The Package

One way to make an impression on your customer in an online business is the way your package looks.  I’m not an expert, but I have always tried to make my packages look as neat as I can. You never know what it’s going to look like once it’s been through the mail, but I figure if it starts out nice it won’t be as bad!

My packages are all fairly small because my items are small and flat, but the general ideas can be used on any package.  So this is where I start:I have all my things gathered up: envelope, packing slip,  tract, business card, Thank-you Card, and the hair net. I get it all folded up to a size that will fit in the envelope I am using.  Right now I am trying to use up envelopes we have around here that aren’t being used.  When I buy envelopes, I buy the 6×9 brown ones.  I can get them at Wal Mart, but they are a bit cheaper from Office Depot. Then it is ready to weigh so I can print the mailing label.  I don’t know how other people do this part, but I use a scales that my Dad uses in his appliance business to charge refrigerators. It is a fairly accurate scales and works really well for my small packages.  The picture turned out dark, but right above that white part on the right it tells me how much the package weighs and I then type that into PayPal where I buy my postage.  There are some orders like foreign orders from etsy.com that I have to purchase the postage from the PO.  Those I just print out the address, or write it, and tape up the package.  Once I have the label printed, I cut it down to the size I need to fit the envelope.  I lay it on the envelope to make sure it fits:Then it’s ready for tape! I use wide clear packing tape and tape the flap down and then start on the front and tape all around the edges of the label. It ends up with a bunch of tape on the back, too, which is fine because it will make the package sturdier.  So there you have it! Ready to go out the door:And when you receive it, you will find your beautiful hair net!Hopefully it won’t be squished too flat.  They fluff up pretty good though if it is.  I have gotten a few returned to me so I have an idea what they look like!

As in any business, there is always paperwork, too.  I take the receipt printed with the postage label and staple it onto the paypal record that I print out.  That is what I keep in my file as record of the transaction.This makes it seem like a long drawn out process, but it doesn’t really take long.  Especially after you’ve done it awhile.  I did realize how much work it is when Mom shipped orders for me this Summer.  I was on the phone telling her how to do it and wondering why I hadn’t taught her before I left?! I didn’t make her do the fancy packing slip and I hadn’t started doing the thank yous back then.

Busy Hands

Although I haven’t much energy, my hands have found plenty to keep busy with! When I came home, I had several purchases on eBay and Etsy to mail. That is when I realized my inventory is down again! I was looking forward to spending several weeks doing ‘fun’ projects before getting back to ‘work’! 🙂  Oh, I don’t really mind crocheting hair nets at all, it’s just that doing the same thing over and over and over, gets a little old sometimes.

Between crocheting hair nets, though, I have snuck in some other projects. I have an afghan I have been working on. I tried to make a goal of doing 3 rows a day so it doesn’t take me a year to get it done! I have also started a new project on my new knitting loom, but I’ll wait to tell you about that til after the Christmas presents are given. 😉  The other day I also made a card for someone. It seems like such a little thing, but it’s so amazing how much energy those little things take, when you just have. no. energy.

Time seems to be moving rather slowly.  Looking back it seems I was in the hospital a long time.  It has some kind of dream quality where every day blended into the next.  Now it seems I have been home a long time.  Is it really just 7 days?  The days themselves don’t feel long though.  That is a blessing.  Until I get all my meds in, rest, eat, crochet a bit….  Not much time left.  Everything seems to take a long time since I have so little energy.  I am so thankful for the things I can do.  I thank the Lord for the ability to crochet and do other hand work even when I can’t do much else.

I have managed to list some items on eBay and Etsy again, too. Yesterday I listed this set of 3 hair nets on eBay and I hope to get it on Etsy soon, too.  There is one Burgundy, one gray, and one white.  As always, you save a bit of money by buying a set of 3! 🙂

New Hair Net Listing

I created a new listing for my large hair nets on eBay. After getting several requests from customers about other colors and/or quantities, I wondered how many customers didn’t buy because they didn’t want to bother with a special request.  Now it is very simple to order your large hairnet through a fixed price listing offering the choice of net style or flower style. You can also choose from one of the basic colors: black, brown, natural, and white.  I will still continue to list auctions for the large style, to gain more exposure.

Check out the new listing here!

Christmas in July

I made a coupon code to use as a Christmas in July sale, but in the meantime someone in an Etsy team suggested using this website to run sales:

https://www.etsyonsale.com/sellers?referralCode=NXMHZEYBVN

I checked it out and I am so glad I did! It was super easy to make a sale, and mark every item through their program instead of going through and doing it manually. It’s a site that allows you to easily run a sale in your Etsy shop, change tags for items all at once, and auto renew items on a schedule you set.  You can watch the demo video at the link above.  Plus, if you login and link up your Etsy shop you will get a total of $10 in free credits to use.

