Fruit and Cinnamon Stick Candle Holders DIY

                                          Fruitful Candle Holders DIY

                                 Cinnamon Stick Candle Holders DIY

Fruit and Cinnamon Stick Candle Holders DIY

It's Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and soon Christmas. Many of us like to have fun with our home decors, and decorating during this time. Some of us will store buy things to fill our homes, and then there are many of us who wish to be crafty with do it yourself projects.

During this time of year, and with the season we see more emphasis with candle holders. Oh, don't take me wrong these are popular all year long with festivities, weddings, celebrations, and etc. During this time of year we just happen to see a few more of them with all the sweet, and yummy smells that we can get from them. 

Above I have shared a couple of pictures found to demonstrate a little bit of what I would like to share. These are sure to get some of them creative juices going with some wonderful ideas for our homes. If you like the smells of fruits, lemons, limes, artichokes, and etc this is a fun project to do. Really simple for any of us to do as well. Take your favorite fruit, or with Halloween use some small mini pumpkins and ghords. Make sure to get some tea light candles for this, or you could use a little bigger candle too. Cut a hole into the fruit, or vegetable the size of the tea light candle which is commonly used. You can cut a little bigger for just a little bit bigger candle, or maybe a hole the size to hold a taper candle too. Then put the candles in, and light them up! Neat, cute, and wonderfully smelling too. 

Another idea you will see from above is using some cinnamon sticks. Hmm...smell those already! Perfect for this time of year too. You can either glue the cinnamon sticks to the candle, add some twine, and other embellishments too. You could also glue the cinnamon sticks to a candle holder, and then insert a candle. An idea for those who like cinnamon and apples is to maybe glue the sticks to an apple that has had the center cut from it, and then add a tea light candle to that. 

Endless possibilities, inexpensive, and what fun this would be too! Hope this helps with some ideas for this upcoming season, and the holidays. 

Thanks for sharing some time with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you again soon. Have fun crafting, and decorating with your decor. Don't forget to share some ideas with us as well. 

Websites Blogs Venues Market Places For Online Sales

 Website, Blogs, Venues, Market Places For Online Sales

Hi! Welcome to LilacsNDreams Everyone! Ever get into one of those funks that you know you want to make a change, not sure how much change you want, and if you do change things what is maybe the best way for you to go? I, like many others, do Online Sales. Not only do I deal with different venues/platforms, but I also like some of the social networking with it too. 

I use Etsy, Ecrater, Artfire, and sometimes Ebay too. With changes that keep happening with different places, the rules, how they do things, the expenses, how visible you are in searches, and of course dealing with the search engine changes too I often wonder if I am better doing things on my own. If not completely on my own, what is it I should do? What is the equation so to speak that one should follow?

Like many others over time I have signed up with different platforms to sell with. Some have done well for me, and some is like you are non existing. Many of them take work with titles, descriptions, keywords, links, and working with SEO. Seems like you do what you know to do, what you are told to do, and then something changes. When those changes happen there go your views, the traffic gets lower, and along with that comes low sales also. So, how does one get through this?

Many of us do have, or wish to have our own websites. I know those take a lot of work, and can become spendy as well. You do more work with them with SEO, and trying to place in search engine searches than you do with some of the platforms already set up by different places. Then, if you use the free websites like weebly you can hear good, and bad about them as well. Some have websites with a blog included. There are some that use wordpress, and you often hear good about that too. For me wordpress is good I understand, but it is also kind of complicating to me. I have also seen some use blogger blog as their site, and do sales with them too.

Often people will use their blogs, show their merchandise they are offering with links back to where you can buy them. Doing this you avoid having to deal with a shopping cart on your site. At least for a little while till you build more, and move on. The same is with some of the social networks too. The popular one is Facebook of course. That is one place I have not been the most active with. Some of the social networks allow you to show your goods with the links back to the shops you have them in, or you can offer to sell right from there. One place that has been doing this, and is growing is The Vintage Village where they have also been working with another addition called Vintage Rising. Vintage Village is for those dealing with vintage, and antiques while Vintage Rising is for items that are not quite vintage, crafts, handmade, supplies, and things like that.

