Merchandise Monday - GIVEAWAY!! Bows and Caps by princESS!

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and are bright-eyed and ready for a new week! No? Bleary-eyed, hovering over a cup of coffee? Ok, I'll give you that, but I've got something to perk you right up...

brought to you by...

I am excited to introduce to you my friend, Erica who has the cutest bow & bottle cap shop! She is here visiting with us today (mostly because I wanted to show her off) to tell us a little bit about herself and her shop. And because she is such a doll, she has also offered up a GIVEAWAY to all the Little Birdie readers, yay!!

Thanks for being here Erica, I hope you'll bear with me as we're doing something new this week. I wanted to ask you a few questions to let my readers get to know you while they're browsing your shop.

{Erica, her hubby Mike, and their sweet little boy Calin!}

First, tell me a little about your shop:

My shop is a hodgepodge of my crafty ideas. It started with bows and bow holders and now includes my bottle cap crafts - magnets, push pins, headbands, and clips. I also added my hand painted ornaments after friends and family loved them the past two Christmases.

How did you get started crafting?

I started crafting in the summer of 2010 after school let out. I had been going to Hobby Lobby and staring at the ribbon section wanting to buy some, but not knowing exactly what I would do with it. On about my 4th trip of looking at the fun designs a lady asked me "Do you make bows too?" I said "Yes. I sure do", bought 4 rolls of ribbon and came home to figure out how to make some bows. I took my creations to a teacher workshop I was attending the next day and people started passing them around and asked if they could order some. I was totally taken by surprise, but gladly took down the orders and the rest is history :) I made ornaments that Christmas as a "different" gift for my big family. This past summer I got into bottle caps and started my Etsy page after a friend's encouragement.

{Bottle cap bows, headbands, and clips by princESS!
Just tell her your favorite team and she'll make them custom, any way you like!}

What inspires you?

I am inspired by my desire to make pretty things. That may sound kind of silly, but most of my life I have been frustrated by having all these ideas in my head but not being able to actually take them and turn them into the finished product I had pictured. When I started making my bows, they turned out exactly like I pictured them in my head. It was (is) so exciting to look down and think "Hey that is super cute AND I made it!"

How do you handle being a mom with a full-time job AND an Etsy business?

Juggling a full time job, being a wife and mom, and having an Etsy shop is not always the easiest. I am very lucky to have a wonderful mother and husband who help around the house and with my son so I can have "me time." My 3 month old son also goes to bed at 8 and sleeps through the night, which is a big help! Once I had my son, I made the choice to leave my school work at school as much as possible. I have to use my time at work a lot wiser than I have in years past, so when I come home I can spend time with my family. After dinner and bath time, is my "me time" to work on my crafty projects. There tend to be some late nights, but feeding around the clock a few months ago taught me how to run on a lot less sleep than I used to.

{Bows, clips, and CUSTOM bows by princESS!
Need a matching set for the whole team or cheer squad?
Send in your requests and she'll do bulk orders to match your colors!

What has been your biggest eye-opener as a first time mom?

My biggest eye opener as a first time mom has been how much time I used to spend on work. I used to stay late, bring work home, and there still seemed to always be things left to do! I have had to really get my time management under control so that I can balance my family and my work. It is amazing how much more I seem to be accomplishing for school in less time.

Isn't she sweet? And she has such an amazingly supportive husband, who thinks she's a total rock-star, as well as the cutest little baby boy! She has so much cute stuff she's been working on and adding into her Etsy shop every day, so be sure to add her to your favorites or your circle so you can keep up with all the cute stuff she's doing. One of my favorite items in her shop are the bottle caps. She makes magnets, clippies, bows, and headbands and is constantly adding new photos to her Facebook page with her fun new ideas. She can also do custom caps for your favorite high school, college, or pro team, as well as fun and funky combinations, sororities, and more!

{Bottle cap magnets by princESS! You can never have too many of these on your fridge or file cabinet, and with a million custom combinations to choose from, you'll find something for everyone on your shopping list!}

Erica and I go waaaaaay back to the old college days at Texas Tech in Lubbock. :) So, when I ordered some little piggy tail bows for Aubrey from her, she sent me a custom bottle cap clippy and a magnet for my fridge decked out in custom Tech colors! I was so stoked!

PrincESS Erica has been so sweet to offer a five pack 

of custom bottle cap magnets to one lucky Little Birdie reader, 

and there are lots of ways you can win!! 

**Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry below!!**

Mandatory Entry

1. "Like" Bows & Caps by PrincESS on Facebook! 

Leave a comment below letting me know you did, and feel free to say hello to Erica while you're there!


EXTRA Entries!!

1. Be or become a follower of The Little Birdie. {This one should be easy, you guys already are, right? RIGHT??} ;)
2. Heart Bows and Bottle Caps by princESS on Etsy.
3. Add Bows and Bottle Caps by princESS to your circle on Etsy.
4. Blog/Tweet/Facebook about this giveaway. Leave a separate comment for each.
5. Follow @lilbirdielady on Twitter {that's me, silly}
6. Like The Little Birdie on Facebook

Other Important Info.

• The giveaway will be open from now until Sunday, October 16th, so spread the word!
• Winner will be chosen via random.org and posted here Monday, October 17th!
• Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry, so they all get counted!

There ya go! Lucky number 7 ways to win! Ready? GO!!

XOXO