Blog Bloggers Blogland Have a Great Weekend Happy Fourth of July!
Hello, and Welcome back everyone to LilacsNDreams! I LOVE blogs, I enjoy visiting other blogs sooo much, I enjoy being inspired by others, and I also love to share about others as well. One of the blogs that I have been following through Bloglovin is called A Beautiful Mess. They are great there! Share things about them, share things about what they like, they are informative, and it is a comforting place to visit. Makes me jealous:) I would recommend stopping by to see what they all offer, and to check out their 'New' look that they have too. It is simple there, easy to navigate around, and you are welcome to leave a comment there as well too. So, when you get a chance stop by to see these 2 ladies who are friends, and have come together doing this. It's fun, and can be a learning experience as well:)
Well, here we are. The weekend of the 4th of July which by the way the 4th falls on Wednesday this next week. Any big plans anyone? Not for me here. I hope to maybe get some more things done around the home...finish painting another coat onto something in my son's closet, and maybe start cleaning the floors up a bit more too upstairs. Contractors haven't done it, and I am tired of it, so I guess I shall do it. Hmmm....maybe I can find some more garage sales, or maybe I will drive to a couple of thrift stores too. Not real sure, and will see what my mood will be waking up tomorrow:)
Thanks for stopping by to visit, and share your time with LilacsNDreams everyone. I wish you all well, and hope to see you again soon. Take care, and be safe!
Vintage Collectibles Home Decor With Glassware Collections can come from many of the well known glass makers such as Fenton, Westmoreland, Indiana Glass Company, Cambridge Glass, Colonel, and many more.
Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone! How many of you have a fetish for collections of glassware. Colors, shapes, sizes, vintage collectibles, home decor, dinnerware, drinking, and so much more. There is a lot out there. I myself like to collect it, and I also like to find pieces that I can reuse with repurposing too.
Some of the glassware sought after might be opalescent, maybe a milk colored glass that can be white and some soft pastel colors, patterned glass, pressed glass, depression glass, carnival glass, and there is so many beautiful pieces out there to explore. Today many of the patterns, and colors that were developed from designers are not as easily found, and not considered new anymore. Keep in mind over time due to popularities of some of the glass work made that reproductions have also been made too. You can find some pieces that are reasonably priced, and you can find some pieces that are very hard to find, considered rare, and their prices can be quite spendy too. Know that the prices can fluctuate with different places.
Glass has been around for a very long time, and it is used in many ways too. Some glass is so beautiful when a ray of sunshine hits it showing its design, pattern, iredescent coloring, and a beautiful array of colors it makes you melt, and you find yourself saying awww, oohh, wow, and etc. Glassware is found with home decor, sometimes dinnerware, wine glasses, goblets, drinking glasses, figurines, and in many shapes, forms, and colors.
When shopping for glassware make sure to check for any imperfections on the pieces. Cracks, chips, crazing, how many imperfections, etc. How bad are the imperfections found can also determine how much the actual piece would be worth in todays market. Sometimes a small chip that is found on the peg foot of a designed bowl will not effect the value of the piece. Yet, if the chip were bigger, maybe discolored, and if there is more than one chip or crack it can also go against the value of the piece found too.
When shopping for pieces to add to your collections, or to start your collection keep in mind you should do some homework with this as well. Check the internet with places selling vintage collectibles, antiques, or some people also buy used glass pieces to repurpose with too. Check around on the internet with different places, ask questions of some who are with social medias, check with your library books, and sometimes having some of your own books on hand is an advantage too.
When you are shopping for glassware there are many places to go that you can get pieces to add to your collections. Online sales have been a very good place for people to look at. Some will shop Ecrater, Artfire, Etsy, and Ebay among other online venues too. Some of my favorite places to shop for items myself is with Thrift Stores, Yard Sales, Flea Markets, sometimes a church auction will have things, different auctions that are held in your area, and so on.
Make sure to do your homework, make some notes before you leave to go shopping, get some small pocket sized books to help you that can be carried while shopping, have FUN shopping, enjoy and learn things along the way, and soon you will be putting together a collection that you can take pride in showing to others.
