I have people ask me all the time if I do special order capes. I do! I’ve had a few orders for Halloween with different logos on them and recently I had a custom order that turned out amazing. I can’t spill all the details yet (hint - check back on November 4th!) but here’s a sneak peek:

I just added some new fabric to my site (finally!) and still have a few more swatches to get posted. There is just so much cute, fun, Superhero-ish fabric out there that would be perfect on capes. See the new fabric on the Fabrics & Colors page.

My holiday cut-off is quickly approaching. I am guaranteeing that all orders placed by November 15th will be received by you (barring any crazy Post Office disaster) no later than December 20th. If you would like me to mail a cape directly to the Superhero, I can do that too. I’ve decided to have a waiting list for capes for orders that come in after November 15th. If I can squeeze in a few more capes before Christmas, I will go on a first-come-first-serve basis for people on the waiting list.

I added a Superhero Cape Gallery to my site to make it easier to see samples of different fabric and color combinations. I wish that I could take a picture of every cape I make - but I unfortunately just don’t have time for that! You can see small images of the pictures on the Cape Gallery page, and click on any picture to view the photo larger on Flickr. You can get to the Cape Gallery any time by the tab in the navigation menu at the top of the page.

A couple housekeeping notes (and some fun stuff at the end!):

• I am currently FINALLY caught up with my orders from the 3 weeks that I was on vacation at the end of August. If you placed an order with me during that time, it has either been mailed or is included in the next batch that is going to the post office tomorrow. THANK YOU so much for your patience and understanding … I thought I had properly planned enough time for me to work and get caught up but apparently I had planned poorly. I felt so bad that I was behind for so long - but I am committed to keeping my quality top-notch and didn’t feel there were any areas I could compromise for the sake of getting the capes done faster.

• Planning ahead to Christmas and the upcoming holiday season — I have been thinking about what my method is going to be for holiday orders — I want to have a balance of getting as many capes made for gifts as I possibly can - while still being able to enjoy the holiday season with my family. I have decided to have a holiday order cut-off date of November 15th. If you place an order with me before that date, I will guarantee that you will have it by December 24th.  If you place an order with me after November 15th, you will be placed on a waiting list and your capes will be completed on a first come first serve basis, but with no December 24th guarantee.

• I have had some issues with emails lately - 99.9% of the time I answer an email within 24 hours from when I receive it.  If you have placed an order with me or sent me an email for any other reason and haven’t seen a reply back from me (I send a confirmation email when you place an order with your order total) within about a day - PLEASE check your spam folders.  Especially if you have a Hotmail account - they especially like to mark my email address as spam.  Better yet, add erin@plumpearapple.com to your “safe list” right after you email me.   I need you to see and read the confirmation email - sometimes customers don’t give me all the pertinent information or I have a question for you about your order.

• I’ve always wanted Plum Pear Apple to give back to the wonderful blog community and be involved as much as it can - more that just any other handmade-wares boutique.  I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of some wonderful causes and giveaways so far - and I know there are many more opportunities to come (watch for an announcement soon for a great cause I’m so excited to be be involved with!).  If you have a giveaway, promotion, cause, fundraiser or run a review blog - please get in contact with me.  I may not be able to be involved right away, but I will keep your blog and name for future reference.

• And lastly, I am quickly approaching my 200th Superhero Cape ordered!  This number is AMAZING to me — I am so grateful for all the wonderful support I am getting and the amazing people that are believing in me and ordering my cute capes.   In honor of this milestone - I’ve decided to have a little contest:  Whoever happens to order lucky cape #200 will win that cape for free - as well as another cape to send as a gift to a friend! This way the Superhero love is spread and TWO people will get to be great winners.  (No, I won’t tell you exactly how many cape orders I have had so far, but I will tell you that I expect to hit #200 in the next week or so … so if you’re thinking about ordering soon you have a good chance of winning!)

Meet Aubrey:

She’s a Superhero of the most spunky variety — just check out those pigtails and sunglasses! Aubrey is a little friend of Mason’s - so when she wanted a Superhero cape she got to come to our house with here Mama and help pick out her own fabric. Didn’t she do a great job pairing the magenta with the orange? It’s SO cute!

We got together today to play and to deliver her the finished cape — she LOVED it from the minute she saw it and didn’t waste any time running up and down the grassy hill with her cape flying behind her.

