Cute and Cheap Etsy Packaging - Creating and Stocking a Shipping Station and Essential Supplies You Will Need

A long while back I wrote a post about finding and creating cute and cheap packaging for my vintage store on Etsy, Anthropolotique.  Since then I've found new ways that looks cuter, are more efficient and are still cheap!   In the past 8 years that I've been selling on Etsy, Ebay and even Instagram (for a bit) I've made many mistakes and have learned ways to simplify my workflow, save time and money and now I'm creating a short blog series about what I've learned. If you are a new seller on Etsy or are looking for ways to improve your current systems I hope you will find this info helpful and save yourself some headaches!

In this first post I'm going to discuss having a shipping station and the basic supplies you should have on hand to get started.  Although I sell jewelry, shoes, purses and occasionally housewares, I'm going to focus mainly on shipping clothes.  However the info will be still be helpful even if you sell other types of goods.

First of all I highly recommend having a designated "shipping station".  This does not to be as fancy as you might think, my shipping station is a small kitchen cart that I picked up at a garage sale. I like it because I can do my shipping without bending over on the floor, it keeps all of my supplies in one organized space and I can close it up and it looks tidy.  If space or cost is an issue you should at least  put all of your supplies in a rubbermaid box and pull it out when it's time to ship and use your kitchen table as a work space.  Regardless of how much you are shipping right now doing this will prevent many headaches of needing to get a package out and not having the supplies you need or not being able to find what you need.

My "Shipping Station".  Bags and envelopes are organized on shelves inside and the drawer holds scissors, tape etc.  One of these day I plan on turning the side towel bar into a holder for a kraft paper roll or bubble wrap. 

Below I've listed what I consider to be essentials for shipping.  Some of these might not seem essential at the moment, but in later posts when I talk about organizing and workflow you will see how much time these "essentials" can save you.  I do all of my shipping through the United States Post Office and print all of my labels at home. Here is a big tip I wish I had done from the very beginning: Print you postage at home. Don't waste time waiting in line at the post office, it is quite simple if you have the right materials to do everything at home.  Also when you print the labels online through Etsy (or paypal, Ebay or even USPS.com) you get a discount on the postage and tracking is automatically added to your customers order! Customers LOVE tracking and you should too.   Save time and money and print labels at home.

Here is what I recommend having on hand for shipping:

1. Clear Garment Bags  -  They come in a variety of sizes. I find that the 9 x 12 inch ones work great for most clothes. I just recently started purchasing larger sizes for sweaters and coats but if you don't sell a lot of those items you can always invest in those later.  I'll get more into this in another post but these are essential for keeping you organized and your merchandise clean.

2. Poly Mailers -  They are lightweight, durable, waterproof and cheap! These are great for shipping lightweight items and for shipping international. I love that you need NO shipping/packaging tape. Just peel and stick.  I mostly use the 13.5 x 10 inch ones but I also have a couple of larger ones on hand for shipping coats and bulkier items.

3. Shipping labels - I buy the sheets with 2 labels on them and it works great when you print your labels through Etsy, PayPal or Ebay.  You might feel like you should just print on regular paper and use packaging tape to tape them on your packages.  Trust me and invest in some of these labels. First off, packaging tape isn't cheap and also if you are in a hurry to get your package out it will ALWAYS get tangled and make you angry....  I was so happy when I finally started using these labels. All you do is print, peel and stick.

* I purchase all of the above items on Etsy (good for your Etsy karma:-) and occasionally on Ebay *

4. Simple digital scale - If you are selling mostly clothes a simple little scale will be fine. If you are selling bigger items then you might consider getting a heftier scale. On the occasions when I have a big package to send I just go to the Post Office and let them handle it.

