Goodbye to Little Window Shoppe
May 18, 2009 by Emily · 62 Comments
My Dearest Window Shoppe Readers and Friends,
This post has taken me over a month to write - partly because this is my last post on this blog. I am so sad to announce that as of today, Little Window Shoppe is closing for good.
The decision was not taken lightly and was really hard to make, but a combination of factors came together that brought me to this post…very much wanting to spend more time with my family (I have a very busy two year old who needs more mommy-time), 
getting ready for baby #2 in November (I’ve been out sick for two months! But it’s totally worth it as we’re so excited to have a new baby come to our family), and finally getting ready for a move to a new state with my family this Summer (my hubby is starting a new job).
{Photo source: Wilson Library Reserve}
I have learned so much from blogging at Little Window Shoppe and will be forever grateful for the kind friends I have made and the amazing experiences that I have had here!! Thank you so much for taking time to make Little Window shoppe a part of your lives and for being such a fantastic community. And also, thank you for all of the nice emails and inquiries about how we are doing.
Before I say goodbye for good, I want to thank a few people who helped me along the way:
First and foremost, my husband Scott. He is an incredibly supportive husband and friend and was the first person to listen to my every idea and concern throughout my blogging adventures. He has also been Superman at my house and has cooked, cleaned, taken care of our two year old and helped me out while I was sick over the last seven weeks! I couldn’t ask for a better man in my life and I love him so much!!
I also wanted to thank Holly of Tutus and Turtles. She is so cool and listened and talked to me for hours on the phone as I worked out how I would end my Window Shoppe blogging days. Her blog has been an inspiration to me from the beginning and I think that her blog ideas rock!!
Finally, I wanted to thank each of the writers and contributors for Little Window Shoppe. Each of them had creative and beautiful ideas to share and I’m so grateful and honored that they wanted to be part of this blog with me. They have become some of my dearest friends and were the best group of writers a blog ever had! They even sent me tulips when I was sick (just about made me cry, I felt so loved).
Please visit each of their blogs to keep up with their cool ideas!
- Vanessa - her blog: I Never Grew Up
- Lauren - her blog: Supermom Central
- Michelle - her shoppe: Sweet Mady’s Paper
- Michaelle - her blog: Monkeys Momma
- Cassie - her shoppe: Madison Envy
- Kelly - her blog: Albany Mommy
Also, I wanted to leave you with a few additional recommendations of blogs I love - in case you are looking for new places to subscribe:
- www.simplemom.net - this is my absolute favorite blog to follow…it has the best family tips and ideas that make sense, the ideas are easy to follow and I just can’t get enough of its coolness.
- www.howaboutorange.blogspot.com - artsy, tons of crafts, diy ideas, printouts, and the best time-wasters ever.
- www.thepioneerwoman.com - recipes, photoshop tutorials, photography 101, down-to-earth life.
- www.makeandtakes.com - the coolest (and most creative) kids crafts ever!
- www.metropolitanmama.net - and for all you contest lovers, this Metro Mama has excellent giveaways all of the time - and she writes helpful articles with tips for parents. Love it.
There are so many more…but I think this is a great start.
If you want to stay in touch with me, you can follow me at a few sites:
- www.emilyjune.com (I’ll still be designing blogs and websites - starting again this fall).
- I’m also going to be checking in and updating my facebook page and my family blog regularly. They will have weekly updates of my family life and the cool fun things we are doing.
**If you want to stay in touch with me at my family blog or on facebook, just email me or leave a comment letting me know and I’ll send you the links.**
Thank you again for making this the best blogging experience I have ever had!!
Always,
Emily
Spring Break
April 7, 2009 by Emily · 9 Comments
Little Window Shoppe is taking a Spring Break! We’ll be back next Tuesday or Wednesday with even more fun ideas for you to enjoy. Until then, feel free to stop by and enter our latest contest. We hope you have a wonderful week.