So, what do you think a person should do? If you deal with Online Sales what is it that you do for yourself, your business, your brand that you have found to work? I have come to kind of a stand still myself, and have been thinking things through more than I have working with my shops. I have more pieces to list, have taken pictures, have revised the pictures, etc, and etc....I have things sitting out to work on as well making some new pieces too. Unfortunately, I am being slow with it all lately. 

Would love to hear from others on what they are doing, what they have found to work for them, some ideas, some suggestions, and a lil bit of this and that. 

Thanks so much for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams. It is Wednesday, and a Happy Hump Day to all! Enjoy, and see you again soon. 

Fall Home Decor Done Simple Not Complicated

                         Easy Fall Decorations Ideas Inspiration

                      DIY Fall Home Decor

                     Fall Interior Decorating Made Simple

Fall Home Decor Done Simple Not Complicated

Yes, it's Fall Autumn time, and was curious is everyone is ready for it? Have you decorated for this changing season of leaves, pumpkins, halloween, and cooler weather? So, if you decorate for fall do you decorate a lot, do things outside, inside the home, or do you make it simple?

Fall decor, or any home decor really does not have to be complicated. You can create warm, and inspired items with just a few things really. A simple candle in a bowl surrounded with some chestnuts, and berries sometimes is enough. So lovely, and so adorable too. Perfect time to be thrift store shopping for some electic bowls, some fall colors, leaves, vines, and etc. 

I have not done much for fall myself, or for Halloween....which I generally do. I am thinking ahead for Christmas because that is the one time I decorate everywhere. In the home, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, and of course outside too. Not too much, but just a little bit here and there. I am wanting to change things a bit this year, do it simple, a little bit of old with some of the upcycled pieces that I have done too. What fun don't you think?

So, how have you decorated so far this season? Were you able to do anything, find some inspiring ideas, or maybe you are waiting for the next following season. Whatever you have decided I hope you are having fun with it, and finding some inspiring ways to help you with your decor.

Thanks so much for sharing your time at LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you again soon. Have fun with your fall home decor, and may you enjoy all your decorating with your homes. Hey, it's always fun with help others who need it too. Till the next time everyone. Toodles . . . . . . 

Business Cards From Vistaprint, Moo, DIY

Business Cards From Vistaprint, Moo, DIY, and many more companies out there. 

Hope everyone has had a great week so far. A topic that is often brought up with many forums is the question Where do you get your business cards from. Everyone has different tastes, different views, different preferences, and places that they prefer to order from. 

There are many companies out there that you can use online, or maybe you have someone local you can give your business to as well. Some enjoy making their own business cards, the do it yourself creative person. A popular one to use is vistaprint, and they always seem to be running some sort of special to use as well. I know with Etsy there are some there who prefer moo.com. I have seen iPrint mentioned, zazzle, 123print, and there are truly many options out there to use. 

I generally use vistaprint.com. I use to make some of my own cards, and have tried a couple of others, but I have come back to vistaprint, and that is who I have used for quite some time now. With my cards I put my name on them, that I am the owner, I share my business email address, show my sites I like to direct everyone to, and I use a tag line as well. I also have something printed on the back saying thank you, and I repeat my tag line as well. On the back is where I will sign my name, and I share the online address of the shop they bought from as well. 

So, who do you use for your business cards? What do you have printed on them? Would be great to hear some ideas from others, and their experiences as well. 

Thanks for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you again soon everyone. Have a wonderful day!

USPS Proposed Increases for Medial Mail, Parcels, Etc

USPS Proposal of Increases For Media Mail, Parcels, and etc is being shared. 

Hope ya'll had a super weekend! Enjoying the weather here in NW Iowa while we can. Warm, windy, and really hasn't been too bad.

Hope ya'll aren't getting tired of me quite yet with me repeating myself regarding some of the postal increases being announced, shared, and proposals that the Postal Service is submitting. I had found an Ecommercebytes link in one of my emails about this particular issue which tells us just a little bit more about it. Thought I would come by here to share it all with you. 

