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Check out all of our Valentine’s Day activities and printables on the Woo! Jr. Network.

For more Valentine’s Day activities, check out these Valentine mailbox crafts, printable Valentine mazes, and these Valentine math worksheets!

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Be sure to check out all of the Valentines activities for kids on our dedicated Valentine’s Day page!

Today we experimented with the idea of fruit and cheese kebabs (which I really, really want to spell as “kabob,” despite Spell Check’s insistence that I shouldn’t).  We made a trip to the produce section of the grocery store and walked out with strawberries, grapes, and apples.  Then to the dairy case for a couple of kinds of cheese.  We went with cheddar and mozzarella because I have some other recipes in mind that use those two types.

What you need to make fruit and cheese kebabs:

• One or two cheeses
• Different types of fruit
• Skewers
• Small cookie cutters

A little fruit, a little cheese, and a couple of skewers!

We used small cookie cutters to make our cheese and apples into fun star shapes.

Cut your fruit and cheese into bite-sized pieces that kids can help put on the kebabs.

Alternate fruit and cheese on your skewer for healthy fruit kebabs that kids love to eat.

What I Learned the Hard Way:  Your kid may be way more interested in just eating the fruit and cheese as you’re busy trying to make it look pretty.  This is a good thing, though.  It means she was actually enjoying a healthy snack!

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Be sure to check out our awesome Valentine crafts, too!

I didn’t even know that some people called these candies peanut butter balls until recently.  My whole life, I’ve known them as Buckeyes.  I guess that’s not too surprising since they were my grandma’s specialty, and she was born in Ohio!  Grandma’s Buckeyes were delicious, but they were a little intimidating.  For one thing, you actually melted paraffin wax into the chocolate.  What?  I guess it made them shinier.

Luckily, I came upon this really simple recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  They were so easy (and delicious) that my preschooler and I ended up making a couple of batches during the holiday season last year.

Related Pages: No Bake Cookies, Anise Cookie Recipes

What you need to make buckeyes:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3 Tbs. butter (softened)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 bag chocolate chips

Buckeyes (peanut butter balls) really only take four ingredients.

Mix the butter and peanut butter, then sift in the powdered sugar while continuing to mix.

Roll the mixture with your hands into 1" balls.

I started letting the peanut butter balls chill for about 20 minutes in the fridge to make the next part easier.

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave in 20-second increments, pulling them out and stirring them before continuing to heat.

We used a whole bag of chocolate chips, and there was so much left over that we made a batch of chocolate spoons as gifts.

Insert a toothpick into each peanut butter ball and swirl it around in the chocolate until all but the center is covered. Gently shake of excess chocolate and place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper to dry.

Just click on the images below to bring up the full size printable masks. Use our special “Click to Print” button to block the rest of the page and only send the image to your printer.

Printable Dragon Mask

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Chinese Dragon Mask Coloring Page

You might also like our brand new printable dragon paper craft on Craft Jr.!

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How to Make this Paper Dragon

This craft is so easy that a toddler can do it – they aren’t going to color with fancy-schmancy colored pencils or stay within the lines of course… But they can certainly handle it.

Chinese Dragon Paper Puppet

You will need an additional piece of construction paper to create the accordion dragon body, plus wooden kebab skewers to make it into a ‘puppet’, like this.

Printable Dragon Paper Craft

Then simply click the above image to print out the dragon, color, and fold and glue as shown!

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Plus, check out these personalized Santa letters, or all of the Christmas coloring pages, crafts and activities from Woo! Jr. Network sites!

Thank you,

Jenn Cangelosi

If you would like to keep in touch, just stop by! http://boutiquebargains.com/blog/

Sign up for my FREE Selling in eBay Course

One of the biggest pros to selling on eBay is that it is fairly easy to do. Once your eBay account is created you can start listing items that you already have laying around your home. Listing isn’t hard either as eBay has a step-by-step process for listing your items to sell using either the Buy it Now or traditional auction format. eBay even offers a free download of a program that allows you to put your listings together even when not connected to the internet. Then after you finish creating your listings you just connect to the internet and upload all the listings at once.

