50 (or less) shades of Candy Canes

I am not a huge fan of candy canes. It is the season for them though.

I thought I would share all the ways to eat candy canes :)



Hot chocolate is a wonderful way to enjoy them!! You can find this at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/trio3




Who doesn't like a good donut!! YUM!!
These can be found at https://www.etsy.com/shop/GreenMntMiniBaked



Fudge is always a good thing as well!!! I could eat myself sick with this!! :)
You can purchase this at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SmashCandies




A good handmade marshmallow is a tasty treat!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetJumbles



A good bark is worth every bite!! :) LOL
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NomNomNomFudge




I'd try them!! They look amazing!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/KnotTheOrdinary




Cake balls - one of my VERY favorites!!!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BittyBlissBakeShop





These are just cute! What a great gift!!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/asecretforest





Everyone can appreciate a good cookie!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/parchmentcookies




Now this is definitely the way to eat candy canes!! I could totally get behind them all the way on this route!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/dellcovespices





Frosting is ALWAYS good!!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/tookies



Who could forget caramels? Not me, as I sell them - yes, these are mine! :)
www.thestickywrapper.etsy.com




This just looks like a fun treat! Kids would LOVE this!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BellaRoseChocolates





We love fortune cookies in our house. These would be gone in no time flat!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PixiesSweetTreats




I can't forget coffee - my all time favorite thing!!!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RubyCoffeeRoaster




You can't post coffee and not tea- this looks very delish!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeaForAllReasons

Ok- I am craving sweets now. I gotta go find some water to drink and drown my sweet tooth!!

Advertising

This year, I have noticed there is a lot of similar products out there. I could not tell you how many shops on Etsy sell salted caramels. There are a lot! (maybe 15 or so. ) What do you do to stand out? How do you get people to shop in your store and not the competition? Especially at this time of year.

As I am not into playing dirty or anything like that, and I have a super small budget (don't we all?? ) I am making little ads and placing them on social media!

This one is obviously for Thanksgiving. I had a lot of fun making it!!

I also made my cyber Monday one. I haven't posted this one anywhere yet, so this is a sneak peek.

I wasted SO much time trying to figure out photoshop. I still want to learn how to use it and utilize my program. I used publisher for these. IT was quick, easy, and I had SO much fun!

I am going to make banners for my shop and FB pages today I think. :)

Networking

I am sure many of you small business owners use Facebook to help promote your shops. Facebook is free, everyone uses it, and it's everywhere. :)

I am feeling alittle like I am wasting my time with it lately. Posts just don't get seen. I have a lot of likes on my page.


The Sticky Wrapper

 

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Sadly, I am lucky if I get more then 100 people to see anything I post.

 

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13 people? really???

 

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Yes, that is my picture. 

 

  I do not see the pattern on why some post do better then others. I can stick the link in the comment and I get similar results. It's frustrating and a little crazy. I get they need to make money, but to switch things up so drastically???

 

So, I feel like my time would be better spent on other sites. I will spend more time on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and try to figure out Google Plus. :)

 

Does anyone have any words of  wisdom??? :)

 

 

Experimenting with Toffee

In an effort to add some variety to my online stores, I have added Toffee. I have done what I can to make MY toffee stand out from all the other toffees out there. There are ALOT! :)

I have a regular customer who has been trying my toffee flavors. This last order he made a special request for Red Velvet and Birthday Cake Toffee. I was a little worried.

I shouldn't have been. They came out wonderfully!!!! It took me a day or so to work out the best way to make them. I am very happy with how they turned out. They tasted wonderfully!!!

They are pictured here not broken up into pieces yet. :) I can't wait to try more caramel flavors in toffee. How fun!!

Websites, Websites, Websites.

Good Morning!! I hope all is well out in the world. Here it is cold and foggy! :)

You all may have heard the Etsy has changed it's rules about manufacturing and the shops being only handmade.

This sparked a search for other avenues for me to sell, promote, share etc.

I have found there is not a lot for edibles. I did find a couple. Fooducopia is a nice site. Their fees are alittle crazy, but hey.....they have to make money. Foodgawker was another site that I found just for edibles. I haven't figured out their picture criteria yet though, so I haven't been able to get on with my caramels yet. :)

There are some nice sites just for promoting. The Find and Link referral are nice. I haven't spent too much time on either yet. I am still figuring those out.

I did sign up at LilyShop That is a very pretty site. I am going to see how it goes there as well. :)

I have put my Craft Café shop on Vacation. The site isn't giving me what I was hoping. :) It is a great site for a lot of people though.

If you have anything to add, please do so!!!!

TTFN!

Sharing updated pics

I know it's been awhile. :) I have blog block. LOL

It's been awhile since I posted any pictures of my product. I have come such a LONG way from when I started and knew almost nothing! I thought I would share a few photos with you today. :)

This is a picture of my brownie caramels that was from before my updating process. :)

Here is what they look like now.

I don't think I have any pictures of my plastic wrapping, but Let's just say it wasn't the greatest. :)

Here is what they look like now.

I found one from before.....

As you can see....lots of changes.

So, I am hoping to be posting a lot more. There are lots of things to share!! :)

Happy Weekend!! <3

Auction

I have started to participate in auctions. My first two were on outbid with the amazing SamplerVillage group. The first one went really well and the second one was ok. Not sure what happened.

I am partnering with a fabulous women for my first TopHatter auction on 6/15/13.

http://tophatter.com/auctions/23250?type=partner

Michelle's This and That and I will be selling our gourmet goodies. I am nervous and excited. I watched one of her previous auctions. It was crazy! Lots of people and lots of bidding. I am hoping to increase my exposure and get my name out there alittle more.

It's going to be amazing, so be there!!

Bakers market

I had a great time at the bakers market this weekend! Met all kinds of fabulous people!!!!

I am proud if my displays - although, I need to figure out better labeling for selling by the piece. ;)

To the Future!

My shop has been open for alittle over 2 years now. While I have slowly been gaining business, I would like to do more.

My goal for February is to take a bigger step in moving forward. I am going to redo both shops. I am going to re visit pictures and appearances. My unique flavors are not setting me apart as much as I had hoped. I am also going to reduce and refocus.

I am looking to start more local selling and advertising as well. I am putting a plan in place that will hopefully put me in a few farmers markets come spring.

Lots of research and time need to be put into this. I will post links and reading material I find helpful. So far, alot of it just seems to be common sense or so expensive, you need to have Bill Gates in your back pocket. :)

Featured Product

Well, I realize I haven't been very good about my blog. :) I am not good about keeping up with it and sometimes my posts are less then stellar. :)

There are SO many blogs out there and so many things they talk about. It's just amazing.

I am going to try and talk about my products in between other things. Hopefully that will help keep things going. LOL

Since it is almost Valentines day, I am going to start off with my gift box I created just for Valentines day.

(I do no know why I can not get that picture to load the right way. I have tried on 3 different sites.)

I did research on the Internet to come up with some very romantic flavors. I also waned to offer something a little different and interesting, rather then the same old boring chocolates.Which, may in fact bite me in the butt.

I am including a traditional brownie truffle. I didn't want to totally ignore the chocolate factor.

I had alot of fun putting together flavors. Matching up the herbs and fruits to compliment each other in flavors and supposed meanings. :) Naming was harder. I don't feel like that is my strong suit. So, the candy names maybe alittle CORNY!

you can check out the full listings at either one of my shops -

www.craftcafe.co/shop/thestickywrapper

www.etsy.com/shop/thestickywrapper