When I see certain things it sparks an idea and today in my email inbox I received an email from www.quickcandles.com and the feature was Seaside Tea Light Candles.  These are packaged as a favor at just $1.99 for a 4 pack AND you get the the clear gift box plus the raffia tie.  Now I think candles are nice and have their purpose in an event but it’s not my idea of a favor to give to guests of an event I would have.  I do love these candles though and they are perfect for a beach house or a beach themed room however, I’m thinking more along the lines of a beach themed party.  Whether it’s an adult luau you’re hosting or a kid’s birthday party, these would be perfect for table/centerpiece decorations!

So you want the candles and the price is awesome but you don’t need the box or the thank you card attached to it.  WAIT!! Don’t keep looking, get these and then repurpose the items. 

How would I repurpose an item such as this?  I would order the amount I want whether it’s the amount of boxes I want to repurpose based on my number of rsvpd guests or the amount of candles I want to have for my tables and/or centerpiece.  For instance if I want 4 candles in a centerpiece on each table for 10 tables then I’d order 10 sets.  Say I want to make sure I have enough of the boxes for my event to give one to each guest and I have 30 rsvps then I’d order 30 of them and use the candles as a big centerpiece on the food table or other main focal point. 

What would I do with the candles?  Say you want one on each table.  I’d use a plate or bowl, whatever you prefer and put sand in it then put the 4 tea lights in the sand as my table decoration.  If I were doing a big centerpiece say for a food table I’d first put down a strip of vinyl table cloth, then cover it with some sand that you can purchase at any craft store or even pet store and then place the candles in it.  Then when it’s time to clean up remove the tea lights and then grab up the ends of the vinyl table cloth piece and discard the sand however you wish and vacuum the rest. 

Now I have all these empty clear boxes, what in the world am I going to do with those?  You’re gonna use these for the favor boxes but you’re gonna fill them with something different!  If you need more clear boxes you can get just the boxes at a craft store in the wedding section, they come with cards you can print on your computer and ribbon to tie them.  It’s okay if the ribbons are different but if you want them all exactly the same just leave off the thank you cards and buy some raffia or more ribbon.  Fill the boxes with chocolates.  Who doesn’t like to get a box of chocolate right?  you can use chocolate kisses or chocolate miniatures candy bars.  Of course you can choose anything that will fit that you know your guests will enjoy later.  

You can get the clear boxes at Party City as well. 

Of course if you need any help with labels for candy favors whether they are in a box, a bag or individual pieces we are glad to help you!  Check out our online catalog for themes we currently have designed or custom request the design your heart desires!  Sweet Expressions by Kristal’s Online Catalog

Happy Party planning~Kristal

Just like Toby Keith says….”Let’s have a party, let’s have a party!” I love that song “Red Solo Cup” but no we’re not going to talk about solo cups we’re gonna talk about planning those birthday parties. Everyone loves to actually have the party, who doesn’t love cake, ice cream and gifts right? However I think it takes a special person to love to PLAN the party. No way could I actually do that for a living, seems like a completely overwhelming and stressful job. Kudos to those that do love it. Now, if you’re like me you just want that part over with and you want to blink your eyes so that it’s all done. It’s not always something you can outsource just for birthday parties. If you can, well then you’re probably lurking around on the wrong blog site, LOL!

It’s hard to get motivated to plan a party isn’t it? There are aspects of the party planning I like and others I try to avoid. For instance I like to, of course, make the personalized party decor and favors. I also like decorating the room/location with streamers and balloons and a personalized birthday banner. I also don’t mind making the cake of my kids dreams (or as close as I can get). But being a hostess is not my forte. I don’t exactly feel comfortable being in charge of other people’s children when I don’t really know them. I don’t like heading the party and keeping it moving. I’m a behind the scenes kind of girl in most aspects of my life, it’s where I feel most comfortable. So for me the part I’d like to spend the most money is going somewhere else to have the party, that comes with a party leader and activities and I don’t have to worry about it! This holds especially true once they are in kindergarten. I also don’t like my house getting messy and I don’t like rushing around trying to keep it clean either because I want it presented a certain way when we have company. That’s a stress point for me and to not have the party at my house relieves this stress. Where am I really going with this?