Another major pro to selling on eBay is that anyone can do it. You don’t have to have exciting or even expensive items to sell on eBay. In fact there are lots of eBay sellers who are just selling items in their home that they just no longer want. Thinking about getting started selling on eBay, but unsure about how much you can make. Go ahead and try it out, and start lising unwanted items in your home. Auctions that tend to do well are those that are lots or groups of items like infant clothing and toys.

While I could probably list several more pros to selling on eBay, I’d like to take a little time and tell you about a few of the cons. One of the biggest cons to selling on eBay is the competition. As I said before lots of people have begun selling on eBay to make some extra income or even to make a living. This leads to multiple auctions for the exact same items. While as a buyer this is great for you, it can hurt you as a seller. When supply for your items is higher than the demand, you may not make as much money from selling your items as you might have hoped, if the item even sells at all.

Another con to selling on eBay is that there are fees associated. Although the eBay fees are considered farly low, they can still take away from your profits. However, there are ways to make the most of your eBay fees. For example, if you have a ‘hot’ selling item you can start your auction out at a lower price, as the fees are less for doing do, however this can be a gamble as there is no guarantee what your item will sell for. Perhaps, the biggest con to selling on eBay is the unknown, you never can really know if you will make money on eBay or even possibly lose money.

Obviously the decision of whether or not to sell on eBay is yours to make. Just keep in mind some of the pros and cons when you make that decision. Still not sure whether selling on eBay is for you? Try it out, that is the best way to find out if you will be successful or if you really want to be an eBay seller.

A dissatisfied customer will leave negative feedback, and negative feedback should be avoided at all costs. That one negative feedback rating will cost you more than it would to just deal with the buyers complaint, whatever the value of the items you sell. You should consider any positive feedback percentage under 100% a disaster, and personal failure.

But what about?

There are no buts, there is no situation that, as a seller, you should ever get into a dispute with a buyer. Here are a few common situations and how you might handle them.

The buyer says that the item never arrived. Politely request that the buyer wait a few more days to see if the item arrives late, and then ask that they email you if the item doesn’t turn up. If the item still doesn’t arrive, you should assume that it was lost in the post somehow and offer to send the buyer a replacement if you have one, or give them a full refund otherwise. Don’t think about the cost, if you are serious about selling on eBay then it is worth it.

The item gets damaged in the post. You must offer to either replace the item or take it back for a refund without hesitation.

The buyer says that the item doesn’t match the description. Resist the urge to email back that ‘yes it does, and they should have read the description properly’. Take the item back with a refund and edit your description if you need to, to clarify any points that might have been confusing.

I’m sure you have spotted a pattern in this. Offering a refund will make just about any problem go away. Believe it or not it will cost you less in the long run. Just keep in mind that one negative feedback rating will stay with you forever, while having a 100% positive rating is like having a gold status.

You should always handle customers’ complaints before they complain to eBay. In fact it is a good practice to email buyers pre-emptively to make sure they are satisfied. Going through the dispute process is time consuming, reflects badly on you, and is just downright unnecessary.

Still not quite convinced? Think that this only applies to those selling cheap items. Actually, the higher priced the items are that you sell, the more your reputation is worth to you. For example, if you were selling $5,000 worth of items each week, and making a profit of $500 each week overall. You might feel that refunding one customer’s $500 purchase would be devastating, because you are losing a whole week’s profit. However, if you don’t give the refund then you could not only lose the next week’s profit, but most likely a few weeks’ profit after that too. Now which would you rather face?

I absolutely cannot emphasize enough the importance of truly believing that the customer is always right.

Stock for Sale

When you have leftover stock or used items from another business, you could sell those items on eBay. This can be a great way of eliminating items that won’t sell. For example, items that didn’t sell in your shop, or items that you have found to no longer be in demand in the city or town that your business is located.