So right now every item in my shop is on sale! I have been adding 1 or 2 items almost every day so go check it out and see if there is anything just right for you.

Happy Shopping!

Purple, Purple, and More Purple… and Black

Thanksgiving weekend I got an order for 9 purple hair nets! 🙂 I had one done, so I sat down and made 8 more purple hair nets! I must admit I was a bit purpled-out by the time I was done.

Right now I have an order for 4 large hair nets -all black! I had one made and I made one yesterday so I only have 2 more to make, and one more for inventory.

I have another purple one available here. And a black one coming soon. In the mean time you can check out my brown and white ones.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the month of December you can use this coupon code to get 15% off your purchase: DecSale11

And if you don’t find what you’re looking for, you can always ask if I can make it!

Blogging Vacation

Last week I took an unplanned blogging vacation! That doesn’t mean I wasn’t busy though! Two doctor appointments took up quite a bit of time, plus getting more (*hopefully*) done here at home. I did get my desk cleaned up, my inventory hair nets and doilies organized, some booking keeping done, some sewing, and crocheting of course.

Now I am trying to come up with a blogging schedule that won’t be so overwhelming. I was trying to post every day and for now I will only be posting 3 times a week or less. The main reason for that is because I signed up to be a vendor at a local event: Old Congress Days. So now I am crocheting furiously to make sure I have enough stuff to display. 🙂 I’m sure it will be ok, I’m just stressing. I plan to have my crocheted hair nets and doilies there and some hanging hand towels. Mom is also working on some sewing projects to add to this collection. I was hoping to have a finished denim blanket, but we will see…

That event is October 1, so this is what I will be working on the next month. I am also working on school dresses for my niece. Two nieces in school! I really am getting old……… 🙂

Here are a few things I got listed on Etsy Last week:

Greeting Card Printable PDF Prickly Pear Cactus Hearts 3 Thi…
This is the third printable greeting card with prickly pear cactus in the picture. This is one of my favorites.

Doily Tablecloth 26″ Cotton Natural Color HandCrochete… 

I finally got this huge doily done! I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to sell it or not, but here it is. It measures about 26″ across. Perfect for a small end table or as a centerpiece on a large table.

Hair Net / Bun Cover Crocheted Brown Flower Style Amish Menn…

I listed the brown hair net again as it had sold awhile ago.

Be sure and visit my shop and browse all the items! 🙂

Rejoice with Me!

I wrote before that I was not feeling very well. I am rejoicing that I feel better now! I still don’t feel quite normal yet, but I am SOO Thankful for all the Lord has done for me in bringing me this far!! I have been off antibiotics for 6 days and today I took my last Prednisone! 🙂 Very Exciting. (I still feel like I have my Prednisone appetite though!)

I am also thankful for the 3 sales I had over the weekend! That is very exciting. I sold one hair net on eBay. The other two sales were from Etsy: tayafaith bought the set of 3 hair nets that I listed last week. I have another listing like that here. The other sale was from mommaroz for two handtowels. Check out my shop and see what deals you can find! 🙂

Hair Net Deal

I listed a set of 3 hair nets / bun covers in my Etsy shop. This listing is designed to save you a bit of money! If I list a set, my fees are lower and therefore I am able to reduce the price per piece a bit.

This set includes one each of my three most common colors:  Black, Brown, and White. All three are made in the flower style. Go on over to my store to check it out!

Hair Net / Bun Cover Pictures

A couple of weeks ago someone asked me for pictures of the hair nets actually modeled on hair. These pictures are the result! I asked my sisters to take pictures of their girls wearing the bun covers. (I don’t think the girls were too impressed). Thanks, ladies!  I couldn’t decide which pictures to use because they are all so cute so here is almost all of them! 🙂 It’s kinda scary how it makes the girls look so grown up! Am I getting old?!

As always you can find these hair nets / bun covers on both eBay and Etsy

Holiday & New eBay listings

Hello! I hope had a great weekend and are enjoying a relaxing day! I had a nice weekend. Yesterday was a blessing to be in church and to fellowship with Christian friends. Last night we were also blessed with a wonderful rain shower!! We here in AZ love rain showers as they don’t come very often. When we saw it was probably going to rain, my brother and I took our hammocks out to the front porch (it has a roof over it). It was so much fun to lay there and enjoy the rain and the lightening. It did get really windy though and we came running in when we started getting soaked! I realize though that many parts of the US won’t call a rain shower a blessing as they have ‘too much’ water.  

I didn’t do anything to celebrate the holiday today, but I did have fun working on different projects around the house in a relaxed frame of mind. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my projects done, so I can’t really say I did much! I cut out a bag I’ve been wanting to make. Actually, I cut out a practice, because I don’t want to use the material I have picked out until I know if my idea is going to work.

