Cookies!

A church friend asked me to bake cookies for her wedding. I have only ever baked for our church and for neighbors. I am not a professional by any means. And with having a bum knee, it took me two days of baking.

They asked for 51 dozen. However, the final count was around 63 dozen.


Here is what I made:

I also made gluten free chocolate chip cookies and gluten free chocolate lemon cupcakes. But I forgot to take photos of those.

I also made 10 "special" sugar cookies. These were my favorite. I could pipe icing on cookies all day long. It is so soothing. You tune out everything else and just focus on piping. Love it! I wish I would have made more of these. They were huge - about 5" each.

The bride & groom chose red & purple as their wedding colors. I thought they were a bit odd as far as wedding colors go but the venue was gorgeous.

They had the reception inside a church. The church was built in 1903 and officially closed in 2009. It is now a hall that is rented for weddings. The stain glass windows were stunning.

Outside of the church-turned-hall

I brought the cookies in shirt boxes and then put them on 6 large trays at the venue.

I am still wearing skirts since my jeans hurt my poor knee too much.
The hubby was allowed one photo since I didn't have my hair or make-up done.
How vain am I?

The gluten-free cookies were going to be plated and moved by someone else. I wasn't sure of where they should go. Pretend they aren't there.

Top 10 Ebay Sales - 10/23/13

Well, I am about 6 weeks post knee surgery. I am still having some pain which is puzzling to the rehab doctor (and me!).

For the next two days, I will be baking more than 800 cookies. A church friend is getting married and asked me to bake. I keep asking myself why I agreed to this. Ha! Some of the flavors I am making: S'mores, Cherry Almond White Chocolate and Peanut Butter & Double Chocolate Swirl. I'm sure I will take photos as I go for another blog post later in the week.

I won't be able to list for the rest of the week and so here are my top 10 sales for the past week: 

April Cornell wrap dress, sold for $40. I listed this a few months ago and sat on it for awhile instead of lowering the price each month. And I'm glad I did! 

Vintage Wippette black vinyl long jacket, sold for $60 to a buyer in the UK. This sold within a day of listing it! 

Flax by Jeanne Engelhart jacket, sold for $50. Can I repeat how much I love the brand name Flax?!?

Must de Cartier scarf, sold for $56 to a buyer in Russia. 

Lilly Pulitzer crab & whale printed cords, sold for $65. 

Peruvian Connection is a great seller if you can find it. This (kind of drab & boring) dress sold for $45.

Storybook Knits plus-size sweater with an adorable squirrel theme, sold for $73. 

St. John Evening black knit dress, sold for $138. 

Vintage Nettleton crocodile skin shoes, sold for $139 to a buyer in Belguim. 

Coldwater Creek jacket, sold for $31. This isn't something I would normally buy. It was part of a lot I purchased from an ebayer moving overseas.

Top 10 Sales - 10/16/13

I have been busy listing & selling. In addition to that, I have been going to therapy for my left knee twice a week. It is helping and I am slowly healing. 

Instead of listing everything that has sold, I am just going to post the "Top 10" sales of the week: 

1. Escada animal print wool jacket, sold to a buyer in Austria. Sold for $149.61.

2. St. John Collection santana knit dress, sold for $136.50. 

3. Versace "V2" black fitted dress, sold for $82 with 18 bids! I had this previously listed for $49.99 and it has not sold several times. For some reason it ended with multiple bids this time. You just never know :) 

4. St. John off-white leather shoulder purse, sold for $76.49. 

5. Vtg 1980's dress, sold for $65. I purchased this last Wednesday after my doctor's appointment. It was listed Wednesday evening and then sold & shipped Thursday morning. Score! 

6. Vtg. 1950's house dress with an awesome strawberry lemonade print, sold for $58.75 with 10 bids. It sold to a buyer in Switzerland. Again, I had this listed for a few weeks for $20 and it didn't sell. And then suddenly it sold for much more. It had numerous flaws but was still adorable!

