Saturday, February 29, 2020

Beauty and the Beast

Need a tee to match a Belle dress? This Beast is the perfect solution for you!
Dress your little prince to have fun!


Beast from Beauty and the Beast Tee Shirt - $25



Beast from Beauty and the Beast Polo - $35

How do I order? You can either head on over to my facebook or instagram page and shoot me a message or email me at jessica52877@yahoo.com .

www.facebook.com/magicalmemoriesbyjessicaboutique
www.instagram.com/magicalmemoriesbyjessicaShipping is $4 for the first tee and $1.50 for each additional tee. If you would like to upgrade to priority mail it will be $5 more.

Please allow about 1-2 weeks to make your order and get it shipped!

What should I include in my message? Please include the item or items you would like to order, size and color along with a paypal address so I can invoice you!


Where can I see more of your work?
Either type in the search box here on my blog of what you are looking for or head to Facebook to see albums and albums of sewing awesomeness!



BEAST from BEAUTY and the BEAST  - Custom Boutique Applique Tee Shirt
 
Hand cut fabric,  pieced, thermally bonded and sewn hand applique tee. Constructed in my smoke and pet free home studio. An embroidery machine is NOT used for this item.

When purchasing please convo me with the following information:

Shirt Size
Girl or Boy
    - Ladies or Unisex if for an adult
Color - If applicable
    - I cannot get some colors in girls/ladies cut

Other characters available. This is for ONE shirt only. This is also available as a string backpack. Please just let me know and I can make you a listing or you can purchase here, just note that you want it on a backpack instead.

Please allow about 5-15 business days for mailing. I start making upon completion of payment AND details since these are custom made for your little one! I can often times make them faster if necessary.

Shipping is $4.00 for one tee, add $1.50 for each additional or you can upgrade to priority shipping for an additional $5.00.

Friday, February 28, 2020

Cartoon Mickey and Minnie Mouse

My favorite style Mickey and Friends to sew is the style below from the Disney Channel shorts!

This is also the contemporary style coming in just a few days, March 4th, to Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway!



Cartoon Mickey - $24

Cartoon Minnie Mouse - $24

I've also made her holding shopping bags! Perfect for a day at Downtown Disney or better known today as Disney Springs!

Mickey was part of a set I made seen below! I can do jeans, shorts or capris for an additional fee with Pluto and the word Mickey!
Just shoot me a message on Facebook or at jessica52877@yahoo.com and we can discuss pricing! 

 

How do I order? You can either head on over to my facebook or instagram page and shoot me a message or email me at jessica52877@yahoo.com .

www.facebook.com/magicalmemoriesbyjessicaboutique
www.instagram.com/magicalmemoriesbyjessicaShipping is $4 for the first tee and $1.50 for each additional tee. If you would like to upgrade to priority mail it will be $5 more.

Please allow about 1-2 weeks to make your order and get it shipped!

What should I include in my message? Please include the item or items you would like to order, size and color along with a paypal address so I can invoice you!


Where can I see more of your work?
Either type in the search box here on my blog of what you are looking for or head to Facebook to see albums and albums of sewing awesomeness!



Cartoon MICKEY MOUSE  - Custom Boutique Applique Tee Shirt
 
Hand cut fabric,  pieced, thermally bonded and sewn hand applique tee. Constructed in my smoke and pet free home studio. An embroidery machine is NOT used for this item.

When purchasing please convo me with the following information:

Shirt Size
Girl or Boy
    - Ladies or Unisex if for an adult
Color - If applicable
    - I cannot get some colors in girls/ladies cut

Other characters available. This is for ONE shirt only. This is also available as a string backpack. Please just let me know and I can make you a listing or you can purchase here, just note that you want it on a backpack instead.

Please allow about 5-15 business days for mailing. I start making upon completion of payment AND details since these are custom made for your little one! I can often times make them faster if necessary.

Shipping is $4.00 for one tee, add $1.50 for each additional or you can upgrade to priority shipping for an additional $5.00.