5. USPS Priority Mail Packaging - This will make your life so simple because like the USPS commercial says "If it fits, it ships"!  Go to your post office and get a couple of each of the following:
     - Flat Rate Envelopes - The flimsy cardboard ones, get mostly Priority Mail ones but good to have
                                           one or two Express Mail envelopes just in case)
     - Priority Mail Tyvex Envelope - These are not Flat Rate so I hardly use them but since they are
                                                         FREE you might as well have a couple on hand just in case.
     - Medium Flat Rate Box I prefer the long rectangular one of the square one because it's peel and    
                                              stick but get some of both.
     - Large Flat Rate Box - I rarely use these but get one or two just in case.

6.  USPS Flat Rate PADDED Envelopes - I didn't include this above because for some reason you can't get them at your local post office.  However, these are my favorite!!  To get these you have to create an account at USPS.com and order them here for free. Do it though, they fit way more then you can fit in a cardboard flat rate envelope and it's only about 75 cents more. I put sweaters and even shoes in these sometimes.

7.  Tissue Paper - Not necessarily an essential...  I used to use tissue paper all of the time but found that when mailing in the polymailer envelopes that the tissue would wrinkle on transporation and the presentation wasn't as nice when it arrived to the customer.  However I do use it for items shipped in boxes and if I'm doing gift wrapping for a customer so it's good to have on hand.   The cheapest I have found tissue paper is at Costco around Christmas time (I think it's about $5 for 400 sheets), I always buy a pack or two.

8. Bubble Wrap - Not essential for shipping clothes but if you are selling purses, shoes or jewelry you should have some on hand.  I stock up on this during the summer when Home Depot is selling it to people moving and it's relatively inexpensive.

9. Other stuff you should include is measuring tape, scissors, basic tape, clear packing tape, business cards and other cute packaging material

10.  And last but not least you NEED a printer but I hope you already knew that:-) If you already  Get one that can be set to print "grayscale" and has a separate cartridge for black ink if you are  in the market to get a new printer.   This will save you money on ink which is another expense like packaging tape that will add up quicker than you think.

Left going clockwise: the gray poly mailer, clear garment bag with
foldover top, small digital scale, shipping labels

Left to right: Flat Rate Padded Evelope (a must!), Plain Flat Rate Envelope, Express Mail Envelope

Let me know if I missed anything that you this is "essential". I'm always looking to simplify and save money!


   

Silk

I find as I get older I can't handle synthetic fabrics anymore.  I don't like how they feel, how they don't breathe.... I love cotton mostly and rayon.  Lately I'm falling more and more in love with silk.  It's so light, delicate and lovely.  I like to mix textures and silk is my current favorite texture to throw in to the mix.   Kind of a high/low look with silk as a statement piece. Fancy silk pieces with a cotton tee for example. Or a denim jacket with a silk skirt.

 This look is hands down my favorite look from the latest runway pics on pinterest. This is by Altuzarra. I love the shiny silk silk with the dull henley looking tee. It's definitely inspiring my spring/summer wardrobe purchases.
                                           
                                                    


These pants look so comfy but they are also so chic. I love how she paired this with a simple white tee. On pinterest.

Here is a Ralph Lauren runway look. Boho silk. Pinterest

I love this simple silk tee dress down with leather sandals.  Styled to perfection. Pinterest 

I am also loving simple silk dresses like this one Rosie is wearing.

Here is one from J Crew Collection. I think it would be perfect for an island vacation, but I always think and island vacation would be perfect.

Another favorite for this spring is the shift dress.  This dress is silk and would be another perfect option.

Kind of like the shirt dress is the tunic dress.  The tunic dress (or caftan) looks better on me because of the lower neckline.  This caftan one is a satin silk/rayon blend from Thakoon. Perfect with some flat sandals for strolling around on the weekend. 

If the ones above aren't in your price range, try looking for some vintage ones. The floral button up one above is on etsy right now for $28! 

If you are looking for some thing more minimalistic here is one that is in my shop right now for $50. The silk is kind of matte and it's so lovely.  

Because I'm from Florida....

I love fashion and I love putting together outfits but when it comes to Fall layering I'm CLUELESS. There are days when I honestly feel like a little kid trying to get all the pieces to work together and getting look right and not looking bulky....so complicated with all those pieces!

