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Today I made about 300 cookies for tomorrow's church service. I love, love, love making cookies.
I made chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, chocolate turtle and cut-out sugar cookies with icing (shown above).
These were super easy to make. I always use the Betty Crocker cookie mix that just requires an egg and a stick of butter.
After baking, I made a giant bowl of yellow icing. My icing is just powdered sugar and water mixed together. I dipped the leaf cookies and scraped off the extra icing on the side of the bowl.
After dipping the first 15 cookies, I added a drop of red food coloring to the yellow icing. And then I dipped another 15 cookies. I kept adding one drop of red food coloring until I ran out of cookies. So easy! The entire process took me about 30 minutes and I had over 100 sugar cookies!
I have been selling a lot of on both of my user IDs. Plus, I found a bunch of designer stuff at a thrift yesterday (St. John, Dolce & Gabanna, etc). Yippee! Here is what has been selling:
1. J. Crew pants suit, sold for $105.
2. Carmen Marc Valvo swimsuit, sold for $40.
3. Anne Klein skirt suit, sold for $39.
4. Talbots black & white dress, sold for $20.
5. Michael by Michael Kors skirt, sold for $20.
6. Express wrap dress, sold for $20.
7. Moda International wrap dress, sold for $20.
8. Lilly Pulitzer dress, sold for $40.
9. Vintage 1960's dress, sold for $20.
10. New Laura Ashley silk dress, sold for $51.
11. J. Crew dragonfly dress, sold for $20.
12. Soft Surroundings dress, sold for $20.
13. Athleta yoga dress, sold for $15.
14. April Cornell long skirt, sold for $15.
15. Chico's Travelers skirt, sold for $15.
16. J. Crew denim skirt, sold for $15.
17. White House Black Market top, sold for $15.
18. Ann Taylor LOFT dress, sold for $15.
....and that was just on one ID in about 5 days. I made $515 on this ID since 9/24. In the same amount of time on my second ID I have made about $800.
I put about 40% of the monies I "make" into ebay & paypal fees, inventory costs, cleaning costs, gas, taxes, etc. So my profit after these expenses is about $800. Not bad for the last 5 days!
Of course if I could do this every 5 days, I may not be interested in getting a "real job"! Ha.
Today I plan on staying home and listing on ebay. I have over 100 pieces to list and am going to try to list about 30 a day. But first I have to print all the shipping labels for items that have sold.
I had planned on going on a "thrift-cation" this week and yesterday was the day!
I planned out my trip. I would drive 3 hours east to Harrisbug, PA and thrift on the way. I would then stay the night, thrift the next morning at a few more stores and then come home.
Well, my plan got changed a bit but I was able to go to 8 thrifts in one day! I got to Harrisburg yesterday around noon. Yup, way ahead of schedule. I was able to cancel my hotel and got to sleep in my own bed last night. I was gone for 11 hours and got a ton of stuff!
The foliage here in PA is just starting to "pop". I took a few photos as I drove along:
I love visiting Harrisburg. My husband & I use to work in the area and the capital building is so pretty. One of the thrift stores took me past the building and it made me smile.
Here is what my haul looked like when I laid it out on the living room floor:
I got about 75 items! My favorites were a cashmere Boden sweater, a Marc Jacobs corduroy jacket, a Vera Bradley purse (which I may keep!) and a few completely ugly Christmas sweaters. I spent $300 (plus gas) for the 75 pieces which averages out to about $4 a piece.
I liked shopping this way - driving between thrifts allowed my knee a chance to rest (more about this later).
I liked it so much...I am doing it again today! Except I plan on going north instead of east. On my list are another 7 thrift stores and possibly some more Christmas shopping.
And now...the knee saga update...
My knee doctor called while I was thrifting yesterday. My
new MRI results are back and I have torn my meniscus. For those that do
not know my silly knee story, I had a knee operation at the end of June of this year to correct something about the plica band and some scar tissue. In June we went to Ireland for three weeks. I was walking but with a bit of pain due to the healing.
Then we went to Florida for a month in August & September and I walked about 65 miles in the first 20 days. I was doing really well. And then something happened and I could barely walk (which I now know was the meniscus tear). I am now taking Advil around the clock. Yes, I know my stomach lining is probably done to zilch due the Advil but atleast I can walk.
I will need another surgery to
correct the tear and the inflammation. The hubby & I are off to Old Alexandria, VA in 10 days (we will be there for 5 days) and so the surgery is schedule for October 18.
Pray that the second surgery takes care of the problem? Thanks :)
Well, I have to admit something. Since getting cable last week, I have watched nothing but QVC. I have no idea why I love it so much. It is like watching really convincing infomercials all day long. And I love watching infomercials.