My point is, to start planning your birthday parties you first need to start with a plan. The first thing you should think about is what is your least favorite thing about the birthday party planning and the party day?

What do like the least about the party planning process? Maybe you don’t like baking so you outsource the cake or cupcakes and just pick them up. Perhaps you don’t like getting all those favor bags ready and you get them from Sweet Expressions, wink wink!  you want pictures but perhaps you’re not the best picture taker aka photographer , you can outsource this.  Now when I say outsource that doesn’t always equal money.  When I still lived close to home and we had a few birthday parties we always invited our closest friends and the girl got the still camera and the guy got the video camera.  They were there anyway and they were happy to do it!  Plus we got more pictures than we would have if we were trying to take them AND we were actually in them all.

About 2 or 3 months before the birthday party decide what you’re one or two or three things you don’t like about the party planning process and write it down.  Then start your tentative planning with where you want to have the party, what theme does your child want.  Set a tentative date and find your outsourcing sources whether they are friends, relatives or a business you pay for services and get pricing.  Decide what you’re going to do yourself, if anything, and make a list of supplies you’ll need for the birthday party.  The very next step is to create a budget for your party so that you don’t go crazy with spending.  Then stick to this budget!  Don’t forget to include the birthday gift in this budget.

By starting this process 3 months before you’ll have a little time to save and depending on the child’s age and what milestone they are hitting you may want to start even earlier than that to save for a bigger budget.  Like for a Sweet 16 you’d probably need to start planning 6 months to a year before the party.

Once you have your budget in place and you have your outsources chosen then it’s smooth sailing from there.  You have a plan and you want what exact things you need to personally do and you’ll know exactly what you want to delegate to others because you’re either not good at it, don’t enjoy it or simply don’t like doing it.

Let’s put all that in a list format for you to jot down or copy/paste and print.

3 months before the birthday party begin making your Birthday Plan

1. Decide what you don’t want to do yourself for the birthday party (make cake, make favors, decorate room, take pictures, etc)
2. Start tentative planning
   A.  where to have the party
   B.  Set tentative date
   C.  Get outside quotes (bakery, favors, etc)
   D.  Enlist friends/family
   E.  Create guest list
3. Get quotes for any paid services
   A.  Decide on a birthday gift
   B.  Set your party budget
4. Now download and follow this Checklist! 

Next we’ll discuss how to keep it all together for those parties you do have at YOUR house!

With a new year sometimes comes changes.  Each year I’ve had Sweet Expressions, since 2008, I’ve made some changes here and there.  I’m hoping they are all for the better and my changes come with the hopes of making online ordering easier.  When having a crafty product like candy wrappers it’s really, really hard to decide what to offer and what not to offer because let’s face it, as one individual you can’t offer everything.  I’ve also learned over the years that it’s not good business to offer everything because it makes it hard to become an expert in any one thing.  I have narrowed my focus A LOT in the past 4 years.

This year we did a slight name change by dropping our LLC and just becoming “Sweet Expressions by Kristal”.  Actually makes us look more personal don’t ya think?  Don’t worry no links or websites are changing , just need to add “by Kristal” to the logo.  I’m thinking like a signature.

So what else is changing with Sweet Expressions?  Well not too much except that I am becoming more focused and realizing what’s working and what’s not working based on last year.

I love creating party favors and you love having parties, especially birthday parties.  As moms we all love to go all out for our kids, right, and make everything birthday something super special that they are sure to always remember.  Big or small we love to hand out goodies to the other kids that come to the party to help celebrate.  As I browse the internet and follow other businesses on facebook I see all these elaborate party tables filled with goodies.  Now, I love all those things but let’s face it some of those are a little overboard and just not practical when you have more than one kid you’re throwing parties for each year.  That’s another blog post so I won’t digress too much on the subject.

