Free Word Find Printable

I remember doing word finds as a kid and still enjoy them today. This one's great for older kids and easy to complete in about 10 minutes. They'll have fun searching for birthday related words and maybe get a bit hungry for our favorite food - cupcakes ;)

Get your free printable now, just click on the image to open in a new tab, then print. Visit us every month for a new and different type of challenge. Enjoy!

Have an idea for our next free printable? Please leave us comment.

Dreaming of Felt Food

Felt food is great way to encourage pretend play

Like many moms, I get my work done after the kids are asleep. Last night I was dreaming up a new style of icing for our felt cupcakes. The first post on this blog showed our original attempts at creating a realistic cupcake shape. If you've tried making your own patterns for felt food you know it takes a few tries to get a piece looking just right. Katherine and I initially settled on one icing style and have sold several in our shop on Etsy. These cupcakes feature soft ruffles in pink and white felt.

The fun thing about cupcakes today is variety, so we're going to keep dreaming up new designs for our felt cupcakes too! Our newest style features bold swirls of felt. I still need to stitch the layers together but so far I think it looks great. I couldn't resist putting a cherry on top. This was my first try at a felt cherry!! It was tedious to stitch the pieces together, but I think it's a nice finishing touch on this piece.

If you're shopping for play food this holiday season, please consider handmade felt treats like ours. See more of our felt goodies in our shop on Etsy!

Featured Seller: ChiliMango

One of the best things about Etsy is that new shops are added all the time, like this one ChiliMango. Emily recently started selling jewlery on Etsy, although she's been a member on Etsy from the beginning.

Based out of California she finds inspiration in the warm tropics and nature. I was impressed with the unique construction of this necklace - orange Japanese seed beeds and a yellow canary faceted lucite bead are strung on turquoise waxed cotton cord, twisted to make up the fun focal pendant.

Priced at $10 it's a great gift for a friend or for yourself!

In addition to her day job and Etsy business, Emily also created a social network called "Do You Etsy?" http://www.doyouetsy.com/ - a friendly place where Etsyians can promote their work, trade tips and support one another. It's a great resource for sellers, my favorite part of this network is the video section. Here are some of the great videos you'll find:

• Indie5Collective Channel for Etsy Artist - daily videos where you can learn about Etsy communities, meet other sellers and get tips for starting your business.


• How to videos for promoting your shop with myspace, facebook and twitter.
  
• Etsy Lab videos - packaging, photos and more
  

Lots of luck to Emily and her new business!!