FREE BEST SELLING Criss Cross Tutu EBOOK

So you've tackled the perfect no-sew tutu, and even some awesome loopy hair bows to match, but this is the ultimate test. Are you a Super Star Mommy? If you can make one of these rockin' criss cross tutus for your little girl, you'll be Queen for a week!


Click here for the tutorial. Please remember I created these e-books when I owned Nellie Bug's so do NOT email the address in the e-book with questions. :)


PREVIEW of the tutus you will make with this ebook:

Best Selling No-Sew Tutu E-Book

Who doesn't absolutely love tutus? They have been my life for about 2 years now, since opening Nellie Bug's back in 2009. I realize there are lots of no-sew tutu tutorials on the web. Many are free, and many are for sale. I've been selling this exact e-book for a while now, and have had 100% positive feedback! So I am confident that you will fall in love with it! :)

As most of you know, I sold Nellie Bug's recently. While it was sad, it was happy at the same time because a fellow tutu maker took over my business. She learned how to make tutus from my e-book, and started her own business. And now she owns Nellie Bug's! It's amazing what a little hard work can do for you. If you want to start your own boutique business, go for it! You can do it.

This tutu e-book has been one of my best sellers for a long time! These instructions will show you how to make THE best no-sew tutus. I held nothing back. I am not keeping any secrets. It's all laid out in black and white in this e-book. You can view it, you can print it, and please.. please share it!! (Share the link to this post, please.) This e-book also includes my oh-so-easy cutting method which will save you tons of time and guarantee always even tulle!

You can easily make your own no-sew tutu for under $10. Sometimes even as little as $5. You will use about 100 yards of tulle for each tutu unless you are doing newborn sizes, then it will be less. If you have any questions whatsoever, please ask. :)

Click HERE to access the e-book. It's in google doc format. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of it!

First ebook!!

I just finished my very first eBook!! I saw that folks were selling them for $15 and thought wow.. no way! So I made it for $5. :)

nelliebugs.etsy.com is where you can find the ebook if you are interested. It teaches you how to make your own professional boutique style tutus. I will be writing another one soon on how to start your own tutu business.

Some ladies have told me I might put myself out of business, but other people are already writing these things so I might as well get in on it while I can! I want everyone to be able to AFFORD these things (tutus, ebooks, supplies, whatever)... and I keep seeing people OVER CHARGE for them. I know how it feels to look at something and be like wow.. wish I could afford that. Well, now you can!! :)

If you have any ideas on what other ebooks I should write, let me know. I already did tutus, will done one on tutu businesses, and maybe on the new woven headbands I make?? Those were a hit at the craft show! All ideas are appreciated. Thanks!

How is everyone's summer??? Kids going back to school soon? MINE ARE!

Quick blog

So, I missed blogging yesterday. I have two things I really need to post but haven't quite had the time or organization to do so! Hopefully tonight.

I've been working on the website. My mother and I are no longer speaking, SOOOOO I had to remove the patchwork scarves from the website because it was her sewing machine that was making them. :/ Long story. But I won't be talking to her any time soon, so I just took them all down. Blah.

I went to a party last night and it was fun. There was a Party Lite lady, a Pampered Chef, someone selling fake designer handbags, and my friend (who invited me) was selling her awesome jewelry. I bought some. I'll take pics today if I can. When she finally gets on etsy, I will be posting about her a LOT! :)

We hired a new babysitter last night. Well, when I say new, I mean we haven't had a babysitter other than our moms for over a year. My mom took the girls once a month and her mom took them once every few months. We would usually just sit at home and make tutus LOL but it was "our" time. Last night, Rach had to work and I had the party to attend, so we asked the new neighbor if she'd watch the girls. She agreed, and they had a good time. When Rach got home, the kids were asleep and the house was SPOTLESS! The girls each got a bath/shower and everything. INSANE! I want her as my NANNY lol. She is only 14, so I was worried, but she did better than anyone I've ever let watch the kids. Plus, her parents were right next door, and she had a cell phone, so it made us both feel safer. Definitely the best $25 I've EVER spent.

We are babysitting a friend's kids today. I have to go to the mall and pick them up pretty soon. She doesn't have a car so she rides the bus, with her kids, to work. We pick them up from there. Honestly, it is a pain in the ass to drive out there, but I need to check on our shop (in the mall) anyway.. so it's a good excuse for me to go.

OH and before I forget, this is what my table looked like last night. I didn't get a picture of the tutus hanging up :( but it was because I was SO busy! I got 7 custom orders I believe. :)



And I need pictures of dogs in tutus -- if you have a small dog and would be able to get him/her (preferably her lol) to model, I'll send you a tutu for free! Just get with me ASAP.

