Happy Holidays to all of our wonderful readers – we owe it all to you and we can’t possibly thank you enough!  We’re looking forward to spending the Christmas and New Year’s holidays with our families so posts may be a little slow this week, but we have lots of exciting new plans and ideas in the works for the new year that we just can’t wait to share with you.  See you back here soon!

These adorable cashmere bunny softies were made by Betz White and I think they’re an awesome project for the kids’ Easter baskets!  Betz used scraps from cashmere scarves to make these but you could use an old cashmere sweater from your closet or from Goodwill instead.  Additionally, her tutorial shows how to make those fabulous needle felted hearts on the side of the bunnies, however you could always use applique hearts if you’re short on time or don’t have the needle felting tools.

This is really the best time of year to be stocking up on your fabric stash!  For example, Fabric.com is offering 50% off all clearance fabrics, no coupon necessary.  They’re also having a huge President’s Day sale where you can get $10 off an order of $50 to $74.99 (use coupon code PRES1010), $15 off $75 to $99.99 (code PRES1510) and $20 off $100+ (code PRES2010).  This offer is good until midnight February 15th, and as always, shipping is free on orders over $35.  While you’re at Fabric.com, check out this free downloadable pattern for a cami and tap pants – just in time for Valentine’s day.

At JoAnn.com you can use coupon code TEF58B to get 50% off the regular price of any one item.  That’s a hot deal – plus they’ve also got a big sale going on, including 40% off paper cutting tools including trimmers, punches, scissors, cutting mats and more!

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season!

I just want to make a suggestion on the baking part of your preparations – if you have a spot left on your table, I’d like you to check out my secret pecan cake recipe!  This has been a family favorite that was handed down from my mother-in-law!  I’ll show you a picture here, but you’ll need to run on over to my personal blog SarahJDoyle.com to get the actual recipe!  This may just become YOUR family favorite as well — easy to make and delicious!  Here’s the cake in my Christmas serving plate.

And here’s a slice I cut just to show you how it looks on the serving plates.

You may even have the ingredients on hand, so make a spot for this – you’ll be glad you did!

After Christmas we can get back to sewing and crafting again!

My husband is a veteran – retired from the Air Force.  My brothers served their time – one of them in the Air Force, the other two in the Army.  My son served in the Air Force for 8 years before he got out and joined a company that does contract work for the military overseas.  He’s been in Korea for the last 12 years with the same company working at the Army bases there.

Once again, our heartfelt thank you to those active duty personnel and veterans who have (and are currently) serving our country!

Consider the predicted 2009 shopping trends when planning your promotions and you’ll be able to create more effective marketing campaigns.  For example, shoppers this holiday season are anxious to take advantage of discounts, so look for items or services that you can afford to offer steep discounts on and promote them heavily.

Many shoppers report that they plan to be more frugal with their shopping this year and you can cater to these customers by offering free shipping or featuring a special deals section within your store or website.

Another trend is “back to basics” which has been beneficial to the craft and sewing market.  Take advantage by offering free classes that teach customers how to make homemade gifts using your products, or focus on offering practical, budget-minded gifts.

Social shopping is rapidly becoming more popular with many mainstream companies promoting their products on Twitter and Facebook.  If you haven’t already, you should consider creating accounts and get started on growing a member base of fans that will love to hear about your promotions.

Don’t forget Cyber Monday if you have a website, Etsy store, or some type of online presence.  Shop.org reports that Mondays in December 2008 were the highest grossing online sale days of the season for many retailers, with December 1st (Cyber Monday) being the highest grossing day for half of the retailers surveyed.  This year Cyber Monday falls on November 30th – make sure you’ve got some great deals ready on your site!

Since 1982, when President Ronald Reagan made it official, September is National Sewing Month.  Stitchers everywhere have a reason to celebrate this month, so pick a special project, rummage through your fabric stash and pattern stack for inspiration, and make something fun for yourself or someone else. 

Learn how to sew if you’re not already comfortable with your skills, if you are then spend some time teaching a friend or relative to sew this month.  You could even take it a step further and advance your sewing skills with a tutorial on how to make your own custom skirt pattern, or watch a video on altering blouse patterns to fit your measurements.

For more ideas on how you can make the most of the month visit NationalSewingMonth.org, the official home page of the celebration that is co-sponsored by the American Sewing Guild and the Sewing & Craft Alliance.