Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Big Impact, Small Price







Don't you love giving a gift that has the wow factor? We think it is even better when the WOW factor doesn't leave a dent in your wallet!


From the start, the Grove has been about personalized gifts that we would love to receive and use that are accessible to everyone on every budget.


We searched high and love, but have to say our acrylic line is one of our favorites. It is thick acrylic, engraved with your choice of monogram or name included in the price.


The best part, most pieces are under $50! All items are on our website and will arrive in time for Christmas!




The vanity tray is our #1 best seller. It is perfect to serve small bites, hold your keys and mail, in the bathroom or on a vanity. At $38 engraved, people will think you spent a lot more!


My favorite is the square handled tray. We use it in our family room to hold all of our remotes and magazines.


The champagne bucket is the perfect way to thank your host for New Year's and will last a lot longer than a bottle of bubbly!






Engraved acrylic seems to leave in the most picky person on your list with a smile of thanks!












Tuesday, November 29, 2011

DIY Holiday Gift Link Up

Hopsy suggested doing a DIY Holiday gift link up so I thought why not! I have already followed her lead and made my own ornament wreath for our front door. It took a little over two hours and made me realize that a cordless hot glue gun is truly a gem!



But since Mini K is a December baby, I decided to do a post for those that have both a birthday and Christmas in the same month.




Today a friend had a baby girl. She has been through one of the most horrible pregnancies I know of and this week will be an emotional roller coaster. Since I am out of town for half of the week I wanted to make something that would make her smile when she brought her little princess home.


To make a diaper wreath you will need:




1 box of Pamper Swaddler Newborn size
9 yards of your choice of ribbon, I chose different shades of pink grosgrain
A wooden letter from your craft store
Acrylic paint
A metal wreath form
Hot glue gun


Assembly
Paint your wooden letter the color of your choice and let dry. make sure to paint both sides of the letter.



Attach a piece of 18" ribbon with the hot glue gun to your letter and tie it to the metal wreath form.


Begin to wrap the diapers around the form and tie a knot with the ribbon.

Continue to work around the wreath until it is completely covered in diapers.


I love to give this as something fun to hang on the front door or baby's room.


Monday, November 28, 2011

Stocking Stuffers



In my family, stockings contained our special gift and the fun stuff! The presents under the tree were always second to the excitement around "opening" our stockings.

I LOVE to come up wtih ways to personalize stocking stuffers or gifts for teachers and coaches.

Our monogrammed key fobs and wrist fobs are the perfect gift! The smaller key fob comes in every color combo under the sun, includes monogramming and is only $20!

The larger fob is made with super 2" wide grosgrain ribbon, includes monogramming and is only $25!

These have been flying out of the Grove this season. Just send us an email with your colors choices and monogram and we will take care of the rest.

A lot of clients have paired them with the small, key ring Starbucks gift cards, in school colors for the ultimate teacher happie.
We can take orders for these until December 10th and still get them to you by Christmas!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Cyber Monday Savings!

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving and we know a lot of you had a great Black Friday based on the orders we have seen!
So we took our lead for Cyber Monday from you! For the first time we are offering a discount on our exclusive smartphone and ipad personalized covers!

Everything in our ETSY store is 25% off with code: CYBER.
This special is only good until 11:59pm EST on November 28th! These make a great stocking stuffer or gift in your choice of colors.
Happy Shopping!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Black Friday



We hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We had a deal with Mini K yesterday...NO WORK and I wasn't fast enough to schedule a post so a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

We had a little holiday travel drama yesterday, but that comes with the holidays and today we are in the thick of holiday shopping! That would be helping everyone else with their holiday shopping!

I did sneak out this morning at 6am to get a new pair of running kicks at 30% off at Pacers and brought home Starbucks for me! Mr. G is like Nordstroms...one holiday at a time! So he enjoys his pumpkin spice latte from October through Thanksgiving and then starting on the day after Thanksgiving switches over to the Gingerbread latte! He is predictable!