P.S. ... Does anyone know why I'd go from 175 followers to 174? My feelings are hurt lol.

Kinda tired

We will be up late tonight again, making tutus. I have a party to attend tomorrow night and need to have 10 tutus ready. I think we have like 4 or 5 done. WEEEEEEEE! I'll get some rest this weekend. Seems like we go full force all week! I try to get things done during the day but when I'm online I feel like I'm going in circles! I go from Facebook, to Etsy, to Cafemom, to blogs, and back to Facebook to start all over LOL. I am going to start making a schedule for myself. 9AM wake up.. computer time until 10, then work on something.. whether it's tutus, crafts, wii, whatever. Something other than the black hole of the internet.

So Jenelle's dad sent a text tonight: "Sunday still cool?". Um, no Chris.. Sunday is NOT "still cool". You were supposed to text BY Wednesday at 8pm to CONFIRM you were getting her Sunday. He has had visitation since January I believe.. and has missed over half of his visits. That doesn't sound that bad, except his visits are TWO times a month for FOUR hours. Yet he has still managed to miss over half of them. Really? Ugh. I want to move to another state, but can't because of the visitation. I'm going to be making a log of when he shows up, when he doesn't, and all of the lame ass excuses he uses (your car can only "not start" so many times.. you can only "oversleep" so many times.. come on), and hopefully we can petition the court to be able to move. *Fingers crossed*

I am really disappointed in the photo shoot from Saturday. I got about 10 pictures from her on Monday, like she had promised, but they weren't that great. I can use MAYBE three of them for the website, after I do some editing of my own. Luckily I didn't pay much for them but still.. just really let down. I used to work with the photographer at my old job, and she's good people, but she sucks at taking pictures. The day was perfect.. sun was perfect.. models did GREAT.. but the pictures stink. Luckily, I brought Jenelle's digital camera and got a few cute shots. I am using them for the tutu party tomorrow. EEK I still need to make up a price list and order form. Crap.

My picture



Her picture



A random collage of pictures I had before



Well, Jenelle challenged me to a wii competition, so I have to go now... I might blog later, but for the sake of my sanity I should probably just wait until tomorrow morning. :) I have a long blog planned. And an award to pass on!

OH and this is the outfit I'm wearing to the party tomorrow night.

So

Sharing LOTS of pictures today.. I tried to pick just two or three... so not happening.












Today was busy. I didn't feel like blogging, but my headache finally went away (at 10:55PM), so I figured what the heck.

I got a text message late last night asking if we could babysit an 18 month old that we babysat once (on New Year's Eve, a friend of a friend referred her to us). We said sure, of course. :) We love babysitting! Plus, this little girl is so funny and cute! We picked her up at 10:30 at the mall, then we took her and Sapphire to the play place. They played for about a half an hour before a bunch of brats showed up and started jumping off things, running like crazy, and just being bad. We decided to leave at that point. On our way out, we stopped at the Children's Place and got some shirts for Sapphire. It's the first time I've ever bought anything there. The shirts were $5, so not too bad and they are super cute. We then stopped at Target to get a rolling garment rack for the tutu party next week. It was only $9.99. Score!

On our way out of Target, I saw a wii Fit Plus on the shelf. WHAT?! They have been sold out of them off and on for 7 months. Last time I asked an employee what my chances were of getting one, he said slim to none. They get FOUR in a month and they always fly off the shelf. Apparently the truck came in this MORNING and we got there right after they got put on the shelf. We honestly didn't have the extra cash to spend, but it was something Rachel really wanted so I stuck it in the cart. We got a leotard and a shirt for Sapphire - they were $1.79 each on clearance.

Got home, ate lunch, and put Sapphire down for a nap. I laid down with Delilah and she screamed. So I sang to her. And she screamed some more. Finally, I just gave up wasting my breath and turned the fan on high. We both fell asleep immediately. I woke up to drool all over my cleavage... nice.

Brought Delilah back to her mom and then we went to the park. Jenelle had a movie night at school so we had time to kill until 5 when it was time to pick her up. We put Sapphire in a tutu at the park and people were just ooohing and ahhhing like crazy! Rach was ready with business cards, of course!





The tutu swallowed her when she was in the swing LOL one lady was like "Oh man you HAVE to put that one on your website!".



Please, God.. make them stop taking pictures. They keep saying "just one more"...



Then we picked Jenelle up, and came home to make tutus. We decided to do a last minute photo shoot tomorrow, so we have 6 tutus to make tonight. Two down, four to go. That is what I'm off to do now!