The article title is called “Birthday Party Favors” and I guess you’re asking me when will I actually start talking about birthday party favors.  I’m getting there, I’m getting there I just wanted to give you a little back story about change.  And this is what I’m working on changing.  How you choose a party pack, online and now we are going to offer 3 levels of party packs offering a little more with each one so that you have a one stop shop for your party “stuff”.  Well it’s almost a one stop for your party, LOL!

I’ll have 3 levels and price points for party packs as listed below:

• Basic-  Includes 12 treat bags filled with standard wrapped candy bar, bubbles and lollipop, 12 Invites or thank you card w/envelopes, 1-personalized balloon on a stick, 12 -bottle labels (the balloon will now come with a balloon weight stand.  Price $62.50
• Basic Plus-  Includes everything in the Basic as well as 12 cupcake toppers, 12 cupcake wrappers, 24 wrapped mini chocolates to be added to treat bags (2 in each bag), a second balloon on a stick with stand. Price $85.49
• Ultimate-  Includes everything from the Basic and the Basic Plus as well as an 8.5×11 Birthday Poster, birthday banner, and 108 pieces of assort fruity lifesavers candy with labels perfect for a pinata.  Price $105.49  The ultimate, because of it’s price point will have Free shipping!

We just talked about birthday party packs and I tell you I just love, love, love creating these things.  I love all things Disney® and wanted to create something for my little girl’s 1st birthday to incorporate pink, cupcakes, and of course my all time favorite character….THE mouse.  However, I also wanted it to be free, or to the best of my knowledge, free from any copyright infringement issues.  Because when I was done with it I wanted to be able to offer it commercially, to you, my adoring fans, customers, and supporters. 

So here is how my whole design process started.  I have an online membership to www.iclipart.com where I can download unlimited amounts of clipart and use it royalty free for my small home based business.  Believe it or not I found a hat with some circles that looks very similar to…well you’ll see what kind of hat and you’ll say, ah…okay.  My husband came home one day with one of those large cupcake cake pans to bake for her party and it was then I knew I definitely had to use cupcakes in the theme.  Of course pink was a given because, duh, she’s a girl.  I had some food clip art with a really cute cupcake and went to town on my design.  This is what I “threw” together.  I know I mentioned that I created this for

my 1 year old girl’s party but this picture is better than the other one I had from her party and this includes all elements that come with a party pack.  With the exception of the balloon on a stick, it’s not pictured here. 

I mailed this party pack out this week and I can’t wait to hear from the customer when she receives it.  I just love getting feedback when a package arrives.  I mean yeah, it’s not like it’s a total surprise because they have seen the design online and they have seen proofs for their personalization but there is something about seeing this stuff in person, all put together and as a part of the actual party.  Pictures aren’t always the best “light” to see something in.  You HAVE to see these in person. 

For me, and one of the reason I chose this type of business, is that a birthday is about something very personal.  It’s a milestone, it’s a celebration of another year of life at any age.  Sure, after we turn 35 we’re not quite as enthused about adding another year but at the same time birthdays are fun.  I love designing for birthdays and I love celebrating with a special cake that’s just for the birthday boy or girl.  I let my kids choose their theme and I make it happen!  I plaster their names all over everything because it’s the one day in the whole year that is absolutely about them just like the day they were born!  Think about it, the day they are born their name is plastered all over everything at the hospital, on your bags, their diaper bag, etc.  Why should that be any different for the rest of the birthday celebrations?  It shouldn’t! 

A little more about this design.  The beauty of pretending to be a graphics artist, I’m not one, is that I can change the colors in this design to make it perfect for boys and adults.  Just a little tweaking and I can take this and make it all about YOU!  I can change fonts too but the font used is very fitting so why would you want to change it?    Seriously, it’s what you like, not what I like. 

