I started doing customer appreciation day two years ago.  I hope that every year it just gets bigger and better than the year before.  So far I've been blown away by the turnout and by people's positive reactions to it.  This year it will be held on Sunday, June 23 at the Ley Memorial Pavilion at Harris Park in Dodgeville from 11am-2pm.  So mark you calendars!  

If you don't know what customer appreciation day is about- let me tell you! It's basically a day full of fun and treats to celebrate and thank my customers.  I have around 30 other local vendors come in to set up and sell their products and crafts, as well as bringing the stuff from my other two side businesses (makeup/skincare and clothing).  Last year I added a food truck, singer/entertainer, and kids crafts table to the event and that really seemed to be a success!

While the event isn't long in duration, the last two years it has seemed just enough time.  Enough time for everyone to come through, do some shopping, grab lunch and hang out.  The first year I ran way short on cupcakes; so l last year I didn't want that to happen again and overshot the numbers a bit and had an abundance of cupcakes.  Oh I almost forgot! For customer appreciation day you get $3 off on full dozens as well!  This year I'll be seven months pregnant...so it should be interesting to say the least! 

It is a fun filled day that I now look forward to yearly.  I put a ton of time and effort into this event in hopes of making it amazing for the vendors that take the time to spend this day with me and for all of you customers that have made this all possible!  I really hope you can make it and that you enjoy it as much as I do!

In the last blog post, I talked about fun menu updates like new flavors and flavors getting fun makeovers.  This time, the updates I'm making aren't so fun.  In fact....they're terrifying to me.  I've talked about this change for a couple of years; I've even posted about it before, but I never went through with it and tried the best I could not to actually do it.   Unfortunately...it's time.  Time for a SLIGHT price increase in my products.

Every year my costs go up more and more and I just eat that cost.  Why?  Honestly, because I'm scared to lose customers by raising prices.  I started this business out of my love for baking.  However, love can only go so far....love of baking and what I do doesn't make my expenses go down.  I've given this example before, but I'll give it again- since opening my cost of vanilla has more than quadrupled.  Ask any baker who is a pure vanilla (not artificial) user and they will curse this ingredient cost.  This increase makes it over $400 for ONE gallon!  And this is just one of my expense increases.  

We live in a small community so the thought of these slight increases is very intimidating.  I know losing a few customers to competition is inevitable, but I'm hoping my supporters see the worth and value in my product and the business I've built.  I'm a commercially licensed bakery...which can be another big expense.  It's recently became legal in Wisconsin for people to bake and sell from their homes.  I went through, and go through yearly, all the hoops and expenses of getting and staying licensed and meeting all the state commercial kitchen standards.  This means yearly fees, and also means I pay more for little things like water and electricity because I operate out of a commercial building.  If I factored in all of these expenses that most people might not think of going into the price of a cupcake, including my time (which I tend not to factor in for), things would be far far more expense than these little increases will reflect.

I did do the same small increase in cookie prices last year and didn't notice any backlash or have complaints from it, so I'm REALLY hoping for the same when it will now be be applied to cupcakes and cakes. The increase is $0.25 on cupcake flavors- which breaks down to $3/dozen if you were getting a full dozen.  For example: standard cupcakes are going from $1.25 to $1.50; deluxe $1.50 to $1.75; and specialty $1.75 to $2.  

Cake increases vary by size, anywhere from $2 on a standard flavor 6" cake to $10 on a 1/2 sheet cake.  If you've ever looked at my menus, each size and level of cake and cupcake varies by the same price increments.  I've kept all of that the same, but just increased it by one level.  

All weddings and orders that have already been placed will be marked and charged at the "old pricing".  This also applies if you've already reached out to me for a quote on an order with a specific date to it.  Moving forward any bookings or inquires will fall under the new pricing.  

I  REALLY REALLY hope everyone can understand that I am doing my very best to keep prices low and I have kept them this low for as long as I possibly can.  But in order to keep bringing you the treats you love and keep business going for years to come, a change does have to be made.  

Thanks you for the love and support and continued orders!

If you've seen my cupcake menu you know it's pretty long.  Okay,  it's VERY long with 200+ flavor options.  But I can't seem to help myself by continually making updates.  You can blame it on running out of booklets.  I'm out right now (so if you need one I'll have to email you the document version) which means before printing more I might as well make a few changes...or additions!

Not all the menu changes are new flavors.  Some of them are simply changes or updates to current flavors.  For example, the chocolate toffee crunch cupcake (pictured to the left) was one of the many flavors that got a makeover.  So if you order a flavor you've ordered in the past and it looks a little different, or a little more fabulous, that just means I updated it!

