Fairytale Jubilee was born out of pure necessity. I had two new babies (19 months apart), a lot of fabric, and a need for a supplemental income that allowed me to stay home with my boys. I had some leftover costumes that were never used from the parties I hosted at my gift shop. I started by selling them on etsy. Once I sold all of them I decided to sell just headpieces, but had the children wear my used costumes during the photo shoot for my headpieces. Everyone wanted to know: Where did the costumes come from?! I started where I was, and began designing costumes from leftover fabric and making headpieces to match. That's the boring "why" of it all, but here's the more inspiring truth of why I chose Fairytale Jubilee and not some other work from home effort. When I was a child I used to daydream for hours about being part of some fairytale world - one that, keep in mind, I really thought existed somewhere out there. Playing dress-up was an extension of that belief. When I was dressed up I became whoever was depicted by the clothes I wore, and a part of my fairytale world was brought to life. By looking at my designs, one may assume that I was only interested in dressing up as the girliest of pretend people, but that is simply not the case. I enjoyed dressing up as anyone or anything including boyish costumes, gross and all. Point being - I LOVED dress-up more than ANYTHING! Lucky for me my mother loved watching my sister and I dress-up I guess, because she was always willing to buy tons of dress-up items. Our house became no more than a costume rental facility growing up, because I truly believe we had more to offer than any store out there.

Then, I grew up. Only I never grew out of my love for dress-up, or, if I'm speaking quite frankly, my belief that somewhere out there that fairytale world does exist. I believe that our imaginations allow us to bring anything to life. If we can imagine it - then why can't we make it real. Thus, Fairytale Jubilee was born. This little poem gives you a glimpse into the story behind the business:

A story is told that daily at dusk there's held a Fairytale Jubilee.
The location is known only as: Beneath the pink feathered juniper tree,
Anyone can attend for pure jubilation, so the story goes.
As long as they're dressed in "fairytale" from their head down to their toes!

Having read that you may begin to understand what I keep in mind while designing. I imagine that each and every costume must be worthy of an attendance at the Fairytale Jubilee.

Sharing my love for dress-up has been such a rewarding effort. One thing I love most about my job is receiving pictures of my little customers in their costumes. Another aspect that has really excited me, but I never expected, was the media attention. Through etsy I was contacted first by Sabrina James of Parenting Magazine. It was because of her that my business really took off. (Thank you Sabrina!) She used my costumes on the cover and throughout the magazine many times. Since then I've been featured on Access Hollywood Live, The Anderson Cooper Show, Night Line, Toddlers and Tiaras, Babiekins Magazine and a few others.

While this business was bred out of necessity, it truly was a long time coming - dating back to my childhood: A fairytale world where everyone has to dress in the finest of fairytale attire. I tell my boys many bedtime stories of the Fairytale Jubilee, and it is by one dress and one story at a time that I'm bringing it to life. One day I can only hope that I will hold the most magnificent of events and call it the Fairytale Jubilee. An added bonus would be if everyone present was wearing one of my designs ;-D

What will you wear to the Jubilee?