Friday Feature - Cauliflower Kids

Happy Friday, Folks!

Oh. My. Cute!

I've now found myself wishing I could shrink down to about 3 feet tall so I can run around in the absolutely adorable children's wear over at cauliflowerkids! Take Kate Spade, Anthropologie, and baby couture, and sprinkle it with a bucket of rainbows. That'll give you a taste of what Kasey's cooking up for the kiddos over there. Or just check it out for yourself after learning about the inspiration and motivation behind each stich in every garment. Enjoy!

Feather Crown 

1. What is your shop name and URL? 

Cauliflower Kids  cauliflowerkids.etsy.com

2. To which Etsy Teams do you belong?

I belong to SFetsy, and HandmadeClothesForChildren 

3. Please tell us about the items in your Etsy shop. What do you make? How did you learn your craft? What is involved in your creative process?

I make on trend clothing for girls ages 2-8. I became interested in sewing at the age of 7 and started lessons at age 10. I honed my craft in college at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. My creative process usually (but not always) begins with a color, has a whole lot of scribbly lines and sleepless nights in the middle, and ends with a garment (hopefully). 

April Showers Dress 

4. Tell us two (or more) other interesting things about you. 

one:I lived in Paris, France for several years after college. Two: I have one 3 year old niece (my model) and one 1 year old nephew but no actual children of my own (yet). Three: I am lepidopteraphobic which means I am afraid of butterflies (it's a real thing guys) Four: I love honey, pinterest, and parenthesis. 

5. What inspires your creations?

For Cauliflower Kids my niece is really my biggest inspiration (I guess that's why I named it after her, my little choufleur). I'm inspired by the way she moves, the way she plays, the things she says, her creativity, but mostly her ever changing dreams and aspirations (one day she wants to be a ballerina, the next a pirate, and the day after that all she wants out of life is to jump in ALL the puddles) 

6. What is your favorite item in your shop? Why is it your favorite?

I am absolutely in LOVE with the Petal Peplum Top. It's so very versatile, it can be worn as a shirt (frontwards) or a vest (backwards) and even over a simple teeshirt and leggings looks oh so chic. 

Petal Peplum Top

7. If you had a gift certificate to Etsy for any one item you wanted, what would you buy? 

I have been lusting after this for SO LONG!! my dream worktable: https://www.etsy.com/listing/56482604/beautiful-modern-dining-table-reclaimed? 

8. What has been your biggest success and/or proudest moment since opening your Etsy shop?

I have been so lucky to have many proud and shining moments in CF kids' short history, but I think being featured in Babiekins Magazine this holiday season left a smile on my face for a full month! 

Bold Stripe Skirt

9. What advice do you have for other folks selling or buying on Etsy?

As a seller, comparison is your worst enemy. Don't get me wrong, you DO need to research and know your competition, your demographic and your price point, but you also need to BE YOURSELF.  Also a good rule of thumb for design is that if you wouldn't wear it yourself, don't make it (children's clothing included!) 

10. Where else can we find out more about you and/or your creations?

Cauliflower Blog 

Pinterest

Facebook

Sweetheart Twirling Dress

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Our Team Captain about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial - BOO! Halloween Costume Ideas

Happy Tuesday to all my Witches and Goblins!

Halloween is less than a week away...and if you're like me, finding the time to get costumes ready is just one of those things that gets pushed to the back burner until just before it's time to go out and get some candy! Not only that...I'm a cheap crafty lady...I'd much rather spend my money on craft supplies (and bite-sized Snickers) than a pre-fab Halloween costume.

As I was brewing up my spooktacular costume idea...other ideas popped into my head and I thought...self, this would be a great Tuestorial.
I sketched out some ideas for you... just in case you're still on the "haunt" for something easy to build just before you head out the door.

Don't mind my sketches...ha ha... they are meant to give you a little smile AND get the basic idea across for each costume.