Happy Collecting to all Glassware Collectors! Enjoy, have fun, build something that you admire, and take pleasure in. Thanks for sharing with LilacsNDreams everyone. Have a wonderful day, and come back to visit again soon.
How Many Online Storefronts is Enough or Needed.
When I see this I think of that old saying that we all are often reminded about. "Don't place all your eggs into 1 basket". So then many will also ask How many storefronts do we need? How many storefronts is really enough? Often times we will ask ourselves do I need another storefront. If I have another storefront will I have more sales. Also, having another storefront gives me how much more exposure too. Another logical question is how many storefronts is too many.
Many questions asked, and they are all within good reason of asking too. The theory behind this sort of thing is the more stores you have the more eyes you will attract, more visitors, more traffic, and so on. Honestly there really is no right, or wrong answer to this question. You need to find what works for you, what you are capable of doing, and what you see results with that you are happy with yourself. Sorry, this is one I will not give you a definite answer to. There will be many mixed feelings, and many different views with this. All sellers are different. Some sellers find that having everything under 1 roof works for them, and they like it like that. Others find that they can do better if they break things down into different stores.
Something to consider is if you would want 1 store per product type that you will be offering, or maybe you would rather have 1 big store that will house different categories for the different products that you will sell. You will want to consider the products that you sell. Will they all be for the same audience, and customers that you will be serving. An example to use for this would like selling electronics, and clothing in the same store. Would this work, and is it appealing to you. Try seeing this through the eyes of a customer, and what would work for them too.
If you were to house everything into one place it could also be an advantage for you too. You would have more listings, more people visiting for the different things you are offering which could bring you more traffic, it could be a convenience for the customer to have it all in 1 place with no roaming around to all the different stores, and etc. It could make a little bit more work making sure you have categories to cover all products being offered. You would have 1 place where the customer would visit, browse, and ask questions for you to answer to as well. Something like this makes me think of a catalog that you would browse, and shop with. Also, another thought is the simplicity of things being in 1 place too. Not only for us, but for the customers too.
So, IF you were to split things up into different stores how many items would you have in those stores. I think of the issue where it is always discussed that having at least 100 items in your store is good for you, visibility, sales, page ranking, SEO, and etc. Could be quite helpful in the search engines too.
If you were to have separate stores would you have them all in multiple market places. Doing this you would have to consider the different locations, the fees for each one of them, and the time spent to do all of this too. Is it necessary to do all of this, and would it be of benefit for you to do this as well.
I apologize for not being able to give you 1 complete answer, but do hope this will help you consider different things before moving ahead with your thoughts. Over time I have seen many things done by many people that works for them. I have seen many sellers who have 1, 3, 5, 8, 12 shops and sometimes more. They have found for them that this works. I am thinking. . . Whew! I myself have had up to like 5-6 shops, and did not like it. I had to worry about duplicating things among the shops that google does not like. Then I had to consider being able to give each, and everyone of the shops fair time spent with them. If something sold, did I remove it from the other stores, and which stores did I have this item listed with. Also, holding things up in between the stores due to packaging, and shipping an item that has sold with 1 of the stores. The fear of the 1 item selling twice too. How do you decide which customer will get the item, and what do you tell the other customer that will not get what they thought they were purchasing.
Many years ago when I started selling online I started with Ebay, and at that time I housed everything into 1 place. I did okay with it, had no issues, and things moved right along for me too. I wish you all well with these decisions that we always have to make. I hope that this topic was able to help you think of a few things as you make your decisions with your shops for selling. Not only consider what I have mentioned here, but maybe also some other things not covered too.
Good Luck to all of you, and many Happy Sales to you as well! Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams. Come back to visit again soon.
Cottage Style Decorating Choices For Our Homes is light and airy, fresh and fun, and is completely clearly plainly an original too. A Look that is cozy, and comfortable. There are many styles for cottage decorating, and so many lovely ways of achieving that cottage style look too. Todays styles often incorporates the soft palettes of green, blue, yellow, pink, and yes shades of lilac too. Now, the many styles can also vary with the styles of colors which include country, beach, primitive, rustic, shabby, french, chic, white, pink, and modern. Combining some things together such as the pastel colors, some pretty florals, add some vintage home accessories can all give your home that cozy cottage style.
