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MErry Christmas to All and Happy Crafting....

Hello my fellow bloggers. It has been awhile. I have been extremely busy with my groups and then in OCt I hurt my shoulder/arm and was unable to be on the computer too long. :(

 Alas my blogs suffered!  but I am back....so as to what the photo above it?????

They are called "Notes to Self" socks... have you heard of them??? Really cute....as some of you know I always get something funny, interesting, different for my adult children and this year for Christmas I got them all these socks....

The socks send messages to the wearer... with an explanation on the hanging card.....really clever...

For one of my parties and with my family I wore these light up Reindeer glasses too cute!

Now to crafting I made 2 new decorations this year....one was these really fun Christmas tree combo 

aren't they so cool? Pretty Ditty has a tutorial for them. I loved them and got so many compliments even from the kids which is unusal... they think I craft wayyyy too much!! LOL but really I want to make more for gifts for next year. I added gifts under the trees.. I thought it was a nice touch!

Then I saw this fun Santa wreath and had to try it. This was the easiest wreath to make... REALLY... try one you will be surprised and it looks so terrific.. see She Knows for the tutorial...

Christmas was a fun day at my house with my family. Everyone came and everyone got along! WOW!!! Isn't it true how all family gatherings there is usually always something to talk about for days afterwards????

So how was your Christmas? Did you make anything special? I would love to hear about it!!!

                                     Till 2014 Happy New Year to All!!!!!

We"re off to See the Wizard the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!!!

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One of all time favorite movies was and still is The Wizard of Oz. It has become an annual ritual over the holidays to make sure I watch it at least once or maybe even twice. I was sadden when I asked my granddaughters if they liked it and they said they had never seen it???? What I said? But they were not really interested in seeing it.  I guess it has fond memories of my childhood linked to it. When I was little my mom and dad always went over my favorite Aunt & Uncle's house and played cards.  It was more than one time, but I specifically remember it during November when I would sit in front of their black & white [oops showing my age] and watch the notorious all time classic,  The Wizard of Oz, while they were laughing and arguing over their card game in the nearby kitchen.  I lived in the east and it was cold outside and you could hear the wind blowing and the windows creaking from the force. I loved it there and felt warm and cozy with my pillow in my pj's watching my movie all curled up in my big fuzzy blanket. 

I am sure we all have our favorite childhood memories, but this was the one that made the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, become my favorite holiday ritual.

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The story of Dorothy and her friends on the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City has become an icon to many baby-boomers, but I wonder has it lost its appeal to the next generation or what about the next one??? 
It is, perhaps, the closest thing I have today to a perfect fairy tale. I love the part when the strong wind hits Kansas and you hear Dorothy yelling "Auntie Em! Auntie Em!" Or what about the theme music for Miss Gulch's demonic bicycle ride or the march of the Wicked Witch's palace guards?  And my favorite of course, "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" I am also partial to the phrase "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore,". 

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The movie has been remade, made into a play and referenced in dozens of movies, television shows, and books. And who doesn't love Elton John's 1973 release Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, but none have come close to the imaginative power or lasting mind imprint of the original movie. 

Did you know that Buddy Epsen was originally suppose to play the scarecrow? He actually started to play the part when he became deathly ill and had to be hospitalize from the silver paint in the Tin man's make-up. 

Even Judy Garland who was made legendary after playing Dorothy was not the 1st choice. Originally MGM wanted Shirley Temple, but alas she was obligated to to Fox and Over the Rainbow [my favorite version was done by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's] most was cut out of the movie. Think of how different that would be today??? The song has become and American culture known song. 

W.C. Fields was casted to play the Wizard, but as he was well known for his difficulty to work with, the studio changed their minds.   

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I do love the this movie and ALL its characters too. If you get a chance it will be playing this year on TMC [Turner Movie Classics] 

SUNDAY NOVEMBER, 24 2013 AT 08:00 PM

SUNDAY NOVEMBER, 24 2013 AT 10:15 PM

FRIDAY NOVEMBER, 29 2013 AT 03:45 PM

SATURDAY DECEMBER, 21 2013 AT 07:00 PM

SATURDAY DECEMBER, 21 2013 AT 09:15 PM

SUNDAY DECEMBER, 22 2013 AT 01:00 PM

I'll be watching it will you? 