I came home to finish my attempt at an ornament wreath and the orders and emails have been flooding out inbox!

We really wanted to run a special when everyone feels like they need a little something! The holidays are about family and what better way to keep in touch than good old fashioned mail!

So take advantage of our Black Friday Sale: all photo cards are 20% off through tomorrow! The best part? You can see your card proof as you place your order so no wait time for aproof! Those cards will be in the mail in no time flat!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Why Wait Until Friday???

It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but we are so thankful for our customers and friends we decided to start the party early!

ALL photocards are 20% off NOW through November 26th (Friday!)at our paper site:


The best part? You can upload your photo and approve your proof from the comfort of your house or sofa in your Thanksgiving finery or lounge pants!

We have been posting some of our favorites and we know we will have more after we see what you choose.

Thank you for letting us share your special events and trusting us with your family memories. We are honored to have your business and wanted to help you keep in touch with family and friends this year at a discount!

We wouldn't score you any points by cooking your turkey, but our photo cards will make you the envy of every mailbox!

You can view ALL of your card options HERE.



Monday, November 21, 2011

Black Friday DISCOUNT Announcement

The Grove has been full of smiles, families and a few tantrums, but it is all in the name of holiday cards so we expect it!

SO many of our clients have emailed us that the holidays seem to have snuck up on them this year and WE AGREE! How is it possible that this Thursday is THANKSGIVING?

Well we hear you so for the first time ever we are making our Black Friday sale PHOTO CARDS!!!!! That's right ALL PHOTO CARDS on our paper site will be 20% OFF November 25th-27th! It is our little present to you!

We know that the price of everything seems to have gone up this year, but the holidays are about family and friends and we want to help you stay in touch AND keep your costs DOWN!

And in case you might be sleepy from the turkey or in a one sided discussion with the BCS via your television all you need to do is pick out your wording, your photo and you can approve your proof on our site while you place your order! We have also discounted our normal rush fee of $50 by 50% so you can RUSH your order for a $25 charge and have your cards shipped within 2 days of approving your proof!

For a couple's first Christmas, how about this card and a photo from the wedding with: Merry Merry Married Christmas!

We love this card for a new winter baby! For wording your can do:
We have a new stocking on our mantle this year or No More Silent Nights!
If you have a new puppy, don't forget you can leave a note in the special notes section to include a "puppy paw print" by your names so Fido isn't left out of the holiday wishes on this card!!
For a new home and holiday card combo this one is a great choice and wording can be fun too:
Our tree has a new home this year or Santa has a new route to us this year!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sunday Randoms


This is our busy season and while it doesn't give me much time to blog we LOVE helping everyone cross things off their list! We are crossing off completed orders with our sparkly Sharpies! It's like tinsel on paper as Mini K said!

Mr. G officailly put Baby C on skates this week! Not surprisingly, he had ZERO fear!

Last week Mini K's favorite teacher Ms. R had a birthday. Since all of the kids bring cupcakes or treat sin for their birthdays, we thought Ms. R deserved a cake to! So Mini K and I spent an evening making the candy bar cake! It was so much fun and the candy masks all mistakes!

Just pick your favorite cake recipe and make 2 round 8" cakes. Bake and cool are you normally would and prepare or purchase your favorite frosting. We have a go to family buttercream recipe that we LOVE to make, and Mr. G and Mini K love that it always makes extra! Frost your cakes. Now here comes the fun part!
Surround your cake with Kit Kat's, our 8" cakes took 5 packages of King Size Kit Kat's. Once the "fence" is cup, tie a ribbon around it. Then take a package of your favorite M & M's or chocolate chips and fill in the top.

It is an impressive cake and oh so easy to make!