There are plenty of new additions I couldn't help but sneak in.  To name a few:
-Blondie crunch
-Peanut butter lover
-Blueberry crumble
-Chocolate delight cheesecake
-Mocha chip

Plus some that I've introduced at open days or created in the last year that just haven't been added to the printed version of the menu yet!  

I'm sure many of you are thinking "why so many flavors?!"  I know it can make decisions hard when placing orders or for wedding decisions, but I love having tons of flavors so I can have different flavors at all the open days...and it's one of the things I love the most about this business; making my own flavors and creations!  So get ready for the next few open days to feature some new flavors...and the classics of course!

How long have you been coming to Steph's Sweet Treats open days?  Did you know that Valentine's Day six years ago (just over two month after I opened) was my first ever open day?  And that "open days" were never a part of my original business plan?

Six years ago, fresh into my bakery business, I put up flyers around town advertising my Valentine's Day treats.  I also posted online and was pleasantly surprised by how many people were contacting me and ordering.  I was a brand new business in town and the response was more than I could have hoped for.  So I thought, what if I open like a "regular bakery" for Valentine's Day.  My by order bakery business was confusing to most locals as it is, so I worried that by opening for walk-in business for one day would further confuse people.  

So I baked my heart out and opened my doors to the public for the first time, having no idea what to expect.  It was me and my mom, my tiny front counter and two cases I had ordered last minute because my original tray with lid idea seemed too cheap looking.  As if me and my mom using a calculator to add up every single order was somehow sophisticated enough to make the cut?  But like I said, open days were never in my plan.  The response was overwhelming in a good way and that day I made the decision that yes the public could handle the odd business set up I had in my head....you order all the time; one day a month I open to the public for a little local event. 

Over the years my counter has grown, I've added more cases (one of which now needs replacing as I've literally worked it to its breaking point), I have a register, my front room is completely different looking, and the popularity of open days has grown.

If you are new to open days you might be surprise to hear my hours use to be 6am-4pm.  At one point they were 6:30am-5pm; but over time the morning rush got so busy that I would run out of foot traffic and/or cupcakes by lunch time...so my hours shortened.

While it might be easy to say "why not just make more cupcakes so the hours can stay longer," it is A LOT easier said than done...especially now that I have a toddler and another on the way.  I try my absolute best to get as much ready for open days as possible.  If you don't already know this, or haven't ready it here before, I work the schedule I work because it means I get to still spend the majority of my day, or days, with my son.  For the most part my mom watches him while bake, then she goes to work herself; and sometimes he tags along with me and does his own pretend baking.  So while I use to spend 2am-6pm chugging a long at the bakery, these days I try to have the best of both worlds.....baking and my babies- and it works!

This year I managed to go through/sell out with 864 cupcakes and 420 cookies....by 10am!  Which is totally crazy to me.  All of you pack into my shop, line out the door, while I run around like a crazy person (no time to even keep the cupcakes in the cases so I have to run to the kitchen for every person), all for my treats.  Beyond amazing and so so grateful.  To top it off, I got to take my handsome little frosting face boy out for a mommy son Valentine's Day date!

Now into my sixth year of business, I look back and realize there's never been a year where there's not "something else" going on or some sort of expansion.  Year one- moving into a home and planning a wedding; year two and three- having a baby and building a house; year four- selling lipsense/senegence products; year five- adding a women's boutique....so it only seems fitting that year six has something in store too right?  

So what's your guess? 

No more suspense...Steph's Sweet Treats is growing with baby number two due on August 23rd! I feel like keeping the secret was even harder this time around!

If you are wondering how this will impact the business side of life I can tell you a few things I am expecting/planning for:

-Like I did with Wyatt, I plan to take and fill orders as far into my pregnancy as possible.  I filled them up until the weekend I went into labor with him and I let everyone ordering know the situation so they could "order at their own risk."

-With Wyatt I filled orders two days after returning from the hospital.....looking back I see how crazy this was.  I also see how impossible that will likely be with a newborn AND a toddler.  I took Wyatt in with me to do all my work, but taking two in is far more difficult.  So I plan to play that by ear.  I for sure am doing weddings/all the weddings I have booked.  As for other orders, I may not take orders during the week right away and may put a stricter cap on weekend orders.

- Because of the order cap I am thinking of and not doing the middle of the week orders right away, I hope to make open days a little bigger/extend the open hours when I get back to doing them IF I can get the foot traffic.   Right now foot traffic dies at 10am because people are use to be being out of product after that.  

