A Sneak Peek...

With the upcoming addition of a new little one in a couple of months, I have been hard at work thinking of new baby themed items and finding the perfect fabrics to create them out of. I have a ton of ideas and they are starting to slowly trickle into my Etsy shop and into Cottleville Crafts, Etc. Eventually, they will also make it on to the Poverty Barn Online Store which is currently in the construction phase.

For now, here is a little sneak peek of one of the ideas that I have created as well as two of the fabrics that I have fallen in love with:

Baby Chicks Burp Cloth with Green Applique Chick

(Fabric: Urban Zoologie Spring Chicks by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman)

 Color Choices for the Chick Applique on the Baby Chicks Burp Cloth (blue, dark pink, light pink, yellow, and green) 

 Zoo Pals Burp Cloth with Blue Applique Zebra

(Fabric: 2D Zoo Pals by Alexander Henry)

Here are some better views of the fabric that is used on the back side of each burp cloth.

Each burp cloth is made of absorbant terry cloth on one side with cotton fabric on the back side.  They are top-stitched with a coordinating colored thread and feature an applique design in the bottom right corner of the terry cloth side and a Poverty Barn tag in the bottom right corner on the cotton fabric side. They measure approximately 8" x 17" and can be customized with the baby's name.

The baby chick burp cloths are already available in the Roo's Remnants Etsy shop and the Zoo Pals burp cloths will be there in the coming days. The Zoo Pals set will also feature a light blue elephant and a green giraffe option for the applique design. Be sure to check back often to see what other fun baby accessories and fabrics Poverty Barn will add to its lineup!

Moving Day!

We Barn Girls have been busy little bees lately!

The Christmas rush caught us off-guard, and before we knew it, it took everything we had just to stay on top of orders and requests.  It was a nice problem to have!

Now that things have calmed down, we've found great ways to occupy ourselves.  Besides gearing up for Valentine's Day and Spring (still a-ways off, but we can't wait!), we also started discussing ways to expand our storefront.  This lead to a lot of debates, pondering, praying and calculating before we reached what we think is a great resolution.

Our dear friends at Cottleville Crafts Etc. made us an offer we just couldn't refuse.  In exchange for working a set number of hours inside the store, we've been given an entire room and then some to call our own.  It's a very exciting step for us as we both work toward our goals of making this business something substantial.

The space is cozy, well lit and has lots of great features.  We took some before and after shots to share with you, but we would love it if you would actually stop in and see us.  Here are a couple of peeks to get you going.  The full album is on our Facebook page.

 It is so nice to have plenty of wall space for all of the canvases, as well as lots of shelves for all of our smaller goodies.  We'll be adding lots of new designs in the coming weeks, so keep an eye on our Facebook pages and Etsy pages.  Also, we are working on the first edition of our newsletter, and we would love it if you would sign up.  Just go to www.povertybarn.net and enter your email address.

We look forward to a long-term relationship with Cottleville Crafts, Etc. and we appreciate all that they have done to help us get our little business off the ground.

Here's to a great new year for all of our friends!

Valerie & Jesse

One last outdoor show

This Friday and Saturday will be our last outdoor shows for the year.  While it will be nice to move indoors so that precipitation and breezes are no longer a factor, I think I'll miss being outside some too.

Last weekend, we spent a beautiful, albeit chilly, morning in Tower Grove Park.  It was the first time we had done a full set up (EZ Up, three tables, two doors) all on our own and I was very happy with how smoothly it went. When it came time to tear down and load up, we looked like pros!

Here is how it looked:

Our new doors are giving us some much-needed display space and helping to free up more tabletop area.  We also added a third table this time, and finally got coordinated with our three black tablecloths sheets.  I'm very pleased with how it all turned out.

We will be in O'Fallon, Missouri Friday evening and Saturday morning at Civic Park.  There is always something new, so we hope you can stop on by.  This new banner will make it easier to find us:

It will be hanging (hopefully) across the front of our booth, swaying in what we hope is only a light breeze.

Later this month, swing on by Cottleville Crafts, Etc. for Ladies Night Out on October 20.  We will be the featured artists at the store and will be set up out back at the True Cafe.  Our plan is to make Oreo truffles, so nabbing a few of those will totally justify the trip.

We hope to see you soon!

Valerie & Jesse

Change in the weather

After a summer of intense heat and drought, this morning was such a treat.  I woke up to a light shower falling outside and a temperature of a pleasant 68 degrees.  Knowing that the clouds were going to clear out in a hurry, the day could not have been more perfect for the craft event at Insbrook.