Thursday, February 27, 2020

What Etsy's New Fees Mean for EnchantedStitches528


 With the new advertising fee structure that Etsy is implementing I will be closing up shop there. My Etsy name is Enchanted Stitches 528 where as my facebook and regular business name has always been Magical Memories by Jessica Boutique.

I will continue to sell through the two platforms below.

www.facebook.com/magicalmemoriesbyjessicaboutique
www.instagram.com/magicalmemoriesbyjessica

Let's look at what Etsy takes now and what they will be taking in the future and how I came to that decision. We all know that you pay to sell on different sites. Etsy's fees are pretty much in line with other platforms. From each sale which includes the shipping amount they take:

$.20 listing fee per item
5% transaction fee
3.5% payment processing fee

Not too bad! Right?

Now don't forget you also pay federal taxes on your sales, this includes ALL costs again, so this isn't the actual money you made, but what your item sold for including shipping. All your costs will come out at tax time EXCEPT tax laws changed in 2019. This was awesome for some people and others not so much. Being a small business it makes it so we no longer can itemize, therefore any cost rolled into my business is no longer taken into account.

cost of the tee
notions - stabilizer, thread, heat n bond, etc
shipping
sewing machine and maintenance
supplies - iron, board, pins, etc
electricity

Wow! That is a lot of stuff coming out of that cost that isn't being accounted for anywhere.

NOW Etsy is implementing a mandatory advertising fee of 12% for stores that sold more than 10K in a year, this fee is mandatory forever. The fee is 15% if you didn't make the 10K threshold.

15% of total sale

Let's break down the price of a $24 tee that includes $4 shipping.

$28 x 23.5% +.20 = $6.78
Shipping -$4
Taxes of 15-30% depending on where you fall $4.20 - $8.40

 = $8.82 left

PEOPLE! I haven't even paid for the tee yet or supplies!! On a good day, we'll assume I only spend $10 on the tee and all supplies.

I'm losing $1.18 PER SALE to sell an item now.

I think we can all see why ties with Etsy have to be cut. This is something that has been discussed before the new advertising fee being announced, this is just the icing on the cake that makes me really have to pull the plug.

WHY IS THIS SO HARD?
Because I LOVE what I do!
Etsy is so different than just selling on facebook!



Sunday, January 27, 2019

The Edison at Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort

Let's talk about food! I love food! My family loves food! I was looking for a fun new place to try at Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort. It was for my son's 16th birthday and the only requirement was it had to have some good beef. This was for Christmas week and I was looking the week of. I'm not one to know what I want to do 180 days out of even 5 days out! Thankfully reservations seemed fairly easy to come by.

So, I took a look at the menus. Usually we like to do a big late lunch instead of dinner but looking at the menu prime rib was only on the dinner menu! No worries, dinner starts at 4:30, see the Disney app tells me so! 



So, reservations were set for 4:45 pm on the January 1st! We enjoyed walking around Disney Springs for a while and then started towards the Edison. We stopped along the way to people watch several times trying to kill some time. 4:30 hit and we decided to head on in. Here is the outside.



I chose the Edison simply because it looked neat.





We walked up and the hostess said no problem to seat us 15 minutes early! Great! She asks us if upstairs is okay. Since we had never been there before and had no idea we just said yes.

Here are the steps going downstairs!



So far, we are fairly impressed. It's just a neat looking place. Reminds me of TomTom on Vanderpump Rules, not that I've ever been there.

So we sat and looked over the menus. Only we were given lunch menus. Hmm, it's supposed to be dinner time. No problem, we'll just point out that they must have not switched over the menus yet. So we sit and we sit and we sit. We literally sit for over 15 minutes. I was being super patient since our reservation wasn't until 4:45 and thought well maybe they weren't prepared. I couldn't really figure it out though. There was almost no one in the entire place. There were two people at the bar down below and after us 1 table was sat somewhat near us, but not until a few minutes later and another table was sat downstairs, again a few minutes later.