I'm clueless because I grew up in Florida... South Florida.  In South Florida it's really hot and humid 90% of the year and you don't want to wear many clothes (have you been to South Beach?).  So when it finally drops from the 90's to the 80's in November not much changes in your wardrobe.

 In the Fall in Florida your "coat" is a jean jacket,  your "boots" are your closed toe flats or even (gasp) socks with your sandals. Granted I went to school in a lower income area and I'm sure the girls in the prep schools had fall boots... and I'm also sure I made fun of them for wearing them when it was 85 degrees out.  No scarves, gloves, beanies.... you get the point.

In the winter when the rest of the country was bundled up we'd have days at the beach.  On the rare occasion when we would have a "cold snap" and the weather would drop into the 40's people brought blankets to school. No joke.  So if you ever see a Floridian like me in Canada at Christmas time looking like a total winter fashion disaster have a good laugh.  We sure laugh at you all when you bring your pasty selves to the our beaches :-)

Now here I am in Southern California. It's not a cold weather climate, but it is definitely colder than tropical Florida.  Layering is essential here. The weather changes throughout the day by 20-30 degrees and I get so confused as to what to wear.   I often find myself staring at girls in cute fall outfits trying to dissect them and figure out how they made it work.  I'm getting better at it, but I must admit there has been quite a few times where I attempted a cute layered look and changed at the last second because I felt foolish.



Anyhow I'm trying to get better at Fall styling and have been doing some online research.  Here is items that I would love to buy for my SoCal layering.

J CREW Button Up

J CREW Excursion Quilted Vest

What's better than the skinny jean? Skinny cords. I love them.

Free People Cords

Here's a great winter coat for my fellow Floridians and it's vintage :-)

Vtg Wrangler Jacket

And of course fall boots! I found these at an estate sale. I adore them, but they don't fit! But the perfect fall boot, don't you think? They are military issued from the early 1900's. Sigh. Shrink feet, shrink...

Vintage Wing Foot Boots

I wore Birkenstocks like these year round and when it got cold I threw on some socks! Who needs boots? 

Sweater Season!

Yay! It's finally cooled down enough in Southern California for me to be able to start thinking about sweaters again. I love sweaters. They're cozy and they can make great statement pieces.  I headed over to Anthropologie's website to see what they had. I'm going to be honest, I was a little un-inspired this time. There are seasons where I just drool over Anthropologie's sweaters and this season I was a little let down. There were a couple of cute ones, but hopefully next fall will be better. Fingers crossed.

Anyhow between looking at street style blogs, popular internet searches, and just plain ol' shopping I've noticed some sweater trends. Oversized is huge right now, pun intended. Fairisle is still going strong. Cable knit, especially big chunky cable knit is being worn by lots of fashionistas.  Anthropologie seems to be liking polka dots and dots in general. Dots are all over Pinterest too.

In my opinion though (and not because I have a vintage store on Etsy) I think this year that vintage is the way to go.  There are some really cool ones on Etsy, so make sure you see the photos at the bottom of this post. Don't miss the NKOTB one, amazing.

This one below from Anthropologie looks cozy and I love all the color. I've noticed "Spacedye" sweaters have been a popular search on Etsy  lately. This would be cute with high boots.

Pallava Cardigan Anthropologie 

Yes, this one is in my shop but it's awesome.  I love the bright color and those striped sleeves are awesome.

Spacedye Sweater Anthropolotique :-)

This is one of several polka dot sweaters that Anthropologie had on their website. Very versatile. If it was in my closet I'd wear it with a pencil skirt.

 

Tweed Dots Pullover - Anthropologie 

This one Etsy is polka dot AND Fair Isle. Too cute! I'm personally too busty for that high neckline. It's only $18, so if you want it you'd better move fast! 

Vintage Polka Dot Sweater ETSY

These throw on sweaters are great for Southern California where the temperature changes like crazy throughout the day. You always need a cardigan to throw on. The one below is probably my favorite on Anthropologie and I LOVe how they styled it. 

Argyle Intarsia Cardigan Anthropologie

This vintage one on Etsy is very cool. I love the toggles.

