Wick & Petal Candles

I now have Wick & Petal Candles for sale! These candles are 14oz and burn for 50-60 hours. We have been burning the Christmas Splendor at my mom's house and we both are amazed at how well these burn! Seriously! The wicks are self trimming and the natural palm wax is burning down very nicely! These sell for $15 each. I have already sold some, so here is what I have now:
1 - Monkey Farts (banana and citrus)
1 - Pumpkin Cream Cake
1 - Christmas Splendor
3 - Hot Baked Apple Pie

I also have melts from Wick & Petal. The melts are in 2-packs and sell for $1.50. The scents available are:
1-Iced Cinnamon Rolls
2-Peaches & Ginger
2-Winter Fantasy (vanilla, sandalwood, and cherries)
1-Christmas Splendor (cinnamon, pine, apple and berries)
2-Hot Baked Apple Pie
2-Hot Fudge Brownies
2-Australian Bamboo Grass (fresh, spa-like scent)
2-Blueberry Muffin
2-Vanilla Silk
2-Pumpkin Pie Spice

Jewelry

Go here to buy some cute handmade jewelry! Enter "Prather Adoption" at checkout :-)

Things that I Can Make

I've been trying to compile a list of things that I can make to sell to raise money for our adoption expenses. This is the list that I've come up with so far:

• Baby Rag Quilt
• Scrunchies/Hair Bands
• Stroller Bungee Clip
• Diapers
• Cloth Changing Pad
• Wet Diaper Bag
• Dish Cloths
• Dish/Veggie Scrubber

My problem is that I have no idea how to sell the stuff! And to be honest, some of these things cost enough money that it's easier to make them as they are ordered. Maybe I'll just be spending too much time trying to do this? Is it worth it? All of these items can be found on etsy, so I'm not sure that I'm unique enough for people to buy from me vs. everyone else that's out there!

We need about $1000 in furniture type items. Other than that, we're really don't need much else as long as we continue our plan of adopting through foster care. I've thought about teaching piano again, but I would really not be able to keep up with that once our children are home with us. I'd hate to start something that I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up.

What are your thoughts?

Fundraiser #2

These amazing soaps are made by a friend of mine! They are completely natural and most are made with goats milk. Just place your order at http://hyenacart.com/countrysoapsbymarlene/ and enter the code "Prather Adoption" when you're checking out and she'll do the rest! Be sure to check out her gift giving ideas for some great Christmas gifts!

Fundraiser

Our first fundraiser has started! From now until December 5th order candles at www.CandlesAreLove.com and enter the code "2010" at checkout. I'll also be taking orders directly for the scents listed below. If you want to be sure that your order will be here by Christmas I recommend ordering online since I'll be gone the weeks immediately prior to Christmas. Thank you for considering supporting us!

Mia Bella Gourmet Products

We want to thank you for supporting the Prather Family and Their Adoption Journey!

Mia Bella Candles are proud to be made in the USA

Natural Gourmet Scented Candles - $20 each

Our 16 oz jar candles are clean burning with no black mess.

The scents are infused throughout entire candle and will not fade.

Choose from our top selling scents and enjoy in your home or to give as a gift.

Mia Bella Scent Description

1. Apple Cinnamon – ripe apples sprinkled with cinnamon
2. Baby Powder – “new baby” smell so pure and innocent.
3. Christmas Pine – the wonderful Christmas tree aroma of the holiday season
4. Crème Brulee – a rich sweet butterscotch fragrance
5. Cucumber Melon – fresh and cool smelling like a breath of fresh air
6. Eucalyptus – refreshing, invigorating but also calming and comforting
7. French Vanilla – a creamy confection with a strong vanilla scent
8. Fresh Linen – clean clothes fresh from the dryer describes this scent
9. Heart of the Ocean – fresh clean smell like an ocean breeze
10. Home For Christmas – hints of cinnamon and cloves to spice up your holiday season
11. Hot Apple Pie – so much like the real thing your family will think you’re baking
12. Lavender – aromatic, relaxing fragrance of crisp English lavender
13. Mulberry Spice – strong scent of spice and dark red mulberry fruit
14. Pumpkin Cheesecake – rich creamy blend of cheesecake and pumpkin
15. Rain – just like after a rainstorm
16. Sweet Orange & Chili Pepper – our most popular fragrance – a zingy, zesty orange-eee smell you will never forget. Perfect for any season
17. Victorian Rose – light perfume smell of roses

Fundraisers

We finished our homestudy!!! Now we just have to wait for them to finish the paperwork so we can be licensed. We found out that to be licensed as foster care we could only have 1 additional child. Since we went into this thinking a sibling group we were rather disappointed, so we decided to keep with our original plan and go with matched adoption. This means it may take longer to find our children, but once they come in the door we'll know that the are ours.

We are beginning to consider doing a little bit of fundraising for some of our expenses. One kind of fundraiser that I'm considering is asking business to donate items to us, then selling the items on my blog. My blog doesn't get much traffic so I would need my friends to help advertise on FB for me!

So for now I've emailed 3 friends that make things to sell and asked if they are interested in the idea. Does anyone know of some other people that may be interested?

Homestudy

We had our first meeting for our homestudy on Thursday. I think it went well, but you never know what other people think about you. The first meeting was an interview with both of us, then the next thing will be separate interviews. They will also talk to the kids.

We had them do a walk-through to give us some things to fix before we do the health inspection. Some of the things are things that should have been done anyway (lid on the dog food container) but some of the stuff if just silly (contact solution has to be locked up). In any case, we fixed some of the things this weekend and tomorrow we will try and get the health and fire inspections scheduled.

Now....who wants to help me clean????