Pink Hippo Boutique

OPEN...Taking limited orders

2012-02-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

I want to thank everyone for all of their support and prayers this past month for my mom. She is still hanging on and fighting. I will be headed back up there next week for a few days while the kids are out of school so they can visit with their Nana.

I have decided that I will be reopening my website, however I will only be taking 1-3 orders a month depending on size.

Thank you again for all of your continued support.

New Tulle Puff Wands

2012-02-06T09:03:00.000-05:00

While my website is shut down it has given me some much needed time to work on some fun products. One of the things I have made is Tulle Puff Wands. Once my website reopens these will be one of the new products I offer. I will also make them so that they can hang from the ceiling and some that are small for napkin rings!

The blue and green wands I left white and did not cover the wand part in ribbon. The pink wand I covered in a light pink ribbon and then added ribbon accents to it.

Let me know what you think of the three I did over the weekend.

Closing Shop

2012-01-09T21:30:00.001-05:00

For those of you who do not know my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. We thought she was headed in the right direction but a week before Christmas we found out that the cancer was spreading. With the news I received today I have made the decision to close up shop and go spend some time with my wonderful and brave mother. The doctors are not giving her much time and with me being 630 miles away I have to start getting rid of my commitments so that I can travel and focus on her.

I will be completing any orders that have already been placed and paid for but I will not be taking on any additional orders. I will continue to do the digital (U PRINT) invitations since those I can do anywhere.

Please keep my mother in your prayers...she is my HERO!

New EXCLUSIVE Hippo Collection

2012-01-07T03:42:00.001-05:00

It always warms my heart when people contact me and ask me to make an invitation using my hippo logo because their child just loves hippos. It also hurts my heart when I have to tell them no. It isn't because I don't want someone to have a cute hippo party it is just because she is my face and I don't want that mixed into an actual product.

With this said I found and amazing designer who custom created some hippos for me. They are *EXCLUSIVE* to Pink Hippo Boutique. What does that mean? No one else will have these exact hippos, you can only find them here!

I am so excited because these hippos are absolutely adorable and I love them just as much as my own hippo! I am also really excited that now I can offer my hippo clients what they have been asking for. So without further ado a sample of my boy hippo and girl hippo invitations. More items in this collection will be revealed later this month.

So what do you guys think? Don't you want to pick them up and hug them!

New Themes

2011-12-28T10:02:00.001-05:00

I have been working on lots of new themes. Check out some of our new items below. Don't forget we can all of these items can be made into the following:

Thank You Cards
Cupcake Toppers
Gift Tags
Door Signs
Banners
Napkin Rings
Confetti
Paper Straws
Ice Cream Cups
Centerpieces
Bubble Labels
Candy Bar Wrappers
and much much more!

Sock Monkey {BOY}

Sock Monkey {GIRL}

Pink and Red Ladybug

Cat in the Hat Inspired

Blue Elephant {BOY}

Camping {BOY}

Camping {GIRL}

Pink Elephant {GIRL}

Tea Party

Vacation

2011-12-17T12:11:00.003-05:00

I will be out of town Sunday, December 17th through Friday, December 23rd. All orders for December are complete. I will begin January orders on the 23rd when I return.

Shipping Policy Reminder

2011-12-07T12:10:00.001-05:00

I know how important it is for you to receive your items before your child's party. In fact one of the things I am most proud of is that I have NEVER had one single case where my items were not delivered on time. In several different places on my website I reiterate my shipping policies so that there is no confusion as to when you will receive your items, but if you are still unsure I want to clear up a few things.

At checkout you are asked to enter a date that you need/want the items by. You can enter any date you want as long as it is not a date that is blocked out on my schedule. I do not know when your party date is, even if you tell me what your party date is in an email you can still enter whatever date you want at checkout (again as long as I am not already booked), because that is the date I will use when filling in my schedule.

All items ship 1-1.5 weeks prior to the date you enter at checkout. So if you put that you need your items by January 5th then your items will ship one to one and half weeks prior to that date. All of my orders are done by party date and not the date you order them. In the event that I am running behind schedule I will upgrade your shipping at no cost to you to ensure it still gets to you by the date you entered at checkout!

