Bow of the Month Club!

Starting January 2011, Honey Pie Accessories will be offering a bow of the month club!

You will receive 1 bow per month (it could be a holiday theme, or a basic solid color bow). These bows will be a surprise bow (no custom orders allowed), and may vary from month to month. (layered, single, clips, sculptured clips, characters, etc.) All bows will come on an alligator clip, unless otherwise requested.

Payment should be made through paypal. Payments will be received up front, and your bow will arrive in the mail by the 15th of each month. Shipping is included in the prices listed below. I will not ship to any other address, only those that are noted in the paypal payments.

I will be taking 2 months off this year, as our 2nd child is due- you will receive those 2 bows in May or in July. You will not receive a bow in June (that bow will be sent at an earlier/later date) and the month received will be due to my discression.

You can choose from any of the following plans:
3 months: $ 20.00
4 months: $ 24.00
5 months: $ 30.00
6 months: $ 36.00
1 year: $ 60.00

If you are interested in the bow of the month club, you will need to either send me a personal message, email me at elaineguenther@yahoo.com, or leave your paypal email in a comment below (these comments will not get published).

Bow of the Month Club would make a great Christmas or Birthday present- bow of the month club will begin in January or 1 month after you request to join the club. If giving as a gift, I would be more than happy to email you a document describing the club, for you to include to print and give to the recipient.

Refunds will not be given for bow of the month club. If you are unsure of how many months you'd like to participate, then please only sign up for a 3 month membership. You are more than welcome to renew an additional 3 month membership.

I have the discretion to add more guidelines to the club as it is developed, and I see what is or what is not working. Of course, feedback is always appreciated.

Advice Wanted: Potty Training: Update

I want to thank everyone for the advice yesterday with Gretchen's potty training! I think it always helps to know that there are people who have gone through the exact same thing, or who make you put things into perspective!

I decided this afternoon, that I would let Gretchen color a new reward potty chart. We talked about what she would need to do in order to receive a reward. Gretchen decided that she wanted a princess toy, and I told her that she could pick it out herself. But, that she has to start pooping in the potty again, and that she couldn't have accidents. I drew 7 crowns onto her potty chart, and before bedtime we'll cover them with a sticker. I also explained that if she had an accident after we put her to bed that the sticker would be removed and would go in the trashcan. She seemed to understand, and even pooped in the potty tonight! And, she initiated it!

I think that we will also stop talking about the new baby for a while, and focus on Christmas and the three of us. I'm thankful that I'll be home for two weeks straight starting this weekend. I'm hoping that we can tackle this issue and even night time training. I'm not expecting for her to be 100% successful (especially at night), but I do expect that we improve from where we are.

Seriously, though, thank you for your advice!

Advice Wanted: Potty Training

We've been in the process of potty training Gretchen for the last year. Seriously, a week from Monday, we will have been doing this for 365 days.

I would have said in October that we were good. She was only having the occassional accident during the day. But, the week before Thanksgiving, the accidents happened and they've settled in- i'm serious, we have had at least one accident every day since that Saturday.

Gretchen does great at daycare. She had a few accidents in September, but she was getting back into the swing of things from being home all summer. I swear, she had 3 accidents that month- all on a Friday, and all in the exact same dress. Then, it got better. She was even pooping in the potty.

She stayed dry during naps for several weeks.

Now, I'll admit, night times, that's another story. I never worried about night time. I knew that developmentally at age 2, it wasn't the best possibility that she'd stay dry all night. We also got into a habit, of giving her a little milk if she woke in the middle of the night. We've almost broken that habit- but, not quite. I think she's down to peeing 1x per night. We have tried to get her up to potty before we go to bed, which just led into a melt down that she wanted milk or she wanted to sleep with us. So, i'm not worried about nights- we'll get there. I'll buy 2 packages of pull ups per month if I have to.

But, these accidents! I'm seriously at a loss, and i'm not usually this desperate for parenting advice. Let me tell you what we've tried, and then please tell me what you've tried!