7. Dale of Norway wool sweater, sold for $50. 

8. Trina Turk swimsuit cover-up top, sold for $50. 

9. Vera Bradley on the go style bag in Jazzy Blooms, sold for $47.23. This was my personal hand bag which I purchased from the VB website for less than $25. I used it then sold it for a profit. Love when this happens! Plus, I am down to just 3 purses in my closet! :) 

10. Johnny Was embroidered top with a few flaws, sold for $47. 

**And a bonus! This t-shirt sold within two days of listing it. It had several holes and a stain. However, it sold for $46.23 to a very happy CA buyer. 

 Today I am going to thrift. I have about 125 vintage pieces (mostly dresses) still unlisted. These are left from when I purchased 600 pieces from an ebayer who was moving overseas. 

I do not regularly sell vintage and so I find myself saying "I wonder if this from the 1940's or 50's". It takes a lot longer to list vintage stuff than regular stuff. There is more photographing, more researching and I feel the need to describe stuff with more adjectives. Ha. 

On a regular listing day, I can list up to 60 pieces. I find myself listing about 1/3 of my regular speed when it comes to vintage. Ugh.

In the last month...

It has been a month since my knee surgery! Here are a few things that happened in that month: 

Physically: 
-I got my full leg brace off two days ago. I can now freely bend my knee. 
-I drove this morning! I wasn't allowed to drive for the month with the brace. I missed it. 
-I went to my first rehab/therapy appointment this morning. My knee is feeling better after the electric shock treatment (ok...it probably isn't called this but I'm not sure what it is called). 
-I put on three pounds. Oops. It turns out staying at home every day all day isn't a great thing for the weight. 


Ebay: 
-I purchased a huge lot of clothing just over a month ago. I got about 600 pieces or so from an ebay seller that was moving overseas. 
-I have listed all but 150 pieces from that inventory. The ones left are all vintage pieces from the 1940's - 1970's. I will be out of my comfort zone on those! 
-For someone who couldn't really walk too well, my sales have been pretty good! 

 Spiritually: 
-The hubby & I have been reading the book of Job. I picked this book before my surgery knowing that Job had it a lot worse than me! Job's faith is amazing. He loses everything and is still able to praise God.
-I haven't been to church in a month. I am pretty excited to go this Sunday and teach my children's church class. 
-The hubby & I have been reading a devotional a few nights a week before bed. It is Devotions for Couples by Patrick Morley and I would recommend it. 


Mentally: 
-I had atleast two "pity party" days over the last month. These are days where I let myself be sad. Ha. For those days, I didn't really think my knee would get any better. I thought that I might have to deal with pain for my life.


Outreach: 
-I haven't done too much! Ha. I usually try to bake cookies for neighbors and friends as a ministry. I haven't baked in a month! 
-I was able to send two amazing capes our friend's children. I would HIGHLY recommend this website if you are looking for a great gift: http://tinysuperheroes.com. For each cape you buy, a cape goes to a child struggling with an illness gets one.

Around the house: 
-I have plans to paint the front door bright blue. Hopefully that will happen before it snows.
-I have changed my sheets twice in the last month. That is literally all the cleaning I have done. My hubby is doing everything else. Ha. 



Well, that is all I can think of. I'm looking forward to the next month. Thanksgiving is right around the corner! 

Different ways to show clothing when listing on ebay

I sell on ebay full-time. Here is how I photograph the clothing I sell.

1. A full-sized mannequin. You can buy these for about $100-$200. I named mine "Meg". 

2. A hanging mannequin. These have a hollow back. I put a little ribbon on the top of mine and hang it from a nail in the wall. They cost about $20.

4. Dress forms. I have one in beige and another in black. I actually purchased these at Wal-Mart years ago. They don't have the exact ones I purchased but you can find these at most craft stores. They also sell on ebay for about $80.

5. A vinyl back drop. It is faux wood on one side and white on the other. I lay this in a sunny spot on my living room floor. It cost about $40.

6. Poster board! My dollar store has this for 50 cents a sheet. I have about 6 pieces of white and 6 of blue. 

White poster board pushed up against my white wall in the office.

7. Several different styles of hangers, hung up on a nail.