Holiday Gift Ideas

Sometimes I am asked, just what exactly do you do with a mini tote ? So I thought I would combine some ideas of use & who each item might be good for in this blogpost.

The Mini Tote

Who

My small tote bags are great for any age. From just learning to use a bag to your grandmother who just wants her compact & tissues, they are the perfect little size. Though they are quite small, I am impressed with how much you can fit in a mini tote. It is 3″ deep so you can get your phone, wallet & plenty of other essentials into this small bag. What started off as my answer to only wanting to carry the basics for my walks into town…has changed the way my friends view their bags. I’ve been told, everyone needs to have an itty bitty bag in their collection because they are useful & cute.

7 Possible Uses

1. Little girls to hold toys, snacks or a lunch box.
2. Bridal Parties to hold small gifts or jewelry
3. As a gift bag
4. Ladies Night Out
5. On your office desk for trips to the ladies room to freshen up <—great gift ideas for your BFF at the office.
6. Friends who carry their phone in their pocket
7. Concerts or other outings where you want your phone, camera & money.

I offer a few different varieties right now. I have the Vintage Totes, Itty Bitty Bag, Small Tote and Zipper Mini Tote.

Wool Zipper Clutch or iPhone 5 wallet, or Zipper Pouches

This year with my clutches I made several different styles including wool, bright colors and even added some embroidery. They are classic, well constructed, not flimsy and just an all around great gift.

Who

My zipper wallets are great for tween on up to grandma. My tween said that they are the perfect size to hold allowance, playdate cards, notes from friends, her game device and music player. They are great for the rest as it holds your phone, cash, credit cards & lip balm. Allowing this clutch to move from different bag to different bag or just grab the clutch for when that is all you need for a quick trip to the grocery store.

Possible Uses

1. Wallet
2. Phone Case
3. Purse Organizer
4. Clutch – holds the essentials (even for a formal night out)
5. Coupons
6. Gift Cards
7. Cords for recharging

Phone Wristlets

In limited quantities, I still have two wristlets in stock. One is for the iPhone 4 or could be used for an iTouch or iPod and the other wristlet it doesn’t matter what style phone you have it is big enough. These are a very popular item & many like the wristlet straps. The straps are very practical for when you are traveling on vacation and also for teens/tweens who often forget items if they are not strapped to their bodies. Yay for teenage years!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ittybittybag?section_id=11640440

I also have a variety of other items such as Coin Purses, Embroidered Hoop Art, Coffee Cozies, Key Chains; this is what I’ve categorized as Other Fun Items.

These are great inexpensive gifts with a lot of heart. No one would think you didn’t go all out on their gift if you gave them one of these items. They are all priced below $15 and several items are already grouped in packages to provide you a discount & to make your shopping easier.

There is still time to shop but time is running out. I have also been asked for some custom orders and time is running out on these too.

I hope this helps you to with your holiday shopping and that you know that you can come to one store for many different people on your list.

Happy Holidays!

xo, Jen

When you are constantly looking ahead, sometimes you need to look back

When you are constantly looking ahead, sometimes you need to look back

And looking back at all you’ve accomplished and not be so focused on the numbers. It was a very good year for the Itty Bitty Bag Company, despite the continued dismal economic environment and even with many personal obstacles thrown in the mix. From April through December, my home was invaded by Contractors. My health troubles began in February and I am still working through them today.

I had a very busy Nov/December of 2011 and I never got the chance to blog about some of my favorite projects. I will do this but I thought it would be fun to see where I was at the beginning of 2011 and where I finished up. I also want to highlight some of my favorite projects.

January 2011

I started doing a lot more embroidery. Adding special hand elements that are unique and whimsical are so much fun. Also, embroidering by hand, though it takes longer is such a better quality than most if not all machine embroidery designs. I also introduced iPad Sleeves & Kindle Sleeves to my shop.

February 2011

I created new burlap totes with bright spring accent colors. I also made a very special tote for Martha Stewart and had so much fun meeting her in person and talking with her. I also introduced wood handles as an option in my shop and thought with the burlap bags this was a very nice touch. Finishing off February with some great framed clutches in peacock & saffron yellow!

March 2011

I created a bunch of new mini-totes in very bright fun colors and then received a request from my dear friend Jacquie to make Easter Baskets and spent the next month working on them. iPhone cozy wallet sales were still doing quite well after the release of the iPhone 4. I also had 4 large bridal orders that I worked on during that month.

April 2011

A very successful Trunk Show in Massachusetts kept me busy the majority of April. I received a fun local design work for an Upcycled pillow cover and created a tutorial on how to do it. I created several framed purses. I had two portrait sessions so that I would have a professional headshot.

May 2011

I had a very large girl scout order for mini zipper pouches. Several custom designs, especially for large bags, my first Prom request, and more wedding make up pouches.

June 2011

I created a special Burlap set for the annual DTC Lobster Bake, started cross-stitching monograms and had many more bridal orders that included totes & framed clutches.

July 2011

Was a bit slow…I was on vacation relaxing with my family. I created some unique burlap designs with a handmade satin sash. Some unique custom design requests. A business mistake that we all can learn from…many hours/days into a project that never came to be and should have charged a design fee so that it didn’t happen.

August 2011

Several monogrammed wedding wristlets all unique, Dance bags for both of my girls, and Phone cozies were back by popular demand.

September 2011

Time to get organized!! I created the mom journal/planner so that I could keep track of my crazy life. Several custom orders for totes, undiaper bags, and wristlets.

October 2011

My fall totes with burlap, cords & wools was probably my most favorite design work. I thought the combination of the embroidery, broaches, and fabrics was my best work yet. October is also a very busy month for me as both of my girls birthdays are in this month, one at the beginning and one at the end.

November-MidDecember 2011

Holiday orders were on overdrive and I quickly had to set limits for myself. Several custom wool totes, zipper pouches, many many key fobs, Holiday shows, custom designs, and a very fun wedding order.

Do you have a favorite?

Thank you for your support this year. I will blog about some of my recent custom designs very soon.