1. The accidents started right before Thanksgiving. She had not been sick before the accidents.
2. Yes, I'm pregnant- we found out in September, and Gretchen knew right away. We don't talk about the baby much, but we have talked about it and she is aware.
3. My in-laws came for Thanksgiving. It was a busy time, but we were at home, not too much out of the norm.
4. Football season ended right before the accidents started, so DJ was home a little bit more.
5. We've tried punishments: the way I see it, she knows what she's suppose to do- I mean, it's been several months, so in our house, we punish. Now, I do not beat her, but she has had a very rare spanking for these accidents. She has had time outs- both in the corner, and sitting in her time out chair. She's also had to stay in her poo for a few minutes- never longer than 5 minutes, but she's never cared that she was wet or dirty down there. It has never bothered her, so we've tried to see if it would make her uncomfortable.
6. We talk about how gross it is. How she knows that she sould go in the potty. Gretchen is in love with princesses right now, so much so, that she thinks she is one. We've told her that princesses do not poop in their panties, and that when she does, she is not a princess.
7. I've talked to a preschool teacher. She suggested that we tried taking her more on a schedule. This has not worked. She still will only pee 1-3 times an evening, and if she does poop in the potty (believe me we reward this) she still has an accident later- say, when we put her to bed.
8. I've tried giving her more positive attention. We baked cookies today, we've been working on puzzles together.
9. I decided yesterday that bribery would work well- because it has in the past. So, yesterday, I told her that if she could have no more accidents that she could buy a new princess toy. I reminded her of this a lot today, and yet, she still had accidents.
10. With her accident tonight, she asked if babies poop in their pants. When we replied yes, she just laughed. I think that she is wanting to be a baby- maybe this goes back to the pregnancy.

So, that's what we've tried, that's the history, now what do we do?! Seriously, I need advice.... I'm desperate for it!

Petti Tutu

I've been wanting to try this new style of tutu's for some time now! I had an order for one back in October, but the customer changed her mind to a regular tutu for her daughter.

I wasn't sure what I wanted Gretchen to wear in her picture with Santa this year- she has two Christmas shirts that I've made and two dresses. So, I asked her which shirt she'd want to wear.

She decided on the Santa hat applique' shirt which is red w/ white dots on a green shirt.

I decided that I'd pair it with her red leggings, but it still needed something else! So, I purchased the red and green tulle (I had the white left over) and went at it! I love how the tutu turned out and that the green at the bottom makes it look extra fancy!

The nice part, is that the green can come off, and I can add pink for Valentine's day if I'd like! Or I can leave it off all together for just a red and white stripe look.

I'll be listing these tutu's today on my facebook page! The 3 colored petti tutu, like the one shown above, is $25.00. A two color tutu- which has a solid tulle color at the top, and only 1 color at the bottom is $20.00.

Of course, customized pieces can be requested! I think it would look darling with 1 color at the top, but 2 colors (or more) at the bottom! You can also do 2 colors on top, and then alternate the same colors at the bottom- so on a red piece add white, but on a white piece add red!

Tree Decorating

We finally decorated our tree this past week! Gretchen had so much fun hanging up the ornaments! Most of the ornaments are hung at her level! We have several that are in groups this time! In one area there are five ornaments together. Gretchen and daddy, also hung all of our 1st Christmas ornaments in a group. The gingerbread girl is one of Gretchens. The pink ball is mine, and the orange ball is DJ's. Gretchen even hung a snowbaby to represent this baby's 1st Christmas.

After we decorated the tree, Gretchen decided that she wanted to be a supermodel! For this particular pose, she was trying to stand on one foot.

I kept our mantle simple this year, placing greenery with berries on top, along with our snowflake ornament holders, and sparkling red ball ornaments mixed in.

Here's an upclose of the mantle:

"Mommy, take my picture!" Gretchen was being a camera hog this evening!

It's Circus Time!

Last Friday the Circus came to town and I was so excited that we were able to take Gretchen for the very first time! I haven't been since I was little, and if i'm being perfectly honest with myself, I was probably more excited about me seeing it than her seeing it!

We decided that we would try really hard to get there for the pre-show! And, with rush hour downtown traffic on a Friday evening, we did fairly well!
Gretchen was able to get a circus hand tatoo! She stood very still while he was putting it on her.
And, then we headed over to one of the rings, where Gretchen got to learn a dance with one of the circus performers and dance with other little kids! I think after watching her that my dreams of her dancing one day, may be hard to accomplish- we need dance lessons pronto!
She took a break from dancing to watch a few up-close performances! We were lucky enough to be in the very front (even if it was on the side)~ we had a great view, and Gretchen was mesmerized!
They brought out an elephant, which Gretchen had only seen at the zoo and never this up close, and we watched him do a lovely painting! Although, I would not have wanted that paint brush half way up my nose!

