What you are buying

Ever wonder what other people are buying from The Creative Cupcake as you shop? I've been looking at my sales figures and stats from 2007 and with over 600 unique items to choose from, you might be surprised to know there are some definite customer favorites:

Favorite Preppy Ribbon
Nantucket - Run a "Style Search" on the main page for everything available in this pattern.

Most Popular, Headband
Pink & Green Argyle (Medium), $12.50


Most Popular, Hair Clip
Preppy Mini Calla Bows in Norwalk & Sanibel, $4.50


Most Popular, Key Fob
French Damask in Black on Turquoise, $10



What is your favorite Creative Cupcake item?

Coming soon: Monograms!

For all of our monogramming fans, we are about to bring you something you are going to just love. I'm working out the final details now, but stay tuned for a great announcement next week!

Child Size Headbands

Preppy headbands in our Nantucket print - $8.50-$12.50

We've carried smaller headbands at our shows the past few months and since they've been a big hit with our customers, we are bringing them to our website's permanent collection too. In the past, young girls would wear our medium size and the tips would fall past their ears and irritate the whole area. Just as great as our standard comfort inserts, the newer size is about an inch shorter all around, making them perfect for toddlers and smaller children. You can find them in our newly redesigned Headband Page in the Preppy, French and Velvet styles.

Zinnias are here!

Calling all mommies!

We are in the designing and testing phases of our new baby & toddler line of gifts and "accessories" that will be ready for sale later this summer. The only problem is that, since we don't (yet) have our own Cupcake Children and have moved far away from our favorite little 'guys, we need a few little ones to try out our stuff! Interested product testers should:

* have a little one (or more) at home under the age of 12 months
* are able to thoroughly and candidly fill out an initial survey about the product(s) sent for you to test as well as answer any follow up questions.
* optional: are willing to submit photos of your little one wearing/using the product(s) for use on our website and/or promotional materials.

Your hard work will be rewarded with free product(s) and a special coupon code to use on our site or at any in-person shopping appearance.

If you are interested, email us at: nicolette{at}thecreativecupcake.com with your name, address, and gender/age of your little one(s). If you are chosen to participate, we will contact you within a few days with more details.

3 days left!

It's almost time to launch our full Spring line!! The past few days have been largely spent glued to my laptop, editing photos and working out final pricing formulas. I am thrilled with what we're coming out with and, most of all, I'm thrilled to almost be done! While I do love designing and sewing up headband after hair clip after belt -- sometimes I like to venture outside of my studio. Maybe into my living room. Maybe, on a really good day, outdoors before 8pm. A girl can dream, can't she?!

We'll be sending an email/newsletter out on Friday to give you the full scoop on our new headband designs (zinnias, scarf styles, wider preppy ribbon) -- you write in, we listen! What else do you have to look forward to this spring?

Customer photo contest * more gift-y items * the beginning peeks into our upcoming baby/toddler products * expanded ribbon choices & our 3 year anniversary sale!

Bad hair days, beware!

While I was setting up a few of my new wide headbands to quickly photograph, I felt a little rush. I've been playing around with different designs for so long that it's almost hard for me to believe that we're almost ready to "officially" launch them in less than 2 weeks. It was so important to me to maintain the ultra comfy fit of the headbands already in my collection. Because of my recent quest to find a new hair stylist in Dallas, I wear a headband nearly every day at some point when I don't feel like fighting with my hair and/or badly overgrown bangs. I am happy to report that I did not have a single headband headache (yippie!) and none of the wide styles slipped back on my head along my straight hair like so many have in the past. I'd wander past a mirror or window and see my chic headband practically falling off the back of my head -- which is quite the opposite of chic, I can assure you.

In addition to the ribbon and trim headbands, we will be introducing my favorite of them all -- scarf headbands! Tying up regular scarfs around my head always prove to be fruitless since they just slip right off my hair. I also apparently happen to have a slightly larger than average head, which makes pulling off the super-wide headbands a little more difficult since a 2" wide band just doesn't cut it. Our version includes a 3.5"-4" wide scarf which is anchored by one of our famously comfortable headbands.
This generous width allows you to customize just how wide you want to go. A vintage print I had in my stash is shown to the right but expect a mix of trendy, modern prints and some preppy favorites.

Over 35 different styles will be available for purchase the first week of April - I can't wait to hear what you think!

The Year of the Headband: Part III

I am almost done completely re-organizing the headband section of the website. I still have a few last preppy styles to list, basic stripe and preppy icon styles to make, photograph and list, and then I want to work on a new design for the category photos. While I'm not quite done it feels great to have it functioning the way I've envisioned it. With so many styles and designs, I didn't think it would be possible -- and it really is not all that easy, but worth it -- and I love the way it looks and functions. Hopefully my customers will too!

