Best Toddler Craft Ideas ever.Best Toddler Craft Ideas ever.

Getting a toddler to sit still can be a near-impossible feat. They’re constantly exploring the world around them. That’s a good thing, but sometimes they need some creative downtime. That’s where toddler crafts come in.

Crafting is great for toddlers for a number of reasons. It can help them develop longer attention spans. Most crafts help develop hand-eye coordination. And young children can benefit from learning how to follow simple instructions. Here are some great craft ideas that your toddler can do (with supervision).

Craft Stick Puppets
Puppets are fascinating to toddlers. Creating their own puppets is easy, and it’s lots of fun. All you really need are some craft or popsicle sticks, construction paper, safety scissors, markers, and glue.
Help your toddler cut animal shapes out of construction paper. He/she can draw faces and other details with washable markers. Glue the stick to the back of the shape, let dry, and he/she is ready to put on a puppet show. If you want to make more elaborate puppets, try cutting shapes out of foam. Glue on a pom-pom for the nose, and add some googly eyes.

Paint with Pudding
Kids love to fingerpaint, but it’s so messy. And there’s also the concern about them eating the paint. Even if the paints are non-toxic, it can make cautious parents uneasy. The solution? Let them paint with pudding!
You don’t need different flavors to make different colors. Just use one serving of plain vanilla pudding, divide it up into small portions, and add food coloring to create various shades. Give your child a paper plate to use as a canvas for his/her masterpiece. When done, he/she can eat it with no worries.

Design a T-Shirt
If your toddler sees you sewing or painting clothes with fabric paint, he/she may want to try a hand at designing clothes. But needles are small and sharp, and fabric paint is messy. What to do? Break out the markers!
Kids can have a blast decorating a plain white t-shirt with colorful markers. If you use washable ones, they can create a design, wear it, and start over after you wash the shirt. If a permanent design is desired, however, you’ll have to let him/her use non-washable markers. You can avoid a mess by covering the work area with the newspaper and putting a smock on your toddler.

Placemats
Making placemats out of contact paper is very easy. Have your toddler cut shapes out of construction paper and glue them onto a whole piece with a glue stick. He/she can add detail with markers or embellish with stickers. When done, place the artwork on a piece of contact paper, sticky side up. Place another sheet of contact paper on top, sticky side down.
Most toddlers will only have the patience to make one placemat at a time. But he can make another one tomorrow, continuing until there are enough for the whole table. He’ll be so proud to know that everyone sees his artwork at every meal!

Crafting can help your toddler learn important skills while keeping him quietly occupied. Whether it’s a rainy day or he’s just feeling creative, seize the opportunity to let him channel his imagination into something you can both admire.
We are open to your comments and questions, please leave them below.

How to take professional product photos for my Etsy shop?How to take professional product photos for my Etsy shop?

The initial Presentation of

your products online has a significant impact on sales. Under qualified product pictures erode consumers trust. Fortunate enough, you don’t need to spend thousands on equipment or hire a professional to create beautiful product photography that will instill faith in your online store and get results.
This article shows you how to save money on product photography and improve your store’s look and performance.

Camera

It’s important to invest in a good professional camera. Fortunate enough for you they have become very affordable.

Be sure to choose a camera

with professional grade lenses

that can capture video

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Try out this Nikon D7000 in terms of its price vs. performance its not the best there is but it is perfect for starters. In terms of lenses a 105mm lens should give a beautifully focused shot, get one here by Sony . while a bit expensive, it is great for close-up work and jewelry product photography.
You may also use a smart phone to assist in taking pictures such as an iPhone 5 which has an 8-megapixel sensor and can produce professional grade shots. I also encourage you to explore using your smartphone after you have the proper setup before committing to purchasing a higher-end camera. You may be surprised at the quality similarities between an iPhone and a professional camera.

Lighting

You will need some good lights. Of course the sun produce great results. But the Sun is fickle. Try using the Elinchrom D-Lite 4 Kit, which includes two lights, tripods, and attachable diffuser squares and it gets the job done perfectly. While there are many photography lighting kits available, what’s most important for your setup is to get lights that operate in “continuous” mode versus flash only as this allows you to use them for video as well. In fact, It is best to shoot even still photographs with lights in continuous mode as this makes previewing the shot easier and adds depth to the result.

Tripods

Use if You need to take longer exposures. Holding your camera by hand will produce blurry images that are not very appealing to shoppers.

Photo Setup

It is best to shoot products in front of a classic continuous background often white, neutral grey or natural. It’s a simple and professional look that is often used by major online retailers. Fortunately, it’s simple to achieve by using a few rolls of craft paper.
Craft papers can make a nice do-it-yourself product shoot background setup if done properly.
Try to add complements to your photo such as a peice of which the product in scope can/may be used or worn with. (NB. Try not to overpower the targeted product with its complement. Color, size…etc) this also gives you the opportunity of selling multiple products in one shot.
Place your setup near a big, sunny window if you want natural light, or in a dark room if you want to use your photo lights.

Eliminate unwanted Shadows

Avoid harsh backlighting and other setups that cast shadows on the surface of the object. Keep the lights on the same side of the object as your camera, or slightly off to one side.

Clean Up

Fingerprint on your product or dust on your lens produce poor, amateur results. Buy some microfiber rags and polish and/or prepare products carefully before shooting.

