Thursday, November 26, 2009

FREE handmade beanies!!



We are giving away our beanies, seriously!! Now through Monday the 30th, spend $100 or more at www.RuffleButts.com and receive the beanie of your choice for FREE.

Gosh, I just love giving stuff away, so fun! And to top it off, the beanies are handmade by a group of Indian women that were taught to crochet to support their families. Many of these women are less educated and do not have another provider in the family, and this organization has provided them stability and opportunity.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Steal

I rarely post links to other random items or businesses on our blog, but when I saw this deal, I had to share it with our loyal friends. Before I was prego, I was hanging out with my friend and it was nap time for her little Hannah. We went through the whole putting her in her crib thing and then we walked downstairs. She pulled out this handy video cam thing and we watched as Hannah slowly wore herself to sleep. I knew this was a must-have for me when my time came! So, we put it on our registry not sure if anyone "loved" us enough to buy this pricey luxury, but we were thrilled when it was given to us! I was counting our blessings for our generous friends when I laid in by bed on Aubrey's 2nd night home, hoping that she was sleeping peacefully in the bedroom next door. Of course, as a paranoid new parent, I wanted desperately to go check on her, so it was the biggest relief to turn on the monitor to see my precious little angel. All of the monitors get mixed reviews, but overall we have been very happy with it. So, I was pretty excited when I saw this monitor on today's Buy.com Daily Specials email. I immediately purchased two for Brandon and Amy (the friends I mentioned a few weeks back) and had to share it with you too! Just in case anyone is expecting, this is less than half of what they cost when we received it...

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=212446173

And for our loyal RuffleButt fans, you know we just love giving stuff away! So, this is your first hint for our next crazy deal, announcement to follow soon...

Friday, November 20, 2009

St. Jude's Ravishing Red Bloomers

It is our company (and my personal) policy to donate a portion of our profits to charitable organizations, specifically those focusing on children. This holiday season, we wanted to give even more! So, through the months of November and December we are donating $5 for EVERY RED RUFFLEBUTT BLOOMER sold. We are only 20 days into the month and have $185 in the pot. I know we can do better than this, so keep those orders coming! What a great deal...you get something adorable to give to someone you love, while also giving to someone who needs some love.


Don't forget, these RuffleButt Bloomers are absolutely precious under holiday dresses and over tights! They are also fantastic all winter long, worn with her favorite legwarmers or over colorful leggings.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Mom 4 Life


I would like to take a minute to introduce you to one of our new RuffleButt Retailers...

www.Mom4Life.com

Heather, the Owner of Mom 4 Life, has a great story to tell. She is, of course, a mom herself, and with a "dream and God's grace", she started this incredible business. The coolest thing is that their extensive product line is comprised entirely of the handiwork of moms. Not only do they carry some really fabulous products (now including RuffleButts!!), but they also feature the story of the moms behind them.

This is a unique web-store for many reasons, but you can read a few of them here. You can also read more about Heather, her story as a mom and entrepreneur, and about some of the fantastic Mom4Life products on her blog at http://blog.mom4life.com.

Another thing that I love about this company is that they are totally on the same page as us when it comes to customer service. Heather writes, "Regardless of how many products I offer or how large my business grows, my primary goal will remain the same: to offer unique products at great prices with exceptional customer service! I am rather picky about customer service: I like to be appreciated as a person rather than viewed as a number. I want to do the same for you!" I love it when our retailers handle their customers the right way. We feel that every RuffleButts customer deserves this attention and it is a huge comfort to know they are getting it whether they buy the products directly from us or from Mom4Life.

We are privileged to work with some of the most amazing stores around the world and I am honored to add Mom4Life.com to that list. They have truly been fabulous to work with on our end, and as a mom, I am already getting into trouble browsing their site...so many of my favorites!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Happy Birthday Baby


My little angel turns ONE today!!
Happy Birthday baby girl.