{Photo by tanakawho}
Banana Split Brownies
April 2, 2009 by Kelly · 18 Comments
We have another new monthly writer - which is great - the more ideas, the merrier. Kelly is going to write for us once a month. To get to know her a little better, you can read more about her on our writer’s page or you can visit her blog: AlbanyMommy.com. Now, onto her post.
Banana Split Brownies are very easy to make and they are an incredibly delicious treat!
What you’ll need:
- Brownies
- Bananas
- Strawberries
- A really good bar of Milk Chocolate
- Long toothpicks
To start, make up your brownies however you’d like. Whether you want to bake your brownies from scratch or use a box, it works either way. (I made my brownies from the box on this one).
Let your brownies cool for about an hour, and then cut them into small squares, about 1 inch each. Holding your toothpick, place half of a strawberry on first, then a slice of banana, then a brownie square. It is really that easy.
When you have all your brownies and layers on the toothpicks, you’re ready for the topping.
To make your delicious drizzle, take your milk chocolate bar and melt it in the microwave. (This is the hardest part.) Make sure to only microwave it in 30 second intervals and then use a fork to mash/mix your chocolate in between each 30 second interval. Keep microwaving the chocolate at 30 second intervals until it is completely melted. It’s very easy to burn chocolate, admittedly, I’ve tried to shortcut it (microwaving for 45 seconds or 1 minute at a time) and have burnt my chocolate more times than I can count!
Arrange your desserts on a platter so you can easily drizzle the chocolate over them. This next part is what restaurants sometimes do to make your plate look even more appetizing!! And, it also makes this dessert over-the-top incredible!!
Dip a fork in the melted chocolate and then fling the chocolate over the brownie kabobs. Do this repeatedly until you have a nice, thin covering over all the desserts. Wasn’t that part fun?
I have always used short toothpicks, but you could use kabob skewers and make more layers too. You will not believe how incredibly delicious these are compared to how easy they are to make. They taste great with a nice glass of milk too. Yum!!
Written by Kelly of Albany Mommy
Emily June - My Web Design Studio
February 18, 2009 by Emily · 16 Comments
Did I mention that I’m a web and graphic designer (on the side) and that it’s pretty much my favorite hobby besides blogging and snowboarding? Yep, it’s true. Maybe you could tell by my obsessive & perfectionistic designs at Little Window Shoppe…or maybe you’ve wondered to yourself ”what does that Emily girl do with her spare time?”
Well, let me introduce you to Emily June, my web and blog design studio. I’m so excited to be official! You can see all of my custom web design work and project notes (including my cute project designs for sites like Chic Shopper Chick, Sevi Designs, Rockin Mama and Little Window Shoppe to name a few…) And just between you and me, I have been spending way more time than I want to admit making it perfect this weekend.
Now that you know where I like to spend my “extra free time” when I’m not with my cute family or hanging out at Little Window Shoppe, I’ll probably offer periodic giveaways for blog designs…so stay tuned.
And lastly…due to the changes around here, I’m saying goodbye to my Lindee Store. In attempt to “simplify” my life, I have realized that I’m not able to keep up with everything - my Lindee Shoppe, Emily June Design AND Little Window Shoppe all at the same time. Sheesh! That’s a lot.
So, since web design and blogging are my very favorites, the store is coming to a close.
Here’s the good part (in case you’re kinda sad like me): I’m having a ginormous Lindee sale and thought you might be interested! I’m offering 40% off of all the aprons, magnet sets, and tins, not bad! (Probably the best price for Jessie Steele aprons you can find on the web - just so you know).
Discount: 40% off with code: lindee40
You’re Back! And Our New Facebook Group…
February 12, 2009 by Emily · 3 Comments
You’re back! I guess we lost almost all of our subscribers this week while our Feedburner account switched to Google, but now you’re back! Fwew. It’s been quiet around here.
