Instafriday!

I am so happy to announce that Heritage Knitting is now accepting credit cards!

This little beauty was free, the app is free, the accounting is free. You only have to

pay for a 2.75% fee for each transaction which is not much at all compared to 

other credit card companies. I am so excited about this, I can now take credit cards

at craft fairs which will hopefully boost my sales!

I had a moment of weakness. Don't judge me.

I made this little contraption while dreaming about tubing the river. :)

It slings around your neck so that your hands are free to paddle or do 

whatever.  I will be selling these as soon as I really figure out how to properly

attach the lanyard to the beer coozie.

We went to our neighborhood chinese restaurant for date night. We discovered

that in addition to the regular american chinese menu they had an authentic chinese

food menu. Barry ordered this meal, shredded beef with thai pepper and cilantro and

OMG was it amazing! It was so FRESH! No heavy sauces, no crazy flavor additions, just

the goodness of natural flavor. And then Barry ate this little orange thing thinking it was

a carrot...it wasn't a carrot. It was a thai pepper. His lunge for water was h i s t e r i c a l!!!

I felt bad for laughing but it was so funny!

I had more photos from this week but Blogger is being weird and not letting me load them.

Hopefully next week will have more photos. 

-Ri

Craft Show Booth Layout

As some of you may know, I have a few craft shows coming up. Barry and I

have decided that while Etsy is a great source of supplemental income, it is not

enough for me to survive on. The fact is, I have superior products. I use awesome 

yarn and I don't do shortcuts. Unfortunately, I can't convey that information on Etsy. 

I can't tell people that my baby blankets are better because I use a smaller hook and

I crochet (and knit) super tight, I have to show them. And since I can't tell 

customers that my product is superior, I can't charge (and expect to sell) a 

higher price.

I fully intend on keeping open my etsy shop, I just wont use it as my main

income. I hope that I will start to be able to do a festival or craft show a

month, in the beginning, and slowly work my way up. 

So! I have been working very hard on my booth setup. The last craft shows I

have been to have been mediocre. I have made my booth fee back plus a little profit

but I didn't make much money because I didn't have a really cool booth. 

That's gonna change! 

This is my plan!

And here is some of my inspiration:

Thank you Pinterest!

I plan on using something like this to hang up some of my smaller items just for

visual interest. 

You can find a tutorial on how to make this at Homeroad.

Photo courtesy of : Mary Judy

This is where I got the idea for an L Shaped booth!

Photo courtesy of : Dirty Laundry (this is a great

blog post with craft show tips!)

One of my real goals this year is to try and add height to my booth.

I have repainted a teeny tiny bookcase to show my washcloths.

Hopefully this year with the combination of a new booth layout,

waaaay more inventory than I have ever had before, and my new capability

of taking credit cards I will be able to make more money!

Yay!

-Ri

Date Night Ideas

I think that it is so incredibly important, as a couple, to have

date nights. I, unfortunately, lack creativity on the planning aspect

of date night. So I did what every woman in america would do...

I asked Pinterest.

1. Have a Fondue night

2. Travel from home: "visit" France (get baguettes, wine, cheese, etc)

3. Read a book to one another

4. Bake cookies together

5. Watch the sunrise, then make breakfast together

6. Attend a local soccer game

7. Watch an entire season of your fav TV show

8. Go for a long drive

9. Planetarium

10. Art gallery

11. Play board games

12. Movie

13. Visit garage sales

14. Do a volunteer activity

15. Go dancing

16. Dress up and have a "Just Dance 3" Dance Off

17. Do a crafty project together

18. Ride go-carts

19. Fly Kites

20. Have a carpet picnic

21. Go to an arcade

22. Play Frisbee Golf

23. Go kayaking

24. Go ice skating

25. Visit the pumpkin farm

26. Go to a forest preserve

27. Go to Theater Under the Stars performance

28. Visit a place listed in an entertainment book

29. Bike riding

30. Volunteer at a homeless shelter

31. Bowling

32. Haunted house

33. Out for coffee

34. Visit a flea market

35. Play bingo

36. Go to an opera

37. Go skating in a Roller Rink

38. Visit another city

39. Go to a Jazz/Piano Lounge

40. See an NBA game

41. Play in the batting cages

42. Vegas anyone?

43. Go stargazing

44. Visit a psychic

45. Have lunch at a trendy new restaurant

46. Grab a fish fry

47. Grab a pint at an Irish pub

48. Chinese food and DVDs – the perfect mix

49. Go to a local fair or carnival

50. Take a factory tour

51. Go antiquing

52. Go out for drinks

53. Visit a winery

54. Attend a painting class
55. Wii Game Night

56. Go for a carriage ride

57. Visit the tourist spots in your hometown

58. Do a Theme Night

59. Take a walk – around a lake, in the moonlight, by the river, on the beach

60. Go to an ethnic festival

62. Play 20 Questions (questions for married couples here)

61. Play with the kids' legos

63. Have a "sleepover". Drag your mattress into the livingroom and  do sleepover stuffs.

64. Visit the zoo

65. Go see a local band

66. Day-Road Trip!

67. Go camping

68. Go hiking

69. Go rock climbing

70. Play croquet

71. Attend a farmer’s market

72. Miniature Golf

73. Try out a new cuisine

75. Take in a community theater performance

74. Go strawberry picking or visit an apple orchard

76. Attend a live, outdoor music night in your town

77. Go see fireworks

78. Do a puzzle together

79. Go to a pub crawl

80. Do a ghost tour

81. Dress up super fancy, go have dinner as if you're going to the opera...then come back home. :)

82. Go to the Drive In

83. Go to an Air Show

84. Go to a car show

85. Go the a racetrack

86. Laser Tag

87. Build and Fly a model rocket

88. Build and shoot a potato gun awwee yeah!

89. Feed ducks/seagulls

Houston Specific:

-Visit Moody Gardens

-Visit Johnson Space Center

-Visit the Houston Zoo

-Visit the Houston Botanical Gardens

-Visit the Kemah Boardwalk

-Visit Splashtown

-Visit Old Town Spring

-Take the Houston Ship Channel Tour

-Watch the Waugh Bat Colony at Sunset

-Visit the Waterwall

-Visit the Miller Outdoor Theater

Inspiration for this post comes from:

Stay at Home Susie

Six Sisters' Stuff

Busy Bliss

All Things Katie Marie

Ideas for a Date Night

...and some of it I actually came up with. :)

annnd you should probably check out The Dating Divas. I could spend HOOUUURRRS on this site. :)

I can't wait to get started on all this!!!

-Ri