How to Recycle Beads and Button for Beauty

our own handcrafts from sea glasses, beads, and miscut stones

Normally, we get loose button, ribbons or bead that we simply itch to throw to the nearest bin, however, if we just have a little time, we can create grand handcrafts from all these little buggers.


Normally, we make earrings, bracelets, and necklaces and they don't have to come from a book; any free form simply fits us well.


So, the next time you see loose buttons or beads wandering around your place, gather all them up because you too can even make beautiful handicrafts including scrapbooks, cards or simply freebies for your loved ones and I am quite sure, they will appreciate your thoughts more.

Bleak Sales

 

This has been our anxiety when we opted to start with our boutique’s operations situated at the mall; we had our acquaintances operating inside the mall but they have the same sentiments that since June, sales has been quite bleak. One of our friends has to give up her business because the sales could not make up for the monthly operational costs.

We are just starting, so, I remain hopeful that sales could improve in the coming days. For one, I have to really look for stocks that somehow serve the ailing public. Sigh!

Long Days in our Boutique

Our store is already a week old and somehow people get to notice it. We changed the apparel on display earlier for the new week and to at least give an aura of new arrivals. Since, mostly of our customers were acquaintances and friends, we quite need more aggressive marketing to promote it. 

But, we need to have stuffs that are geared towards the middle class  since most of our stocks are for the elite, we rarely make a sale. Thus, I wish we have enough resources to get stuffs for the general public without really compromising our other displays. 

I have to however spend the entire week coding stocks, preparing other items, and doing my teaching duties in between. Sigh! I quite need a back rub. hahahhah! I only hope that sales indeed will pick up very soon. 

Our Boutique's Fashion Pride

our signature shoes with brands like AK, Bandolino, Laura Ashley, Nine West among others

Few of our fashion accessories

some of of the signature bags from the names of Nine West, Liz Claiborne,

Tommy Hilfiger, Fossil,  Relic and others

these are few of the clothing apparel for women and the general public quite like the pink sequin dress on our display stand

Cute Fossil Bags

Pink and red are my top colors but bags and shoes are my passion. So, we are only happier that we got these Fossil bags in our store.


I hope that when the store is officially relocated to a mall, we shall have all these bags sold.

Missing our Havaianas Flip Flops

We previously sold Havaianas flip flops and directly coming from Brazil and with the clients whom we had had served, they could attest that our stuffs were authentic.


We got this one last pair, a white printed flip flops with size 6 or 7, and although we got a number of orders, we still have to connect with our supplier and with her last demand for bulk order, we could not just meet up.


I hope that by the time we are all settled with our store relocation, we can place our next order.

Our Boutique's Hang Tag

Here is our personalized simple but  elegant design for our hang tag; we did have this printed and by next week, we can all attached the tags to our stuffs and be ready for opening date. 

We have varied stuffs from different places but the personalized tags will add personality to what we sell. Our target opening date is July 18; we only hope we will have a good and lasting impression to the general public. 

Missing Stock Exhibits

We had these pictures taken during a mall exhibit and although we had draining days, the exhibit was fun but we did not really earn much from the exhibit that I decided not to join again.

But, the good thing with exhibit, our old stocks were sold and I get to replenish them with newer ones.

I hope our mall space occupancy gets realized, so, we can sell the stuffs.

More Victoria Secret Stuffs

With bleak sales, my authentic Victoria Secret stocks continue to pile up. I hope better days will come soon.

Although, I need one for personal use, so, that leaves me buying my own stock. hahahhah!

Beauty in Store

The nice thing about having a boutique is seeing only beauty and creative works of people worldwide. And, that alone can be enough to inspire anyone. 

And, when we like them for ourselves, we are pretty sure that our clients would love them too and be good in them.  So, basically, we don't sell what we think are not good on us. 

We did try to model our stuffs and we sure had great time sporting our goodies that we never failed to take pictures of them. We have more than dozens of pictures in my notebook that I wish to have bigger and more spacious  external hard drive  to keep everything. 

I don't want to erase the pictures, my fave movies and songs, so, having external drive can be a must.  And, when new stocks are coming, I have to scout for a drive soon enough.

Needing School Classy Clothes

The thing with teaching is one has to wear very conservative attire. As much possible, no skinny pants or skirts and no chest – showing tops. But, I am done with old styles for a teacher, so, my closet is filled with colorful blouses and pants complemented with different sorts of bags.

But, I only have a few new ones from my closet and I have to replace the worn out clothes with new ones. I only wish I have enough resources to buy even polo shirts and comfy slacks.

I guess buying from our store will be much better. Hahahhahah! I only have to search for cheeky blouses that are nice to look at but conservative to meet the picky eyes of the administrators. Yikes!

In few weeks’ time, I shall be busy again with lecture notes, books and class records among many things. But, having two subjects will be enough to keep me busy as a teacher.

Needing Boutique’s Paper Bags

One of the essentials for boutique is to have a classy tags and bags to boost. We decided that we will be making the tags ourselves but we shall need resources to have the customized bags done. The capital is getting drained and I only hope it will be enough to keep the boutique going until it is formally in place inside a mall.