No-Sew Tutu Tutorial (Video)

Click for our latest giveaway: HERE.



If you have any questions or need clarifications, please let me know. Feel free to pass this video on - I have been thinking about making it for a while, but wanted to get it ALL in under 5 minutes and that took a lot of planning!

And please don't forget to stop by Nellie Bug's blog for the jingle contest that just started.

Monday's Mail Madness

Monday is always crazy as far as mail goes! I don't go to the post office on Saturday (unless I have a tutu order that needs to be mailed), so I have Saturday and Sunday to get LOTS of stuff together (swaps, giveaways, coupon packages, etc) and then Monday I mail everything off.

Today, I'm mailing off two of my coupon swaps, about 6 packages of business cards (doing a swap with some other women on Etsy), 6 soaps, two tutus



a patchwork scarf, and a random selection of coupons to a friend.

Whew. This trip is going to be fun, fun, fun!

I have been doing well with being more "green" when mailing things. If I had a sewing machine, I'd probably ditch tape all together (on the envelopes, at least).. but I don't, so I am still using tape. However, I've been using all recycled bags, boxes, etc to mail things out in. I have done this for my personal things, have not done it for the business stuff yet. Recycled packaging doesn't always look the best, so I've been afraid to try it with the business. Opinions???

I will post again later. Off to the post office...

First "real" post, an introduction

Well, I guess that title is a bit misleading. I haven't been fake or anything, I've just tried to focus on the tutu business moreso than my personal life when writing this blog. That, of course, is changing now. :) I will warn you, I am very opinionated. If you can't handle that, I do apologize in advance! You should follow this blog instead -- I do giveaways and reviews, and it's pretty much all business, with just a little bit of sass. ;)

I should introduce myself! Most of you know me already, but this will be a good post for others to look back on when they find me. First of all, I'm a typo FREAK so if you EVER see a typo in one of my blogs, PLEASE tell me!!

Me in 1987:



Me in 2009:



I'm 24 years old (I will be 25 on 4/9, send me something special lol). My partner's name is Rachel - we have been together for a little over a year. We have also lived together for a little over a year. In true U-Haul fashion, we did in fact move in together after dating for less than a month. (For the record, I didn't do that with anyone else prior to her - I had kids and never trusted anyone enough.) We met at work - it was love at first sight.

Rachel:



Us:



We have three little girls. Jenelle is 8, Gracelynn will be 5 on 3/7, and Sapphire is 3. Seeing as we are lesbians, she obviously didn't impregnate me and I didn't impregnate her - I'm biologically their mother. I was married previously, and was terribly unhappy... not much to say on that subject really. :) Rachel is their "other mother" (that's the name they came up with for her), and more of a "father" than theirs ever was.

Jenelle:


Gracelynn:


Sapphire (the day we moved in, excuse the mess):



I read an article online back in October of 2009 about making your own tutus. They were called "no-sew" tutus, and seemed fairly easy to make. I kept reading, and watching, and figured out how to do them. My first few attempts looked pathetic, honestly (so if you're trying to make them, don't give up).

First tutu I ever made:



However, I soon perfected the tutu-making and people started asking where they could buy them.

Tutus now:



I've always liked working online, so I figured I'd make a webpage and sell the tutus there. I had no idea it would turn into such a big thing, but I love it!! It still isn't HUGE to where I'm getting orders every day yet, but I'm working on that. :)



My first customers were photographers. I placed an ad on craigslist asking amateur photographers if they wanted their photography noticed -- I offered tutus in exchange for their photos.

Other than making tutus, we also like to do all types of crafts. I recently taught my 8 year old how to loom-knit and she fell in love! It is the first craft I've let her do solo, and she is addicted. :) She doesn't have much time to do it, with school and such (that's another story in itself), but she did complete her first scarf last month. She is making her sister one for her birthday as well. I recently got a Cricut, so we have started papercrafting also! The little ones can help with that, and they really enjoy it.

As far as my philosophy and views on things.. I've been asked a lot of questions lately about religion, politics, going green, and more. My views on some things change from day to day - others I am firm in and have not changed my mind in 24 years. :) I generally shy away from discussing such "deep" topics with people, because they seem to get offended easily, but for introduction purposes I will state my beliefs on a few things.

Religion: I am 10000% against organized religion. I believe in God, we pray every day (and before every meal), we talk about God a lot, but we do not (will not) attend church.

Politics: I really hate politics..