Like I said, kind of playing this by ear.  Please don't hesitate to contact me for your orders, but also don't be surprised if I am booked or limited on flavors or what I can make for you after baby number two is born or towards the end of summer.  While I'm on the subject of contacting me, know that email or facebook message is the best and fastest way to contact me.  Stopping what I am doing and finding time to take or return phone calls (in quiet) can be a challenge.  Also give me as much information in your messages as possible- date you need the order, what you are interested in, how many people you are feeding, etc.  This allows me to respond one time and give you as much information as possible without having to go back and forth searching for the information I need from you. 

If you want to check out my other businesses click below:
Steph's Cupcake Kisses- Senegence/Lipsense
Sprinkled with Style- women's clothing boutique (all made in USA)

Thank you all for your continued support and orders!   

It's been a minute....ok it's been SEVEN months since my last blog!  Huge change considering I used to blog weekly.  I know many people enjoyed the more frequent blogging, so I apologize for going so long between blogs if you were one of them! I'm back to make an exciting new business announcement (yes another one) and just to check in since I've haven't been posting orders for the last week.  

Why??  Because I forced myself to take a week off....a week!  I haven't done that since my honeymoon over 4 years ago.  And at that time, I was still in my first year of business so it was far easier to do.  Didn't even do that when my son was born...but I did take him to work with me!  If you have followed me for awhile, you may know my favorite place to be in is the Northwoods/northern Wisconsin.  I haven't been there for two years, or anywhere for that matter....and the last time I was there I was 8+ months pregnant, so I was kind of limited as to what I could do or be comfortable doing.  Needless to say, I was far overdue for a little time off.  

Even though we came back in the middle of the week, I made the decision to forgo taking orders for the weekend...which is one of the absolute hardest things for me to do.  Saying no does NOT come easy for me.  I try to be superwoman and say yes to everyone and take all orders, which I have recently been trying really hard to work on.  So why not really push myself and not take orders for a weekend??  The weekend!  Just the thought of it makes me nervous, so I'm really proud of myself for doing it!  The weekend is when most of my orders go out, and while the weekend after the 4th of July isn't usually all that busy, I did have to tell many people that I was going to be off/not filling orders.  Fingers crossed these customers love me and are loyal enough to return!  If you tried to contact me during this week I was off, I did still try to contact you within a day-thank you for your patience and thank you for the support!  Also, for future reference, I hope to keep taking an extended family vacation around the 4th of July every year.

After all this blabbering, you may be wondering...so what's the new business news??  Last year, almost a year ago exactly, I started selling LipSense/Senegence.  (My Facebook group is Steph's Cupcake Kisses and you can also order here).  It's been so much fun that I've decided to add another business to my little shop!  Sprinkled with Style!  Click here to join the Facebook group.

I have decided to add a limited selection of women's boutique clothing to the bakery!  The clothing will focus on USA made brands- you can shop through the Facebook group, during open days or arrange to stop in and browse.  I'm super excited to add this to my shop because I have fallen in love with so many boutiques.  I want to continue to buy from and support the boutiques I currently buy from, so I will be doing my best to steer clear of items they have so you can all be exposed to new items and shop as many boutiques as possible. So now you can get your sweets, makeup/skincare and clothing in a one stop shop!  I hope you are as excited as I am!

Thank you for another week of orders-and I'm happy to be refreshed and heading into the open day...hope to see you there!

I think every year goes faster than the year before...maybe it's because I'm getting older and watching my child grow waaay too fast, which makes me more and more sentimental and sappy?  Whatever it is, I don't like it!  Nevertheless, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year- here's my Steph's Sweet Treats 2017 all wrapped up.

Clearly, I had a lot more time/time management was a lot easier when Wyatt was younger.  Now that he's technically a toddler (insert tears), I have less time, or maybe less ambition or energy to do some things I used to- in turn I take the precious time with him.  So there's not as many blog posts, shorter open days...even a few less or them, and not as much testing or making new flavors and specialty cakes, and last minute orders can't always be taken.  But, I made it through a crazy busy wedding season and Christmas cookies, so hopefully this next month I can do a bit more of that.

This year wraps up my fourth full year in business, making 2018 year five-how has it been five years already??  Each year brings bigger and better things, new customers, new challenges, and hopefully continued growth.  A few new things that happened or occurred in 2017 include:
-Selling product at Cobblestone Coffee House
-Selling product at Home Grown Pizza
-Doing baked goods for some large companies on more than one occasion
-Adding a side business to the bakery (Lipsense- can find it here on the Steph's Cupcake Kisses page)
-First ever Steph's Sweet Treats customer appreciation day.  The next one is already scheduled and I'm working on making it bigger and better in 2018.
-Reaching the biggest wedding number yet....40 this year!  