I have really been into bags lately. I made one for my sister-in-law for her baby shower. I planned to do a game involving a diaper bag, however I had no diaper bag to use!! So I quickly threw together a simple bag here about the day before the party. Then I made her little girl a matching one for her 5th birthday. Sorry I don’t have pictures to show you. I will take pictures of this one I am making now, if it turns out ok. 🙂

When I was done with that, I sat down at my sewing machine for about 2 minutes and decided I didn’t feel like sewing. Does that ever happen to you??! Hmmm. Now to come up with another project….

Someone told me recently I should crochet baby blankets. I don’t know about that as I haven’t done too well with afghans. But that is what I started this afternoon. I have 3 or so rows done and it is going very well. The pattern I decided on though has quite a few ‘holes’ in it for the poor baby to get his fingers caught in so it might just turn into a wrap or lap robe of some kind. I am using small yarn: baby weight or sport weight whatever it’s called. And a large hook: size I. So hopefully it won’t take too long to get it done!

Tomorrow I will probably go back to normal projects again. It has been fun though to spend a day doing out of the ordinary things.

One of the ordinary things I did do was get more listings on eBay. You can see them here.

Crocheted Traditional Hair Nets / Bun Covers Amish Mennonite

I also have hair nets available in the traditional net style. They are the same size as the flower style and they have the same style elastic in the back. I can also make these in any of the other colors I use. I just don’t have them all made up right now. It doesn’t take long to make them. You can find these hair nets in my Etsy Shop.

Sz Large Crocheted Brown Hair Net / Bun Cover Amish Mennonite

The smaller size is here Crocheted Brown Hair Net / Bun Cover Amish Mennonite or here Crocheted Black Hair Net / Bun Cover Amish Mennonite 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Large Black and White Hairnets

I got the large black flower style hair net/bun cover listed in my Etsy shop yesterday. I was feeling kind of out-of-it so I didn’t get much listed this week yet. I got the large white flower hair net listed this morning. This is now all the colors in this style I have available. The others were the brown and light brown.

If you have long and or thick hair and need a hair net with plenty of room, these large nets would be just the thing!

Sz Large Crocheted Black Hair Net / Bun Cover Flower Style Amish Mennonite

Sz Large Crocheted White Hair Net / Bun Cover Flower Style Amish Mennonite

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sz Large Crocheted Light Brown Hair Net / Bun Cover Flower Style Amish Mennonite

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Here is another large size hair net / bun cover from my Etsy shop:

Sz Large Crocheted Light Brown Hair Net / Bun Cover Flower Style Amish Mennonite

The smaller size light brown flower style is here: Crocheted Light Brown Hair Net / Bun Cover Flower Style

The large size hairnets are made the same styles as the smaller ones except they are larger. This style has two scallop rows on the top, giving the ‘flower’ two rows of petals.

Sz Large Crocheted Brown Hair Net / Bun Cover Flower Style Amish Mennonite

I finally got my large size hair nets listed on Etsy today.

These hairnets / bun covers are about 5 1/2″ across when laying flat. They will fit most large buns. I use this size myself and it is a little too big. (That’s no problem though because the extra just gets tucked under the bun with hair pins.)

Sz Large Crocheted Brown Hair Net / Bun Cover Flower Style Amish Mennonite

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

If you like this style and color but would like a smaller size, check out this one

Crocheted Brown Hair Net / Bun Cover Flower Style

Why I make Hairnets

I began making hairnets for myself. While I enjoy making pretty things such as doilies, coasters, ect, I have always had had interest in making useful things. To me, a hairnet is something useful that I can make for myself instead of buying them. The real bargain is that the homemade ones last way longer, too!
After I began making them for myself, I thought others could be using these too. When I first started selling them, I had no idea there is such a market for bun covers.
I believe in the literal translation of the Bible in 1 Corinthians 11 where it teaches that Christian women should cover their hair with a veiling. I do not believe and do not promote that the bun cover/hairnets that I make should take the place of the veiling. They only cover part of the hair, and do not provide an adequate covering of the hair. The hair net is to keep the hair in place so that a veiling can be worn neatly over it. If the bun cover is someone’s first step towards wearing a veiling, I do not condemn you in that, but I do pray that you will continue to learn and grow to an understanding of wearing the headship veiling.
I know that many people use bun covers for a variety of reasons, some of which, I would not encourage. I do hope to be a witness to my customers of the principles taught in God’s word.
Wearing a veiling has long been a practice of the Mennonite and Amish people and is often associated with them. That is one reason why I put the words Amish & Mennonite in the title of my listings. I hope that draws the attention of those honestly seeking a method of Biblically covering their hair.

