We Need Your Opinion: Custom Messages

One of the things that Susan and I want to offer is custom messages for your lollipops. This was something she loved to do when lollipop making was her hobby. She'd put labels on the lollies that said "Grad School Sucks" or "Turning 30 Doesn't Suck". We've also had a couple of requests for it since we launched the store, to say Congratulations or Happy Halloween or Happy Birthday or whatever. We want you to be able to do that. So we're trying to work out how to get it done.

However, we need you to tell us something first: Where do you want the message? The lollies are now shipped six per bag, and that bag has a label on it. We could put the custom message on the lollipop label or we could put it on the bag label. Both options have pros and cons, but since you'll be buying it, what we really want to know is: where do you want it?

Let us know in the comments. Thanks for your help!

Thanks!

We've been so swamped with everything that posting has been light this last week. It turns out that when you launch a new business, there's a lot of work to do! Did you know that? I wanted to take five minutes to breathe and give a huge thank you to everyone who helped us get this far.

I especially wanted to call out two people in particular - Kevin & Justine. Kevin Keeker, whose name you see on every post with a photo, has taken all of our product pictures. Justine Kamionsky has done all of our fabulous design including our logo at the top of the page. They have donated all of this time out of the goodness of their hearts and without them our site would be a lot less charming. Thanks you guys!

Other folks we need to thank are: Kim McCrea Wilton of Pepo Park has shared lots of useful tips and resources along the way. And Susan often moisturises her poor battered hands with Pepo Park's No More Rough Patches emollient salve after a long day in the kitchen. Jeanine Giles Larson not only got Susan started on this whole lollipop thing, but was our very first order on Etsy! Susan Selser gave us fabulous legal and accounting advice, and Anthony Hand has been a font of information about how to start your own business for the first time.

We'd be especially remiss if we didn't thank our husbands for all their love and support over the last few months.

And thanks to everyone else who's supported us, cheered us on, taste-tested our lollipops, and/or bought something from us in our first few days. You're awesome! We love you!

Charm School Dropouts

You’ll be shocked – shocked! – to hear this, but our lollipops aren’t always absolutely perfect. Sometimes we pour too much liquid sugar into the mold. Sometimes air bubbles sneak in. And sometimes, they get these weird pointy things sticking out of the side. For whatever reason, they just don’t make the cut.

You know what? They still taste really, really good. So, whenever we get six of them, whatever the flavors, we’ll put them into a bag and offer them up at a discounted price.

Buy some today at our Etsy store!

Pomegranate

Susan’s mother-in-law never let her husband eat pomegranates inside when he was a child, because he wound up staining everything in sight. As adults, who hasn’t enjoyed a red cocktail flavored with grenadine?

Pomegranate was one of the first flavors Susan worked with, and it’s a long-standing favorite with our faithful taste-testing friends. It ranked second at our tasting party.

You can find Pomegranate in a single-flavor twelve pack or as part of the Fruit Basket collection in our Etsy store.

photo by Kevin Keeker

Mango

Mangos are a still-elusive fruit for many Americans. Almost everyone we know has a story about being handed a mango for the first time and not being quite sure what to do with it. Do you eat it whole? Cut it up? How do you get a knife through it? Or do you cook it? If so, how? Confusion reigns.

However, once you try one, you’re hooked! Susan’s grandmother was given a mango in her youth and had that confused reaction; however, once she tried it she found she loved it!

Mangos have a rich, sweet flavor that’s incomparable. It’s a flavor that makes a great lollipop. (My daughter likes mango lollipops so much, I once used that to get her to try mango ice cream.) It was the second-highest scoring fruit flavor at our tasting party, so you know it’s going to be good.

You can find Mango in a single-flavor twelve pack or as part of the Fruit Basket collection in our Etsy store.

photo by Kevin Keeker

Fruit Basket

Let’s talk about the Fruit Basket collection. There’s a reason that fruit-flavored candy is so popular: it’s delicious. People go wild for our slightly uncommon fruit flavors and blends – Pomegranate, Mango, and Coconut-Caramel. A hint of sourness keeps them from being too sweet. Pomegranate is a rich, ruby red, Mango is golden-peach, and Coconut-Caramel is creamy white. Perfect for anyone who enjoys dancing like Carmen Miranda.

Starting later today (!), you'll be able to buy the Fruit Basket at our Etsy store.

photo by Kevin Keeker