There is a time for everything.....

I found this today and thought it was perfect for my situation right now. I am always so busy that I don't take time for the small things in life that are so very important to me and who I am as a person. I know everyone in this world is always so busy and I think we all just need to take more time to relax. I hope this touches someone like it did me.

Take Time:
Take time to think-It is the source of all power.
Take time to read- It is the fountain of wisdom.
Take time to play- It is the source of perpetual youth.
Take time to be quiet- It is the opportunity to seek God.
Take time to be aware- It is the opportunity to help others.
Take time to love and be loved- It is God's greatest gift.
Take time to laugh- It is the music of the soul.
Take time to be friendly- It is the road to happiness.
Take time to dream- It is what the future is made of.
Take time to pray- It is the greatest power on earth.
Take time to give- It is too short a day to be selfish.
Take time to work- It is the price of success.
There is a time for everything. . . .
[Ecclesiastes 3:1-8]Bible

Here are some small things I have taken the time to do lately. The little things in life are always the best things in life. :)

We took our kids to the water park and they all LOVED it!! Here is a picture of Tristan and Payton "catching" the waves and trying to jump over them. The wave pool was one of their favorites.


Gracie LOVED playing in the water and she is wearing my swimsuit I wore when I was her age in this picture. :)





Pushing my sweet little Gracie on the swing is a wonderful little thing in life. She LOVES it so very much and laughs and squeals the whole time.



We took our kids to the fair and they had a great time!!


Gracie just hanging out at the fair.



Payton ("Bear")was smiling this same big cheesy smile for days and is still talking about how much fun he had at the fair!


We also went camping with my family which was one of the best times I have had in a very long time. Everyone had a great time and it was very relaxing and the lake was gorgeous. My boys spent almost the whole time catching tiny baby frogs along the shore.


I have taken MANY moments to just pray. I pray to God for strength to get through everyday and to be the best mommy and wife that I can possibly be. I pray for my children to grow up and have Jesus in their heart always. Prayer is one of the most important things in my life...


I hope everyone else will take the time to enjoy and appreciate the little things in life today because you never know what will happen to the ones you love tomorrow or the next. Cherish every moment...

A Few of My Favorite Things...... 3,000 FAN CELEBRATION GIVEAWAY!!!

*****THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED!! THANKS SO VERY MUCH TO ALL OF YOU FOR PARTICIPATING AND FOR ALL OF YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT!!!!******


I knew when I reached 3,000 fans that I wanted to have a giveaway to thank all of my wonderfully supportive fans and customers!! I haven't had a giveaway in awhile so I decided to have Gracie's Garden Designs team up with some other AMAZING shops that are some of my personal favorites! I wanted to make the giveaway even more exciting!!! I LOVE all of the vendors in this giveaway and I'm sure you will as well! Here are a few of my favorite things.....

FIRST wonderful prize that you could win is from myself. It is a $30 gift certificate to Gracie's Garden. You can choose from an array of items such as crochet hats, silk flower headbands, crochet headbands, baby cocoons, baby booties, and more!! These adorable items make wonderful photography props, baby shower gifts, or buy one for yourself or your own little one!! I am honored to have such amazing and supportive customers!! :) I am also offering a second place prize of one headband of your choice!!

Photos beautifully done by my wonderful mom Coleen Rausch and the amazing Caralee Case Photography and Amy Robertson Photography.





The SECOND prize you could win is a $10 gift certificate from the amazing Brandy at Made Just 4 You.
She has the cutest bows out there in my opinion!! Everything she makes is high quality and durable. Her bows are very affordable and absolutely adorable! She is a mommy of two and enjoys making bows for other moms who can't afford them otherwise. Brandy is amazing to work with and her customer service is outstanding! Check out Made Just 4 You for all of your hair accessory needs!



The THIRD prize you could win is from my absolute favorite place to get my daughter's dresses. Liz at FrayBabyBibsandMore is offering an ADORABLE ruffled pillowcase dress with ruffle ribbon straps, a FrayBaby dress trademark! You can win this dress in any size newborn to 4T OR as a tunic 12 months to 8 years!! The dress is made with the ever so popular zebra and a perfect touch of paisleys. Of course you can always get a bow to match from Made Just 4 You and a hat to match the dress as well from myself at Gracie's Garden. Liz offers a wide variety of dresses, tunics, ruffled pants, embroidered shirts and onesies, and she even has an album of bows that are ready to ship and match her dresses. I have several dresses for my daughter and shirts for my boys from Liz. She is so sweet and has amazing customer service! Go and check out FrayBabyBibsandMore today!!