This can be a great way to make some money, if you know what you are doing. Of course you are already an expert in the items you are selling, as you already use them in your business. You are also assured of the high quality of the items you are selling as they come from your own stock. eBay is just a new market for you to sell your old inventory.

On top of that, you’ll be building a good eBay reputation that can help you as a buyer. If you should ever want something for your business, there is a good chance that you will be able to get it on eBay for a discount.

Sales and Advertising

This is where the power of eBay truly lies. As an eBay seller you are given an “About Me” page, where you are allowed to write anything you would like and link to anywhere on the internet. Meaning that you can use it to build traffic to your website. You just link to your website from the “About Me” page and link to your “About Me” page from every auction you list.

To get started creating your “About Me” page, click on “Community” in the toolbar. Then scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Create an About Me page”. You will next be given the option of entering your own HTML or letting eBay guide you through the process. All you need to do is describe a little about your website, add a link to it, and you are done. You will notice an immediate increase in traffic to your site.

Thousands of people swear by this technique to drive traffic from eBay to their website. Add a little persuasive sales copy on your website, and you may be able to sell directly to buyers, eliminating the eBay middleman. Even better is that all that traffic will be targeted, as those who click through were already interested in your auction to begin with.

This technique can be especially beneficial to anyone who already has an e-commerce site. Even if you don’t already, you may find it worth your time to set up a website that does nothing more than list your eBay inventory with a few dollars discount on each item and a PayPal “Buy Now” button for each item. Then make sure you have a link that reads “Visit my website for even more bargains” on your “About Me” eBay page and you are all set.

Hope you find success with these techniques to help grow your business.

Easily one of the biggest pros to shopping on eBay is the selection of products available for you to purchase. You can find almost anything on eBay, including clothing, baby toys, home decor items, game consoles, computers, vehicles, and even property. The items on eBay can be purchased in either new or used condition. Since many eBay sellers end up selling lots of the same or similar items, you are able to compare prices and get the best deals.

Another eBay shopping pro, is the ease of shopping on eBay. Once you register your free eBay account, you are all set to shop on eBay. Once you begin shopping on eBay you will find it pretty easy to find what you want. In fact, this is another pro for shopping on eBay, the ease of finding what you are looking for. Just a simple eBay search, or even an advanced search should turn up the an item that fits the description of what you are trying to find. View those items, and you can determine if you want to purchase one of them or not.

Even making purchases on eBay is easy to do. While eBay has rules for the sellers, they still allow some flexibility, such as how much sellers can charge for items, and what payment methods sellers will accept. Some eBay sellers are limited on the payment methods they are willing to accept, you will find that most are pretty flexible. For instance the most commonly accepted form of payment is PayPal.

There are several pros to shopping on eBay, but there are also a few cons you should be aware of. On of the biggest cons or downsides to shopping on eBay is that eBay is known to be home to scammers. While eBay does there best to eliminate these scams and protect buyers, like you, from them, there will always be a few that get past their security. Keeping that in mind and being cautious, you should to shop on eBay safely. The few eBay scams that you should be conscientious of involves sellers that advertise products that they don’t really have, sellers who claim that their item is in excellent condition when it is not, and others along those lines.

Another important con is the fact that anyone can become an eBay seller. That means that someone can become a seller with the intention of taking your money without delivering you any product can register an account with eBay and begin selling. eBay, of course, catches those sellers fairly quickly and most of the time their accounts are disabled. This again is something you just need to keep in mind and be aware of who you are doing business with. Be cautious of any sellers that have high negative feedback ratings or sellers who are extremely new to eBay.

eBay like anything has it’s pros and cons, especially when it comes to buying. Most eBay buyers still have a positive experience making purchases on eBay. If you are careful who you choose to buy from and what you choose to buy, you should be able to have a positive experience too. One that will likely bring you back to shop on eBay again and again.

PayPal is one of the most commonly accepted payment method on eBay. Despite the popularity of buyers using PayPal, there are still several sellers who don’t accept it as a form of payment. If you have not already set up a PayPal account in conjunction with your eBay seller account, you may want to take the time to do so now. It is still possible to make money on eBay without accepting PayPal for payments, but you increase your chances of success by adding it as an option. That is why I strongly suggest you at least look into setting up a PayPal account today.