If you are interested in a party pack you can start your order now even if you’re party isn’t for several weeks or months.  The best time to order is at least 2 weeks before your party date to ensure timely delivery without having to pay for expedited shipping.  I love these things but man do they take a while to put together.  If you order your party pack between now and January 31, 2012 you will automatically get 12 cupcake toppers included with your order.  Say what?  That’s right we are going to begin offering cupcake toppers soon so we are giving them as a freebie to get more experience in putting them together.  So yeah, you may be the guinea pig but hey, you’re getting another personalized item for your party. 

Browse our online store for designs we have available right now and remember that if you don’t see what you’re looking for just email us and we’ll create a new design for you at no extra charge. Go to Our Online Party Pack Store

Please feel free to share your comments, suggestions and testimonials here.

Let us make it personal for YOU and we’ll help you “Celebrate Life’s Precious Moments”©

Kristal

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Your Ultimate Birthday solution!  As a work at home mom I know how tough it is to get all that birthday stuff together, especially for toddlers.  Most of us want to offer some type of favor or favor bag that goes with the birthday theme and it takes time so get fillers and then put them all together.  That’s on top of everything else you want to do for the birthday; pictures, cake, decorations, invitations, food, etc.

Well I have a perfect solution for you to make it a little easier this year!  The Birthday Party Pack from Sweet Expressions.  You can pick from a theme we already have or pick a custom theme and we will create a design to match…no extra charge of course.  We personalize it, you can even add a photo if you like.  We then print, assemble and ship to you in time for the party and all you do is hand them all out.

What does the party pack include?

Good question!  Here is a list of what you get:

• 12-5×7 Announcement cards w/envelopes (use them for invitations or thank you notes)
• 12-botttle labels:  waterproof, tearproof and smudge proof and fits most botttles up to 16.9oz
• 12-Thank you kid’s treat bags to include, 12 standard wrappers with your choice of chocolate bar or coloring book w/crayons, 12-mintbook lollipops and 12- mini bubbles
• 1- Personalized 7″ round balloon on a stick

All 12 clear treat bags will be assembled and tied with coordinating ribbon ready for you to hand out, you don’t do a thing.

Isn’t that amazing?  How much time that will save you right!  You get 12 ready-to-go favor bags…all you do is hand them out on the day of the party or celebration.

There are also add ons if you want to go a little further with the pack and theme.  We can create mini wrappers for you that fit around mini chocolate bars (great for pinata).  Or maybe some chocolate kiss labels for the bottom of the kisses, individual Rolos, and small Reese’s cups.  These labels will also fit on small hard candy like cinnamon disks, peppermint, spearmint, lifesavers candy.  You get the idea.

Newly offered and not even on the website yet are cupcake toppers!  That’s right, those will also match your personalized theme.  Perfect if you’re taking cupcakes to school and let’s face it sometimes it’s just easier to hand out a cupcake to kids and skip all that cutting.

So if you’re planning a birthday soon you HAVE to check these out and get yours ordered now to save you tons of time.

Here are a few pictures of some party packs and what you’ll get.

The picture above shows you the standard bar, bubbles, mintbook lollipop, balloon, invite and a bottle label on a water bottle.  These are all the items included in the pack.  This was design for a 5 year old boy that couldn’t decide on a Star Wars theme or a Thomas the Tank Engine them so I did both.  Why should he have to choose, right!  One side was Star Wars and the other side was Thomas.

This picture are 12 treat bags for a 1 yr old princess birthday party.  See how they are fully assembled and ready to hand out?  Easy peasy I say.

Check out are already design party packs here–>Look at Party Packs

Remember if you don’t see a theme there you like or it’s not the them you’ve picked out no worries just send us an email and tell us what you are looking for and we’ll send create it for you.  We also have a Custom Option for you and in the comments you tell us what you want–>Custom Party Pack

When is your next birthday celebration?  I’ll be glad to make it a little easier for you.