Hope you enjoy your cape, Miss Aubrey!

Aubrey’s cape is magenta on the outside and has the Orangesicle stripe fabric for a lining (currently out of stock). The emblem is an orange cotton ball with a purple letter.

Two of my favorite Superheroes so far are the darling kids of my friend, Julie.  Aidan and Halle were both SO excited to come over to my house and help their mom pick out the fabric for their capes.  Halle thought I was going to make it right then and there and was a little disappointed when we told her that they wouldn’t be ready for a little while!

I finally got to meet up with them at the park to deliver their capes and they were both SO excited.  It didn’t take long for them to both want to start jumping off the rock wall and running around the grass.  So cute.

I LOVED the material on the inside of Halles’ cape — I actually only bought a teeny bit of it and haven’t been able to find it since - so right now her cape is a true one of a kind!

Aidans’ is a true boy cape - with turquoise and blue for the main colors, and cheery red and yellow for the emblem.  It fit his cute personality perfectly!

Have fun, you Superhero Siblings!

I apologize for the unannounced downtime we had over the past few days at Plum Pear Apple. I got the bright idea to change hosts and install WordPress all by myself with little knowledge of exactly WHAT I was getting myself into. I think things are all back up (for the most part) and I even have a spiffy new blog design to show for it.

Changing hosts did interrupt my email service for a few days, too, so if you had sent me an email over the weekend, chances are I didn’t get it. Please send it again (I’m so sorry!).

So cape making is back into full swing - I have a bunch of really cute capes coming through my sewing desk - can’t wait to share some pictures with you.

Just wanted to let you know that we’re back from our California vacation and ready to get back in the CAPE business (but really — did I ever escape it?!).

I have a TON of emails in my Inbox so I apologize in advance if you’ve sent me an order or an email and I haven’t responded yet. I’m working on it! I’m just a one-woman show here.

As I announced before - cape prices are going up as of September 1st. This is to better cover my costs of materials, packing and shipping supplies, and my time. I am a stay at home mom and while I LOVE making these adorable kids for Superheroes all over, I need to make sure that I price the capes according to how much time they take me to make — time that takes me away from my family. Thanks for understanding. :)

I also have some fun things in store in the next few weeks - so keep an eye out for more little customizations you will be able to add to your capes, along with a newly designed (and easier to navigate!) website.

Lastly, a shout out to some of the great sites that have posted about my capes in the past weeks — look at all the neat places that my Superhero Capes have been spotted:

Stolen Goods
Everyday Yogini
O’Keefe Family Fun
Buby & Bleu
Jogirls Journey

Thanks everyone!

First of all, welcome to all the Simple Mom readers! I am so excited to be a part of the great giveaway that SimpleMom.net is holding. If you haven’t seen it yet — you must go visit her site and enter the awesome contest she’s hosting in honor of her birthday! There are 7 amazing prizes and they’re all going to ONE winner. Talk about the motherload of prizes!

I love when I get a whole load of capes ready at the same time to ship — these cute ones went out last week and were the last batch before I went on vacation. Don’t they look amazing all lined up in a row like that?

I will be back from vacation next week and will be going full force into cape making for Halloween and then the Holiday season. I expect to be busy so get your orders in early!

OK — how cute are these 2 brothers that are the newest Superheroes outfitted by Plum Pear Apple Designs? You can just tell that Connor is THRILLED with his new cape — his mom, Holly, said he hadn’t even had it on for two minutes when he was already flying through the house and yard!

I love the way that the capes for the two boys are similar (same inside fabric and emblem shape) — but individual in their colors. So cute. Connor recently turned three and had a Superhero themed birthday party - so hopefully his new cape fit the bill for what HE thought his official uniform should look like. :)

And of course babies need capes, too! Connor’s little brother, Will, isn’t too steady on his feet yet but is still able to be an outstanding Superhero. He is patiently sitting while observing his big brother zooms around the yard.

Thanks to Holly for the beautiful pictures — you make my capes look gorgeous! Check out Holly O’Keefe Creative for more of her stunning photography!

Look how darling these cookies are:

My friend Carrie made them for me — just simply to say congratulations and good luck for launching Plum Pear Apple! Isn’t she talented? See more of her yummy creations at her cooking blog: Crumbles.