A Crafting We Will Go......Projects for Halloween

                          I love Halloween

my friend made up this cute snack bag and I won it in a raffle

bagged prizes

cute boxes from the $1 store for prizes

I made some red sucker spiders

decorating a pupkin

getting my feet massaged at the fair...

my Sherlock Holmes hat

I love PINK shopping purchases

Sherlocks outfit

this was funny found it at an old fashion candy store

the pumpkin guessing pumpkin all dressed and ready for the party

added a cpouple spiders too

earrings I made that can be worn by the winner

one of our members made all these Snuggles blankets for our charity giving in Dec

these are for our SnC Halloween party gifts for members

I made spiders

got a bit better

I love these jewels

fun to make

they look cute

a picture I made a few years ago for our Halloween party

I made a pink one too

my favorite one

Halloween Crafts

easy and a great decoration

Spider Egg

Owl Lantern

add some fangs to make him spooky

I just made these for a Red Hats party I am having next month

they are easy and a fun little table decoration and treat.

Here's the "How tos

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Guest Post: How to Optimize your Store using SEO Techniques by Brandon Leibowitz

Guest Post:

How to Optimize your Store 
using SEO Techniques

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In order to optimize an online store for handmade and vintage goods you want to make sure you have done the proper keyword research first.  This is a step often overlooked by many people.  Without knowing what keywords people are searching for you will never have a chance of getting traffic from Google, Yahoo, Bing, or any search engine.  You will rank, but those keywords will have no searches so it is pointless to rank for those.  Use the free Google Keyword Tool to find keywords that have high search volumes while having low to medium competition.  You will even find keywords you may never of thought about giving you new ideas.

Once you find these keywords you want to place them in as many places as possible on your store without looking like a SPAMMER.  This can be tricky so using keyword variations, synonyms, plurals, reorder the words, etc. is highly recommended.  Places to add your keywords include the store name, product titles and descriptions.  An example of a good product title would be “Buy Handmade Art from (Store Name)”.  This incorporates the keyword you are targeting as well as branding your store name in the mind of users.  Keep the page title tag under 70 characters so it will all appear in the search engines and not be cut off.  The meta description should be two sentences between 150 and 170 characters describing your products with a call to action at the end.

Alt tags are a way for the search engines to understand what your picture is about. Search engines cannot read pictures then need alt tags that can help them read what the image is about.  A good example of an alt tag would be “unique handmade gifts”.  Not all stores offer this so call and see if they do.  Also be sure to name the product images with the proper keywords as this can get your products appearing in Google Images.  This can bring in a lot of traffic, more than Pinterest would bring in.

These are all techniques and ways to expand your online store and generate more visitors to your site.  It is up to you to have a properly optimized landing page / store that you test to see how you convert your leads into sales.  Always be testing what products do best and promote those.

Guest Bio: Brandon Leibowitz, enjoys working with crafts and selling handmade items on the internet, mainly unique and vintage items that no one has or can find.  If you want to join the virtual marketplace it is a great place to be at The Craft Star.


Note: All information is the opinions of the "Guest Post" author, unless otherwise noted. PBDesigns Crafts and Other Adventures does not guarantee or may not agree with any of the material covered in this article.

DIY Ideas..

What a great idea....pens and a plastic bottle as a Sprinkler

See how to make it HERE

Too cute and made with plastic spoons just head off to the $1 store and start making your lamp

Directions HERE

Fun Projects

Chatterbox made a really cute postcard that is easy and fun to make..

Make a cute easy teacup pincushion

Our Group went on a Boat Cruise

What a fun project to make.... a vintage looking lamp

we saw "Bob's Big Boy"

Naples

our stitching group too a stitch and cruise ride today

Afterwards we went and ate at a local place that was on a pond