Make it Personalized,

Kristal

Looking for a unique, great, very personal Christmas gift?  Maybe you need some for the classroom, students and/or teachers.  How about those office mates, besties and family.   We have plenty of awesome items to share and they were all created with you in mind.  In fact some were created by request and now I’m sharing with you too.  My favorite time of year for designing is Christmas and my second favorite is Valentine’s day.  I think most of us get excited about giving our circle of friends and family the best, the cutest, the most unique gifts that we know they will love and my friends who doesn’t love chocolate?  Chocolate isn’t all we offer, we do have alternatives, and you are always welcome to special request, however chocolate is a big part of what we do.

Our first item are the Christmas character bars.  I went crazy after the Thanksgiving bars and designed a whole family of those little guys and gals.  Just take a look at this picture and tell me they aren’t cute!

Christmas Character Bars

I just love these wearing their little hats and scraves!  Let me introduce them from left to right starting with the top row:  Gingy, Penguin, Red Nose Reindeer, Elfy, Mr. Frostie.  Second Row: The big man himself and the Mrs.–Santa and Mrs. Claus.   I don’t think I have a favorite in this bunch they are all just too cute!  They’ve been flying out of here in a little box sleigh and some have even made it to a retail counter.  These would make an awesome teacher gift and kids love giving them, I’m sure they will be the kid of the day when they hand these out!  *At the bottom we’ll share some links on how to buy these little fellas.

Next item up:

Letter from Santa

Personalized Letter From SantaNow this is sweet! What a great way to get your kids extra excited about Christmas....a super unique and custom message from Santa. Have an older kid asking lots of questions and doubting Santa, send them one of these to keep the spirit alove one more year. After you answer some questions this letter will use their name, the town they live in, what they may get for Christmas, friends and brothers and sister's names. You may also request anything custom to be added.Next in LineClassroom Candy CanesClassroom Candy CanesNow these are simply perfect for classroom friends. My son loves giving these out in the classroom to his friends and the kids absolutely love them. If you're not able to send candy to school or don't want to just custom request some festive pencils instead! Same low price and they will still be absolutely adorable. These are the 3 most popular items. We have many more items to choose from oh wait, I almost forgot about the custom request I received and created just the other day. This one is also awesome for the classroom! Who doesn't love..... Polar Express

Polar Express inspired!  What kid doesn’t love this movie?  Seriously, how awesome is this?  Even I’m impressed.

What’s your favorite?  Maybe none of these hit your fancy.   That’s okay, there’s more in our online store click here–>Christmas Catalog

For more details about the items above use these links:

Christmas Character Bars

Santa Letter

Classroom Candy Canes

Golden Ticket (Polar Express)

Have any questions or need some ideas send me a message and I’ll be glad to help.  Before I go I want to give you a little something for free.  A Nice List Certificate, print this out and write your child’s name on it!  

Enjoy!

Well look at these new creations!  have you ever seen such a thing? I mean it’s a candy bar wrapper with style.  When I say style I’m really talking about “clothes”.  Okay so it’s just a hat and some feathers but what a way to bring a 3rd dimension to a candy bar wrapper.  KIDS WILL LOVE THESE!  And so will most adults.

This Thanksgiving character collection was inspired by a snowman that was found on another blog by Laurie Furnell, Find the snowman article HERE.  Psst, We are offering these too at Sweet Expressions!  Back to the Thanksgiving characters.  So these were inspired by this blog that was shared amongst the candy wrapper community.  We all just loved these so much but once I saw them and candy wrappers were buzzing I couldn’t let it stop here!  Had to keep going and only fitting to start with Thanksgiving.  By the way there is an entire Christmas character collection that I’ll blog about soon.

This character collection for Thanksgiving is perfect for your classroom pilgrims and turkeys!  That’s right, pilgrims and turkeys.  I know you’re on the edge of your seat now!  :)  There is a picture at the end but please no peaking yet!  Not only are they great for the classroom parties, teacher’s gifts, preschool, daycare, church classes they are PERFECT for your Thanksgiving dinner table place settings.  What better way to tell everyone “Thank you” for coming.  You can even personalize the back of each one with a separate message to let each person know why you are thankful for them.  Maybe you rather share your favorite scripture or perhaps a Thanksgiving poem, or just a simple message straight from your heart.  If you can’t think of anything, that’s okay, we can and we’ll make sure it presents your style…not ours.