Perhaps, when things get better, I can consider having the bags customized. For the meantime, I have to prioritize rent and construction essentials above all.

I wish those who have credits with us will start paying. I have my own credits too and as soon as I collect my earnings, they shall head directly to the seed money for construction.

I hope we can find inexpensive bags, plastic or paper ones, to complete the essentials of our boutique. I can only remain hopeful.

Summer Graduation Outfits

When May comes in, it is always highlighted with fits and glamour of Santacruzan, weddings and graduation ceremonies.

I am currently away from our store and I kept it closed until I get back. I am quite sure that some of our regular customers will scout for some goodies and apparel after graduation announcements although I would want to look for other stuffs too.

 

We still have a number of silk dress and a dozen of fancy shoes just in case they want to look classy and elegant without breaking much rules.

I just wish that when we get back, I can sell more of my graduation and party collections. Not to mention that new school year is coming in, students will surely scout for bags and school shoes. I think I have a few pieces newly purchased somewhere in my travel bag. Hahhaahhah!

Good Dresses Grabs

My sister joined me in finding dresses for our store, and true enough, we got lovely hand picks that our customer will surely love.

Mostly, they are long dresses for casual and party times. These are the stuffs that are normally sold out. But, finding quality ones at cheaper costs means finding needles at a haystack. We were just quite patient doing our hunt.

Perhaps, we can travel abroad and find better and inexpensive ones to fill our racks. As soon as the boutique shall be in place, we can take it to a higher level. 

Boutique Closed

Since we will be away for a week, I decided to keep the store closed. At least, that will relax me from worrying over the stocks. I could have given the key to my mom but I decided to just close it.

I would love to search for new dresses to fill our old stocks, and complement the new ones. One thing about Filipinos though, we simply love to do fashion ramps regardless of the styles, trends and budgets.

Since school time is soon to come, I can even look for school bags. I wish my trip can be quite fruitful. I hope during my sister’s free time, we can find treasures for our boutique.

Needing Cotton Shirts

The summer heat is indeed too much lately. Worse, the rotating brownouts really aggravate the temperature. Most of the time then, I head to the mall and drag my kid with me to cool down.

However, since I have to head to the store every day, I am running really of shirts. I do switch between my blouses but I guess, my closet isn't really to big for my liking. LOL!

I will however, dig in our store and buy some shirts myself. Funny though but since we have our boutique, we rarely buy stuffs from others. Well, it is only practical that we buy our own stuffs. LOL!

Then, I must dig into my pocket then for some paper bills to pay. Geez!

Boutique Stocks Tagged

We still experience rotating brownout in spite of the occasional rains that hit us. Thus, I can only make use of the lights – open time to create price tags for our stocks. I did dare to work on them initially when the brown out hit in this morning, but after a few minutes, I gave up soaked in sweat!


So, it has been my routine that I use my stalled time reading my Twilight Saga books and working on boutique business as soon as lights set in.


I may have lax days since classes were off, but I simply can’t sit still doing nothing. Thus, reading consumes most time. I rarely watch movies too since I am quite hooked to my books. LOL!


The day is almost done now but tomorrow shall be another day of books, store works, and music! I guess my coming days are quite predictable, eh. LOL!

Wrapping Shoes and Others for Display

When brownouts take their place, we are compelled to open our store doors to at least make air less damp and hot.  But, what goes with this choice is for dust to also come it  and  wrap their way to our stocks.

So, to remedy this, I got the shoes and bags covered with see - through wrappers. I only wish that our customers wont be that adamant to remove the plastics or that my nephews would leave these stocks alone.

I still have to wrap some uncovered stocks tomorrow albeit I can also wrap our apparel  to keep them clean.  This brownout really sucks! Sigh! 

Stock Inventory and Accounting For Us

Since classes are already done, I use my free time to create summaries for the sales and expenses for our boutique. I was quite disturbed knowing that the last entries I had previously made were the ones in mid – 2009. Gosh, I was all caught up with teaching works.

So, after the recording, I move to updating my inventory. There are simply so many things to do. I can’t even complete the inventory of those newly – arrived stocks. Sigh, I am dead beat.

Worse, I can't  completely finish the inventory when rotating brownouts hit in since I know I will be soaked in sweat. 

I only wish I can finish everything this weekend. I  just have to cross my fingers then. LOL!

Our Soon - to - be Mall Boutique Facade

Our boutique's interior prospective 


Our boutique's exterior prospective 

Since it is much difficult to sell our stuffs through our present location, we decided to sell our stuffs by acquiring a mall space. This has been long overdue because we wanted to start this late last year and now, the mall owner wants us to carry on the construction already.

We did submit the pictures above after n revisions.  So, I wish this store shall  make a difference especially in drawing out sales and selling our stuffs. We practically have stocks that are still hidden because our present store can't keep everything already.

As soon as the mall owner grants us the working permits, we shall be starting the construction ASAP.