I have my shipping terms under the following sections:
FAQ
Store Polices
Each Item Description
Order Form at checkout

I have the BEST costumers in the world and if you are are ever unclear about something please don't hesitate to contact me.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2011-11-23T10:16:00.001-05:00

I would like to wish all of my hippo friends a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Giveaway Winner

2011-11-15T20:32:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Marie! She is the lucky winner of our giveaway.

Our next giveaway will be in January!

*The winner was chosen by random.org.

Giveaway Reminder

2011-11-02T06:36:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to enter our November giveaway! It will end at midnight on November 15th. You have a chance to win 15 FREE invitations or holiday cards. All cards will be printed on quality 110# cardstock and come with white envelopes. Click Here to Enter!

15 Free Invitations or Holiday Photo Card Giveaway!

2011-11-01T00:00:00.002-04:00

Are you ready for this great chance to win 15 FREE invitations or holiday photo cards? Each card is printed on quality 110# cardstock. You choose the design/theme! Simply follow the instructions below.

Novmeber Giveaway

2011-10-30T08:13:00.000-04:00

Starting November 1st at midnight we will open a giveaway for a chance to win 15 FREE printed invitations or holiday photo cards. The contest will go until November 15th. The detail will be posted November 1st at midnight so make sure you check back with us.

IMPORTANT: New Sizing

2011-10-26T06:25:00.000-04:00

In the past I have done custom sizes for invitations, thank you cards and labels. Unfortunately I can no longer take custom size requests for these items. This is for sizing only (on certain items) and not custom themes. Below is a list of the our new standard sizing.

DIY PRINTABLE ITEMS:
Invitations 5"x7" (no longer offering 4"x6")
Thank You Cards 5"x7" (flat card only)
*Cupcake Toppers, Round Labels or Gift Tags 2"
*Water Bottle Labels 8"x2"
Candy Bar Wrapper (Fits a standard 1.55oz Hershey Bar)
*Bubble Labels (Fits a standard 4oz bubble bottle)

*All labels are to be printed on a FULL SHEET of paper and are not sized for individual labels.

HANDMADE ITEMS:
Invitations: 5"x7"only
Thank You Card: 5"x7" (flat card) or 3.5"x5"
*Water Bottle Labels 8"x2"
Candy Bar Wrapper (Fits a standard 1.55oz Hershey Bar)
*Bubble Labels (Fits a standard 4oz bubble bottle)

Professionally Printed Invites

2011-10-25T19:24:00.001-04:00

Over the last 2 years I have struggled with keeping my pricing reasonable on printed invitations. Sadly most printing companies do not want to do small runs and require you to have a minimum order of 50 or 100 invitations. Well most people don't order that many invites so I was being charged an astronomical amount to use professional printers. I am excited to say that I have found a new printer that offers small businesses like myself better pricing for professionally printed cards. They only require a minimum order of 10 and then you buy in increments of five.

The only difference you will see other than the lower pricing is the fact the printer will ship your order directly to you from their lab. In the past my printer has always been local and I pick up the orders but this lab is in California so they will be shipping the orders directly to the clients on behalf of Pink Hippo Boutique.

This will be effective November 1, 2011!

Door Hanger Face Lift

2011-10-24T06:24:00.000-04:00

The time has come to give some of my items a face lift! I decided I would start with my door hangers since I had a clear vision of what I wanted those to look like. The large single door hangers are now double layered with cardstock and have a large bow at the top with a button in the middle to give it some character. The 3 piece door hangers are bigger and also have a larger bow at the top with a button in the middle. Let me know what you think!

New 3 piece door hangers

Close up

Large Single Door Hanger

Mark Your Calendars!

2011-09-19T21:40:00.000-04:00

GRAND RE-OPENING SALE IN 1 WEEK!

Offical Re-Open Date

2011-08-02T16:21:00.000-04:00

Pink Hippo Boutique will officially re-open on September 25th! I am in the process of updating my website with lots of new and improved items! It has been a crazy and busy summer but I am looking forward to working again! See you all soon!