Lots and lots of people walked around us, gave the tables near us silverware and napkins and just seemed to like to walk around. Not one person looked our way or spoke. About 4:50 a waitress looking lady walked over and asked if anyone had taken care of us yet. NOPE!! She said great, she would! So I mentioned the lunch menu and how it was supposed to be dinner. She replied dinner started at 5. Okay .... well, it's 4:50 at this point BUT my guys would like prime rib, in fact I am ordering prime rib too, remember we are already starving so I'm thinking oh great, this could be a huge fiasco. Waiting another 40 minutes for prime rib to be ready is not our idea of a fun time. Assuming that they would plan on serving the first prime rib meal about 30 minutes into dinner!

I mentioned it said 4:30 on the Disney app and she didn't really respond to that. Okay, no problem, let's just get to the heart of the issue. Can we order prime rib? So she goes to find out and comes back to let us know it wouldn't be a problem. GREAT! Now, next question, can I get the prime rib sandwich from the lunch menu since it's still technically lunch in their eyes. She said sure to that too! I thought that was super nice, although really, what was she going to say? It's not like it is some bargain at $22. FYI, we didn't mention how long we had been sitting there as I felt it was totally irrelevant at that point in time but I think she had an inkling we had been there a while.

The prime rib came with your choice of fries or a baked potato. I LOVE baked potatoes so to make things simple I had my husband get a baked potato since my meal came with fries and then we swapped. For an additional $3 I could add bacon, cheese and sour cream to the potato. I originally opted not to. $33 for prime rib was already enough and I felt totally nickel and dimed over the additional $3. We patiently waited and drank our water while waiting for our food.



I'm not really sure what is with me and water and ice at delicious places like this but obviously there is an issue. You can never ever get any ice and lucky to get a water refill. Houston's both here in Atlanta and in Pompano Beach are the biggest offenders of this!! We order the exact same foods at Houston's so it's a bit ironic. I felt really bad because it seemed like the water pitchers were coming from downstairs so skipped asking for more ice, although really, I just want some ice with my water, that was finally refilled. The glassed are really cool though, you can't really tell from the photo, just check them out when you eat.

Here comes our food! Yay!!




Look at this deliciousness! My sandwich is on top and was amazing as were the hand cut french fries. I'm not a huge fan of fries at all and would have totally enjoyed these. I swapped with hubby remember! The prime rib was also amazing!! That was medium rare, totally not my thing, my son's was cooked medium and looked a million times better, should have taken a photo of his but no one was a fan of me taking photos when they just wanted to dig in. That huge thing to the right of the plate is a piece of the bread! The biggest most delicious piece of bread I've ever tasted. I don't even know how to describe it!! I wish I had a better photo of the entire thing.

I also gave in and asked for bacon and cheese. I'll suck it up and pay the $3. The potato was good but really I need the fixin's. It totally made the potato too although it was a bit hilarious when she brought them out. The container is the smallest ketchup cup ever. Seriously, like ever!!



I walked around before the food came to check out the downstairs and snapped a few photos. The guys also walked around while I waited for the check.



They had some interesting seating areas that consisted of couches or lounge chairs. I'm not really sure how they decide where to sit people. They didn't ask us anything specific. I do believe that later on in the evening a lot of people just come in for drinks and appetizers. They have go go dancers I guess they are and some form of entertainment, think trapeze like artist, kind of. I guess I could look it up. We didn't see any of that, nor were we interested, just something to be aware of. I don't believe I saw a set time, everything just said later evening.

They come around and take your photo and then come back and try it sell it to you. I have no idea how much it cost, I'm not a photo purchasing person, especially with half eaten food on the table. It was nice that they printed it in a sepia tone to fit the image of the Edison. It made me think to take a selfie of us all! Not the best, we were into eating, not getting a great photo.



Since we visited New Year's Day they still had Christmas decor up. The tree was a nice touch.