In addition to the new layout, we're adding velvet headbands in 5 fun colors, headbands made from vintage trim and the French silk damask patterns. Here are photos of the final 2 categories:

The Year of the Headband: Part II

It's official -- I'm in love! We've all seen the scroll ribbon "around" in belts and headbands. I was initially drawn to its geometrical design, but I always found the ribbon to be a little rough and scratchy, so I didn't work with it all that much. Then, one day while looking for something totally unrelated, I saw it!



A very similar scroll jacquard trim that was made in and imported from France by one of my manufacturers (above, right two). The trim is not that same scratchy woven trim, but smoothly woven into French silk damask and is ultra smooth and silky. I ordered some in black & white and green & pink (naturally) but wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with it. I felt it deserved something a little more than just slapping on a buckle and calling it a belt. It is delicate and lends itself perfectly to being worn as a headband. There are still some more wonderful things in store for that pattern, too!

The Year of the Headband: Part I

Years ago when I started my business, it was my passion for unique jewelry that inspired me. I loved the hunt for the perfect pendant and searching out just the right shade of olive green dyed pearls so I could create the amazing necklace I had envisioned. Somewhere along the way I fell into the world of fabulous ribbon and have never looked back.

Now I am driven to find fabulous vintage trims and lush velvets (shh... I may have said too much!). Let's not even get into the joy I've been experiencing lately as I'm reorganizing my preppy ribbon stock and picking out new patterns for Spring 2007.

My new "thing" is headbands. I'm obsessed! As someone who is perpetually growing out my bangs (only to cut them when I realize that I look better with them, but I digress...) headbands have been a staple in my accessory wardrobe. Lately, that obsession has translated into designs for TONS of new headbands for the site. While infinitely more labor intensive than what I currently make, I'm enjoying these wrapped headbands so much. Especially since I've been wearing one for hours now and still don't have a headache. Score!

I'll be posting pictures of more new headband styles over the next few days. Bad hair days will be a thing of the past - or at the very least turned into a cute hair day!

Holiday designs are selling quickly!

Just to forewarn - don't wait too much longer to buy our holiday designs as gifts or for yourself. Quite a few of the pieces are close to selling out and I'd hate to see you and your loved ones left unadorned for the holidays!

Holiday designs are up!

I was finally able to get both my camera and my editing software to cooperate today, so all of our holiday exclusive designs are available for you to peruse. There is a limited number of each item, so don't let them sell out before you can get to them!


Sharra Holiday Headband - $8.50

Just in time for stocking stuffing...

Preppy key fobs are here! A long time favorite at street fairs, our popular preppy patterned key fobs are now available on our website. Over the next couple of weeks all of our Medium width ribbon choices will be available and individually listed. We're just waiting for reshipment of some of the more popular webbing colors to be delivered.

Over the years I've found that these key chains are so popular because they are so useful and user friendly. They are sturdy and rediculously durable. I've run mine over with our car, washed them accidentally, gotten all matter of stains on them and pretty much used and abused the heck out of them and they've always held up. My favorite feature, and the one my customers rave the most about, is that I make them long enough to slip over your wrist. I've seen so many designers and retailers selling similar styles and so many of them were shorter and I couldn't understand why. What am I supposed to do with a loop that I can't wrap around my wrist or hang anywhere? Well, that's not an issue with those from The Creative Cupcake. Getting groceries into the trunk no longer requires fumbling with your keys!

How cute is this?!

I've been working on some new bow designs and even though this is a take off of the McKenna, I think it is so cute. And I'm not even a "big bow" person. I'm going to be offering this style in 3-4 other color combinations, including pink and green (our favorite!!). Stay tuned... I should have them added to the site and ready to buy early next week!

We recently found out something that could be very exciting for the future of The Creative Cupcake. The down side? I can't say a peep about it until everything is finalized. Very unfair, I know, but I wanted to mention it so those of you reading the blog (Bueller?) could send out good karma vibes our way. I'm finding it hard to type at my normal speed while my fingers are crossed!

Drumroll, please!

Since my site is still down and I can't edit the things I need to, I've had some extra time to work on some cute new designs to add as part of my regular collection. Introducing... the McKenna Bow!

These bows were inspired by my friend Sharra's youngest daughter McKenna - who, ironically, still has no hair. She's a southern girl, you see, and they like their bows big in the south. I, on the other hand, just cannot understand putting a big ol' bow on a poor little baby's head. I just can't do it. When we travel and I see the little girls sitting in their strollers with their heads leaning to one side because their bow is just too big, I have to laugh. As I always say about my beautiful but uncomfortable designer shoes, "It's fashion, not function!"

The McKenna bow will come in 4 different sizes (for Yankees and Southerns alike) and depending on the size, over 35 different ribbon choices!