The other news around the Grove house this week is our little jumper decided the crib was his next target! That's right, Baby C can now officially get out of his crib! This is a record as Mini K was in a twin bed at 17.5 months because she wouldn't stay in. I felt like I had to put her in a twin bed because there was no bedding for a toddler bed. Well, Ann at Organic Blankees must have been reading my mind a year ago, because she came out with a crib sheet set. I purchased it last year for Baby C at Christmas, because there isn't much on an 8th month old's list for Santa. Well we put the crib sheet set on Baby C's crib and he snuggled right up and the jumping has stopped! The best part, when we convert his crib into a toddler bed, the sheet set will work because you use a crib mattress.

I know a lot of you have little ones and Ann and Organic Blankees always have the BEST deals so how does 50% off sound??? You read that correctly, use code: organic to get 50% off your total purchase. Mini K and Baby C both have the Organic Blankees with monograms and our crib sheet set is also monogrammed, did you expect anything less from me?

We have BIG NEWS tomorrow...let's just say you will need to be by a computer sometime November 25-27th!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Tales From The Backseat


The juggle of having a fulltime job, the Grove and 2 kids continues. My life it is a lot of things, but boring is NOT one of them.

Mini K was given homework last week: she had to disguise a drawing of a turkey. What she chose to do resulted in almost 12 hours and took years off of my eyes!

I found your choice funny for another reason, my dearest friend Alexa is the only other person I know that would have done this and I am pretty sure she and Mini K are on the same planet: their own!

SO what does a turkey do for a disguise at Thanksgiving? It bedazzles himself of course. That's right, our single sheet of paper now weighs a few pounds, is sporting a few carats and we have been fully introduced to the concept of glue and tweezers!
She did a great job and then it happened...the idea that may make me send her to Aunt Alexas's house...

LET'S BEDAZZLE MY ENTIRE BATHROOM

Something tells me this would land us quite a few repins on Pinterest with the tag lines of crazy, insane and what were they thinking.

So mental note: Mini K and Aunt Alexa will not be involved in the bathroom planning for our addition!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Bags and Bedazzled



I am ALWAYS on the hunt for a new fun bag, and when I find them I am thrilled when they can become a part of the Grove inventory.

Last week we added two great new bags.

Our new clutch has a detachable gold chain and leather strap, a zipper closure that is big enough to hold my iPhone AND Blackberry, lipgloss, my credit cards, cash and keys and has a back pocket for my valet claim check. It comes in black, red and purple and your monogram of course! At $100 is a deal compared to the Louis Vuitton model and goes with everything!

I have had a long love affair with my Goyard Saint Louis tote...in yellow...in black...in blue, but what I love the most is the shape of the bag. It holds all of my stuff, a water bottle and some sort of MUST HAVE for Mini K and whatever Baby C decides to throw in it when I am not looking.

I was so excited to discover a bag in the EXACT same shape, that I can monogram and guess what? The price....$50 WITH MONOGRAM!!!!!!

The bag comes in gold, silver, hot pink, kelly green, white, navy and my personal favorite: the navy and white stripe! These would make GREAT bridesmaids or teacher gifts and you still have time to get them before Christmas.
If you are interested in either of these bags just send us an email (grovegifts at gmail.com) and we will be happy to help you place your order.

And our big news is that we are now offering monogramming! After years of trying to find the perfect fonts partnered with top quality stitching, we have found our ideal and can now bring that service to you!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

What A Week!

I told you last week that you wouldn't hear from me for a few days, but I am back which means we survived 4 trunk shows in 5 days! The shows were a great success and we are so grateful for our friends & clients who support the Grove.

I have spent today processing orders and taking Mini K to her friend Raleigh's birthday party at the Spy Museum. She was so happy to be invited to an official BIG KID party...that would be a & year old party.

We came home to work on Mini K's Thanksgiving school project. I promise to share it when it is finished, because then you will understand why it has taken SO BLESSED LONG to complete.