Overall, we all really enjoyed the Edison and my husband said we must eat there each trip now. I don't disagree with him at all. While the service was a bit awkward and non existent at the beginning we chalked it up to probably a shift change and that we got lost in the shuffle or something. I know to ask for a cup of just ice at the beginning of my meal too! The food was amazing, way better than Disney food!! YES! I just said that. We aren't huge Disney food fans, especially for the price. I don't mind paying for a good meal but Disney is not my idea of a good meal and is way overpriced. I would give the Edison an A+ when it came to food!

Monday, January 15, 2018

Step2 Clean Sweep Wood Laundry Center





Aww, where do I start at with this amazing blog post? I guess I should start at the very beginning but sometimes it is fun to skip ahead to the super fun part!

Let's start off by thanking Step2, thank you to Step2 for letting me test this item as part of the Step2 toy tester program.What an amazing idea, especially right before Christmas! The only thing I'll add to this is that I received it mid December, around the 15th or 16th, I'm surprised there wasn't a huge push to get them out sooner because I'm huge supporter of toys I love and I would have loved to pimp this out for Christmas! That date left almost no time for ordering online and I've yet to see a Step2 wooden toy product for sale in a local brick and mortar sale and I love frequent the toy departments often, especially the play kitchen aisle, which I will assume is where this will be found! I might have a play kitchen problem and still have 3 remaining in my house! I mean who  doesn't love a good choice of play kitchens to play with !



This is how the box will arrive. It's great that it doesn't give away what is inside with a picture yet looks so boring. Probably good for delivery services with all the theft now a days. It's a pretty good sized box, not extremely heavy but definitely a good bit of weight to it.



Next, I laid out all the pieces! I guess you could say I was checking to make sure everything was there, but really just wanted to show you'll exactly how this came packaged and what you were dealing with when putting it together. No worries, it wasn't bad at all!



 This of course was inside the box. I understand from a companies standpoint why they do this but as a consumer it is frustrating as all get out if something is indeed missing. Lego is the biggest offender with this, it took over 3 months for me to receive missing part from my Wall-E build! Who wants to sit and wait 3 months!! FYI, it was a whole bag missing, it was missing, not just lost! Thankfully all the parts were included so we didn't have any frustration with Step2.


I loved this part! Each bag was labeled with what part was inside. Usually when I purchase something I have to figure out which screw they are talking about. Go Step2!


Here is a picture of the instructions, step 1 is extremely thorough, it is telling you to just put in the wooden pegs. Now, had it said that it might have been a little nicer. Can we use some words please? Like place wooden pegs in holes as shown? The instructions were very Ikea like with just pictures.

All the kidlets were at school so it didn't take long to put together, under an hour and my husband and I had it all done. Very few tools needed, maybe just screwdriver. I don't remember using anything else.


All the pieces are also labeled with #'s. Yes, that is a nick on my brand new, just popped out of the box wooden clean sweep laundry center. It was perfectly wrapped and lots of styrofoam therefore it had to have happened at the factory. IF I had paid for this I would NOT have been a happy camper. Things happen, but come on, front and center. If you know us, we take care of our toys here. There is not one nick on any wooden play toy in this house!! I let it go and I really don't want to take away from a wonderful review but this is not okay. I'm fairly sure Step2 won't appreciate this comment, but honesty is honesty and honestly, I'm the last person you want to boycott toys or show my displeasure for! I'm sure this was accidentally overlooked and again, I'll let it go.


Ta da! Seriously, how cute is this!!!

I was a bit skeptical about a wooden Step2 toy. I had just never seen one before or had any experience with them. I would love to see a wooden play food line from them with lots of accessory sets for sale! We love wooden play food here!


Dallas was first home and pretty enamored with it. Okay, maybe not exactly the right word, but he wanted to check it out right away and couldn't wait for Adrian!

Now, on to the bigger review more about the product itself and not just putting it together!


Look at this happy little face! He ran in the door, threw off his shoes and ran right over to it. Seriously, look at his face!!


