If I Were Going Back to School

If I were going back to school, I would want the following Etsy items to make the transition from summer vacation just a little sweeter. :)

Chalk Board School Supplies Bracelet by MySelvegedLife

Vintage Learning Curve Pencil Box by Mmim

Shark Bag Zipper Pencil Case by minnebites

And of course, I wouldn't want to forget a gift to my teacher! Never hurts, right? :) 

Peppermint Foot Cream by RightAsRainCreations

Any teacher would welcome some of my peppermint foot cream after a long day of standing. The cream nourishes, the peppermint soothes and cools. Remember kids: A teacher with happy feet is a happy teacher indeed! (and maybe she'll go lighter on the homework as a result)

My Baby Started Preschool!

I'm not really a very sentimental person. Not really. I haven't saved all my kids' baby teeth. I think the "souvenirs" from their infancy could fit in a small storage tote each - a couple outfits, a special stuffed toy, the hospital paperwork, and maybe a fun bib or rattle or something. I figure most of what I want to remember, I can revisit through pictures without having to store a bunch of stuff.

I don't really mourn each phase my children pass through, and to be honest, I spent all summer looking forward to when school was starting again. Ok, so mostly this was because my kids are at that constant bickering/name-calling/tattle-telling phase and I'm going insane (please, please tell me they outgrow this? Or at least get more adept at it so my involvement isn't needed? ha!) To put it mildly, I'm just not sentimental about a lot of things.

However, it kind of hit me that my very last baby, our youngest, our only daughter... is growing up. It isn't a sudden revelation, truthfully. She's always been eager to keep up with her brothers and has been eschewing anything "baby" since before she turned two. Somehow, though, this step smacked me in the face a bit.

Not that she cares. Look at her:

This is the face of excitement, folks. This is the look of months' worth of anticipation! She just did not understand my need to cuddle her and hug her and kiss her and take a bazillion photos of her this morning. She just wanted to leave already! (Note: she did cry for about two minutes after Daddy left, not realizing somehow that he wasn't going to be staying there and playing with her the entire time.)

See that sparkle in her eyes? No? Well, she is making "camera smile" face here, hahaha. The sparkle is there, trust me, and it was even sparklier when I picked her up three hours later. She spent the entire 10 minute drive home filling my ears with all the fabulous things she got to do: play with playdough! Play with her friend from Church! Hear a story about pirates stealing beans from Grandma! Eat a snack!

So, goodbye baby and hello school girl. Mama loves you the same. No, that's not true - Mama loves you even more!

Are You Ready for Halloween? Well, My Son Is!

School doesn't start until next week, yet my oldest is more interested in Halloween being only 2 months away (LESS THAN TWO MONTHS NOW, as it is September 1st as I am writing this) than he is about starting 2nd grade next week.

Seriously, two weeks ago he was in the garage pulling down our Halloween decorations (I think we have five) and painstakingly placing them around the play space. I thought he was playing with Legos. Silly me.

So when a friend of mine posted a link on Twitter to one of her awesome sculptures and it happened to be a pumpkin version of Munch's "The Scream" I just had to make a Halloween treasury. I knew Isaac would flip for it.

Allow me to share it with you. You might find that Halloween decoration you never knew you always have needed! Plus, with stuff that you buy via mail, it is always safer to buy early (in fact, three items in this list have already sold, so better not hesitate!)

... and let's not talk about how this is my first post in 2011, shall we? Thank you. (Hopefully I'll post more often, but let's face it. I've made that promise before!)

Hooray for Winners!

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to participate. :) I wish I could afford to send you all a free item! Since I can't - here are the four lucky ones who won the drawing:


Emily
Kawaiiflipchica
Alisha
K is for Calligraphy

I'll be in contact shortly!

My Etsy Shop Is Turning FOUR!

On December 10th, Right As Rain Creations will celebrate four years of selling on Etsy! I want to thank all my totally rockin' awesome customers for the 1100-plus sales that have allowed me to do something I absolutely love and make a little fun money on the side.

I also want to thank Etsy, for providing such an amazing place for me to reach the world-wide online community. I love being able to send my products all over the globe. I love the friends I've made on Etsy. I told someone the other day that Etsy wasn't a business, it was a lifestyle!

So... are you wondering how I'm going to celebrate this year?
(drumroll please)

I'm having A SALE and A GIVEAWAY! 

Check out my Etsy shop at RightAsRainCreations.etsy.com and search "4 YEARS on ETSY SALE" to find all my discounted items. Here's a few selections from my personal favorites!

4 oz Peppermint Foot Cream

Root Beer Lip Balm

Lavender Skin Salve

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY! 
Browse my shop. Post a comment here with a link to an item you like. Make sure I have a way to contact you if you win (email address, Etsy username, or Twitter username). 

On December 10th, sometime after noon, I will randomly pick FOUR winners who will get to choose ANY ONE ITEM in my shop as their prize! (note: it doesn't have to be the item you post in your comment)

I will pick four individual winners, so you can only win once. However, you may post as many comments with links as you like and each one will get you an entry, increasing your odds of winning!


BONUS! I'll also pick one person who "likes" my page on facebook to win an item as well! This person CAN be one of the blog winners, so you have a chance to win two items!

Now, GO! Look, Link, SHOP! :)