New Invitations

2011-07-16T11:59:00.000-04:00

All of our DIY printable invitations can be found HERE! In October they will be on the Pink Hippo Boutique website also.

40% off sale

2011-07-14T06:47:00.000-04:00

My Grafico is having a 40% off sale today only. If you like to do scrapbooking or any other type of craft this is a great resource.

DIY Printables Now Available

2011-06-26T12:25:00.000-04:00

Since I cannot hand make items for all of my wonderful clients this summer I decided to go digital! I opened a new shop on Etsy where you can purchase DIY printable files. What does that mean? Well it means that I will customize and personalize your party items and you print them at home. I am now offering DIY printable files for the following:
♥ Invitations
♥ Thank You Cards
♥ Cupcake Toppers
♥ Round Tags (gift tags, stickers, etc)
♥ Water Bottle Labels
♥ Candy Bar Wrappers
♥ 4oz Bubble Labels

I am hoping to open a Pink Hippo Boutique DIY website soon but for now I am keeping the two separate. So check out our Etsy store Perfect Party Boutique!

I am having a blast doing all the DIY templates but I will be excited to get back to hand making the items this fall! I look forward to working with you soon!

Website Closed

2011-05-09T22:17:00.002-04:00

I have closed my website for the remainder of the summer. It was a tough decision, but with end of the year stuff and vacations I thought it would be the best thing to do.

I have completed all May parties and I am now working on June parties. Everything will be completed before I leave for vacation in 2 weeks.

Please feel free to contact me at anytime! Have a great summer everyone! See you in October.

New Cupcake Toppers

2011-04-22T13:53:00.000-04:00

I still have more new themes in the works, but here is what I have done so far. Enjoy!

Beach Theme

Bumble Bee Theme

Bugs and Flowers Theme

Cowboy Theme

Princess Theme

Pink Hippo Theme

Green Hippo

New Invitations

2011-04-19T11:53:00.001-04:00

In between working on orders I found a few spare minutes to work on some new themes which I am very excited about. Here are few samples of some invitations I did over the weekend.

Beauty and the Beast Inspired

Down on the Farm

Wizard of Oz Inspired

Rapunzel Inspired

Bumble Bee

New Lego Themed Party

2011-02-26T08:29:00.000-05:00

In between doing orders I have been trying to get some new designs out. It is not always easy to find extra time but I am so glad I was able to get this design out. My son in particular loves Lego's so I was excited when I found these graphics by JW Illustration. I have done a boy set and a girl set. Here are some of the examples I have done so far.

Kids Sew Cute Giveaway WINNER!!

2011-02-25T11:07:00.000-05:00

CONGRATULATIONS!!

We have a winner!!! #39 was selected from random.org as our giveaway winner.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our giveaway. Be on the lookout there will be more to come!!

Sylish Blogger Award

2011-02-23T05:07:00.000-05:00

Thank you to Stacey over at Little Boys are Made of Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails for giving me this wonderful award!

There are rules that go along with receiving the award.
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers. (I always have a hard time with this one, so I am going to scale it down to half, does 7 or 8 sound okay?)
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

Seven Things About Me:

1. I am a huge college football fan! (Go Buckeyes!)

2. I am in love with Tim McGraw (don't tell Faith)

3. I hate peanut butter

4. I am probably the only woman who despises chocolate cake

5. My favorite tv show right now is Vampire Diaries

6. I love to read but never have time

7. I am addicted to sweet tea

The bloggers I nominate:

Button Blossoms

Goddess of Cooking

A Slice of Smith Life

Mommy of a Monster and Twins

Southern Momentum

Create with Joy

Mommies Playground

Tex's 1st Birthday Party

2011-02-21T17:47:00.000-05:00

What a great party this was! Tex is my nephew and this was his first birthday and it was very special. Tex loves race cars so his mommy and daddy picked a classic race car. The invitation they purchased was from Tiny Prints and they asked me to make him some decorations to match his invitation and add a race car. I made a centerpiece, door hanger and birthday banner with his name for his party. Enjoy!

