Halloween cards for kids

When I was a kid, I had a couple of aunts who faithfully sent my brothers and me cards for various holidays and our birthdays. When I became an aunt to several kiddos when J and I married (and now our family has grown even more) I wanted to be that aunt, too. So I made my cards for the kids in my family and a couple for friends’ kids.

I used three small stamps that I bought at Michaels for $1.50 each, and a tiny candy stamp that came in a set (and I don’t remember where I got it.) These are the stamps:

I used a black ink pad and when it didn’t work perfectly each time, I filled in the rest with an ultra-fine point black marker/pen. That was a huge pain and I have got to get better at stamping.

On the front of the card, I printed the words “Happy Halloween!” in orange ink. I searched the internet for “free Halloween fonts” and I recommend you do the same because there are a lot of good ones out there! On the inside, I used another stamp and wrote my message in orange and green for pumpkin colors. 

Lastly, on the back flap of the envelope, I drew a little orange and green pumpkin. That way the kids (and their parents) will have a hint about what the card is for!

Do you make cards for kids? What do your Halloween cards look like?

Disposing of Clutter: Pt 1 (Online Selling)

I decided to go through and declutter some toys I’ve kept for a long time. I kept them for a variety of reasons, but those reasons don’t matter now, because I’ve decided I don’t need to keep them anymore.

I had a duffle bag with Barbies and her friends, her clothes, her accessories.

First, I took pictures of everything – for two reasons.

1) I will keep some photos for memory’s sake.
2) SELLING!

I took the highest quality pictures I could. I even dressed an re-dressed a single Barbie with every dress or complete outfit. My husband thought this was a little crazy, but I didn’t have THAT many. 😉

I put every doll in the clothes she came in, and photographed every doll as well.

I made collages. There were far too many photos for anyone to really care about. So I used PicMonkey, a FREE photo editing service that is online (you don’t even have to download it!) I’ve only recently discovered PicMonkey and I’m so glad, because you can make collages: just what I needed.

I organized the outfits by category and put each category in a collage. For some, I had to make 2 collages and then make a collage of the 2 collages.

2 collages into a single collage

I made captions. I also used PicMonkey to add words to some photos so I wouldn’t have to caption each individual picture everywhere it was posted.

Pre-captioned collage

I posted in several Facebook buy/sell/trade groups in my area: some general, and some relevant to the item (a toys group, a kids’ items group.)

I also posted on CraigsList in my area (the Barbies fit into the Toys category. I felt since they were used and loved, they wouldn’t fit into Collectibles.)

I decided on fair pricing. Since I am selling the toys individually OR as a set, I figured out how much I would charge for each item – within reason. I chose to sell all clothing, accessories, and pets as a set. Still, I put them in separate labeled bags.

Categorized bags

The dolls are just in a large boot box for now, as well as the larger accessories.

I asked a second opinion on prices. My mother-in-law frequents thrift stores, and told me that $5 a doll was a little hefty as they retail for $1 at thrift stores. She suggested I compromise, and I did.

I have one item for just a dollar, so I made another item worth $4, and it evened out to a nice, round number. I don’t want a buyer to have to carry around four $1 bills, nor do I want to carry change.

I decided where I would meet. For sales like this I always meet in a public place, like a gas station parking lot (they have cameras out there!) or the mall parking lot, because everyone knows how to get to the mall, even if they are from outside of town.

I did NOT post my phone number or email address. On Facebook, anyone can privately message me, and CraigsList automatically allows for emails to reach you without exposing your e-address. The only thing I posted was the town I am in, because I am not willing to travel.

Patience is key. I know I may not get any responses to the Barbie posts right away. Sometimes I have lucked out; I sold some Legos recently where three people were interested very early on. This does not always happen. I am willing to live with the clutter – organized into bags and boxes – for a little while before I just donate it all. I’d love to make some money on my childhood memories.

Have you sold your clutter online? One person’s trash is another person’s treasure! Do you have any tips for selling?