Also, in case you’re interested, we started a Window Shoppe Facebook Group. My husband and I joined Facebook a few months ago and we have had a lot of fun catching up with high school and college friends. Now we’re wondering what took us so long to sign up? Is it the same for you?
Emily story (just to let you know how “cool” I really am): I found a friend that I haven’t seen since 10th grade - once we were added as ‘friends’ on FB, she wrote on my wall and said that she couldn’t figure out who I was at first since she had remembered me with braces and wavy hair (it was kind of blonde too)….
Reading that note from her made me laugh! It’s true, I had braces, but thankfully have straight teeth now. And I’ve given up on trying to highlight dark brown hair…I figured out in college that I loved my natural hair color. Am I the only one who went through this?
Okay…back to the FB group. I started a Network and a Group, I’m not sure which one is better so I thought I would mention both. I don’t even know what I’ll add to these yet (possibly cool post updates?) And if you’re a Twitter Fan, I’m on there too at this link.
Dream Big With Todays Mama
January 26, 2009 by Emily · 9 Comments
I’ve been featured in the Dream Big section at Today’s Mama! {So excited!} This amazing site has great daily tips, motivating articles and the very popular Mama’s Handbook for Today’s Mama.
The Dream Big section spotlights mamas who have dreams and want share the joy of their accomplishments with others. Remember when I blogged about my first marathon? My Dream Big profile is about running a marathon with my husband and how I stayed motivated to accomplish my goal.
I was so lucky to meet the incredible women behind Todays Mama a few weeks ago (they are really as awesome as I imagined) and was invited at that time to submit my story.
You can be featured too! The first step to making a dream come true is to tell someone about it. So why not tell every mama around and submit your own dream? (Your friends can submit your name too). What’s your big dream? What is something amazing that you have accomplished?
A Cool Way to *Window Shop*
January 14, 2009 by Emily · 4 Comments
Good morning to everyone. How is your day? Just wanted to mention a cool little update. Have you visited our shoppe guide recently? Just in case, it’s awesome. ;) And we’ve made it even better! With the help of the very fabulous Vanessa and Ashley, I’ve been able to keep up the “Sweet Shoppes Guide” and we now have about 220 shoppes and boutiques listed. Woo!
Listing Example:
If you are up for even more window shopping, you can search our guide more easily so that you can quickly find what you’re looking for with only a few clicks. Simply search by name, by category, by price, by discount, or you can even see them all at once. Each shoppe has its own page too - for easy bookmarking. And, if you have a boutique, you can submit it for free too. Pretty sweet, huh?
Survey Results Are In:
December 17, 2008 by Emily · 2 Comments
In a nutshell: You LOVE the Featured Shoppes and want even more Crafts and Recipes. Sounds good to us!
Thank you, Thank you to everyone who helped us out by taking our survey! It really gave us a better idea about what you want to see more of at LWS.
We are learning so many things and know it’s going to make Little Window Shoppe even better, so here’s what we found (based on the results from a couple hundred participants):
Our Bloggy Demographics
- 98% of the readers are women (I think my husband was one of the few guys who took it)
- 70% of you have children under 10.
- Over 90% of you read blogs regularly, have your own blog, have a Facebook account and like to shop online.
- Only 30% of you have a Twitter account or have joined a Ning site.
- Most of you stop in daily, every other day or weekly to visit. (Thank you so much for stopping by so often!)
- Almost 100% of you prefer the images and graphics (we’ll definitely keep ’em comin’ for ya) and you think the site navigation is easy to follow. (Fwew).
Your Top Favorites - we’re actually so glad about these results, because these are our favorites too!
- #1. Plain and simple, you want more crafts and do-it-yourself projects. In fact, some of you mentioned (in the comments) that because of the economy you like to make things rather than buy things and you even prefer handmade craft ideas and DIY projects over the discounts. (Good to know).
- #2. You are still loving the featured shoppes each week (and are happy about an occasional shoppe discount).