A Line Dress or T-Shirt Giveaway-Ending SOON!

2011-02-21T08:51:00.000-05:00

This is just a friendly reminder that our giveaway of an A Line dress or t shirt is ending soon. You get to pick the design, color and size! Don't miss your chance.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY!

This will end Friday, February 25th at midnight.

Avary's Perfectly Pink Party

2011-02-15T07:17:00.000-05:00

Avary's 1st birthday was perfectly pink! Her mom contacted me and wanted everything in soft pinks with some simple hearts throughout the design. Thank you to Justina for sharing Avary's party with us. I had a wonderful time making these items for her 1st birthday. Enjoy!

Napkin Rings & Tags

Food Tags

Centerpiece

Birthday Banner, Food Tags, Jar Tags

Kids Sew Cute Giveaway-CLOSED

2011-02-12T17:09:00.003-05:00

It is time for our Kids Sew Cute Giveaway! Kids Sew Cute is a new clothing boutique and we have teamed up to offer one lucky person the chance to win one of her personalized items. Joanne is the owner of Kids Sew Cute and she specializes in A Line dresses but also does t-shirts so those of you with boys make sure you enter too! Her work is amazing! The details to the giveaway are below.

Win It: One lucky reader will win either a personalized t-shirt or dress of their choice from Kids Sew Cute.

Mandatory Entry: Visit Kids Sew Cute and leave me a comment telling me what your favorite design is in her shop.

Extra Entries: Only valid after the mandatory entry has been completed. Please leave 1 comment for each extra entry.

1. Follow my blog

2. Like Kids Sew Cute on Facebook

3. Like Pink Hippo Boutique on Facebook

4. Follow @PinkHippo_2009 on Twitter

5. Tweet this giveaway up to once a day for an extra entry each day you tweet it.

6. Blog about this giveaway and LINK BACK to it or share it on Facebook (+3)

7. Grab my button and leave the link to where it is posted

This giveaway will end at midnight on February 25th. The winner will be selected by random.org and you will have 48 hours to respond to your email or we will select another winner. This contest is only open to US residents.

Please remember to include your email address so we can notify you if you are the winner.

Thanks so much and remember to have fun!!

100 Plus Mark

2011-02-06T05:28:00.000-05:00

We did it! We hit 100 followers! Well 102 to be exact and I am so excited. I just want to give a huge shout out to all you wonderful people who are following me. :) I am so excited to have it over the 100 mark. Now lets shoot for 200!

Hippo Updates

2011-01-29T07:30:00.001-05:00

A lot of things have been in the works since December and I am so excited to tell you all about it!
The big thing coming is my first official Pink Hippo Newsletter! I am going to send it out once a month with updates, new designs, coupons, giveaway information and how to tips. I am really excited to get this going and I hope to send out my February issue in about a week or so. I am still working on getting the design done, but in the meantime if you would like to sign up just click the button below!

The second big thing I am excited about is my birthday! Yes my birthday is Monday, January 31st so what better way to celebrate than by having a sale! Select items on my website will be 20% off for 1-day only. If you have been waiting to order now is your chance!

I will also be hosting an awesome giveaway. I will be giving away to 1 lucky winner a beautiful A-line dress made by Kids Sew Cute! The details are still being worked out but in the meantime you should check out her site.

I hope you guys are as excited as I am about all the big things coming to Pink Hippo! I feel rejuvenated and ready to work!

Lillee's 1st Birthday Party

2011-01-18T11:27:00.002-05:00

Lillee's party was a pink and green ladybug theme. The photo banner was a custom request and has to be one of my favorites. I put together the banner and Lillee's mom added her photos from birth to one year to showcase her growth. The candy bar wrappers were also a custom request and turned out great!

Dealing with illnesses

2010-11-23T20:56:00.000-05:00

I have been dealing with several family illnesses over the last month and a half. My kids both had the stomach bug that lasted weeks and just when I thought they were getting better I get a call from the school saying my son was throwing up again. I know it is flu season but enough already.