Man, time sure flies when you're having fun!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Tutu Tuesday


The girls decided we were going to have a "Tutu Tuesday" here at the office...Aubrey let me borrow one of hers for the day. So here we are, although I think they suckered me in cause theirs look like like pretty skirts, not fluffy tutus! From left to right, Kristina, Aubrey, me & Mary...what a team!! Mark refused to participate, so he was the camera man =)

Monday, November 2, 2009

Just like Ellen Degeneres



I'm not usually a big celebrity gal and to be quite honest, I rarely have time to watch daytime TV, but I was thinking the other day, if there is a celebrity that I aspire to be like (or at least what I think they are like in real life), it would be Ellen. So here are my reasons why:


1. She breaks the mold.
So we all know that with the exception of Oprah, talk shows don't last long...and most of them, quite honestly, suck. They are the shows we have on in the background when the kids are running around the house or we're making lunch. Not something worth 100% attention. Anyway, Ellen took the risk of coming out with a daytime talk show in the first place and then on top of that, she broke the mold. She did it differently and it works! I hope to apply that daily here at RuffleButts. I read something today that was inspirational..."Be yourself, everyone else is already taken", a quote by Oscar Wilde. How true it this?? And when you think of someone living by that philosophy, Ellen just comes to mind.

2. She shakes her booty and sings on national television.
Not only does Ellen shake her own little booty on national TV, but she somehow gets hundreds of other people to do it too. I am a fairly outgoing person, but I would love to some day get to a point where I really don't care if I look like a goof on national TV. Not saying that she does...she's actually pretty good (she was awesome with the So You Think You Can Dance people a few months ago!!), but the best part is, I don't think she even cares! You seriously could not pay me enough money to do either one of these things in front of millions of people.

3. She makes people smile on a daily basis.
Okay, if you have ever seen her show, I don't think this one requires much explanation. She (and her must-be-kinda-crazy staff) come up with some very "unique" ideas, and I find myself laughing out loud, which does not happen very often when watching TV. When I started RuffleButts, one of the things that I loved about the business is that it was truly an opportunity to create and sell a product that brought smiles to others. I'm not doing it on quite the scale that Ellen does, but I sure would love to!!

4. She doesn't give a sh**.
Okay, I obviously don't know her personally, so I can only make this assumption, but based on her show, I would say that she is not afraid to do it her way. So, she's different, she's gutsy, she's silly, she's real. I can only imagine when they sat down to start the ED show that the "people" thought her ideas were kinda crazy. I bet most people thought it wouldn't work. She only wears pants, she dances and runs through her audience, she has goofy games and positive stories. Who does this and not only gets people to watch, but also get advertisers willing to pay the bills...she does!! She is not afraid to do what makes her happy, while also making others happy, and that is one fabulous combination! I am getting much better at this one, but only two-years into the business and being a natural people-pleaser, I still have a long way to go. Ellen, what is your secret??

5. She spreads her "realism"
Again, I'm not a huge celebrity gal, but whenever I see celebrities on the Ellen show, her "real" personality seems to be contagious. I think she makes people feel at ease and allows them to have fun. We all put celebrities up on a pedestal, but I bet it gets pretty darn boring going from talk show to talk show to promote your work. I bet they get worn down and just want to go home and put on some pjs. But, when they're on Ellen, it looks like so much fun. My employees were watching the recent clip with Taylor Swift when Ellen jumped out to scare her in the bathroom and I just thought "she totally doesn't care". When you see celebrities on other shows, everyone is all about following the rules and not embarrassing them, but Ellen brings out the best in everyone. I mean seriously, she gets well-known celebrities to sing in the bathroom on TV. Now that is just awesome!!

6. She's just a little nuts.
Life is full of responsibilities and I'm sure she has a lot of weight on her shoulders that she never lets us see, but she just seems to enjoy life. I mean really, wouldn't life be boring if we were all "normal"?? I am guilty of falling into my daily routine and being the responsible parent/business owner most days, but this is why I want to be more like Ellen...I don't have to be boring to be a parent and CEO. And it's just so darn fun to be a little crazy every now and then!

Okay, so that's why I want to be more like Ellen Degeneres. How cool to be successful and to be yourself! Ellen is my inspiration today.