I know you’re scrolling to see a picture so here it is, the unveiling of the Thanksgiving Character Collection Exclusive to Sweet Expressions!!!

Pilgrim Girl and Pilgrim Boy both wearing hats and Tom Turkey with felt feathers!  Now that’s a cute favor.

Celebrate in the classroom…any classroom, celebrate at the office, give these to your clients, give them to friends and use them as your place settings, heck they can be substituted for dessert since it’s filled with a chocolate bar!  you did after all slave over the whole dinner why the dessert too.

These can be ordered in any quantity from 1 to whatever.  They are priced at $3 for 1 or 2 for $5 ($2.50/each for more than 2).  To order simply follow this link–>Order Your Turkey Characters NOW!

Here’s a little day after Thanksgiving tidbit:  You just put away all those leftovers and you really feel like you shouldn’t have to cook for like a week right?  However the family still gets hungry but they have had Thanksgiving up to the ears now cause the food was so good they are totally stuffed.  Here’s a great way to make a new meal out of the old meal.  Depending on how much turkey you have left you could do both.  there’s always turkey salad which will taste much like chicken salad.  Add in your left over turkey, cut it up into chunk sizes you like, add a little onion, onion powder or dried onion flakes, salt, pepper, mayo (it’s gotta be Dukes if it’s available in your area) and maybe even a left over deviled egg or two.  mix it altogether, let it set for a little while in the fridge so all those flavors merge nicely and make some sandwiches for lunch or supper.  I like to add swiss cheese and brown it in a pan like making a grilled cheese….superb!

Make a Turkey style shepherd’s pie!  for the bottom layer start with mashed taters or mac n cheese or both if you have them, then add corn or green beans to the next layer and yes green bean casserole will work!  Next layer add the turkey then throw in that left over gravy if you have any left over (make extra so that you do…trust me), then add some cheddar cheese, bake in 350 degree oven until warm (cheese will be nice and bubbly)  and voila you have a nice day after meal.  It was easy, and now your left overs are gone and you don’t feel like you’re having Thanksgiving all over again.  Next step is go put up the Christmas tree and decorate it while drinking hot chocolate and watching  ”National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”  (that’s what we do)

Don’t forget to count how many pilgrims and turkeys you need and use the link up above.

See you again soon!

Kristal

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This is probably our most popular product each year!  A personalized letter from Santa.  What kid doesn’t want to know that Santa has put their name on the Nice List and send them a letter that is addressed to them with personalized conversation pieces!?  Then you add the personalized candy bar treat they get and a few other bonuses it makes it the perfect pre-Christmas gift!  So what exactly do I get with the letter?  It’s not just a letter is it?  Not from Sweet Expressions it’s not!

Here’s what you get with our Santa Letter:

• Personalized letter
• addressed envelope with faux postage and faux North Pole Postmark
• personalized candybar wrapper filled with your choice of chocolate bar or coloring book w/crayons
• Faux autographed picture of Santa
• Bonus– Jingle bell necklace (think about the movie North Pole Express)
• Parent’s instructions/suggestions sheet
• Price is $8.99 (includes shipping– multiple letter discounts available)

BOO!  Did I scare you?  Well I really hope not, in fact I hope it put a little smile on your face.  You know sometimes I wonder exactly what I should blog about to y’all and I really to think about this way too much.  We all know that too much thought can lead to well just sitting there holding the keyboard with nothing riveting to say.  Then one day as I’m playing on facebook when I should actually be working I saw several photographers pages.  And what kind of posts did I see?  Posts about their sessions.  Then it hit me…um hello, why couldn’t I do the same thing?  Not exactly the same because I’m not a photographer but I do help celebrate moments and each time I have a new creation whether it’s my own idea or a customer’s special request I take pictures of the products and there is always a story to tell so why not tell that to you?!  You know, it’s so easy sometimes it’s simple stupid isn’t it?  So here’s my first attempt and I actually have 3 I’d like to blog about so you’ll get an ear full this week.