A great thing about decorating with the cottage style is that there are no rules! So, I would suggest that you surround yourself with the things that you love, and are dear to you.
Many things that you can mix doing the cottage style decorating. Lace handkerchiefs, lace trims, fragrance candles, and some sweet smelling soaps. You can easily mix some of those roses with some of them fun stripes, antique and new pieces, shabby with chic, and so on. Use some of them comfortable rocking chairs, some fabulous wallpaper, and there are many fabrics that are just yummy to use with your cottage style homes too. I know many think that cottage style is just white, white furniture, white paint, white picket fences, and of course roses. Keep in mind that there is so much more that you can do, mix, match, and achieve with this look. Have fun with it.
Don't forget the weathered paint. Just love that chippy paint! Maybe throw some fabulous materials, or slip covers over some of the furniture, and love the vintage style upholstery all over again!
The cottage style decorating can surface anywhere, and the attitude can also be what makes the house cottage too. Sometimes the country look has been applied, and sometimes that wonderful beach look has also been applied as well. Whatever you choose it is a welcoming feeling to all who visit.
I love cottage style homes. Enclosed you will see different pictures that came from better homes and garden, and some were by searching google for cottage style homes and decorating.
Mixing some of the old with the new
A colorful beach cottage
Relaxing cottage porch
Cottage Style open shelving
Cover to an easy cottage style magazine
The relaxed cottage beach look
I admire surfing the internet, looking at books, seeing magazines, and every place that shares this comforting Cottage Style of homes. I thank all who have shared for us to admire. Which style of home are you?
Thanks so much for sharing with LilacsNDreams today. Make sure you come back to visit again soon, and know that you are welcome to share with all of us here too.
LilacsNDreams Wishing You All a Wonderful Weekend!
Hello everyone, and here it is Friday again...already! Don't it seem like this week just flew? Maybe it is just me, but the time sure got away from me this week.
So, any big plans this weekend anyone? Maybe some Thrifting, Garage Sales, any Flea Markets in your area? I did some thrifting on Wednesday, and then yesterday I came across a tag and estate sale while going down the road. Having a tag sale in this area is not very common, and it did catch my interest. I stopped in, and found a few old goodies. I got a red, and white kitchen scale that appears to work so far. Gonna look at it more today. I got an old tea coffee pot. Lil 6 cup one that is in very good clean shiny condition. Picked up a hankie, a doilie, and just couple of odd things for the home. Talked with some people, and enjoyed the late afternoon shopping:)
It's Friday, and here is to wishing all of you a fantastic weekend! Enjoy it, have fun, and be safe everyone. Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams today. Come back to visit again soon.
Reuse Repurpose Upcycle Recycle What You Already Have.
Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone. Out of curiosity, have any of you thrown things away that you wish you hadn't? Maybe thrown something out, and later realized that maybe it could have been saved by reusing it in another way. Sometimes we have treasures in our homes, right in front of us, that we can use in other ways for our homes, gardens, offices, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, home decor, and just sooo many ways to upcycle items.
I myself really enjoy repurposing, and upcycling pieces I find around the home. It is more cost effective doing this, for those who are into being green, saves on filling the landfills, and better yet it becomes a one-of-a-kind piece in our homes too. Another good reason to repurpose is because the pieces you find in your homes already have their own character, patina, and details. Newer pieces would not have these characteristics. Keep in mind that some of the older pieces were better made than some of the newer pieces of today too. So, before you consider buying something new have a look around your home. Look at pieces closely, and consider pieces that you could reinvent with. You might have some pieces that maybe need just a little updating to them. Maybe it's some material, little bit of gluing pieces together, giving a touch of paint to it, maybe some new hardware, and so on. Look at things, and then have fun reinventing them back into useful pieces to enjoy that will last too.