Going green: I'd love to be a traveling tutu selling hippie.. I'd love to dred my hair and drive an RV across country that runs on vegetable oil. However, finances prevent us from doing that right now.. so until then, I do send all of my bows, giveaways, etc out in recycled materials. Sometimes I use a cereal box that is cut up, other times I use wrapping paper or magazine pages for envelopes. I always try to use recyclables, though.

Schooling: I home schooled Jenelle up until this year. I loved it, she loved it, but Rachel wasn't really too keen on it. We agreed to try public school this year, and Jenelle is.. well, she's surviving. Kids are mean, teachers can be also, and it's just frustrating to have her come home crying at least once a week because of it. However, it's the real world, and for this year she has to deal with it. I'm hoping within the next two years we can start home schooling again - though I'm not sure it will happen, seeing as Grace is starting kindergarten next year.

Okay, so I think that's enough of an intro. I included everything I've been asked recently as well as a bit more.

If you'd like to know more, just ask a question in that box to the right! That's my FAQ box and I answer all questions right away. You can click on it to see all my previous answers.

*UPDATED MARCH 2011* Just wanted to post some new pictures of us! :) Also a new update on Jenelle in school.. she is doing great! Grace is, too!

Gracelynn, Sapphire, Jenelle, and then Rachel. :) No pics of me as of yet. I am working on losing weight and will do a 'big reveal' towards the end of 2011.

Awesomeness! And giveaway winners!

The coloring contest on CafeMom came to an end yesterday, and I announced the winner on the radio last night! I had a surprise in store for the group, because they thought there would only be ONE winner.. but I actually picked THREE! :) Well, my girls each picked one.. they couldn't decide on just one. They're just like me lol. I always end up picking more than one winner, too. Softies.

I have also chosen the winners for the OWOH giveaway -- the winners will be announced on February 15th, so check back then to see if you're one of the lucky ones!

Awesomeness. Our stuff is now located inside the South County Mall in St. Louis!! The shop is on the bottom level, right next to Hot Topic - it's called Somethin' Special! There are lots of talented crafters that set up there -- if you're local, check us out!



We are going to be adding patchwork scarves to our website very soon, so keep checking back for those as well! We just added some Easter Allie Clips, too!

Advertising Special

We are offering advertising on our website (MAIN PAGE) for $5 a month. Minimum of 3 months ordered. Most of our advertisers are renewing at the beginning of March, so now is the time to hop on board! I will also feature ONE advertiser's products per month on a new page on my website. You have the chance to be featured on our new YouTube Channel if you are one of our advertisers.

If you have an Etsy shop, or a craft business, please let us know! We are going to start sending little packets out with EACH of our sales -- these packets will include business cards from other crafters. All we ask in return is that you pass out ours with your sales.

Contact me ASAP if you're interested in either (or both) of these options!! We also offer link exchanges. If you feature us on your blog, we will feature you on ours. (I apologize to the few I was supposed to add recently, have been very busy. All links will be up next week, for sure!)

YouTube, and crazy neighbors

Well, these two don't really go together - though I'd love to put my crazy neighbors on YouTube.

I created a new YouTube account for Nellie Bug's. I was just using my daughter's account because we had a random selection of videos, but I've decided to separate them. I'd appreciate it greatly if you'd subscribe, as I have 0 subscribers now that I'm starting fresh. HERE is the new YouTube channel.

Rachel and the girls are painting birdhouses right now. I've been busy making bows. I spent 8+ hours last night working on just bows, and the cards that they go on. They look really good, and I will post pictures soon. The reason I can't post them now is because somehow the battery charger got lost in our apartment. Go figure.

Crazy neighbors.. hmm. Today the woman yelled at my 8 year old telling her she "smelled" and "has yellow teeth". The manager says he can't do anything about it, the police say if we call them and the people deny it that we will both get a "peace disturbance" charge. Sometimes I wonder not only about this town, but about this state. *Sigh*.

Moving on to bigger and better things, our products are going to be featured in the mall starting THIS FRIDAY! :) I am SO excited, but overwhelmed at the same time! It's scary! I have about 30 sets of hairbows, I just need to make tutus now. My mom is working on patchwork scarves and ... I forget what else lol.

I have to make like 10 tutus this week. 3 for a customer and 7 for the shop. Then I have TWO giveaways ending this Friday, plus I did TWO giveaways for hairbows last night. Geez, I'm one busy lady! No wonder my "goals" list hasn't moved.

So busy, so thankful, and a scarf.

This week has been crazy busy. I'm thankful for it, though! I just got four tutu orders today. So exciting! :) Now I just have to wait for UPS to deliver thousands of yards of tulle to my apartment. My wifey is going to be soooo thrilled haha not! I finally have some organization going, though. I have 3 shelves JUST for tulle and ribbon. I will try to take pics some time.

