Hair Bows and Home Reno: So what's with the blog name?

Hairbows and home reno? Um. Random much? Well, yesterday I explained a little bit about part two of the blog name. Remember this post about my ugly house? Anyhoo...that takes care of the home reno part. As far as the hair bows go, that's a bit of a story so here goes.

I was a boy mom for 8 1/2 years when my husband and I decided to adopt a sweet little princess from Vladivostok, Russia. Isn't she adorable!

We chose a special needs adoption, older child adoption, and international adoption, because we wanted to give a kid a shot at a good life who otherwise might be overlooked forever. I guess I shouldn't classify our adoption as an older child adoption. McKenzie was two when we first found her, and three when she came home but due to being in an orphanage setting her whole life, and having Down syndrome, as well as a very bad heart, she is extremely tiny for her age. She just turned four last month and she wears 18-24 month size clothes. She's an incredibly awesome, incredibly inspiring little girl and I'm so honored to be her mom!

Ok, so back to the hairbow thang...well, it turns out that adopting a kiddo from Russia is crazy expensive and I needed to figure out a way to raise some money quick! Everytime I went out I would see little girls with super cute hair bows and one day I thought to myself "hmmm...I could make those and sell them!" So...I did!

I started off with simple designs and branched out from there, making bows in all colors, for all holidays, with different themes, etc. I was so fun and it kept my mind off of all the W-A-I-T-I-N-G involved in adoption, and between direct sales, custom orders, online auctions, and craft shows, I managed to raise TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS for our adoption, just from bows!

FINALLY in November of last year, my little girl came home! Due to all of her medical needs (open heart surgery, later she'll need surgery for an umbilical hernia, she'll need her jaw expanded because of dental issues, she's going to need her tonsils and adnoids removes, and every 10-15 years she's going to need pulmonary valve replacements...then there is the catch up work due to be in an institutional setting for 3 1/2 years and having DS so physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc are a must) I figured I should keep making bows and helping my husband bring home the bacon to get our little girl to where she needs to be!

Production has ~~slowed down considerably~~ come to a grinding halt. Who knew having 3 kids was so time consuming?! Geez! ;) But I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I'm kind of re-inventing my little "business"...new name, new sales approach, all that jazz...so I'm excited to see where it goes! Right now I have a facebook page where I'll keep peeps up to date on what I'm making, where I'm selling it (online, at a craft show, etc), and I'll be hosting giveaways and offering deals every now and then for my followers. (Oooo "my followers"...that makes me found super important...and SCARY! lol)

You can find my hair bow haven here on facebook so give it a "like" and make me a happy girl! :)

And just because they're cute...here are a few more pics of my littles. <3