I'll start off this part with telling you that I absolutely toys and I LOVE Step2, probably more than anyone I know! Great company, started by a great guy!

I absolutely love and adore this piece, the wood is quality and will outlast many children staying in perfect shape to be able to pass on for generations, one of the best things about Step2 toys! I was a bit disappointed in the lone back piece to the hanger and hamper area, it was a nice thick cardboard? or something, I would have been much happier with that one piece being wood like the rest of the center but it is nice and sturdy and no issues with it. It also came with pieces to attach the toy to the wall. I find that a bit overkill for us and I like to move stuff around often, plus we are past having any climbers but a nice thought to include it.

The wooden iron is amazing but with saying that the handle on the washing machine is plastic. Spend a few $ more and give us all wood, especially there! Again, I love this toy and I'm willing to overlook those 2 flaws in my eyes. I'm sure kids won't care.
I also LOVE that it sits up off the ground on little plastic pieces (plastic approved here). It makes it super simple to drag around the room or pull out from the wall easily.
When Adrian saw it he went nuts! I have a lot of toys! I mean, he has a lot of toys, but the excitement was so cute. The first thing he did was grab the broom and dust pan off the side and start sweeping. I appreciate the nice hooks that make it easy for the kids to keep track of and put right back when done cleaning up. I tossed in a few towels and items to hang and he was one happy camper playing with it for hours on end. Not to mention the 9 and 11 year old also got into playing with him and even the 14 year old was okay with it! It truly is a toy great for so many ages!




Adrian grabbed the broom and dust pan immediately and went to work!!



He immediately went looking for some dirt to clean up! Thankfully I had some by the front door! Check out that AMAZING vintage Step2 locker in the background!! I wish had one more.


Then it was on to ironing! I did move the Step2 Clean Sweep Laundry Center over in front of the tree for cute pictures, but the rest was on Adrian. I just snapped as he played away.


Tossing in the laundry! 


Gotta start the wash!


Smile! I want to take a picture! He was extremely happy once I grabbed some items for him to hang up on the hangers!!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this toy or any other Step2 toy! While I won't consider myself an expert I'll consider myself pretty darn close! LOL!








Tuesday, June 21, 2016

40166 Legoland Train



Wow! Look at this cuteness! While browsing Facebook the other day I came across a post that showed this gem! WHAT! I've never seen or even heard about this Lego. I immediately did a google search and had to have it.

This train can only be found at Legoland and seems to have been produced just for the park or parks. I don't even know for sure if you can get it at any of the parks or just the one in Florida. We've been to both, the Orlando area park and other park in Carlsbad, California more than once and have never seen a special Lego available.

What an amazing build I'll share with you below!! 





Here are the entire contents of the box. 




Instruction book was folded in half but otherwise decent condition. I've had them arrive new from Lego much worse before, the cardboard is a great idea but seems to only happen in more expensive sets. 




Here are all the bags. I was a little baffled with the way the bags were numbered. Anyone who buys Lego regularly knows that isn't the norm. I chalked it up to being produced just for the parks, on a smaller scale. No harm, just different. 




The sticker sheet. Of course we would all be happier with printed tiles but at least there are some nice stickers. You have the park map, which is my favorite, along with a train sign, the controls and some others. 



Here is the entire set built. It was a fun and easy build that didn't take too long at all. A nice amount of time in fact that it was longer than a small $10 ish one yet not quite as involved as a $20-30 set. The four characters are especially nice although can we please get some new printed shirts. We have so many of that same one the boy is wearing. 





Love how the characters fit inside the train nicely. They really did a nice job in my opinion with being able to fit 3 in the car along with the conductor. 




The roof plates comes off for easy access! Thank goodness because no way were they going in easy otherwise. 




Details of the front of the train! 




And the characters in the passenger car. 




Close up of the little sign! 

Guess this means I now have a mini Legoland in the making vs just an amusement park!

Let me know your thoughts on this set. Do you love special sets as much as I do? I hope to see more sets like this in the future made just for Legoland.