Last week I had a customer that found us and left a message on my business phone, which is really just my personal cell phone that I’ve attached a local number to for business.  Anyway, her office mate called and left me a message.  I called her back the next day and this how our conversation went.  She was thrilled to hear from me and as I was talking to her she mentioned that she kind of decided spur of the moment to search for candy bar favors and had searched and searched online/google and after several attempts to contact other wrappers she finally found me.  She was a little nervous because my website says I need a 2 week lead time.  That’s true for some orders especially those being shipped but for local orders I can have a 2-3 day turn around on most orders.  She told me what she liked on my website which were minis in royal blue with a ribbon and a standard with a purple color theme and also a gift pictured on it.  However, she like the basic design she wanted a specific color.  She would have been fine with the design she saw on my website and but it possible she wanted black, white and red colors used.  Now I tell ya, when my customer wants a custom option I will do what I can to make that happen.  I don’t want you to like your items, I want you to LOVE them!  I told her I can absolutely re-create a similar items using her colors and I would send her a digital proof to look at and approve before we go further.

This is what she found on the website that she liked:

(standard wrapper)

(mini wrapper)

This is the digital proof I sent her:

This was her response to the digital proof:

Hello Kristal,

All I can say is OMG! I am so pleased with the proofs, you just don’t know!  You captured all of my suggestions and I am so loving them! I have examined the proof and saw not one flaw!

Responses like that make all the time it takes to prepare these personal creations worth it.  I love receiving comments like this and I love helping others celebrate their precious moments.  The customer could not have been happier with the results and as I tell all my customers, if you like the digital proof wait until you see the finished product because the 2 never compare.  See for yourself!

These are the things we feel set up apart from others.  We are in it to make you happy!  I want to create something that expresses who you are, not who I am or what I want.  I want you to know that when I say custom I really do mean custom.  Do we have our limitations?  We have our ethical and moral limitations sure but design limitations…hm, if we have them, we haven’t met them yet!  We also like to go above and beyond and I won’t tell you what it is but we like to include a special little gift, or two, with each order but that’s our inside secret and if you’ve ordered from us before then you know what that is, however I will tell you it’s not always the same ole thing!

We love helping you celebrate your special moments and add that extra pizzazz to your party, event, or holiday.  What are you celebrating?  We want to know!

Until next time,

Kristal

*Picture of the top 2 wrappers are courtesy of OccasionOgraphy® and we are OccasionOgraphy® licensed consultant.  Digital Proof picture and watermarked picture and designs are created and owned by yours truly, Sweet Expressions, LLC.  Do not copy and or use our images or designs without written permission from Sweet Expressions, LLC © 2011 All Rights Reserved

When you think party favors, holiday gifts, birthday gifts and classroom items it’s easiest to think about chocolate and candy.  When I got in the candy wrapping business it was about chocolate bars and mints and hard candy.  Now I’ve narrowed my target market down to birthdays, holidays and classroom gifts my target market is really moms of small kids.  As a mom of 3 small kids myself the last thing we want in the classroom at school or church, birthday parties and holiday parties is more candy for our kids to consume right?!  We could think of the party as a one time deal but lets face it, it’s not a one time deal anymore.  Kids are getting invited to parties left and right.  There’s the school party, the holiday party the church party, the family party and it’s all filled with wonderful sugary goodness.  But how many of us want to raise junk food junkies?  Not many and we want to control their sugary choices and options.  I do it myself with my own kids and even thought they always get personalized products for their birthday, Christmas and other holidays through out the year it’s not always filled with candy.  I like to find other items that the kids will love and make a personalized product out of it. 