These people have literally convinced me that I need everything they are selling. Yesterday I watched QVC showcase a lighted Christmas tree. It was several hundred dollars and I wanted it. I have a gorgeous fiber optic silver Christmas tree that I love. But for some reason I wanted this.
The same has happened with toys, hair products, cooking products, food, clothing and just about everything they have on air.
Today I broke down and actually ordered something. Ha! It was a six piece make up kit by Laura Geller. I use Bare Minerals and these looked very similar and were less money. They were calling it "a total face make over". This product is going to make my eye lids look smoother and give my face the luminosity that it was lacking. Am I selling you? Don't you want your face to be glowing? They said I will look like a beautiful, sophisticated woman. They presenters must go to some kind of adjective school.
While on the phone with the QVC representative, they asked if I would like to be on-air and speak with the presenter. Ummm...no. And then I heard Cheryl from Missouri and she was so excited about this product. She is a self-proclaimed "Geller Girl" and she said it works wonders. She said she could talk all day about the product. She said it has changed her life.
I may call back and tell my story next time it is on the air. So if you watching QVC and there is a sophisticated and glowing Mellissa from Pennsyvlania talking to the presenter, it may be me.
I am linking up with one of my favorite bloggers, The Chatty Mommy.
I am bored with the thrift stores in my area. I have been selling on ebay for years (atleast 8 years now!) and I have been shopping at the same 10-12 thrift stores for a long time. I go shopping 3 times a week and I hit all the thrifts weekly. A lot of times I visit a thrift and only pick up a few items. I live in a rural area and the same items hang there week after week.
I am thinking of taking a thrift-cation. A trip where I could thrift along the way. I am thinking of going to Harrisburg, PA. I love the Harrisburg area. My husband & I worked there years ago. There is a ton of thrifting there. Plus, I can write off the entire trip!
Here is what I have been selling lately:
1. We finally got cable TV - after 10 years of living in our home. And so I sold our RCA antennae boxes. We got these FOR FREE. I sold 3 boxes at $11 each.
2. Ann Taylor LOFT skirt, sold for $15.
3. CAbi skirt, sold for $20.
4. April Cornell sweatercoat, sold for $26.
5. Chico's leather coat, sold for $50. I purchased this at the local consignment shop for $12.
6. Talbots skirt & jacket suit, sold for $40.
7. Coldwater Creek dress, sold for $25.
8. H&M skirt, sold for $25.
9. Orange ballet flats, sold for $16. These were my personal shoes. I wore them once and got blisters. Although they are adorable, they are not worth the pain.
10. J. Crew skirt, sold for $14.
11. Sweet Pea top, sold for $15.
12. Moulinette Soeurs (by Anthropologie) dress, sold for $50.
13. I am a bit ashamed to admit that I loved this silly skirt. Bob Mackie cat print skirt, sold for $35 & shipped to Canada. Sold for $35.
14. Coldwater Creek jeans, sold for $13.50. These were my personal jeans. I am glad they sold - I didn't want to take them to the consignment shop and get only a few dollars for them.
I am doing very well on my second listing ID and I have a store sale on my store ID so hopefully I can sell a few things before going to Harrisburg.
I did pretty well at the dentist this past week - except for the part where I spoke to my mom afterward and I couldn't really remember any of the conversation due to the "calming pills" (sorry Mom!).
My father-in-law fell again this past week. I believe this makes 8 times this year. He is okay and just cut his hand on a saw (which thankfully was not running at the time).
We are coming into AUTUMN (my favorite, favorite, favorite season!) and the leaves are starting to change colors. The weather is cooler and I unpacked my autumn-y things yesterday. I am loving this weather!
I am also working on Christmas shopping and have about half of the presents bought (thank goodness for the internet!). I have my Christmas wrap purchased and the theme is... okay I am not going to tell you the theme since my family might be reading this. But it is fun.
I have been busy listing on a second ebay user ID. Why list on a second ID? Ebay gives 50 free listings to non-store sellers. Since I have a store on my regular ID, I am not eligible for those free listings. So I use that second non-store ID to take advantage of the free listings. I have listed about 30 items over the last two days and a few have bids already. Today I will be listing another 20.
Here are some things that have sold over the last few days.
1. Banana Republic silk skirt, sold for $13.
2. Ann Taylor top, sold for $13.
3. David Meister black dress, sold for $30.
4. Boden corduroy skirt, sold for $16.
5. Geiger wool skirt, sold for $13.
6. Banana Republic blazer, sold for $21.
7. Ralph Lauren angora blend sweater, sold for $21.
8. Gap denim skirt, sold for $20.
9. J. Jill rayon top, sold for $25.
10. Berek Christmas sweater, sold for $25.
11. White House Black Market dress, sold for $21.
12. Nally & Millie reversible skirt, sold for $27.
13. Eileen Fisher purple jacket, sold for $35.
14. New Chico's gray & purple jacket, sold for $50.
