Handmade Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Hi Mamma | Petunia and Marigold are participating in the EtsyKids Team Black Friday + Cyber Monday Celebration. A total of 102 Etsy Kids Team Members are participating. The deals range from percentage discounts...free shipping...free items. We wanted to share with you the various promotions that are taking place in the handmade community.

Our two shops are offering free shipping. When you check out, be sure to use discount code ETSYKIDSBLACKFRIDAY in either shop.

On a Mission

Petunia and Marigold delivered their first box of donated items to Riley Hospital for Children! They were truly two sisters on a mission to deliver the "surprises" to the Child Life Nurses that we have been talking with over the past several months.

In order to purchase the "surprises" which included art supplies, coloring books, note pads, crayons, Mad Libs...the girls decided that they wanted to make handmade items and then sell them, with all the proceeds going towards the purchase of supplies for the kids at the hospital. The girls raised $60 and each time that they sold something the money was placed inside of a special jar that we decorated.

The Monday before we delivered the supplies, the girls counted their money to decide if they had enough to go shopping. And of course the answer was yes! Being a mom who is so proud of her daughters and the kind hearts that they have become, we made it a day. We kicked off our morning by having lunch out and then going shopping, with Alex keeping track of our budget so that we did not over and were not too far under as well. There was so much excitement in selecting notebooks/supplies, sharing with others in the store of what they were doing...why they were gathering supplies (and for what ages of kids), how they raised the money...and in all honesty brought tears to my eyes, especially when we were checking out. The girls had made wonderful selections that would fit all ages of children from babies to teenagers.

As we share with you an update on our family project, tonight after dinner we created a new item to sell in our store. Be on the lookout because these handmade treasures are well worth the wait. We hope to have a couple of them placed in our storefront this week! 

Two Girls with a BIG Heart

Back in September my oldest daughter contracted pneumonia and we had to stay at Riley Children’s Hospital for a week or so. As a 7 ½ year old, the hospital stay made a tremendous impact on her. It is scary for a child, as well as a lot coming at an adult. During our stay, we read, watched movies, visited the Family Life playroom, had special visitors (including a little sister who was so worried about her big sister), the two most gentle pet therapy dogs, and of course sleep and taking it easy.

While at the hospital, we met a special friend who lives about two hours north of our hometown. Despite having spent much of her young life in various surgeries and chemotherapies, she would knock on the door trim every chance she got, to see how Alex was doing. This little bit of sweetness has already gone through so much, but there she was, positive and genuinely concerned about Alex and the other children on the floor.

Since being out of the hospital Alex has reflected a lot about her experience at the hospital. My brave little girl realized that there are other kids and families who may be in a similar situation. We need to think positive, be thankful for what we have and to know that we are loved.

Alex and Sydney have always had such big hearts. With those big hearts we have started a family project called Petunia and Marigold. Petunia and Marigold are the girls’ favorite flowers. The goal of our family project is to help the children at Riley Children’s Hospital. If you would ask the spearheader of our family project, Alex, why? She will gladly share with you that she wants to do something nice in the appreciation for the way she was treated by the staff and especially her fellow patients.

We have opened an Etsy store called Petunia and Marigold. On the website, we will sell various handmade items. Each week, we will add new items, and all of the proceeds from these sales will go toward the purchase of books, coloring books, puzzles and activity items for Riley Children’s Hospital...for the kids to keep at all age levels!




Alex designed the banner of our family project storefront using markers and photographs from a
DK gardening book that the girls received from a family friend.