A lot of these options are not new so why haven’t you seen them?  Well, I don’t have a straight answer for you except that it’s easier to market candy but it’s obvious that my following is not interested in just candy, you want other options, you want fun options that don’t send your kids like a rocket in the sky to come crashing down hours later into a mush of sugar whine.  (That’s what happens to my kids when they have too much sugar at one time)  Today I’m sharing with you some GREAT alternatives to candy because our products are so versatile Candy is NOT the ONLY option!

Take a look at our standard candy bar wrapper.

Now what makes this wrapper unique is the envelope/pouch that comes with it.  This foil envelope looks like a long coin envelope or like the envelope you get when you cash your check at the bank.  it’s self sealing and oh my, there are so many things that can fit in that envelope.

Do you have any idea of the things that can fit in there?!  I’m gonna share with you some things I personally KNOW fits in here and wraps nicely and your kids will love.  Take a look at this picture first:

That’s right, I can roll that coloring book up put it in the foil pouch, take the 6 crayons out of the box and put them in a small zip bag and slip it right in the middle of the coloring book roll, seal the envelope and wrap it and it turn it into a perfect item for birthday or holiday goodie bags.  The sunglasses, yes they fit too and the Easter bunny brought these to my boys last year and they love them.  Here is a list of other items I don’t have that will also fit:

• Lance 6-Cracker packs (other snack packs this size)
• hot chocolate packets
• granola bars
• protein bars
• baby biter biscuits
• snack size 100 calorie packs
• Check , money or gift card (instead of getting those mundane cards in the card section at the store! (perfect for birthdays, Christmas and Graduations)
• sticker sheets
• chewing gum packs (I know borderline candy…but choose sugar free types)
• small craft kits
• key chains
• long bead necklaces (great for princess party)
• 7” deflated beach ball (Easter bunny brought this for my boys one year too..another winner!)
• mini markers or pens and note pad

This list can go on and on but I’ll stop here cause I bet now your mind is racing with ideas!

Now for the mintbook, which is one of my favorite products because it is so versatile as well!  I just love these little things.

I know, this picture has candy in it but I just want you to see a mintbook as you’re reading.  It’s a cute little 2/2” match book looking thing but it hides a better surprise inside than matches!  Now take a look at this group of “stuff”:

If you’re thinking that stuff might be able to fit into a mintbook then you are CORRECT!  Look at those non-candy items for mintbooks.  By adding one little zip bag the possibilites are endless.  Here you see, necklace, bracelet, emergency sewing kit, lapel pins (American Flag and Jesus Love Me), a pencil.  The pencil fits by simply punching holes at the top and bottom of the mintbook and taping closed rather than using a staple.  I send Zack to school with Mintbook pencils frequently for holidays and use a holiday themed pencil.  What kid doesn’t like a new cool pencil?  I even like getting them!  Here are some more options that I don’t have pictures of:

• temporary tattoos
• small keychain
• earrings
• coins
• hair bows

What else can you think of to fit into a mintbook?  Sometimes it doesn’t have to actually fit in the mintbook, the mintbook can be used like a tag similar to the pencils. 

We have other non-candy items that we’ve been introducing and are great goodie bag and gift options:

• lip balm
• mini bubble bottles
• water bottle labels (I use petite bottled water at my kids parties and offer sugar free drink packets to pour in them)
• Gift cans (decorated gallon sized paint cans…you fill them)

We do have many pictures with our candy options but that does not mean we can’t or won’t substitute for non-candy options per your request.  We are glad to do that for you!  I agree we need to make this more public and let it be known loud and clear that we don’t just offer candy with our products.  So if you see a product you like but you don’t want to get candy you just let me know and we’ll find a solution for you and we also sell wrappers and labels only and you can use them with an item you found!  We give you complete assembly instructions for any Do-It-Yourself Orders!

Celebrating life’s precious moments and personlizing them for you!

Kristal

*Feel free to email us with any questions and/or suggestions to krea...@sweetexpressionsllc.net