When you do decide to get your PayPal account, you will notice that you have a choice between having a personal account or a business account. The best way to make the most out of eBay and PayPal is to get a business account, as this will enable you to also accept credit cards as a payment method. The only difference between getting a personal PayPal account and getting a business PayPal account is the fees. The fees from PayPal will vary, but you are charged a small fee every time that someone (an eBay buyer) sends you a payment.

Don’t let the idea of these extra fees from PayPal deter you. By also accepting PayPal as a payment method, you are more likely to get more sales, as well as higher ending bids on products you sell. Especially, since more and more eBay buyers are coming to depend on PayPal to shop online. This will make those fees seem nominal, as they easily pay for themselves over time and you continue to make more profit. Not to mention that from a business standpoint those PayPal fees can be tax deductible.

Of the many reasons that eBay buyers like to use PayPal, the most important is the sense of security they get by using their service. When a buyer uses PayPal to buy an item from you on eBay, they do not have to provide you with their debit or credit card number or their bank account information. This information is stored in the secure PayPal system. It’s also easy for eBay buyers to use, they simply follow the instructions on the invoice you send them from eBay, enter their PayPal sign in information, click a few confirmation buttons, and they are done. Without having to exchange any important information.

If you have not already begun accepting PayPal, you will want to consider the various benefits of doing so. To get more information about PayPal, go to their online website at PayPal.com.

There are over 100 million members using eBay. That number is astounding, and just think when you set up your eBay business that means that will be how big your customer base will be – right away. 100 million potential customers – 100 million people looking to spend their money with you as soon as you are up and running. The reach of eBay is impressive, but keep in mind that right now the market doesn’t know you exist. Truthfully, most will never know that you exist, no matter how well you do. 100 million is a lot of people.

The most successful eBay sellers started out as buyers, and I suggest you start this way too. Starting as a buyer gives you a sense of how everything works. It also gives you the buyers perspective, which can be helpful when you begin selling. Consider this time period as time spent doing consumer research. You will actually be studying how eBay works, from the customer’s point of view. It may not seem like it, but the eBay buyer experience will help to make you a better seller – from the beginning.

Pay special attention to the customer service you receive from sellers. Take time to think about how you, as a buyer, want to be treated, and take notes for later use. Take your time in this process and interact with each seller. Even get involved in some hot auctions to see what that experience can be like. Another thing to make notes of is the hot items you see selling, these will be useful later.

eBay is like any other business, you need to determine what people are wanting to buy to be successful. You will learn that there are specific items that sell really well on eBay – you will need to figure out what those items are. There are many resources to help you find out this information. The best place to start is with eBay’s sellers lessons. I strongly urge you to attend the eBay University as well. This will be your next step in the process. Once you have experienced being an eBay buyer, it will be time to learn how to be an eBay seller.

eBay has lots of useful information right on their site. study as much of it as you can. You will learn quite a bit and it will provide a roadmap to your success. The best part is it is completely free. Reading through these resources will help you to avoid making several mistakes that many others have already made.

Once you make it through this learning process, you should know everything you will need to get started. And you will be on your way to making money with an eBay business of your own.

The bad news is that the only way to beat a “sniper” is to become one yourself. The up side is that once you figure out sniping you can use it to your advantage, and win auctions at a much lower price than you would otherwise.

Sniping Manually

Sniping manually is pretty simple if you have lots of spare time and a reasonably fast internet connection. Start by writing down the ending tme for each item that you bid on, and then be sure to be sitting at your computer with the page up for the last vital minute of the auction. This will allow you to defend your winning bid, or even outbid the current winning bid.

The best tip for sniping manually is to make sure that you set your max bid as high as possible – otherwise you could still be automatically outbid, and the auction will be over before you can even bid again.