In the last four years I have met so many great people and have been truly shocked, grateful and amazed by the support of this community.  I never imagined my little dream would take off like it has....packing 1000+ cupcakes into my tiny space, triple wedding weekends, 700 Christmas cookies at once....who would have thought?  Surely not me.  And how has this business grown-you guys.  For the most part, I don't advertise.  This growth has come from word of mouth, a great community, and social media.  Shop small....shop local...send your friends.  This is what I rely on each and every day to keep this business going and support my family.  

I'm going to work on adding a few new cupcake flavors (because 175+ just isn't enough), a few specialty predesign cakes, and getting people in the doors for open days. I'm only one person....and yes I plan on keeping it that way (I'll do a blog post on my reasoning why soon), so THANK YOU all for your continued support while I have adjusted my work load, pick up times, etc with having a family.  You will never know how much I appreciate each every order.  

​I said it in my six month post…and I’ll say it in this one…where the heck did time go?!  When people tell you “don’t blink,” it’s the truth.  In a blink of an eye my little baby has grown into a running, squealing, giggling little one year old.  So….let me tell you about these last few months with my best friend; my son Wyatt.

​I still can’t believe it has been a year; it sure doesn’t feel like it.  Now if you ask my husband, and I did, he said it feels like forever ago since Wyatt was a newborn….but for me-I feel like I can close my eyes and instantly see, feel, hear everything from the moment he was born and can still feel that first touch and see that first glimpse.  I swear just yesterday he was discovering how to coo and still had baby fuzz all over his back and ears (which is when I started calling him my monkey) Ok….que the tears from momma! 

This last years was crazy, amazing, beyond rewarding, full of challenges, and hard....parenting is hard... but the loving him part is easy! I have done everything in my power to be the best mom, wife, and business woman that I can…but of course, at times I’m sure I have fallen short along the way.  I sometimes feel like I’m a crazy person who can never quite catch up, but I’ve been able to find a balance that works for me and has allowed me to be with my son the majority of every day.  And that folks is what I call a dream. 

Until recently, Wyatt was my little bakery baby.  He has his own designated area and take your child to work day was his every day norm (and he’s made an appearance at almost every open day and many wedding deliveries!)  But now he walks….more like runs.  Soooo our bakery time is limited.  We can only bounce from pack-n-play, to highchair, to breaks with mom for so long.  And since I don’t want to do that to him every day, but refuse to miss out on these precious moments and years…I’ve changed my schedule to best suit him.

My schedule has become wackier than ever.  I vary between going in after Wyatt goes to bed, and coming home in the middle of the night-sometimes to go back in for a few hours with Wyatt; going in between 2 and 4am and getting home mid-morning, or going in for just a few hours when “normal people” go to work.  With the help of my mom (yup the same mom who followed me to the bakery for hours on end to help when Wyatt was a few months old just so I could be with him all day), I’ve been able to be with Wyatt every day.  (This is something that was really important to me, so I’m so so happy that I’ve been able to make this work.)

And there’s still a good chance if you have an afternoon pickup or weekend pickup you’ll get to see Wyatt.  Since I aim to be home mid-morning at the latest, Wyatt usually goes back into town with me for later pickups.  And if you don’t see me, you probably see my mom.  She’s pretty awesome and often does pickups for me so I have a little less running around.  She also owns a business; which is another reason why I go in so early (or late at night).  So she can help me out and still tend her business as well. 
​
Here’s a few little fun facts about Wyatt for you:
-Even though he was born with a lot of hair, he has been sporting a mostly bald head for most of the year (I didn’t have hair until I was almost two…and it was white!)
-He loves animals; especially puppies and kitties
-Believe it or not, he’s never had sweets!  He had two chances to dive into a cake, his birthday and smash cake pictures, but he didn’t eat any of either time!
-He often sounds like Tim the Tool Man Taylor.  If you’ve watched Home Improvement you know what I mean!

P.S.  It took me almost a month the write this blog!  Why??  Because finding time the write the blog has become super challenging-so my apologies, I'm trying!  

​Thanks for another week of orders!

If you haven't heard (or seen), I added a new section/aspect to the bakery...LipSense!  Some of you may not know what I'm talking about, and men are probably thinking they don't care...but hang in there... it's perfect for wifes, girlfriends, daughters, mothers, etc!  