With that said my ability to answer emails as quickly has suffered along with getting orders out 2 weeks prior to your event date. I still make all my deadlines but please know that you orders will come closer to your party date. I am working this weekend on getting completely caught up, but if you haven't heard from me about your order please be patient. As always you can send me an email if you are concerned, but I do try and keep this blog updated so that you know I haven't forgotten you.

Tomorrow I will begin working on orders for the first weekend in December. Those people are:

Danielle

Elizabeth

Jennifer
Beth

I will keep everyone updated as I work on getting caught up. Thank you again for your patience.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

2010-11-01T11:22:00.001-04:00

In honor of Pink Hippo Boutique's 1 year anniversary we will be have a weekend SALE....

Saturday November 5th-7th everything on our website will be 15% off! This is a great chance to order your party supplies while on sale. We are also offering free shipping on all orders over $100.00!!! Make sure you stop by PINK HIPPO BOUTIQUE this weekend!

Hippo News

2010-10-22T11:55:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to announce that we will be offering FREE Shipping on orders $100.00 and over. This will apply to orders that our placed through our website only (not Etsy).

Also be on the lookout for our 1 year anniversary sale! November 5th is Pink Hippo's 1 year anniversary and as a THANK YOU to all my fabulous customers everything on our website (not Etsy) will be 15% off with free shipping. I will also be doing a giveaway for a free Birthday Banner in any color or theme of your choice. Details coming soon!

Don't forget to tell your friends about us!

Catching Up

2010-10-18T07:05:00.000-04:00

I am back in full swing and have been as busy as a bee since I came back from vacation. I was running a head of schedule and then my son got the stomach bug and my weekend quickly past and not much work got done.
Thankfully he is feeling much better and I plan to get most of my orders out this week. I am currently working on orders for November 1st, so if you have ordered something and your party is in November please know I am working very hard to get them out this week. :)

Fun New Themes

2010-09-29T19:17:00.000-04:00

I have been very busy working on new themes! I still have a bunch more in the works but I wanted to share with you the ones I have completed and uploaded to my website. I would love to hear feedback!

Our new Train Theme

Monster and Buzz Lightyear/Toy Story Theme

Jungle Babies (boy and girl designs), Sailboats, and Fall Themes

Frog and Winter ONE-derland Theme

Now as you can see most of the pictures are only of my cupcake toppers but I can do any type of decoration. In any theme. I am doing the cupcake toppers for my samples because they are quicker and I want to get as many new designs up as I can.

We offer the following items:

Cupcake Toppers
Birthday Banners
Napkin Rings
Confetti
High Chair Banners
Centerpieces (1 or 3 pieces)
Door Hangers (Large Single one or 3 piece)
Invitations
Thank You Cards
Stickers
Address Labels
Gift Tags

Pink Ladybug Party

2010-09-19T08:54:00.001-04:00

Right before I left for vacation I worked on a 1st birthday party for McCartney! She was having a pink and green ladybug theme and I was so excited to work on this for her and her mommy. McCartney's mommy was kind enough to share her birthday photos with me so without further ado here they are!

The sweet birthday girl!

On Vacation

2010-09-10T09:45:00.000-04:00

I am officially on vacation until September 19th. YAHOO!!! I will be back on the 18th and will answer all emails at that time as well as start working on October birthday parties!

My website will be back up and running on the 19th and Etsy will be back up after the first of October.

Thank you everyone for your continued support and I am excited to show you all the new things I have been working on.

New Design

2010-09-05T23:46:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have a new look! A big thank you to Laura at Laura Jane Designs for once again creating a beautiful blog for me. Last month Laura did my personal blog, Sweet Tea and Giggles and I loved it so much I wanted her to my business blog. I am so happy with how this turned out and I am glad to have a blog that is easy to read (especially the comments).