Another note – it is not worth even trying to compete against someone who has decided to use an auto sniping service. If their service is any good, then they will always manage to outbid you. If you really want to be a sniper, you will need to find one of your own.

Using an Auto Sniper

Just type “eBay sniping” into your preferred search engine, and it’ll bring back several online services that will be more than happy to snipe on your behalf for a small fee. Most will give you a free trial, so feel free to try it out.

If you don’t want to pay each time for use of the online service, then their are some types of software that you can use. Two that I know of are iSnipeIt (http://www.isnipeit.com) and SnipeRight (http://sniperight.com). These you pay for once and then you have free use for as long as you want. Once the software is installed on your computer, you just tell it what auctions you want sniped and the max amount you are willing to bid. The software then places the bif within the last few seconds of the auction. The disadvantage to using this software is that you will need to leave your computer on just about all the time, or risk missing the end time for your auctions.

An Alternative to Sniping

If sniping just sounds a bit too much like playing dirty, then here is another low-tech way to get around it. Just send an email to the seller of an item that you were sniped on. Let them know that you were sniped at the last minute but would really like the item. Chances are that if they have another one to sell, they will agree to sell it to you for the ending bid price.

Whether you choose to become a sniper or not, I wish you best of luck in your eBay pursuits.

I Never Bought Anything!

This scam can be one with the highest risk for a seller to be a victim of. In this case, the valid owner of the credit card still has control of the credit card – no one has stolen the credit card details. However, they may have realized that they can just call the bank that issued the card and say that their card is being used fraudulently and that they did not buy the item, and often the bank will just reverse the transaction without even doing an investigation. The only way to avoid this scam is to make all your sales through eBay, because they keep a record of the transactions.

The Unconfirmed Address

It can be quite easy for scammers to steal a PayPal account from an inexperienced user: all they need is the users email address and password. PayPal does their best to protect against credit cards registered with stolen accounts from being used to make purchases by listing a “confirmed address” for each buyer – an address that matches what the credit card issuer has registered.

Many scammer will ask you to ship to a different address – unless you are certain of them, this is a bad idea, as they could be trying to commit credit card fraud. Especially be wary of anyone who offers to pay a higher price and get overnight shipping, particularly if it is not even in the same country as the confirmed address. The scammer could be trying to make sure the item gets to them before they are found out.

It is up to you to be responsible for fraud on PayPal, as eBay’s preferred way to refund fraudulent payments to their rightful owner is just to reverse it from you! This is considered an occupational hazard of using PayPal, and sellers who have been burned severely at times go as far as moving to a rival electronic payment service. See http://www.nopaypal.com for more information.

You may have received flyers from other eBay sellers, they are basically a list of the items available in their eBay stores, usually including the default message: Thank you for your purchase! Please visit my eBay Store for more great items and friendly, reliable customer service. However, by learning more about how to use this feature you can make your flyer really stand out from the crowd.

You may be wondering how do I do that?

Start by logging into eBay and going to the Manage Your Store section of My eBay. Then click on My Promotions and you will see the Store Promotions Flyer option. You can automatically create a flyer using the settings and items from your eBay store. It can also be customized to your liking, like adding a border to make it more visually attractive. After creating a flyer, you can then print it as many times as you need to. Since the flyer will automatically update to show your latest items each time you print it, you may only want to print the flyers as needed.

What can I do with the flyers?

There are several uses for your eBay store promotional flyers. You could just hand them out on the street, although that may not be particularly effective. Most of the people walking by that actually take the flyer may have no interest in your products and it would just end up being a waste of time, ink, and paper.

Instead, put them in with packages of items sold: if you have been putting business cards or compliment slips in your packages, use your new flyers instead. Think of it as sending a mini-catalogue to your buyers.

Post or hand them out in your shop: If you have an actual shop or business site, then you can hand flyers out the customers so they know you also sell on eBay.

Send them to other businesses: look up addresses for businesses that may potentially need the items you sell, and send them a flyer for them to post.

Finally, if you sell on consignment, you can use the flyers to help get some new customers.