Visit Ecommercebytes for their article titled "Sellers to Pay More for Media Mail, Parcels under USPS Plan". They are wanting to increase 3 cents for first class mail as I had mentioned before, but many of the changes that the Post Office is trying for would have more of an impact with the online retail community. 

The proposed changes being discussed is just that too . . . Proposed Changes. It will have to be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission before any changes can be implemented.  

So, when you have a chance to visit, and read more about this issue just click on the Ecommercebytes here, or just above here, and that will take you to it.  

Thanks so much for sharing your time at LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you all again soon. Have a great week!

USPS Postal Increases After First of the Year

 USPS Postal Increases After First of the Year

Just a little note to those who deal with shipping for your hobbies, crafts, online businesses, and etc. If you haven't heard it on the news yet you can expect the famous postal increases we generally get after the first of the year. If I heard correctly they are looking at first class mail charges going from .46 up to .49 is what was reported. Of course nothing is definite with the increases yet, but I am sure they will be coming to us soon enough. 

I know, it makes it hard in dealing with the shipping that we all deal with on a day to day basis. I cringe when I hear it as I always use the USPS services for my shipments, I generally ship priority mail which now includes the insurance up to $50 with it, and knock on wood...so far I have had no issues with this service. I like the free boxes I get that works for the sizes of the items I sell, and I try to be fair in giving the postal service business as well. Just makes it hard when the shipping costs keep rising, and how that effects all of us.  

It's Thursday, and the weekend is almost upon us again. Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you again soon. I wish you all well, and have fun with the rest of the week. 

Shipping Success For Online Retail Sellers

Shipping Success For Online Retail Sellers  

Online Sellers share many things, many experiences, and of course many stories. One thing that many of us have in common is dealing with different shipping carriers. It can be very tough to sell if you cannot ship. There is lots to consider which is not always easy. If you find a solid procedure that works it makes things much easier for you, and for your customers. 

We all sell many kinds of items with shapes, sizes, and weights to consider. With the range of shipping methods, and packaging types you need to organize the best options for the items that you sell. Shipping methods will not just be about pricing. You need to look at choices offered with insurance, tracking, signature confirmations, and etc. You should be able to find these answers on the mail carriers website you are researching, and considering. 

Most customers like to have all the numbers right up front when they are buying. With this in mind I myself like to do an estimated cost of shipping. Measure, and weigh your packages. Having a scale at home is very helpful for shipping cost estimates too. For some sellers a kitchen scale works fine for them. Now, if you wanted to be a little bit more secure with shipping numbers take your packages to the post office. Then, keep track of some of the common item weights for future references. After weighing your items you can use the shipping calculator online for the shipping service you are using. United States Post Office, The United Postal Service better known as UPS, and many have found Fed Ex to be a great source for shipping too.  

Developing your shipping plan, and defining your policies is a good practice. Things to consider would be what your processing time will be, will you be offering insurance, will insurance only be offered for certain items, a versatile one is will you offer returns & how will you handle the shipping with that, how will you handle items that are lost or damaged through shipping, will you offer expedited shipping or may international shipping ( with international shipping you will deal with custom forms, duties, and taxes), will you offer free shipping, etc. It is easy to see the list can become lengthy. 

Develop your routine, and make sure to communicate with your customers. Like, what's the benefit of having/offering insurance if no one knows that you have it. Over time you will experience how sometimes the shipping challenges will be out of your control, but are just an experience that is a part of online selling. 

Make sure to stay alert with all of your shipments, and keep good records as well. Proof of shipping, pictures of items and packages before shipping, insurance, your label receipts, tracking, and all of these things can be very helpful in the event of any issues that might arise with your shipments. For any issues you can always go straight to the shipping carrier used, and talk with your shipping provider.

Shipping may seem like a procedure that isn't an important issue for your online retail business, or that it should be simple to handle. It can be a much bigger part of your plan to consider, and to be dealt with. Don't let it scare you. Once you get a feel for the service you have chosen things actually can run pretty smoothly. 

Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams everyone, and hope you enjoyed this bit of informational about shipping. See you all again soon. Have a super day!