okay how lame is it that i forgot to take a picture of dear sweet Lee at his table selling t-shirts today? i even had the camera with me. i also forgot to take a picture of the baby pants and skirts i made, and now they're sold. and i've been looking for things to write about here since most of my crafty gift recipients read the blog. oh well.
picture my guy behind his table, with a banner above him that reads "5 YO t-shirts by Lee- sweatshop free" we sold quite a few shirts and got a bunch of custom orders. but mostly it was a fun day of socializing and eggnog!
i did take a shot yesterday after i had finished screening 25 t-shirts. here is a sampling of his designs:
above are pennyfarthing, heart with wings, dragonfly, dino, lizard, and skull and crossbones. if you click on the picture you should be able to see it larger.
the dinosaur is the new design for this year. Lee has been making t-shirts (well, he's design, i'm production) since he was 5- hence the name (5 Year Old T-Shirt Company) I make them using a screen made by this method. it works really well and is pretty easy to do. you can see some more here and we do have some left for sale.
yesterday i was listening to the CBC as i finished up the screening and they were doing a fundraising drive for the Daily Bread Food Bank so Lee and I decided to give 10% of our profits to the food bank. this is the 3rd year he's sold t-shirts, and he has made quite a bit of money for a 7 year old- to the point where he has enough spending money that it makes me a bit uncomfortable. we decided that rather than all the money being for him, we would do 10% to charity, 40% for the family (for gymnastics, or outings), 25% for his college fund and 25% for his bank account. this feels like a good split. he doesn't get an allowance, so it is good for sure for him to have his own money. i just don't want him to have so much that it doesn't mean anything and he doesn't have to save to buy something. that said, he is very generous and has bought things for his brother on many occasions ("Asa! I'll buy this for you so you don't scream about it!" umm, not necessarily the message i want to send to Asa but who am i to argue with the brother giving spirit? Lee is also not very materialistic (at least lately!) and even when given the chance to but a toy doesn't do so if there's nothing he really wants (unlike Asa who wants everything).
i started this post about Lee's t-shirts and ended up writing about money. it is actually something i think about a lot. i want the kids to have a strong work ethic but sometimes i think their lives are too easy and they have everything they want without a lot of effort. but at the same time, of course i don't want them to experience any hardship!
i know i worked hard to get all this stuff done for the Boutique, and hopefully example counts for something.
i am going to be putting in a t-shirt order with American Apparel for the custom orders we took today, so if anyone wants to order a t-shirt, let me know! we also have a selection of shirts that are not in Lee's "shop"- email me if you are interested.