Take for instance maybe that old tv armoire that you think you should get rid of. Why not convert it to maybe some sort of kitchen pantry, a microwave cart, add a rod to it and make a mini closet for your child to hang coats, costumes, and things like that.
Hang on now. Don't get rid of that old dining room table. There are some possibilities there you know. Consider cutting down the legs, and maybe making a coffee table that you were wanting. If the table top is good maybe add it to another table, make another table, etc. The legs could be cut, and made into some really nice candle holders around the home too.
Another thing we find often that we rid ourselves of is dressers. There is sooo much that could be done with those as well. Great pieces to use in organizing a room in the home. Remove the drawers if they are bad, and add some plastic or decorative containers in place of that. Maybe use it in the bathroom to make a vanity for it.
Some of them fabric bathroom shower curtains you want to get rid of...hang onto those maybe too. They are water resistant, worked great in the bathroom, so why not use them outside for some of your cushion covers.
Please keep in mind that I am not in anyway telling you to go out, and do exactly as I have mentioned to do here. I am suggesting that maybe before we throw something, or get rid of something from our homes, and especially before buying new . . . maybe consider some of the items to be repurposed, upcycled, and reused in other ways. Nearly everything can have a second life if we allow it. Seeing beyond what these items are, to what they can be could really be fun to do too!:) Don't forget how it can be a money saver as well.
If you have anything you have done, anything you would like to share, I would love to hear it! I so enjoy repurposing, and being creative. Sometimes hearing from others will also spark something for me to create in yet another way too. Yes, I do online sales, have done so since 2004, and have mostly done vintage collectibles too. Over time I felt like there was something missing, and I wanted more. Repurposing, and upcycling has been so much fun. I enjoy thrifting, and seeing pieces with all kinds of possibilities.
Hey, thanks so much for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams everyone. Hope you enjoyed this little tid bit as well. Take care, and hurry back to visit again soon.
Your Photo File Names Should Be Descriptive Keywords. You are asking why for this, right?
Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone. Grab a coffee, or tea, or some form of drink to have a seat, and relax. My posts of lately have been about SEO, blogs, domains, and different things to help us all with our Online Sales, Crafting, or whatever it is we have chosen to do. I came up with a small issue that was interesting, and wanted to share with you all. Might be a reminder for some of you too.
We have all been informed how our Item Titles should be descriptive to help with SEO, placements in the search engines, and etc. Something else to consider that is also helpful is a file name that we use with our pictures (photo.jpg) when we upload to our blogs, websites, venues, social networks, etc. This is helpful for when someone uses one of the search engines, and they choose to limit their searches to maybe photos only. So, if your photo has the file name that was assigned to it automatically reading something like 12345.jpg it probably won't show up with a specific search. But, if someone were to say call their photo ivory-pillar-candle.jpg it will have a great chance of showing up, and being seen on the first pages too! If you have more than 1 picture of the same item it is ok to use numbers as well. Like ivory-pillar-candle-1.jpg, and ivory-pillar-candle-2.jpg.
SIDE NOTE: Google reads spaces as "%20" So, if you uploaded a photo maybe named
"my photo.jpg" (notice the space?) the actual URL for this photo would be something like http://www.mysite.com/my%20photo.jpg which can cause a lot of your links to be broken if they are not linked to properly. You should either use _ (underscore) or maybe a - (hyphen) for any file that will be used in the URL. Actually, the Hyphen is preferred because Google reads these as a keyword separator. Yes, the underscore does prevent a broken link, and is treated like another character. So, for instance "tealight_candle" is "tealightcandle" with just another character that is in between. Now, "tealight-candle" is going to be read as 2 separate words.
Isn't this interesting? Who would have guessed, right? After reading something like this a while ago I had done changes to my pictures in my files before using them for my listings at different venues. Sometimes when a search is done using keywords you will find pictures from my listings showing in the groups they show right away on the 1st to 2nd pages in searches. Every little bit we can learn, and do helps us all in one way, or another.
Hope this little tid bit with your photos was helpful to you, and all that you do everyone. Thanks so much for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams. Make sure you come back to visit again soon, and feel free to share with all of us here as well.