Vintage Nordic Fairisle Sweater ETSY

More Sweaters sweaters that I just love!!!!

Imagine this leopard cardigan with a pencil skirt, tights and boots. I LOVE it!

Vintage Slouchy Leopard - Etsy

This one is AMAZING! If I had an extra $98 right now it would be in my closet. So cool.

 

Vintage Horse Sweater Etsy

I love the cable knit on this one. Simple, versatile and cozy.

Vintage Cable Knit Long Cardigan Etsy

And to close out my tour of sweaters, this NKOTB one is too cool. Too cool for me, but some girl is going to rock it and I give her props.

NKOTB Sweater Etsy

What sweater trends are you into this year?

The Wall Collage - Finally

We moved into this house a couple of months ago, sight unseen. Long story, but we had been on the road for a year. My best friend Juliana checked it out for us. The only photo we saw of it was a tiny picture of the kitchen in the corner. Anyhow, she loved it and I trust her so we signed a lease.  Now we're here and we love our place.

This house is an old house that has a big add on room in the back. The add on room is about 16 x 24 feet, carpeted, has recessed lighting, and loooooongg flat walls. Kind of feels like a basement .  When we first moved in there was also HEAVY gold and red drapery which as soon as the landlord left I took down and put in storage. Really helped lighten the room.

 For the next couple of weeks we did alot of sitting in the room, some lying on the floor and alot of pondering on how we were going to use the space.   Well I'll keep this short, but we've made it our dining room/living room. Most of it has been done for a while except this darn wall collage that I wanted to put up.  I thought wall collages were easy: buy some pictures and hang them. I was sooooo wrong. It's been months of buying pictures, changing my mind.. blah, blah, blah. I was making my husband nuts. He said he wouldn't patch the holes in the wall until I was done with the collage. He thought it would motivate me, but we've just had an ugly wall for months...

Anyhow the other night I was at Goodwill "Anthropolotiquing" and I found all of these gold frames. 9 of them. I thought they cost too much so I didn't buy them. Got home,regretted not buying them, thought about them all night. Woke up the next morning still thinking about them. Finally I decided to go back and see if they would take a lower price. They did! I didn't realize you could bargain at Goodwill, glad I tried! Got 6 of them for $60 (Hey, I'm on a budget!)

That night my husband painted the frames white for me.  I went and pulled out all of the pictures I had been collecting.  Still wasn't working. The next day I hit up some garage sales and found a couple odds and ends. My friend Juliana talked me into buying this small mirror that I almost put down and it ended up being the magic piece to fit it all together!

Mixed the mirrors in with vintage black and white etchings and some vintage prints. On a side note, if you ever need to make a dining room work in a carpeted room, USE and OUTDOOR rug. They are way cheaper and the chairs slide on it super easy! 

See the gold mirror my friend talked me into? It totally makes it all work, in my opinion. Anthropolotiquing is best done with a buddy! I still want to tweak them a bit, but my husband is refusing.

That bronze wall hanging was an estate sale find from the weekend. Needs to be cleaned up, but I love it! 

Here's how we've structured our Living Room/ Dining Room. Still want to add ceiling fans to break up the recessed lighting and a curtain on that random door on the right wall in the middle. AND new couches, but who doesn't want new couches?

Another piece I picked up at the estate sale. Cool vintage ceramic piece.

 

Gold pots, lace table cloths, pottery. Seems to be a gold and white weekend.

Cool mid century pottery piece with gold flecks. Adding it to Anthropolotique Vintage soon if you're interested!

Me Versus "The Model" - Etsy Photos

When I first started my Etsy shop I KNEW what I wanted it to look like.  Eclectic Anthropologie like items, great prices and super cute pictures.  I had  the inventory so it was time to do the photos.  I put some makeup on, found a white wall and told my husband to snap away.... I was so excited to see the photos. Ahem... cute photos don't just happen. Trust me. It was dreadful.  I wish I had an example but they were quickly deleted.