The FOURTH prize up for grabs will actually have TWO lucky winners!! The very sweet Laura Thomas from Pretty Presets for Lightroom is so generous and she is giving away TWO $50 gift certificates towards any purchase on her website. So, the first place winner will receive all of the items listed here and there will be ONE second place winner who will receive a $50 gift certificate towards any purchase at Pretty Presets AND a free headband of your choosing from me at Gracie's Garden Designs. Pretty Presets for Lightroom is a wonderful resource for any photographer. She is one of my mom's favorites so I had to add her in to my favorite things giveaway since my mom takes and edits a lot of my pictures for my business. These presets are compatible with Lightroom 1, 2 and 3 and Adobe Camera Raw in full Photoshop (not Elements). All of Laura's presets are gorgeous and unique and will make any of your pictures stand out from the crowd. Visit Pretty Presets for Lightroom today!!







The FIFTH prize you have a chance of winning is a sweet little monkey from Dulce who owns The Monkey Shop. The adorable monkey that you have a chance of winning is Forest the sock monkey. He is in the first picture and he is 14" tall and 5" wide. His color is lime green, dark gray light gray and cream, with stripes. He is soft and fuzzy and machine washable. I LOVE every sock monkey that I have ever received from The Monkey Shop. Each of my three kids have one and they all sleep with it every night. Dulce has amazing customer service and very fast shipping. She not only makes sock monkeys, but she also makes one eyed monsters, sock puppies, sock kitties, crochet hats and accessories, and even tutus for your sock monkeys. You will fall in love I'm sure when you visit The Monkey Shop.




Last, but not least is our SIXTH prize from the talented Angie at 4Inspiration. She is offering a $25.00 gift certificate good for anything you would like from her wide selection of items. She has some amazing tutu sets, butterfly wings, korker bows, flower hair clips, kufi beanies, clippies, jewelry, and so much more! Every Thursday she has a steals and deals game where she offers wonderful deals on all of her new items! She is so sweet and generous and great to work with!! Her customer service and turn around time is amazing! She loves custom orders and has a lot of options for costumes for your little one this Halloween! Go and check out 4Inspiration today!



***BONUS SURPRISE GIVEAWAY*** There is now a SEVENTH wonderful prize you could win from Annie at GymboMama. Do you LOVE Gymboree? Are you one of the many mom's obsessed with every line and getting EVERY single item from that line?? Then you will for sure want to win a $20 gift certificate to GymboMama!! She sells all of the adorable clothing from Gymboree at discounted prices!! She is also offering a 2nd place prize of a $10 gift certificate to anything you want in her store!! Go to GymboMama today to feed your Gymbo addiction!!!





Here are the 10 different ways you can enter into this giveaway and have a chance at winning!!! One Lucky winner will win it ALL!! The second place winner will win a $50 gift certificate to Pretty Presets , a $10 gift certificate to GymboMama AND a headband of their choosing (ANY size) from Gracie's Garden.

IMPORTANT - In order to be entered 10 different times in the giveaway you MUST make 10 SEPARATE comments for each entry on this blog posting only !! Thank you! :)

NOTE - If you are already a fan of any of these pages, then you can just write a comment on this posting that you are a current fan. That is included as an entry if you are a current fan.

1 - Go to Gracie's Garden Facebook fan page. Become a fan by pressing the "Like" button. Write on Gracie's Garden : The Latest in Handmade Hats and Accessories wall that you are a new fan. THEN, come back to my blog and post a comment under THIS blog posting ONLY that you have become a fan of Gracie's Garden. This is one entry.

2 - Go to Made Just 4 You's Facebook Fan Page. Become a fan by pressing the "Like" button. Write on Made Just 4 You's wall that you are a new fan. THEN, come back to my blog and post a comment under THIS blog posting ONLY that you have become a fan of Made Just 4 You. This is one more entry.

3 - Go to FrayBabyBibsandMore Facebook fan page. Become a fan by pressing the "Like" button. Write on FrayBabyBibsandMore wall that you are a new fan. THEN, come back to my blog and post a comment under THIS blog posting ONLY that you have become a fan of FrayBabyBibsandMore. This is one more entry.

4 - Go to Pretty Presets for Lightroom Facebook fan page. Become a fan by pressing the "Like" button. Write on Pretty Presets wall that you are a new fan. THEN, come back to my blog and post a comment under THIS blog posting ONLY that you have become a fan of Pretty Presets for Lightroom. This would be another entry

5 - Go to The Monkey Shop's Facebook fan page. Become a fan by pressing the "Like" button. Write on The Monkey Shop's wall that you are a new fan. THEN, come back to my blog and post a comment under THIS blog posting ONLY that you have become a fan of The Monkey Shop. This would be another entry.