Today, I spent the day with my mom. I got a new computer, so I was able to chat with Rach while I was at my mom's house. That was neat. We only talked for a few minutes but it was still fun. I felt like a kid again!

Mom and I sewed all day. If you remember from the beginning of my blog, I do not sew.. I do not even like sewing. Ick. But I survived today! My mom loves to sew, so I thought it would be a fun way to spend the day together. In all honesty, it would have been nicer if I would not have taken my 8 year old with me.. but it wasn't so bad. I couldn't leave all 3 kids home with Rach, that would not have been too fair.

So, this is how it started.. I wanted to make a scarf but I didn't want to knit it. I started googling things, and found a patchwork scarf idea. A new project was born...



Then, I got distracted.. I went to AT&T and bought a new cell phone. :) It's a Pantech Impact. It's super retro looking, and I just L-O-V-E it!!



Okay, so moving on. I didn't want to mess anything up, so I left the cutting to Mom. She ended up messing it up anyway and had to tear some seams out mid-scarf. Here's Mom, working hard..



This is how it turned out (Sorry for the unedited pictures, I haven't installed Picasa yet on this computer).



We made it 60" long and about 6" wide. We cut different sized blocks from 3 different fabrics. One had flames, one had skulls, and one was plain black. We just stitched them together, layered batting in the middle, and used black fabric as a backing. The trickiest part was sewing the bottom edge after we flipped it outside right.. but it wasn't SO bad.. right, Mom?? :)

We ran out of time, but I did start on a scarf for Mom. Here's a preview (yes, that's me sewing)



She loves patriotic stuff. Going to her house is like visiting the fabric store -- she has an entire closet full of fabric, plus like 4 totes and a dresser.. ALL full of different types of fabric! I started a tye-dye scarf as well. Oh, and Mom is making me a laptop case for my new computer. She almost had it done when I left. She promised it would be ready next week. Can't wait to post pics!

Here's a little sneak peek..



I'm so glad I inherited the craft gene -- I didn't appreciate it until very recently. But I'm lovin' every minute of it! :)

Mom, if you're reading this.. I had fun today! No Jenelle next time...

If you're here for the giveaway, click here!!

Or... if you're here to order a tutu, click here!! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and please leave a comment!

Introducing.. Strawberry Skies!!

You saw it here first, ladies and gentlemen! :) The newest creation from Nellie Bug's!! Actually, this was a customer's special order, but we are keeping it around as part of our collection. :)





So, what do you think??? :)

If you have pictures of your little ones in one of our creations, please send them to me at sadielankford(at)ymail(dot)com so we can feature them on our Princess page!!

Oh, and I curled Gracelynn's hair for the first time.. I think that should have been a goal in itself! *Sigh* That child..

Want to be featured on our website??

Would you like to be featured on Nellie Bug's website?? If so, please email sadielankford (at) ymail (dot) com. I changed the entire layout today, and am working on the main page and a link page within the next week or so. I would like to ad as many blogs/websites as possible to the links page.

What does this mean for you? Exposure to your blog/website.

What does it cost you? It's free, you just have to link back to us in your side bar or on your links page. Basically a link exchange. Doesn't cost you a dime! Free advertising!! :)

The kids and I have been super busy today. I am working on a new tutu design, I hope to reveal next week! I also added a few Allie Clip Sets (Including a CUTE "love" set that would be PERFECT for Valentine's Day).



The girls are asking to do more and more crafts every day! :) I loooove it! We went to the library today and got a lot of books. We will probably do a few tomorrow or the next day.

Don't forget to check out the giveaway I have going on. Also if you check that out, you can find the OWOH link and enter over 600 (and growing) giveaways JUST by leaving a comment on their blogs. I have entered over 200 already! I really need to teach Rachel how to do this.. lol. My hands are tired.

Please let me know what you think of the new website design, I changed a lot! And, as always, let me know what you'd like to see added to the website!! Is it a certain tutu? A certain Allie Clip theme?? A package? Let me know! Thanks. :)

GIVEAWAY!!!

Like FREE STUFF?

Join our eParty at 5:30PM CST (6:30EST, 4:30PST) for your chance to win.

eParties is doing giveaways and we are, too!

Everyone who shows up to our party (5:30CST-6:00PM) will receive a gift from Nellie Bug's!!

We will be keeping track of everyone who shows up, all you have to do is email us afterwards and let us know you were there! (tutus@nelliebugs.com) We will confirm it, and mail you your prize!

RSVP to be elligible for the giveaways: CLICK HERE