It's one thing when someone tags an unflattering photo of you on Facebook from some random family gathering, but it's another thing entirely to edit photo after photo of yourself when you are actually TRYING to look cute.  Depressing. I actually started re-think my vow to never get botox.... Solution?  Crop my head off, and call it "artsy"

To be honest I did get better at modeling and my mother might actually say I looked nice (but you can't trust your mom). Regardless, it was time to find someone else to model.

One day I met my friend's daughters. Cute, model sizeAND one of them is an aspiring model but she's a bit young.  I don't want to sound predatorial but the wheels in my brain got turning.... "Would your daughter like to model for my Etsy store? Yeah, you don't know about my Etsy store because I'm too embarrassed to let my friends see my modeling attempts...."

Anyhow I now have a model. I actually enjoy editing photos. Instead of only having 1 useable photo out of 10 photos where my husband lovingly reminded me to "suck it in".  I now actually have the awesome "problem" of choosing which photos are best out of the 10 gorgeous ones. PLUS I don't have to bug my husband to photograph me and "my model" and I are having a blast!

Now to be quite fair the photos I posted of me are not the worst. Somehow all the bad ones have mysteriously disappeared and the "OK" ones all have the heads chopped off. 

Well here you go.... Me Vs. "The Model"

Meet Belle. She is just lovely inside and out.

 

Meet Me. Classic example of "cropping my head off". Looks artsy, right?

 Sheer Beaded Dress 

 When I posted this gorgeous photo of Belle my store got tons of hits and the sweater sold fast.

Not terrible... but when I posted this photo... well let's just say the jacket never sold:-) 

Belle from the back - Pink and White Lace Dress

Me from the back. Took a year to sell this jacket AND I had to mark it down to cost, but hey it sold.

Hello hottie. One of my best photos. They are few and far between, but sometimes the stars just align. I HAD to show the slit, good thing my legs are my best feature.

St. John Wrap Dress

I love when she looks back over her shoulder. Lovely.

90's Floral Jean Style Jacket

Well we can't all be models, but we can try! 

** This is NOT a shameless attempt to fish for compliments. I am very secure in myself, otherwise I'd never have written this post:-) Thanks Mom, I know you love me and think I'm beautiful.

Letting go is hard to do....

It's happened twice this week. I get an email in my inbox that an item from vintage Etsy shop has sold.  I should be excited, but truth be told I get attached to my vintage items and get a little sentimental when I pack them up to ship. Especially the purses...

One of the reasons I started my shop is that I LOVE to shop and find hidden treasures.  So often would I find something that didn't work for me but it was such a good find that I would buy it and hope to find someone to give it to.... Then I ended up with alot of stuff.  Why not sell it on Etsy to someone out there who is desperately searching for this item that I was lucky enough to unearth??  But that doesn't mean it isn't bittersweet to see them go...

Anyhow this afternoon I sold this awesome leather satchel purse... As soon as I saw my email for an Etsy transaction I just KNEW in my gut it was this purse... Bittersweet.

  I'm sad that I no longer get to gaze at in my inventory closet. On the other hand I also smile knowing that this purse is going from being boxed in someone's garage to walking around on the streets of New York. 


Purses are probably my best seller in my store.  It's not surprising, I was shopping at Anthropologie the other day and lots of their purses look vintage.  Leather looks better with age.

This Anthropologie Embroidered Geo Backpack reminds reminds me so much of the 80s southwestern tapestry print purses. 

I had this southwest print purse in my store awhile back and it sold fast.

Lots of fashionable ladies are carrying vintage purses right now. I got so excited when I spotted that wicker purse in the bottom left corner. It's got to be vintage... right?

70's Wicker Purse

Just like this purse that's still my store. It's still looking for a good home but I'll be sad to see it go.

Have you seen the new these tapestry purses from Dolce & Gabbana??? I LOVE them. So vintagey.

Lucky me was able to score the vintage piece above for about 99% less than the D&G one.  

I'm too attached to put it in Anthropolotique right now. Maybe one day when I'm feeling stronger....