Laura you are awesome and I thank you so much for creating a great space for me. I highly recommend Laura for any blog designs you might need. She has several great options for any budget so check her out. She is a work at home mommy too! :)

Custom Centerpieces

2010-08-20T08:08:00.000-04:00

A few months I contacted by a wonderful lady who asked me to make her some custom centerpieces for her daughter's Minnie Mouse birthday party. I made her 6 large centerpieces along with a few other items. She then placed the centerpieces in a vase of flowers and they look absolutely gorgeous! She sent me some pictures to share with all of you!

Thanks Sissi for sharing these photos!

Centerpieces and Napkin Rings

Closeup of the Centerpeices

My First Award

2010-07-19T11:10:00.000-04:00

I was given my first blog award! Thank you to Stephanie of Hootiebee's for giving me the

The Pink Award. I am very excited to have received this award and I look forward to building more friendships throughout the blogging community.

Accepting the Pink Award does not end here. There are a few wonderful rules to accepting the award and they are as follows:

Thank and link back to the person that gave you the award. Share 7 things about your self. Pass the award to 9 fellow bloggers that inspire you. Let them know about the award. :-)

7 things about me...

1. I have two beautiful children, my son is 4 1/2 and my daughter is 2. They were the reason I started Pink Hippo Boutique.

2. I am originally from Columbus, Ohio but moved to Atlanta in 2003 by myself when the company I was working for transferred me. (Then I met my husband. )

3. I am a HUGE and I mean HUGE Ohio State Buckeyes fan. I live for September when college football starts.

4. I love to scrapbook

5. I am addicted to sweet tea (hence my other blog title) lol

6. My guilty pleasure tv show is any of the Real Housewives...particularly New Jersey Housewives.

7. I like to dip my french fries in a chocolate frosty from Wendy's.

The 9 Blogs I am choosing for the award are:

Sugarcoated Cookies

3 Princes and 1 Princess

Taking Time for Mommy

Welcome To Mommyhood

Chubby Cheeks Thinks

Funky Monkey Boutique

Handmade Crochet Accessories

Life of a Twingle Gal

Punk Rock Momma

AND THE WINNER IS...

2010-07-16T08:05:00.001-04:00

#9-JULIA!!!!

Congratulations Julia! I will be emailing you later today with your gift certificate!

**The winner was picked via Random.Org**

Reminder Contest Ends Tomorrow

2010-07-14T08:19:00.000-04:00

This is just a friendly reminder that our $25.00 gift certificate giveaway ends tomorrow at midnight. I will announce the winner on July 16th.

Good Luck!

Gift Certificate Giveaway-CLOSED

2010-07-01T16:38:00.003-04:00

I am trying really hard to build my blog and facebook following and one of the ways I will be doing this is by doing giveaways...and not just to my store but others as well. This month it will be a $25.00 gift certificate to my shop. The gift certificate will be good for 18 months so if your birthday has passed no need to worry you will have extra time to use it. :)

Entering your name into the contest is very simple. All you have to do is leave a comment under this post for each entry. So if you are a fan of mine on facebook that is one entry, if you are a follower on my blog that is another entry, if your friend Sussie became a fan on facebook that is another entry. You need to write a comment for EACH one in order for it to count. I will be checking too so if they are not there your comment will be deleted.

There need to be a minimum of 5 different people who enter in order for this to work so if we do not get at least 5 people the giveaway will be canceled. The contest will officially end on July 15, 2010 at midnight so make sure all of your entries are in by then.

Remember get your friends and family involved for more chances to win!!

Thanks and good luck!

Printing Invitations

2010-06-20T16:30:00.000-04:00

I have been asked many times about how people should print their invitations. Well the question came up again and I thought I would share with you all some things I have done and I have heard others do; from the type of paper to how to get envelopes with your order!

The big thing these days is to have invitations printed at a local photo lab like Wal-Mart or Target. Not only is it convenient for most people it is super cheap. You really can't go wrong, unless of course you don't like how thin photo paper is and the fact that most of them don't come with envelopes. If you chose to go the photo paper route there are ways to get envelopes with your order you just have know your way around the sites. First off let me start by saying if you have a Wolf Camera near you always use them. They give you envelopes automatically when you place your order.