This week we are going to have a last minute trunk show at Casa Grove to CLEAR OUT our in stock merchandise. Let me define CLEAR OUT: $5, $10 and $15 bins full of preppy goodies, hair accessories and YES Lilly P. Make sure to LIKE us on Facebook for all of the details.

In the meantime I am back to my day job and finishing up the plans for Mini K's birthday party. I don't think I have mentioned (feel free to tell me I am insane!) that we are having Mini K's birthday party BEFORE her birthday this year...AKA before Christmas. This means I have a week to get her inivitations out and less than 2 weeks to get all of my holiday cards addressed and stamped.

Speaking of holiday cards, ALL of our photo cards are currently 15% off! We have tons of designs in both the digital cards (where your photo is printed on the card) and the traditional photo cards where you attach your own photo. Grove Gal E and I noticed that everytime we turned around this weekend another family was having their picture taken. The holidays really do seem to be sneaking up on us this year! For those of you that are hoping to take your photos over Thanksgiving, and think the deals will have past you by, think again. We busy working girls (and we mean both at the office and the ever demanding, never off duty stay at home office!) have to stick together so for the FIRST TIME EVER we will be having a dela for you over the ENTIRE BLACK FRIDAY weekend so make sure you click on over to our Facebook page.

I am now off to wrap Christmas presents so my oldest (that would be Mr. G!) doesn't start snooping!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Ruffles & Warmth

Grove Gal E and I have too many trunk shows to count this week! The Grove is not camera ready right now, but it is trunkshow ready. We are so excited to debut our new ring dishes, baubles, bags and paper deals galore! The cello bags are ready, the ribbon is bowed and the plastic transport tubs have moved in! All of this prep has left me craving my comfy workout clothes!

I confess that after a long trunk show or day at the office, I crave a hot Starbucks and some comfy clothes! Who are we kidding, as much as I love Mini K and Baby C there are days that I feel this way after answering WHY for the 100th time.

About 4 years ago I purchased my first pair of Lululemon pants. I still have them and they still look new. I wore them my entire pregnancy with Baby C, they stretched, and they went back to their normal non-pregnancy size. I know they are more expensive than other brands, but how many yoga pants look like new after 4 years of weekly wear? And my thumb shirts, as Mini K calls them, LOVE LOVE LOVE!
Lululemon Cabin Longsleeve Shirt, $68

I am NOT getting paid for this post, I just love them. If you know me in real life you know I think about my purchases in terms of cost per wear and these have to be pennies per wear!

As much as I love my Lululemon, I have been on the hunt for some new pieces. I keep seeing these So Low ruffle pants and LOVE them. They might be in my future.
So Low Foldover Ruffle Pants, $70

I will be thinking of my comfy close by the time our show ends tomorrow! I promise to post photos from the show and remember, if you need us to drop a hint on your behalf, just shoot us an email with the item and email for the hint.

Our deadline for monogrammed necklaces is November 23rd!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Reminder

It's been A WEEK. I am thankful it is over, but this inspires me to remember a half full glass can be seen two ways!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Cello, Ribbon and Trunk Shows Galore


I feel like I have been living in a tunnel. I have barely been able to sneak a peek at twitter, facebook and Halloween already seems like a week ago.

It is holiday trunk show season and the Grove is wrapping at full speed! I have been up to my eyeballs in cello bags, grosgrain ribbon and orders and I couldn't be happier!

If any of you will be in D.C. next week, or have friends or family that live there, PLEASE feel free to spread the word about our trunk show! My friends J & K are launching their kids clothing line, Oh My Darling Designs!, did I mention they have smocking for under $40, our friend Aimee will also be their with her fabulous, very Martha, seasoned nuts and it wouldn't be a Grove holiday trunk show without cocktails and a sale corner (which may involve a lot of pink and green, hint, hint!)

So please forgive me if my next few posts involve sugar and Starbucks (the diet of a small business champion if you throw in some Chickk Fil A iced tea!), but I am thrilled that the new paper site and our trunk shows are keeping me busy!