Don’t be Afraid

The biggest obstacle to doing something new is often ourselves. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Be creative. It is ok to make a few mistakes on your way to gaining a deeper understanding of the process. Not only will your sales increase, you will learn a new skill along the way.

Leave your comments and questions

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How to decide what crafts to sell in my etsy shop?How to decide what crafts to sell in my etsy shop?

Deciding what crafts to supply in your Etsy shop can be a very tedious and can also be one of the easiest aspects of your Etsy shop. In fact, many persons who initially had an interest in starting an online business such as an Etsy shop got demotivated by such a simple situation. If you are the kind of person who initially created crafts for a living, Etsy will there and then be a bonus to your monthly salary. Hence, its a lot easier to start your supply chain.

In a case such as mine which i didn’t have a finish product in mind. I had to firstly find a finish craft product am very passionate about which were beaded jewelry, personally i think beaded jewelry are just worth having.

However in such a case. If you don’t have the know how, to create a product.

• firstly find a craft which you either like, love or adore having and/or wearing or seeing others having and/or wearing. This way it give you the passion & ability to explore and create different variations such as different colors, styles, versions, etc.

• Secondly research on how to build such craft from start to finish.

• Thirdly attempt to build a basic version of the craft in mind. Your first creation may not be perfect but you will get better at it while creating more for your customers.

In the final stages, Find a reliable source to supply you with raw materials consistently. I recommend the Etsy Club Craft supplies shop, there you get a very wide range of tools, raw materials, and other supplies at very wonderful rates that can be shipped right to your door.

Tip. In order to ensure you are creating products of the same standards, you must be able to constantly get raw materials of the same qualities.

Leave your comments and questions.

How to increase etsy shop traffic?How to increase etsy shop traffic?

The second most important aspect of your Etsy shop is to get visitors.

Let’s face it, if you have a shop running in the town and no one comes into your shop, because you either close the doors, you don’t have any doors or your shop is simply not easily accessed by customers/ potential customers (Visitors), then you’ll have no one to sell your products. Hence you may never make a penny in that shop even if it is there forever.

The trick to getting visitors into your Etsy shop is to advertise your shop/ products.
Think of your Etsy shop like an actual building. Think of your door/s as the actual links to your Etsy shop and products. In order to get visitors into your doors, you must first have products which in this case are your listings.

You must find a way to have enough people see your doors in order for persons who need/want your products to by chance or intentionally see your shop and stop by to either investigate and/or do business. Now imagine the Internet as the virtual streets which your shop is located on, of which social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) Are now like hot spots where lots a people hangout to gossip, chat, share information, you name it.

You will want to go to those hot spots to show and tell people about your products strategically in order for them to come into your shop to either investigate and/or do business. The beauty of a virtual store (Etsy shop), as opposed to an actual store, is that your doors are portable and always open, well of course if you pay your bills and relevant dues they should be long enough.

Your best bet for social advertisements these days are Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter & Google. Ensure you create accounts on all major social media platforms and share links to your shop and products as aften as possible to get noticed. That is just a basic run through of getting web traffic.
We will create a different post regarding social media optimization and management, Search engine optimization (SEO) for an even more effective store and traffic.

Leave your questions and comments below.

How to start a shop on Etsy.How to start a shop on Etsy.

Starting a shop on Etsy is very easy. The hardest aspect of starting an Etsy shop is coming up with the kind of crafts you are comfortable creating, in order to supply the market you are targeting. If you don’t want to build your own crafts, you may source vintage items and sell them at reasonable rates.

There are upsides and downsides to everything in life, the same can be said about the kind of products you supply. I personally think it is best to create your own crafts for sale, in fact, no one knows about your creations as you do, hence you stand a better chance at selling your products just to mention one of the advantages.

A disadvantage is that the going rate for your crafts needs to be very competitive as lots of other vendors may already be selling the same or similar crafts. As for vintage items, one advantage is that the going rates are mostly high which is a good thing and the disadvantage is locating and gathering vintage items for your store which can be tedious and costly most times but if you like what you do you will find a way, not an excuse.

After coming up with your products, locate a supplier for your raw materials. I personally purchase all my supplies from the Etsy Club, I get a wide range of quality materials at reasonable rates and they are shipped right to my doorstep. Here is a link I added for your convenience.
Once you are through coming up with the kind of products you are comfortable with, Go to Etsy.com, click on the link “Sell” then click on Open Esty Shop and follow through with the process. Signing up is very easy but we will make a separate post with a total walkthrough on Etsy’s sign up process and product listings.

Once you are through signing up and verifying your Etsy store you may start listing the products you will be selling. Each product lists attract a small cost. Try to use professionally taken photos for all product listings.

Now, Simply purchase all raw materials needed from start to finish of your product depending on the kind of products you are creating. At first, you may not need to purchase a mass amount of supplies as it is best to supply on-demand but purchase enough to have materials left over for a few more finished products. Sometimes you may get deals of which if you purchase a certain amount of materials you get discounts, try to maximize on all opportunities when it comes on to business.

In some cases, you may need to wait until an order is placed before purchasing your raw materials as it is totally dependent on the product you are supplying.
This is a general outline of starting an Etsy Shop. Please leave your comments below if I missed anything if you have a question, concerns.

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