 

Navy Blue Crocheted Hair Net Bun Cover Amish Mennonite

Another auction on eBay for this week.

I have here a hair net/ bun cover for sale. I love to crochet and here is a finished product of my work for you to enjoy.  I crocheted this hair net by hand using navy blue size 10 cotton crochet thread.  The outside round has an elastic pony tail holder (no metal!) crocheted into. This helps the hair net to form around the bun.  This hair net will fit most average small – medium size buns.  If you have thick hair you will probably need a bigger size.  If the hair net is a little too big, it can be tucked under with hair pins.  Read full description

Burgundy Crocheted Hair Net Bun Cover Amish Mennonite

I renewed the auction on eBay for this item today. It will run a week. Here is some info on it.

I have here a hair net/ bun cover for sale. I love to crochet and here is a finished product of my work for you to enjoy.  I crocheted this hair net by hand using burgundy size 10 cotton crochet thread.  The outside round has an elastic pony tail holder (no metal!) crocheted into. This helps the hair net to form around the bun.  This hair net will fit most average small – medium size buns.  Read full description.

History of mydesertdeals and it’s owner

The history of mydesertdeals actually started quite a long time ago. Many years ago a little girl was born to…. Just joking. 🙂

Since my main line of products has to do with crocheting you might find it interesting to know when I started crocheting. In grade school, I can’t remember what grade exactly, probably 5^th or 6^th, our teacher taught us girls how to crochet. I made a blanket for my favorite doll, Becky, which I still have. I never again crocheted anything until I was 20 or 21 years old, I met a lady who crocheted very well and made beautiful doilies and throws. I determined then that I was going to learn!

I found a old ‘how to’ book Mom had and I practiced until I made a doily. At first I only made doilies. It took me a while, but I did eventually get into making a few aghans. I made one for each of my parents and sister & brothers and a few others and that is as far as I got!

Although crocheting with yarn is a bit easier than thread, I still don’t enjoy doing aghans much. I have a very short attention span and if the project takes more than a couple weeks… You can’t imagine how many unfinished projects are in my closet!

Through the next years, I crocheted when ever I had spare time and learned to really enjoy it. I mostly used patterns, but I did experiment abit at adjusting them.

A couple years ago, I found a pattern on Candle on the Hill for a hairnet and immediately set out to try it. I loved it right away! About 6 months later when that one started getting worn out, I made another one for me and one for Mom also. That is when I started experimenting and making my own pattern. That was the first time I made my ‘flower style’.

About that time I got interested in selling them. I had already been selling stuff on www.eBay.com and www.Etsy.com so I listed one or two on those sites. That was in August 2010. They sold sporadically until November & December, then is when they picked up very well.

Several times I wondered if it really was worth trying to sell them. They were a lot of work and didn’t seem to be making much. While I was still experimenting with the pattern, I didn’t make them very fast! I got really excited when they took off over the holidays in 2011. That is when I decided to beef it up and give it my best effort.

The Lord has really blessed! I am not getting rich on selling hairnets! But it has given me something to do and does provide a bit of extra income.

History Part 2

Set of 3 Crocheted Hair Net / Bun Covers Flower Style

Set of Three Hairnets

I just listed this set of 3 hair nets in my Etsy Shop.  Here is part of the description of them:

 

When laying flat the hairnets are about 4″ across and they have about 5″ of elastic.

These hairnets have a “flower” design in the center.

You will get one each of Brown, Light Brown, and Ecru.

I have here a set of 3 hair nets/ bun covers for sale. I love to crochet and here is a finished product of my work for you to enjoy…

 

Read More.

 

 

Crocheted Hair Nets / Bun Covers

Right now my most popular items are the hair nets. These nets are made in the bun cover style, so they are covers that just fit over your hair bun. The regular, real thin, hair nets are made big and you twist or fold them down to the size of your bun. (I may use those terms –hair net & bun cover- interchangeably, but I am referring to the same bun cover-style product).

The nets come in two designs: the Flower Style and the Traditional Net Style.

Traditional Net Style - Gray

The traditional net style is the regular one with ‘holes’ in it. The flower style is a pattern I made up and it has a ‘flower’ pattern on the back of it.

Flower Style Hair Net - Brown

I have made them many different colors. I have done some pastel variegated, pinks, and other colors. The ones I prefer are the neutral black, brown, light brown, natural or ecru, and white. It seems most customers prefer those colors also, as they sell the most.

I have chosen the neutral colors to try to match hair colors. It took me awhile to settle on the light brown and natural colors. I found the light brown on eBay after searching the internet for it. After I got it I realized it wasn’t as light as I thought it would be. Eventually I stumbled onto the ecru and really like that as a good color to go with light-colored hair.