If you came to my Steph's Sweet Treats customer appreciation day then you probably saw the LipSense vendor Haley.  Since then, I've decided to add it to my shop and sell it myself.  Why cupcakes and lip color?  Well first of all... they are both amazing..but secondly-  it's PERFECT for weddings!  My first thought was brides, bridesmaids, bridesmaids gifts, mothers of the bride and groom.  But in reality, it's pretty darn perfect for everyone.  I mean come on...who would think that a baker who hides away in a kitchen would need pretty lips all day?  It's not like the oven or cupcakes care right??  Turns out, I love that it makes me look and feel more human (instead of a crazy baker who wakes up in the wee hours of the morning or bakes all night....and look like it!)  I could probably count on one hand the number of days a year I wore lip color before discovering LipSense; now I can count the number of days a week I don't wear it on half a hand...if that!  Yup...it's that amazing.

So what is it??  LipSense is a long wearing lip color (not a stain!).  It can last you up to 18 hours if you want it to!  It works with a permeable shea gloss that soaks through your color to keep your lips hydrated all day.  It's waterproof, smudge proof, kiss proof, wax free, gluten free, lead free, AND cruelty free.  One tube can last you 4-6 month!  Don't worry, I'm not here to convince you to buy it or push product on you-if you try the product it speaks for itself.  I'm just hear to tell you I now offer it, love it and would love to not only be your baker, but your lip girl.  If you want more information, to see what I have, to see the lip colors on, please check out the facebook group by clicking here. 

Another reason for adding this to the bakery is that it makes for some pretty awesome gift combos-  Specialty predesign cake and lip color gift anyone??  I will post specials in the facebook group and occasionally on the Steph's Sweet Treats page so you can tag or share it to people whom you may want to get it for you ;)   (P.S. the number of color combinations you can make is kind of like my cupcake flavor list....endless!)

Thanks for another week of orders everyone!!

Well I did it!  My first customer appreciation day is in the books and it will go down in history as a very proud moment for me.  It was a bit of a whirlwind day for me, but I'll do my best to put it into words for you.  

I'll admit, I was super nervous leading up to this event.  I've been to other companies customer appreciation days before, but I've never planned an event like this myself.  I was mostly nervous that nobody would come and the event would bomb for all the wonderful vendors who took their time and energy just to be part of my special day.  It's one thing to make hundreds of cupcakes for an open day and not have a good turn out...that all falls onto me.  But this...this involved a lot more people and their expectations of a good event for their products as well. SO MUCH PRESSURE!  What if nobody shows up? What if the vendors feel like they wasted their time?? What if people think this is silly??  This is what ran through my head on a non-stop roll leading up to the event.  

I had the vendors, I made all the cupcakes (and cookies), I had the signs, balloons, decorations, door prizes, specials on cupcakes, cookies samples, music, a photo booth, coloring table, and a "plan" in my head...now I just needed people to show up and enjoy.....

And boy did they ever!  My open days always have those very busy couple of hours, but I've never sold over 700 cupcakes in two hours before!!  Did I mention my event was four hours?!  I had my fingers crossed that I'd be able to sell a lot of cupcakes and sell out....but I never imagined it would be so quickly!  Thankfully, my customers are almost always understanding, and even congratulatory, when I run out.  Plus, there were a ton of awesome vendors there... so there was more fun to be had beyond cupcakes.  I still felt awful for running out-however, just like the trend with my open days, there's usually a rush the first hours and then foot traffic slows down-so I'm not all that positive I would have needed that many more.  lf only I wouldn't have chosen those few hours of sleep......

As usual, I had my husband and baby with me for the big day.  Aaron helped dish out cupcakes at rapid speed and Wyatt strolled around with grandpa and grandma making his rounds.  It still doesn't feel real that I organized (not without the help from vendors reaching out and/or spreading the word for me) my very first customer appreciation day.  Sorry to sound like a broken record here, but sometimes I feel the need to pinch myself, because how can this possible be real?  Only a few years ago Steph's Sweet Treats was just something I would dream of and laugh at the thought of it actually happening.  And now here I am...beyond lucky to have you guys... the customers to make this day possible and to keep me in the kitchen baking day after day.  You don't know how much each and every order means to me.  So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!  

This day was a celebration for the customers.  For you to come get cupcakes, shop vendors, get your photos taken in the photo booth, eat pizza, and just have a fun local Saturday.  I hope you were able to make it, (if not, I really hope to do it again!), and I hope you had tons of fun!  Having my friends and family present was the cherry on top!  

-I will be uploading all the event photos on Facebook over the weekend.  If you took a photo booth photo or just want to look through the photos that's where you can find them.  Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for making this event a success and for another week of orders!

Here's a sneak peek at a few more photos from PhotosByShawna-