And, we finally headed up to our seats so the show could begin! Gretchen received this lovely hat with her cotton candy!

And, by the 2nd half we were on to the popcorn.

Being honest again, these pictures were captured when she was actually being entertained and enjoying herself! But, don't let them fool you. She was not the most well-seated child in the venue. Daddy left to get her a drink and she wanted to go with him, which led to her throwing a fit in her seat after she was gone. She also touched the poor man in front of her- a lot! And, made friends with the two kids behind her. They even shared some of their popcorn, and Gretchen thought she would try to steal a few sips of their drinks. We also did take a little walk and rode the escalator all the way up to the 3rd level, but had to climb the steps to get back down. I think we'll wait until she's at least 5 or older to try the circus again.

Toward the end of the circus, Gretchen decided that I needed to wear her yellow cowboy hat. Any time I took it off, she put it right back on. But, at least she was sitting quietly for another moment!

A few new bow orders

I love when I have time to work on bows. This past weekend I sat down and worked on a few custom orders. Above: Dallas Cowboys layered bow. Features a silver spray, white and navy surround-a-loops, a navy base bow, and silver top bow with a Cowboys bottlecap.

The pink/brown bow above was a custom order to match a dress. I kept it simple, but made a brown base bow, with pink figure 8 loops, and a hot pink bow on top, again with smaller figure 8 loops.

I had a request for a "big sister" bow that was similar to the one I made for Gretchen, but she didn't want it so big. So, I left off the light blue bow on top, and instead of orange surround-a-loops I made an orange figure 8 loop.

All of these bows & more can be found on my Facebook page.

Honey Pie's Can be Boys Too!

I just received some new pictures of little boys that are wearing their Honey Pie gear! I love when my customers share photos, and I had to share these handsome men with y'all! GG works with Gunnar's mom. She requested that we make him an applique' #1 shirt for his 1st birthday! I sent it to GG who monogrammed his name across it and she made him his matching birthday hat! I think GG is going to have to add these hats to her collection!

Gunnar shared his 1st birthday with an older cousin, but because this post is dedicated to boys, and because I don't know her mother, I didn't steal that picture from facebook! I assure you though, her matching #5 applique shirt and hair bow were adorable!

And check out Andrew meeting Santa for the 1st time! He's wearing a reindeer applique' shirt, and I know that you can't see it very well- his mom offered another photo instead- I couldn't turn down the cuteness of Andrew and Santa!

Ace was all decked out for Thanksgiving in his custom made turkey shirt! I hope he didn't gobble too much food and get a tummy ache that day! Isn't he handsome?!

Thanks again momma's for sharing these photos and proving that HPA is not just for little girls!

Football Banquet

We had our annual fotball banquet this afternoon and managed to snap a picture of our family for our Christmas cards!

Thanks to my posts about Shutterfly last week I saved 104.00 on our cards! I usually order simple cards with 1 picture, but, since they were free, I went all out and decked out the inside of the card with pictures throughout the year~ I'm so excited to receive them!

The banquet today was enjoyable. I loved the food, but maybe that was because I'm almost 15 weeks pregnant! My mom purchased a few maternity clothes for me when she was in Branson a few weeks ago- check out this awesome brown sweater dress she bought me! It was so comfortable and I might have to throw it in the washer so I can wear it again this week! It's much more comfortable then my non-maternity pants being held up by the bella band!

Have you ever taken your kids to a banquet or a nice dinner? As a parent, you know that you have to be prepared- snacks, quiet toys, potty breaks, etc. When DJ and I came home we immediately agreed that we'd be getting Gretchen a babysitter next year!

The banquet was a nice end to our season (as it usually is). And, if you know anything about our personal lives, you know that there are some possible upcoming changes to our football family. Every 2 years, there's a change- at least that's what our record has been for DJ and myself. I'm praying for the families that might have to move and that are having big changes in their own lives. I'm also praying that God will be with our own family and that we can avoid any changes that aren't his intentions for us.

christmas card09

Little Christmas Christmas

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