Fun with new Friends!

What a fun, crazy whirlwind the last few weeks have been! We just celebrated being open for 2 weeks and have met so many nice new friends already. It's fun to see people enjoying the space that I envisioned for so long. The store is filled with laughter, small children vrooming cars, and oldies music to enjoy. It's been all I dreamed of an more! People comment on the wide variety of items they've never seen before and how affordable the price points on. Moms have been in buying Nanoblocks and Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty to mail to college students. Preschoolers have been in to enjoy or literacy area.

Several customers have already started their holiday shopping with a few that are already done. Have you started to think about your list? Christmas is 12 weeks away! Yikes! No worries though...this year, you have My Toy Garden to help!

Please visit the new website as well! It will become more and more populated in the next week or two. Many of our items will be viewable on the website. If you are too far away to come visit in person, be sure to call and we'll make arrangements to ship items to you.

Heads up for you insiders...I'm working on a Shopping Spree for Educators program. I was a classroom teacher for 17 years and, goodness knows, how many thousands I spent out of my own pocket on things for my students. I want to help educators in Carmel enjoy great new tools for their classrooms. Stay tuned for more details!

Also mark your calendar for Thurs. Oct. 6 at 10:30 for our very first storytime! It'll be an extra special event called Read for the Record where we will be joining many other across the country to set a record for the most people enjoying the same book on the same day. The book this year is the very exciting new addition to the Llama Llama books...Llama Llama Red Pajama! PJs welcome!

Last, you will definitely want to join us for Neighborhood Toy Store Day on Sat. Nov. 12 from 10-4 pm! We'll be featuring a Spot It contest with prized for 3 different age groups, in store craft activities and other great fun! Save the date and we'll see you in the garden!

12 days to go!

The calendar turns to September on Thursday and then the countdown really speeds up! We are on track for a very fun grand opening on Sat. Sept. 10 from 10-4 pm. Lots of people have been stopping by to say hello and press their noses against the windows. As the toys come out of boxes and the space fills with more and more color, I'm sure that will happen even more. Our first two part time employees, Eileen and Jordan, started today and I know they are going to be a great fit! Welcome! They will be on hand to help with the Grand Opening which will include face painting and a balloon maker that is amazing! Be sure to save the date! Or, even more fun, come volunteer that day! We could use help with managing the arts and crafts area, wrapping gifts and more. Come be part of history!

Another fun thing you can do to join the fun is take an hour and pull out your arts and crafts odds and ends and see what fun flowers you can come up with. I'm starting to collect flowers that will be displayed in the front windows of the store and in vases in the main entry way. Donation of vases are gladly accepted too. :-) Here's a few ideas to get your started!

The main thing right now is boxes, boxes, boxes and more boxes full of lots of fun things. So far, I've opened beautiful costumes, gorgeous wooden puzzles, root beer chap stick and clay so soft you won't be able to put it down! I so want to open them all but am making sure all the accounting pieces are in place in Quickbooks...so proud of all I've learned with that! Also getting my POS system up and running and ready to print all the price tags. That should be done by Tuesday and then it's print, print, print, unbox and fill the shelves! I pinch myself every day that we are so lucky to have this opportunity and so blessed to have the love and support of so many! A big thank you to the Martin family for finding and getting ready the bench and wheelbarrow. They are perfect!! See you at My Toy Garden!

Halfway through August

We are halfway through August and things are looking good! I've picked out the signature wrapping paper, have just a small handful of orders left to place...sooo excited about that! Contractors will be out of there by this weekend and then I can start unpacking the boxes and boxes of toys that have started arriving at My Toy Garden. The first 2 staff members have been hired! Welcome Jordan and Eileen! So much done and so much to do! My biggest challenges next are learning Quickbooks and my POS system. With ordering being done...or very close to it, now I can focus on those areas. Wahoo!!!

We are set for our Grand Opening for Sat. Sept. 10 from 10-4. Volunteers are needed that day and the weeks before to get ready. Are you going to be one of the lucky ones to be part of history? You know you want to! I plan to start working full time out of the store next Tuesday and would love to have you pop by and help us get ready!

Final 2 pics of mural....

The My Toy Garden mural is complete!

A big thank you to my friend Marta for coming down for 2 days and helping with the My Toy Garden mural! Check out the pics and makes plans to come see it in person Sat., Sept. 10 from 10-4 during our Grand Opening. There will be facepainting, balloon creations, a Spot It contest and more!

Green Grass in the heat of summer!

Come visit My Toy Garden where the grass is green all year round! I'm loving the flooring I picked out!

It's getting colorful in here!

Here are some of my favorite before and after pics of the buildout. I am loving the colors I picked out....Daffodil yellow, Beyond Blue and Electric Lime. Buildout has gone very smoothly so far with the exception of finding a tangle of electrical wires in the ceiling that had to be sorted out. My contractors, Jon and Carl, have been amazing to work with and I'd highly recommend them! The new colors are bringing lots of window peekers. :-)

The floor is also installed as of last night and it looks amazing! You won't believe you're not walking on real grass. I'll post pics of that next. Tomorrow I work with the movers to move all the fixture over to the store. Monday I start work on the mural for the arches with my friend Marta and then a week from Monday the first UPS delivery of boxes and boxes of toys arrives! Wahoo!! We are still on track for a Sept. 10 opening. I'll need volunteers that day to help everything go smoothly. Please email me at toyladyjanet@gmail.com if you are interested. I'm also looking for a great face painter too.

Ordering is still a work in progress but many more pieces have been clicked into place including dolls, trains and many adorable art kits. I've also orders some quirky impulse items like bacon bandaids, refrigerator mustaches and brain gelatin molds. What a fun job! Most orders to come this weekend with a goal to have 99% placed by Monday.

I also installed the POS (Point of Sale) system this week and am beginning to learn that new language along with beginning to learn Quickbooks. This is definitely the biggest project I've ever tackled but I'm ready! Bring on the fun! Bring on the work! Bring on the joy! I'm so happy to have so many of you already following the adventure on Facebook fan page... THE place for quick updates, free gift certificates and have a say in some decisions I'm making. Hop on over and join the many fans already there! Thanks for your support and excitement!