6 - Go to 4Inspiration's Facebook fan page. Become a fan by pressing the "Like" button. Write on 4Inspiration's wall that you are a new fan. THEN, come back to my blog and post a comment under THIS blog posting ONLY that you have become a fan of 4Inspiration. This would be another entry.

7 - POST a link to this giveaway on your personal Facebook page. Then come back here and make a comment under this posting ONLY that you have posted a link to this giveaway on your profile page. This would be one more entry.

8 - POST a link to this giveaway on your Facebook fan page. If you don't have a fan page, then you can post it on Twitter or do a blog posting about this giveaway. Then come back here and make a comment under this posting ONLY that you have posted a link to this giveaway on any of these places. This would be one more entry.

9 - The last and final way to enter into this giveaway is simply by following Gracie's Garden blog. All you need to do is press the "Follow" button on the right hand side of this posting. THEN comment under this posting ONLY that you are a follower of Gracie's Garden blog. This would be another entry. If you are already a follower of my blog, then just write a comment stating that you are already a follower. That is included as an entry.

10 - ***BONUS SURPRISE ENTRY*** Go to GymboMama's Facebook Fan Page. Become a fan by pressing the "Like" button. Write on Gymobmama's wall that you are a new fan. THEN, come back to my blog and post a comment under THIS blog posting ONLY that you have become a fan of GymobMama. This would be your BONUS SURPRISE entry.


Thank you ALL so much for your support!! I am so excited about this and so grateful to all of the wonderful vendors who are offering wonderful prizes! This giveaway will run until Sunday evening when I will announce the LUCKY winners!!

The more times you enter, the better chance you have at winning!! Good luck!!

Some Changes are Being Done at Gracie's Garden...

I am so amazed and in awe of the amount of growth Gracie's Garden has had in the past 6 months of business. I have always been creative and I have always prayed for God to show me a way to make money doing something I love. I am so blessed that I was born with this gift and that now I am able to share my creativeness with others.

Gracie's Garden has been such a huge blessing in our lives, but it can get overwhelming at times. I have been thinking and praying about what the best option is for myself and my family. I have decided to go ahead and remove the hats from my shop on Saturday, September 11th and only have headbands available. This is not permanent, but I am hoping to switch to mainly ready to ship whenever I do re-open. I have no idea when this will be because I need to focus on all of my current orders and take a break from the very busy life that running a business entails. I do everything on my own. My mom has thankfully helped with some of my hats and I am so grateful for that, but I do everything else. It is truly a lot of work and so much more goes into an online business then just making the products. I am hoping by switching to mainly ready to ship when I re-open that I can ease some of the stress that this business is placing on myself and my family. I also want a quicker turn around time. With all ready to ship I can work at my own pace and just list things as I get time to work on them. Sometimes in my family of 5 things come up that are out of my control and then I get behind on orders. I want to have a very quick turn around time and with mainly ready to ship everything would be shipped out within a week.

I will also take a very limited amount of custom orders that will only be offered to my wonderful fans on Facebook. Whenever I find myself with some extra time I will announce that I am going to take 5 custom orders, or whatever I feel I have time for at that moment. I may change back to custom orders in the future, but for now and for awhile this is the best option for everyone involved.

I would like to thank all of you for your support and patience during the last couple months while I have been learning and trying to figure out the best way to run my business. The growth is just amazing and I thank God for that. When I started this business I put everything in His hands and he has blessed me beyond belief. Thank you to everyone who has been there with me and supported me on this journey. I have so many fans who have been there from the beginning and you have no idea how much I appreciate all of you!! I am hoping by making these changes that Gracie's Garden will be an even more successful business and will work better for everyone. If anyone has any questions feel free to email me at any time at graciegarden@live.com. Any comments or thoughts are greatly appreciated. I love hearing others ideas and welcome them all very much!!

Thank you all and God bless!!

*~*~* Fundraiser for Baby Kamdyn Taylor *~*~*

A fellow crafter is doing a fundraiser and shared this story about a baby girl named Kamdyn Taylor the other day. It really tugged at my heart strings and I felt God wanted me to also do a fundraiser for her. My daughter Gracie just got over RSV and I am so grateful that by God's grace she is healthy and happy now. But, she could have easily been in the same position as baby Kamdyn. Here is her story...