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BE A BUNCH o' GRAPES! (for a kid or an adult)



Materials:
Purple Balloons
Black or purple extra large shirt
purple leggings
purple beanie

What's Great about this?:
if you get an extra large T-Shirt... you'll have some more room to maneuver around during the evening.

How To:
All you have to do is staple (or hot glue) the balloons onto your shirt. That's it!

- Extra credit -
Be a bubble bath! all you have to do here is wear all white, use white balloons and attach a yellow rubber ducky to either your "bubbles" or the top of your beanie!

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BE A PIECE OF SUSHI!
Okay, so this would work as an adult costume (if you just wore all white), but can't you see how cute it would be if it were on a baby?! And technically, this costume is a piece of Nigiri Sushi (just in case you get that hard question). :)



Materials:
White Onesie
Black felt
Orange Felt (the "salmon")


What's Great about this?:
Babies don't need to overheat in a large pumpkin for their first Halloween...and everyone will just love these creative idea!

How To:
hot glue the felt orange rectangle to the front of the onesie
Then, wrap the black band loosely around the onesie (measure the band on your baby first, so you know how big around you need it).

I think it goes without saying...you want to make this costume when the onesie is NOT on the baby... but I'm just sayin' that as a blanketed legal footnote.

- Extra credit -
Take a black baby headband and glue on a bright green piece of "wasabi" felt to the top of it. It will be the perfect accessory.


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BE CANDY CORN -or- A GNOME!

What's funny about these two ideas is that they are basically the same thing... just a different arrangement of colors! This means, you can look at what clothing you already have...and go from there!




Materials:
Long sleeve t-shirt in either orange or light blue
Pants in either dark blue, brown or yellow
Construction paper in either white or red


What's Great about this?:
Like I mentioned before, these two ideas are basically the same thing. AND they are made from very basic materials...so, if you needed to get one of the items quickly, you can easily get them at Goodwill or your local store.


How To For the Candy Corn:
Look at a piece of candy corn - as you can see...the candy goes from yellow(or brown) at the bottom, then to orange for the middle, and then white at the top. That's basically it. All you have to do, is where those colors and make yourself a hat.
For fun, you could glue candy corn to the hat (maybe just at the rim)...then people will know exactly what you are. Super comfortable and SUPER easy!


How To For the Gnome:
Similar to the Candy Corn...all you need for this is to wear a light blue top, dark jeans or brown pants (brown would be like David The Gnome) and then make yourself a red cone hat out of paper. Then, use a belt or a piece of felt to wrap it around your waste for that extra-gnomey look.
For the beard, you can just paint white on your face like a beard or leave yourself as-is for that young-gnome look.

- Extra credit -
Think of other costumes that you can spin off of this same idea... such as, a crayon! Make a hat, just like for the above costumes and then wear a matching shirt and pants. Using felt, cut out the word "crayon" and hot glue it to your shirt.
One of my favorite colors is pink... but maybe you'd want to be green or even magenta!



We are all very creative people... but sometimes, we have to push ourselves to think a little outside of the box during Halloween with very little time to take away from our Etsy businesses. Hopefully these few ideas have given you some inspiration.

PLACES TO GATHER SUPPLIES IN THE BAY AREA!

Scrap - a great resource for cheap craft supplies - all proceeds go to the Unified School District of SF

Our Craft Swap - THIS weekend!!! - This weekend, if you're feeling REALLY last minute...come to the Craft Swap and see if you can't swap someone for that last minute supply you couldn't find anywhere else!

Boneflowers! - a wonderful woman by the name of Jenna owns this great shop with amazing vintage finds and steampunk jewelry. She's also a great stylist and would be happy to help you find that perfect Halloween costume.


And for a final giggle:
This is one of my costumes I'll likely be wearing this year. My friend Astra Brinkmann (also the photographer) and I built this dress from an old prom dress I had laying around. Lots of hot glue to put that skirt together. Which comes to my final point... look around your house. Do you have a old prom dress you've been hanging out to? Maybe you can be a zombie bride... that's always a great go-to.

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!