More Questions answered:

We still have more comments and questions that need to be answered. Here are a few more of the ones that I have received. Remember .... no one take offense to anything I say.. these are just the rules meant to keep things fair and in line with what I had envisioned this would be!
A few of these came to me by email and one was IM to me by Facebook. Here they are:

What if more than one person does the same item? When I came up with this boutique idea, I knew that there would probably be some duplicates (like hair bows and scrapbook pages) but since everyone has a different stash of ribbons and papers and a different style- then even duplicates will have their own style and will be different! Plus... pricing may also be different since we are pricing our own stuff.

What if someone prices their stuff too high? If probably won't sell. And that is their loss. If our genuine reason for doing this boutique is to get gifts for the holidays and/or birthdays then.. it benefits us to price fairly so that others will desire to swap with us. (not to mention getting rid of some of our huge stash of scrapbook papers, ribbons, fabric, and wood scraps- how can we get rid of it if no one wants to do 'business' with us?)

What if my kid wants to do something for the boutique and barter for some gifts for their siblings and mom and dad? That is a cute idea. But we want quality items. So... if your child has something that they want to make to barter.. please call and talk to me about it and we can help that child barter for stuff if they want to keep it a surprise from YOU. I've actually been thinking if there was anything that Ann and Emma could do (with my supervision) to sell. Maybe if this goes well.. we could get a kid bartering thing set up for next year and get all our kids involved in a branch of it! That's actually a great idea!

How much do I charge for labor? That is a tough question. I would charge enough to cover your supplies first and then add on just enough to cover your time and feel like it was worth the work... but not so much that you would do this for a full time job. I guess you'll know pretty quick (ONCE BARTERING BEGINS) if you have over, under or fairly priced it. Once again.. the goal of this boutique is to 'help' each other not to turn a HUGE profit.

If this is a craft boutique why can people barter services? Well... first of all.... it gave us more people to try to barter with (that means more people who may want something made from my 5000 sheets of Scrapbook paper and it kinda sounded old fashioned to barter services... kinda like in the old days where Millie trades jam for a good haircut from Lou-Lou... and finally because if we barter for babysitting I thought it would be a way for some of us to get a date night or Christmas shopping trip done without kids!)

What things can I sell? Let me clarify... this is a boutique for handcrafted items. They must be homemade! Not store bought items resold. If you want to barter store bought items that you already have... I'm sorry... we can't do it on this blog.. Also to be on the blog there needs to be more than one of that item available. The whole point is to have things that people can take orders for and make multiples of. If you have a kit for one clock and want to get rid of it. Then this blog is not the place to do that. A boutique like a little store shop has multiples of the same item available... although the styles may vary there is more than one available. Ideally.. anyone who is willing to barter or pay for it should be able to get one. There are hundreds of items you could create and sell. If the item is a store bought item that has been altered and looks like a homemade craft item then that is an exception. I will make a list of a bunch of ideas: (remember that all items are made at home)
Jewelry
Lotions, Soaps, Candles
Gift Basket
Photo Album
Photo Frames
Clothing made to fit (skirts, blouses, little girl dresses)
Aprons
Stationary
Pottery
Personalized Bath Towels
Hair bows
Little Girl dress-ups
Homemade dog treats
Embellished baby clothing
Embellished baby socks
Bookmarks
Magnets
Paper Dolls
Decorated jars of seasonings, potpourri
Flower Arrangements
Scrapbook pages
Mini Albums
Banners
Door Wreaths
Curtains, pillows, throws
Chair pads
Diaper bag
potholders
toilet paper roll holder
Frozen Dinners
Decorated furniture
Vinyl Word Art
Pomegranate Jelly
Tole painting
Wooden birdhouse
Candle Holder
Candied Nuts
Clocks
Placemats
Holiday Decor (not store bought)
I'll keep adding to this list as I think of things.....

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What are your thoughts?

From Sarah's comment she asked 3 questions:
Are we going to earn credits when people order our items and then be able to spend those credits with anyone else in the group, or does the trade have to be straight across?
Well.. I'm still working on those details (I'm open to ideas) of how to be fair. Because here's a scenario and I'm wondering how to solve it. Sorry if it sounds like those math problems that we all hate....:
Jenny made handbags
Julie made hairbows
Jessica made Christmas tablecloths..
All 3 gals want one of Mildred's personalized wooden clocks
But Mildred's clocks are worth more than any of the other items AND she does not want one of Jenny's handbags.

So.... how do we make it fair for every person involved? That is why I thought we trade according to cost and if it's not possible then money must change hands. The goal is to work on trades with those who mutually would like each other's crafts or services. Anyone who has a better idea to do this PLEASE CALL ME OR EMAIL ME!!!
Also, can we make two items in hopes to appeal to more than one demographic?
Yes! By all means! Make as many quality items as you can! It makes it more likely that you will get items you want from others since they will have more crafts to choose from when you ask to trade.
Also, can my mom participate?
YES! Anyone who can get their stuff done by end of September to start showing around. That deadline may change depending on difficulty of items submitted and number of participants.

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