The 13-year-old Boy Sockprints Test

At sockprints we are constantly working to improve our products by testing and researching new markets, conducting test prints, offering new styles and more.  Our latest successful test results came from a group of 13 year old boys at a birthday party.

Our community has a new indoor trampoline park and my son couldn’t wait to have his 13^th birthday party there with his friends.  Not knowing much about the venue I called ahead and asked what the participants wore on their feet to jump.  I was told that they wear shoes that they get there and that the boys need to wear socks.  And just like that, I knew what the party favor was going to be!  Yep, how could a sockprints mom give any other party favor?

My son has seen all sorts of socks that we’ve printed and when I asked him how he felt about giving his friends some sockprints, his only concern was that we didn’t print some girly, pink, or bright colors or designs on the socks.  We came up with these socks to give the boys and the feedback I’ve gotten from some of the moms was that they are a hit!  One of the toughest crowds to please gave us the thumbs up!

Here’s a conversation on the car ride home one of the moms shared with me via email putting a BIG smile on my face!    

Luke:  WOW, I love these!  No one ever made me socks before! I wish my mom could make socks!  I love these!  Do you think she can put a logo on it?  These are great! I wish my mom could make socks!

Jonny:  Dude, Hayley can put anything on a sock.

Luke:  Jonny, are you gonna wear your socks to school tomorrow?  I think I'm gonna wear my socks, I love these socks!

Jonny:  Dude, did you feel how soft they are? You can put them on your hands and use them as mittens, except they don't have the thumby things.

Luke:  If I can tie them together I can wear it as a sweat band for soccer...

Jonny:  EWWW.... 

If we can please this crowd, give us a shot for your next party favor, gift or other fun occasion!

Happy Birthday Chase!

 

30 Days of Gratitude

After reading a friend’s Facebook post today, I’m inspired to take her challenge of acknowledging one thing that I’m grateful for each day during the month of November.  I probably won’t post my gratitude list on Facebook every day, but I am going to take a minute away from the busy hustle and bustle to focus on one thing in my life in which I am grateful, for the next 30 days. 

Hmmm… Maybe I’ll create a few pairs of custom gratitude socks to remind me to take a moment and appreciate.  I also think some gratitude socks would make nice thank you gifts!  I think I’m on to something!

Day 1 – Family.  This one can (and I’m sure will) be broken down into several nuggets of gratitude throughout the month as I’m fortunate to have great family.  There’s mom, dad, kids, etc. and each one deserves a day of acknowledgement this month.  Here’s’ an old black and white photo of my parents on a pair of crew socks.  Maybe I’ll send his and hers socks to my folks this month as a little way to let them know that I’m thinking about them.  They’re awesome parents and grandparents, and I’m sure I could let them know how much I love them more often than I do.

Speaking of family and gratitude, I’m reminded of a time when my nephew’s pre-school teacher asked him what he was grateful for during a Thanksgiving program.  He responded confidently that he was grateful for chickens!  We busted up with laughter in the audience and wondered where on earth he came up with that one!  Perhaps he thought chickens were neglected since the buzz all month was about turkeys?  Who knows, but this pair of socks is inspired by my nephew Carter!

Day 2 – Not to jump ahead a day here, but I’m feeling pretty grateful for the opportunity to create custom socks for happy soles at Sockprints with my business partner and fellow mompreneur.  Our vision started on the sidelines of a soccer field while watching our daughters play.  We’ve gone from “soccer moms” to “sock-er moms!” 

We’re constantly amazed and amused by the fun custom sock creations our customers produce on our online store and we’re feeling pretty fortunate to get to do what we do.  If you haven’t had a chance to create your own custom socks at Sockprints or if you’re a big fan of ours and a repeat customer, we’re offering a 25% discount code this month to show our gratitude!  Enter GRATEFUL at checkout to receive your discount.

What’s on your gratitude list?  Share what you’re grateful for and enter our November Sockprints giveaway.  Two lucky winners will receive one set of 3 custom printed no-show or crew socks!  Enter below by telling us one thing on your gratitude list.  Winners will be selected on November 30, 2011 at 9pm pst.

Thank you in advance for participating in our November giveaway!  We’ll be even more grateful if you’ll “like” us on Facebook and if you’ll share this giveaway opportunity and our November coupon code with your friends and family via Facebook or Twitter! 

www.facebook.com/sockprints

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Fore! Look Out Golf Industry - Custom Printed Socks are Here!

The handsome guy (yes, I'm biased!) second one from the left, is my dad back in the 1960’s at a golf tournament. I love that picture of my dad because it shows him in his element – on a golf course. He gave me my very first job at The Country Club fixing ball marks on greens when I was 12 years old. In the wee early morning hours I would go from green to green fixing the wounds in the grass that the ball makes when it lands. While most golfers fixed their own ball marks, there were apparently enough golfers who didn’t fix them, thus providing me with a job! I walked around the green with a special fork-shaped tool scouring it foot by foot to make sure that I had fixed each mark before I moved on to the next green. After fixing a billion (ok, exaggerating perhaps) ball marks, I was promoted to raking sand traps and a whole host of other jobs keeping the golf course in pristine shape summer after summer. As a kid I didn’t recognize what a great job it was, but in hindsight I appreciate the opportunity I had to be outdoors on a golf course, around a great sport on a daily basis. I even learned how to play!

Many years later, this soccer mom/sockprints entrepreneur had the opportunity to revisit my golf roots at the 2011 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida with The Winston Collection. Sockprints has recently partnered with The Winston Collection, a respected name in quality durable goods, to exclusively distribute our custom printed socks to the golf industry. The Winston Collection features premium leather products perfect for gifts and branded merchandise for golf shops. We were thrilled when the Winston partners saw our socks and expressed an interest in adding sockprints to their custom line of products!

The feedback we received at PGA Merchandise Show was great! Sockprints makes impressive gifts for Member/Guest events and golf tournaments as well as custom socks bearing club logos for golf shops. For more information regarding our exclusive line of golf socks or to place an order for your next event, visit The Winston Collection at http://www.winston-collection.com/ or contact a sales representative at service@winston-collection.com.