- #3. And of course, you like the contests (which will be coming your way each week).
From the Comments, (in addition to your favorites), you also want to see:
- More Recipes, fun recipes, recipes for kids & holiday recipes! So, we may just have to include a recipe section…we do feature them from time to time, but I think we may step it up a notch.
- More green/eco-friendly shoppes (we’re happy about this too - we think it’s a great direction for some of our shoppe posts).
This is good stuff all around. Thank you so much again for your help and for all of your sweet comments! We’re so happy that you are finding Little Window Shoppe to be a helpful resource when you’re on the web.
P.S. I especially want to thank Stephanie at Metropolitan Mama for giving us question inspiration for part of our survey. And if you’re thinking about offering a survey on your site, I would definitely recommend Survey Monkey. It was easy, fast and free to set up.
Help Save Handmade Toys (and Toy Shoppes!)
December 17, 2008 by Emily · 4 Comments
Have you heard of the new Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act? If not, read this post!
THE ISSUE
Do you remember the issue in 2007 when there were frequent reports about toy manufacturers selling toys with dangerously high lead content and toys that had small unsafe parts? I remember hearing about it on the news all the time and often heard from friends that they were throwing away toys that they were concerned about. Ultimately, this series of events violated the public’s trust caused the United States Congress to recognize that more needed to be done.
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)
So, the US passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008 with good intentions. In order to strengthen the safety standards of mass-produced toys, clothes, and accessories made in China, the CPSIA is banning lead and phthalates in toys and is mandating third-party testing and certification for all toys.
THE CONCERN
Unfortunately, this process is expensive ($4,000 fee per toy) and while all of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with, the costs of mandatory testing for small toymakers, however, may likely drive them out of business. 
(You can read even more details of this issue here: Handmade Toy Alliance)
HOW THIS AFFECTS US
With this act going into effect February 10, 2009 (just two months away) many of our favorite shoppes making handmade items for children will be affected: Shoppes who make beautiful handmade hair accessories, dolls, dresses, stuffed animals, blankets, diaper cases will no longer be able to sell their goods, unless they can cover the costs of third-party testing and labeling to prove that their items are not toxic.
IMPROVEMENTS
The Handmade Toy Alliance (and all of us too!) value the quality and diversity of toys and believe that our country’s children deserve hand crafted toys, and as such, they have made worthy proposals that will help to improve the CPSIA. They sound perfectly reasonable and make a lot of sense. You can check out their proposals here: Proposal to Improve the CPSIA
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
To help to keep the handmade community alive, you can help by writing to your United States Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA to save handmade toys. You can find your Congress Person here and Senator here.
MORE HELPFUL RESOURCES
Cool Mom Picks has dedicated a page to this issue as well, and since they have a plethora of fantastic resources, related press links and the latest breaking news updates already set up, I’m going to refer you to their awesome link: Save Handmade
You can also see a blog gallery of handmade products endangered by the CPSIA and submit yours too at Endangered Whimsy.
And if you’re looking for a few clips about it, here are two motivating videos that you can watch on YouTube regarding the CPSIA: Wood Toymaker Video and Mr. Sun Video.
Little Window Shoppe Wants to Know…
December 10, 2008 by Emily · 3 Comments
Hi all, we need your help. We want to know, what do you think about Little Window Shoppe? If you have a chance, we would love your help with taking our QUICK 10 question SURVEY. We want to know your thoughts (completely anonymous) about how we can make Little Window Shoppe a better online resource for you.
As a little incentive, we are giving out extra contest entries for any of our current contests!! If you do take this survey, please leave an extra comment for an additional entry in any (or all) of our current giveaways (just let us know you that you took the survey in each additional comment). (We also have seriously awesome contests coming up starting tomorrow and throughout next week - so keep checking back for more)!! Thank you so much ahead of time for your help.
Featured Shoppes