Other places such as Wal-Mart will not give you envelopes if you upload them just as a regular photo. However you can purchase them through the "Cards" section and then you will get envelopes. This option is available on most major photo lab processing sites. You just have to look around. At walmart.com once you select the "CARDS" section you want to find the option for the full photo. A lot of their cards will have already designed borders and if you order an invitation from me or anyone else you will have all the designs already on the file so you will not one to add anything extra. So again make sure it is the FULL PHOTO option. Once you have done that you just upload the image and order the amount you need. You will see in the description that your order will come with white envelopes. This will cost more then your regular photo order, but it is still a great deal.
Some people do not like the photo invitation look. I honestly was one of those people for a long time. I have come to like the photo cards, but I prefer the matte look because I do think it looks a little more professional then glossy, but again that is more a matter of taste and up to each person's own style.

If you are someone who prefers the thicker look of cardstock you will pay more for those invitations. I have a great printer that I use, but because I am a small business and I do not require a minimum of 25 I get charged more because of the small quantities. I do this because not everyone needs 25 cards and why should you pay for 25 if you only need 12? If you are on a budget a great way to get the look of cardstock without the cost is to print all your invites on photo paper and then mount them to cardstock using a permanent adhesive (use tape not glue). This will of course require cutting of cardstock which can be a little tedious but if you achieve the look you are going for a cheaper price then I think it is worth it to do.
You can also search for printers near you and you may be able to find some who can print the invites on cardstock for you relatively cheap. Be cautious when doing this option because every printer is different. I have dealt with many printers and the quality of the prints varies so make sure you are using a good printer. Also make sure you let your designer know because they will need the printer specifications before designing your invitation to make sure it prints correctly. This part may not make sense to you, but it will your designer. :)

I hope this helps some of you out who struggle with printing invitations. It is a lot of information but hopefully you will find it a little useful the next time you are in the market for one.

Busy & Havin' Fun!

2010-06-18T08:09:00.000-04:00

Wow! Things have been so crazy since the beginning of June. I have been booked about 4 weeks out for about a month now and I still can't believe it. I went to Ohio last week to visit my parents and sister and had a great time, but since I have been back it has been busy, busy, busy. I love it though so I am not complaining.

I have been trying to work on some new items. I now have a Mermaid Theme, Bowling Theme and Under the Sea theme available. I only have the invitations done right now and I am hoping to get samples of other items up soon, but you can still order banners, cupcake toppers, etc even if I don't have any samples made. :)

Let me know what you think. Also feel free to let me know if you are looking for something particular and I will see what I can come up with.

June Orders-FINISHED!

2010-06-07T07:37:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to let all of you know that I am officially done with June birthday parties! Whoohoo! I was a little worried I would be pulling a bunch of all nighters, but luckily once I got started it didn't take me quite as long as I thought it would. It is funny because I have been doing this since November and I thought I had a pretty good handle on the time, but I almost always run into some sort of snafu. For example, I use the wrong color paper and have to start over, or worst case I don't have enough of the right color paper and it is 10pm and the stores are all closed. :) That has happened to me a lot.

This weekend the stars were all aligned because I had everything I needed and finished last night at 9:30pm. Now I can go visit my parents this week without the worry and when I return I will begin the July birthday parties. So if you placed an order for July or August I will begin working on your orders after I return on the 14th so be on the lookout for your proofs. :)

Also I am keeping updates on the right side of my blog to let you all know what orders I am working on and and estimated ship date. Once I ship your item it will be deleted because you will receive an email from paypal that your item has shipped.

Thank you everyone for continuing to make my business such a great success. I appreciate all of my wonderful clients and I am truly having a blast making all of your party supplies. :)

REMINDER: I will be on vacation June 9th-13th with limited access to email.

My Daughter's Party

2010-05-24T07:48:00.001-04:00

This past weekend was my daughter's 2nd birthday and we did a pink Minnie Mouse theme. I wanted everything to match the table settings that we purchased from Party City, so we did lots of pinks, blues, purples and greens. Below are some pictures of the table settings and the decorations that I made to match.

