#1 on tomorrow's to-do list

Tomorrow I'm on a mission to check out local farmers' and crafters' markets in the area. Hopefully I'll find a suitable venue to sell Pass It On Plates in person.

I'll keep you posted on upcoming locations where you can get Pass It On Plates (without having to pay shipping!)

Wish me luck...




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New plates!

The Original Pass It On Plate - snack size, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

What do you think of this?

It's a 9 inch plate, a little smaller than our usual plates, but perfect for a snack.

Actually, the price is perfect. We're going to be selling these plates exclusively at craft shows and Saturday markets in the Salem area all summer long
...for just $5 each!

And it's less complicated, since it's just an Original Pass It On Plate - one of our popular numbered plates - without all the frills and doo dads to mess with.

The Original Pass It On Plate - snack size, back side, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

So... should we call these the Snack Size Pass It On Plate? How about a Mini Pass It On Plate? Or should we go with Small Pass It On Plate and Large Pass It On Plate?

Actually, I think we should have a contest and sent out a set of these to whoever comes up with the winning name. What do you think?

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Make your own Celebration Platter

This morning I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the computer to browse on The Find when I came across this Celebration Platter:

The description from Exposures says, Our Celebration Platter is the perfect gift for any occasion that's cause for celebration. New baby. Graduation. Job promotion. Commemorate the moment with this high-gloss white ceramic platter. It's large enough for all of your friends and loved ones to chime in with a special message. Just sign the plate with pen (one pen included; additional available for quicker signing), and bake in the oven for warm wishes that last a lifetime.

Their platter is on sale today for $46.99 and the pen is $11.99. Exposures charges $6.50 shipping for up to two pens. Yep, both of our plates use the same kind of food safe ceramic paint pen!

If you're like me - too thrifty and crafty to spend that much money on something that you could create yourself, you're probably thinking about how to make your own. And with all due respect to Exposures, our paint pens sell for less.

We currently sell them on Etsy for $10 each and shipping is free for up to 6 pens.

Here's how to make your own:

1. Get some of our pens in a couple of different colors. You could buy your own plate or platter at Target or another store for about $15-20. Just make sure it's ceramic or stoneware. Plastic will melt in the oven when you make the paint permanent.

2. Make sure your platter is clean - the paint pen is water based and surface oils on the plate will resist the paint. Make sure all your party guests have clean hands, too, so oily fingerprints don't cause the same problem.

3. Ask everyone at the party to use the pen to write something on the ceramic plate or platter.

4. When everyone has signed the platter, bake it in an oven for 30 minutes to make it permanent. (Instructions are written on the pen.) And it's dishwasher safe after you bake it, although I recommend hand washing all handmade items.

5. You could have everyone sign the platter at the beginning of the party and bake it during the party. If you're sneaky, you could get away with this without the guest of honor knowing what you're up to. The plate will be cooled and completely finished before the party's over and your gift will be the hit of the party and the guest of honor keeps your platter as a memento of the occasion.

This is a very personal, sentimental gift idea. Got a wedding or wedding shower, anniversary, or birthday coming up?

Wow, what a perfect gift!






PS: How is this platter different from a Pass It On Plate? Our plates have a tracking number on the back and they're intended to travel from person to person. We include the pen so each person can write something on the plate as it travels - just to add to the fun.

"Dinner's on me"

In our Plate Diary Dollars ™ program, we state that we contribute 2% of the price of the plate to FeedingAmerica.org, for every valid Plate Diary comment, up to 10%.

As you probably know, we extend this program to anything we sell with a tracking number on it. Take a look at our Original Pass It On Plate, which you can pick up for just $10 from our Etsy shop.

In this case, $10 x 2% = $.20 contributed per Plate Diary comment. We tally up all Plate Diary comments and make a charitable contribution at the end of every month. Yes, the money comes from us. All you need to do is make a valid Plate Diary comment* when you pass the plate to a friend

When this Original Pass It On Plate has a total of 5 Plate Diary comments, $1.00 has been contributed, which provides 32 bowls of food.

Let's do the math. If $1 is contributed for 5 Plate Diary comments, then 32 bowls divided by 5 comments is 6.4 bowls of food per Plate Diary comment.

Your simple act of passing the plate along basically buys dinner for an entire American family!

So, are you hanging on to a Pass It On Plate?
Why?

Load it up and give it to a friend today - and be sure to let them know that you're buying dinner.




* A valid Plate Diary comment is one pertaining to passing the plate on to another person, not something along the lines of "Visit my site," or "Thank you for the plate" (that's nice but doesn't show the plate is moving along). Multiple Plate Diary comments by the same person in the same time frame are also not valid. The bottom line is we need to see that the plate is moving from person to person.

Shipping Supplies

What's in my car?, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

What's in my car?
I just hopped out to the store to buy some shipping supplies...
...a roll of bubble wrap, some shipping boxes, and a bag of peanuts...

That's a lot of peanuts, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

That's a lot of peanuts.
The bag is about as big as I am. Whew!

NOW I am ready to ship out all my plate orders.

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Butterflies and biscotti for Mom

Butterflies with Pink Organza Bow, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

This plate started traveling way back in 2007 and is still being passed from person to person. You can read about its journey here: 200705280002.

Its most recent re-gifting appears to be for an early Mothers Day gift, where Rhonda gave her mom a plate of biscotti.

Happy Mothers' Day this Sunday, May 10!

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Spring cleaning...

Almost shocking, isn't it?

I know I just re-did this blog over Christmas, but it was too busy, loaded too slow, and just... clunky.

Yuck.

Time to clean it up.

I am finishing up a major blog remodel over at our family blog, The Adventures of Pam & Frank, and liked that template so much I decided to use it in this blog as well. After I get the initial stuff in place, I'll do a little decorating to better differentiate this blog from that one.

Anyway, you'll notice stuff is moving around and looking a little wonky for the next day or so. Please be patient and check back here next weekend to see the final results!




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