We arrived on time, and with a lot of help from my hubby, set up our shelter and got our tables arranged.  The crowds were brisk, we both made some sales, and best of all, we spent a gorgeous day outside enjoying the beautiful weather!

Here are some pictures from our most successful event to date...

Tag, you're it!

(Disclaimer:  I have the same post on both blogs today, and I apologize, but this is one that really fit both places and I really wanted to share!)

This idea came from Pinterest, but for the life of me, I can't seem to get the link to go back to the person who originated the idea. I feel bad about that, because I don't want anyone to believe I came up with this on my own.

In the original pin, the artist took black and white photographs and cut or punched them into tag shapes.  The tags were then used on gifts for the people in the photos.  I thought that was really clever, and I wanted to find a way to use it myself, only with a little twist.

That's when I came up with this:

 These are the tags that will be going on the items we put in the shop and sell at upcoming craft fairs.  The photo is the one that we have been using on our web site (www.povertybarn.net) and was taken by my friend Michelle who knew I was looking for barn photos, happened to be doing a senior shoot, and snapped a few for me.  (Thanks, Michelle!)

To make the tags, I re-sized the image to the size I needed, converted it to sepia tone, then overlaid that with the text.  After printing out a page full of them on photo paper, I punched them with a fancy punch from EK Success, then used a small circle punch to make the hole.  I looped some string through the hole, tied a knot, and there you have it, a snazzy price tag!

I made about 75 of them so we'll have enough to last a while.  I may not know a lot about marketing, but I do know that branding is important.  This old barn is the image I get in my head of what a real business would look like if we ever get big enough to do it.  Until then, it's all about coming up with new product designs, growing our customer base, and trying very hard to make a go of this.

Of course, I have also been working on new canvases, which I always have to share with you here.  This one is for my brother and sister-in-law who will be celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary tomorrow. I hope they like it!

Socially Speaking

Today has been a busy day here at The Barn.  After creating some fun new projects, I spent time updating our web site and Facebook page.  Then, I started a campaign to get 25 "Likes" on that page so we could get our own username.  We were successful, and now you can find us at Facebook.com/PovertyBarn.

Roo's Remnants and Studio Valerie have both opened Etsy Shops, and we've also made a couple of deliveries to Cottleville Crafts, Etc.  Our fall crafts schedule is starting to fill as well, so it looks like we're going to be a couple of busy gals!

Thank you to all of our friends and family for supporting this little venture.  We hope to make you all proud one of these days.

Val & Jess

Retail Space!

Today is a very exciting day for our little enterprise.  This afternoon, we brought the first batch of our creations to their new retail space at Cottleville Crafts. This is the beginning of a whole new adventure for us and we are anxious to see how our items are received!

There is a cute selection of wallets, billfolds and coin purses from Roo's Remnants, as well as Canvasses, chalkboards and pretty paperclips from Studio Valerie.

We'll be adding more as time goes by so please check back with us often.

Customized Wine Glasses

Poverty Barn is proud to add customized wine glasses to its product line! These glasses are available in any letter with any color combination of dots. Customized designs are also available upon request. Please e-mail Jess for more information! 

Spirit of a Nation Shutter

This is the second in the series of shutters that we're working on here at the Barn.  It has a patriotic flavor which is great for summer, or any time of the year.

There are more shutter ideas rattling around in my brain and I will share them here as they come to life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fruits of the Spirit Decorative Shutter

These are the newest additions to the Poverty Barn collection.  We are currently creating shutters with verses, quotes and favorite sayings.  Got something you would like to see immortalized on a shutter?  Reply to this post to share your ideas!

This shutter uses the "Fruits of the Spirit" from Galatians 5.  It is the prototype for what is yet to come so check back to see what else is up the creative sleeves of the Poverty Barn girls!

Choose a Chalkboard, any Chalkboard

While we work out the details on setting up our new retail space, here's a peek at just one of the many items we will be carrying.

These chalkboards are ideal for keeping your busy household organized.  The red one has built-in lines for even spacing.  The blue one is also magnetic and comes with 31 magnets so you can add the days of the month.

We are working on a lot more fun ideas so please check back soon!

Welcome to the Barn

Welcome to Poverty Barn, a place where you will find one-of-a-kind creations for you, your home and as gifts for those you love.

We are currently working on two physical locations to show off our stuff and will hopefully have more news later today.  It's an exciting time as we launch our new business, and we would love to have you come along for the ride!

Come back soon!

The Poverty Barn Girls