A full look at the table including the confetti, napkin rings, smash topper, large door hanger, centerpieces.

Cake Topper or Smash Cake Topper-Personalized

Napkin Rings

3 Piece Centerpiece

Personalized Birthday Banner

Everything you see here and more we offer at Pink Hippo Boutique. If you have already purchased your table setting and would like me to match the colors just send me the picture and I will do my best to match it as close as I can. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at any time.

pinkhippoboutique@gmail.com.

New Themes Coming Your Way!

2010-05-15T10:23:00.000-04:00

I am so excited because I just found some new graphics that I LOVE! I already have a circus and under the sea theme on my website but I found graphics that are much cuter then the ones I have already listed on my website. I get so excited when I find fun new things to use in my creations so I am always looking around and trying to find fun new and exciting graphics that no one else has.

I recently posted some other new themes on my website that seem to be a hit with people. I added a puppy dog, dinosaur and a sweets/candy shoppe theme. Is there something in particular you are looking for that I don't offer on my site? I would love your feedback and any suggestions you might have for new themes and products.

Feel free to leave your comments on this post. :) Have a great weekend.

What do you think?

2010-05-11T21:32:00.001-04:00

I was contacted today by a lady looking for Minnie Mouse invitations that were handmade. She liked my large door hanger and wanted something to go with that. I made her a sample and just sent it to her and I am waiting to hear what she thinks, but I really love how it turned it out.

I am not sure if I am going to offer this in my store just yet, but would love some feedback. I will take a better picture in the morning with natural lighting.

Internet Detox

2010-05-03T20:34:00.000-04:00

When your internet goes down what do you do? Does it bother you or do you just go on with your day without giving it a second thought? For me it is agony. We had a storm this morning and it knocked out my phone and internet and I could barely sit still. I truly did not know what to do with myself, but most of all I worried about how I was going to tell my customers that my internet was down I was not ignoring them.

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do when this sort of thing happens, it just does. I eventually got back up and running at about 4:00 p.m. but wow what a long day, not to mention an eye opener on how much we or should I say I rely on the internet!

Etsy Shop Back Up

2010-04-30T07:55:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that my Etsy shop is back up and running. I will be adding new collections everyday until they are all up and I have relisted most of the older stuff.

Thanks for all of your support.

Shop Updates

2010-04-28T14:20:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I closed down my Etsy shop so that I could work on some new collections and products. I was thinking that I would have everything up and running again by today, but I still haven't been able to get everything done that I want to get done.

I have such great customers that even with a closed shop I am still getting sales. I have already had four and I have 2 more in the works. You guys are so amazing and I appreciate all the great support.

I am going to have my shop back up by Sunday at the latest. I am really excited about some of the new products I will be offering, but also the new collections. Since I don't want to keep anyone in suspense I have done some Circus, Fireman, Cupcakes, Tea Party and Bouncy House themes just to name a few with many more to come. Some of the new items coming are napkin rings, 3 piece centerpieces or smash cake toppers, door hangers and misc decorations.

Remember we have two great contest/giveaways going on right now. A blog follower incentive and a door hanger giveaway so don't miss out and get your friends and family to check us out too!

Thanks for all of your suppor!

Welcome To Pink Hippo Boutique

2010-04-19T07:20:00.005-04:00

Welcome to Pink Hippo Boutique's blog! I am so excited to have a blog for my business to keep all of you guys updated on new products, prizes, contests and fun giveaways.

I have been selling on Etsy since November 2009 and much to my surprise things have really taken off. I just launched my website for Pink Hippo Boutique and I am very excited about that. All of my promotions, coupon codes, etc will be sold or done directly through my website. I know many of you may be use to Etsy, and feel free to still shop there, but my coupon codes and promotions will only be valid through my website.

I hope everyone enjoys my blog and this week I will be starting the first giveaway so be on the lookout.

My blog was designed by Dreamlikemagic. She did my whole Etsy shop and now has done this fabulous blog to match. Her prices are unbeatable and she has a super fast turnaround time. If you need anything from Etsy shop designs to blogger templates she is your girl!