receive

I wanted to let you in on something I already received for Christmas from a sweet family in my church. It's a popcorn bowl with mini-bowls so that you don't have to share! Yeah, that's what I teach my kids. . .get your own, kid!!! She even included yummy chocolates. . .so much for the early New Year's Resolution post!



This is a great gift if you are looking to buy a family with kids something and you are having a hard time thinking of something. She included the Veggie Tales Christmas movie which we have not seen. Yeah, I love Christmas and I love my friends! If you need more ideas for Christmas or great ideas that work for others, check out Works for Me Wednesday!

The Best Gifts Ever

As I was thinking about Christmas (who isn't! even if you are trying not to), I wanted to share with you the best gifts that I could have ever been given. . . better than this or this (and no I have not ever received those two things). This might give you a brain surge of thoughts to give to your hubby or gal this Christmas.
My mom gave me this tapestry. I very rarely cry and this teared me up!! It is so true and it hangs on my wall to remind me of how important each day and each moment is on this side of Heaven.

Underneath the tapestry is a beautiful picture of my kids. My in-laws own a sign business in Little Rock and let me just say they are amazing (yes, it's a shameless plug)! They just took a regular pic of my kids and put it on some kind of backing and everyone that comes in the house sees the picture and compliments me on it. I guess I am not only thankful for my picture of my gorgeous kids, but also my very talented and giving in-laws.
Before the days of laundry and diapers came this gift. Prince JM gave this memory box to me before we were even engaged. It was filled with chocolate kisses . . . because he had made a vow to God to not kiss a girl before he was married. I like to think of it as a symbol of how many times he wanted to kiss me and didn't. :) The interesting thing that he did, or I guess didn't do, is put my last name on it. . .just my first and middle because he knew that "someday" my last name might change. hmmm. . .I think he knew there was a spark of hope even then. . .sneaky little guy.
The best gift that I have really, really ever been given was my new life in Christ. I could go into all the details of how ratty and green I was, but we all were before Christ entered the picture. What a beautiful gift to give to your friends and family this Christmas. How about it? You don't even have to spend money on that!!! Talk to that one family member who needs Christ more than ever. Do you have a friend that is lost and desperately needing new life? Do you have a neighbor who needs to know that there is hope?Be the light of hope this season. After all, tis the reason for the Season!

To see some more gift giving ideas, check out "Don't Try this at Home."