Kamdyn was born in February and was a healthy baby. Her mom and dad took her home and loved her for a month and a half. They even had 1 month pictures taken of her. Around 2 months old she developed RSV, which later turned into pneumonia and then a collapsed lung. She has been airlifted to 3 different hospitals, but has resided at the Houston Children's Hospital now for almost a month. When she first arrived there, the doctors said she would most likely not make it through the night. We prayed hard for her. The next day she had a 40% chance of survival. Now weeks later she is still fighting for her life, but improving each day. Seeing the pics of her are heartbreaking. Eyes taped shut in some of them, an i.v. in her tiny little head. Her parents can't even hold her. I have faith that one day she will be back home and I know that with Granville & Katie not having much money and now being stressed with their lives being turned upside down and yet still trying to raise a 5 year old boy in the midst of all of it they can use any help we can provide. I am attaching photos at the bottom of the page all though they bring tears to my eyes it gives me hope that we can help them and pray for them and get Kamdyn home soon.


FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS I WILL BE DOING A FUNDRAISER FOR PRECIOUS KAMDYN TAYLOR. IF YOU CAN FIND IT IN YOUR HEART TO HELP THIS POOR BABY GIRL AND HER FAMILY OUT IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED BY MANY. FROM TODAY THURSDAY APRIL 8TH TO SATURDAY APRIL 10TH 35% OF ALL MY PROFITS FROM GRACIE'S GARDEN DESIGNS WILL BE DONATED TO KAMDYN TAYLOR'S FAMILY. EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYONE YOU CAN BUY SOMETHING FOR YOU CAN ALWAYS BUY SOMETHING FOR KAMDYN. I WILL BE SENDING HER SOME CUTE LITTLE GIFTS AFTER THIS FUNDRAISER IS OVER. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IN THE MESSAGE TO SELLER AT CHECK OUT THAT THE PURCHASE IS FOR KAMDYN. THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE! I PRAY I CAN RAISE A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY FOR THIS FAMILY IN THEIR TIME OF NEED. I KNOW GOD HAS SINCERELY BLESSED MY FAMILY IN OUR TIMES OF NEED. THIS IS A HARD TIME FOR EVERYONE FINANCIALLY SO EVEN IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO GIVE, PLEASE KEEP THIS FAMILY IN YOUR PRAYERS THAT KAMDYN CAN COME HOME SOON. THAT, ULTIMATELY, WOULD BE THE BEST GIFT OF ALL.

*~*~* Please go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/GraciesGardenDesigns if you would like to purchase something for Kamdyn Taylor. Thanks so much everyone! I really want to bless this family! *~*~*










*~*~* Kamdyn's mom has created a Facebook page under -Kamdyn Taylor- if you would like to follow her progress. *~*~*

I love hearts - Cherry Red, Bubblegum pink, and White.

This is an adorable beanie with pretty pink and red hearts sprinkled on top to add the perfect loving touch. Your precious one will look so adorable in this sweet heart hat.

I Love Hearts is perfect for a photo shoot, baby shower gift, birthday present, or for your own precious bundle of joy.

I can custom make each hat in any size and any colors. If you can think of it, I can most likely do it. Please let me know in the note to seller the sizes you would like.

*~*~* #10 Brown Hat with Pink Polka Dot Bow*~*~*

This is a very fun hat with a cute polka dot bow. You can interchange the bow with any ribbon you would like to use, therefore there are tons of possibilities with this one hat. It will keep your little ones head warm the rest of this winter and keep the sun out of their eyes in the Spring and Summer months ahead.

*~*~* #9 - Fun Flower Hat with Brim *~*~*

This is a very nice hat to add to a Easter dress, to keep your babies head warm in the winter, or to keep their head protected from the sun in the summer. I always get compliments on this hat when I take my daughter out in it.

*~*~* #8 - Bright Stars Earflap Hat *~*~*

This is a very fun hat for your little boy. It is very brightly colored and would work great to protect your little ones head from the sun on those hot summer days and keep their head warm in the winter as well.

*~*~* #7 - Polka Dot Beanie *~*~*

This is a nice chocolate brown hat with two different shades of blue for your little man. I can do different color combinations for a girl as well. This hat is made out of 100% cotton and is very soft and comfortable.

*~*~* #6 - Silly Monkey Earflap Hat*~*~*

I can do different color variations on this hat such as blue and brown, pink and brown, yellow and brown, and much more. This hat is perfect for a boy or girl. To give it a more girly accent I can add a flower or a heart instead of a star.