B Is For Birthdays

It's your {insert relationship:  father, mother, best friend, sister, aunt, etc}'s birthday and you are looking for a delicious, affordable and quirky gift to celebrate their getting older - well you have come to the right place.  We have plenty to choose from with hampers and treats for all ages.  We just love birthdays and are always looking for fun ideas to share with our loved ones.

Here are some fun birthday facts we recently discovered.

*The well known Happy Birthday song actually originated in 1893 - Mildred Hall came up with the tune while Mildred's sister Patty thought up the words.  The original title of the son was Good Morning To All until it grew in popularity and became the song we know today.

*Landmark birthday messages have been sent out by the queen since 1917.  In 1917, 24 birthday messages were posted to celebrate 100th birthdays and in 2011, an amazing 917 celebratory cards were delivered honouring 105th birthdays and above.

*Marilyn Monroe's Happy Birthday Mr President is the most famous birthday song rendition ever.

*August is the most popular birthday month accounting for about 9% of the birthdays all over the world.

*According to Chinese tradition, they count age disregarding the zero.  A newborn baby is one, a 12 month old child is two, etc.

*A golden birthday is when your age of date of birth share the same number.

See; told you we love birthdays - it happens to be our most favourite topic to talk about, second to chocolate of course.

And if you need a birthday song to go with your gift, then have a quick look at this site.  It features (at last count) 19,019 names to choose from and all for free.  You might want to bookmark this one for me later!

Happy birthday to me...

"All you need is love.  But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

- Charles M. Schulz

A Is For Advertising

As any business owner knows, whether online or off, advertising is necessary to showcase your brand and get yourself noticed.  And for the team at Rainbow Designs, it is a major challenge; you need to identify opportunities for advertising which will garner successful results.  Pay too much and there may be no return on your investment, pay too little and your advertising campaign may fail to get noticed at all.  It is definitely a fine balance.

Our blog of course is one way to get noticed and we have developed Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter pages to connect with our online fans.

Knowing who your customers are can also help pinpoint your options.  As most of our shoppers are female, then a spot on Femail works in our favour.

The ability to leave online reviews makes shopping easier for people and is another positive form of advertising.  We have review pages set up on WOMO, Product Review and Google+.  It is also important to register on sites such as TrueLocal in order that people become familiar with your business and it gives you another website where customers can leave feedback.

We have a monthly newsletter which we send out at the beginning of the month which features our gorgeous gifts and other tidbits.  Repetition is a great way for people to see and recognise your brand and it keeps it at the forefront of your customers' minds.  Not too much, mind you, as you want to avoid what is known as consumer fatigue where they tune out or ignore you altogether.

Over the last 10 years we have learnt a lot about advertising but we are no expert by any stretch of the imagination.  We would love to hear any tips you can provide.

If you have a business, what do you find works for you in terms of advertising?

Happiness In A Lolly Tin

If our new Happiness In A Lolly Tin had a soundtrack it would go something like this:

"Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do"

Of course I can't take credit for these lyrics - that credit would go to the extremely talented Pharrell Williams but you get what I am saying. I can imagine this tin dancing around to the tune - lollies jumping up and down in the excitement of being featured in such a wonderful gift.

The happy flower tin seems to have a jolly personality all of its own - the goodies inside seem to be just an added bonus.

If you have not heard the song recently, know that once you start singing it, it is one of those tunes that can get stuck in your head for days. Much like our gifts. One lolly is never enough and you will soon find yourself reaching out for another and another...but you aren't alone. We admit to having the same problem with all of our delicious chocolate and lolly gifts.

And just because I am feeling happy I am going to share the fun soundtrack with you. Hope you have a happy (and lolly filled) day.

Doctor Feelgood To The Rescue

There is nothing worse than being laid up in bed unable to move especially when you are feeling sorry for yourself.  And if he has the man flu well - look out.  You know that means that he will be unable to move at all and you will have to nurse him back to health.  A broken leg, a bout of the flu - Rainbow Designs knows just the man for the job.

We have someone who can help cure all ails - Doctor Feelgood is his name and when he pays a visit to your door he leaves his doctor's kit behind and brings his trusty box of lollies instead.  His funky white noodle box filled with a half kilo of yummy M&Ms, clinkers, jelly babies, race cars, caramel buds, chocolate bullets and more will soothe and satisfy.  Forget those aches and pains - this gift hamper will make you feel better in no time at all.

Sometimes the doctor is unable to make house calls so the nurse comes on his behalf.  Nurse Bear is just as capable of tending to your needs and she follows Doctor Feelgood's methodology by bringing along her box of mixed lollies and chocolates.

Both Doctor Feelgood and Nurse Bear are securely packed in a cardbox box with tissue paper and gift wrapped in colourful Australian made wrapping paper.  They also come complete with a hand written gift tag with your personal message.  $50 including postage and handling and your gift of choice will be on your recipient's doorstop at no time at all.

Sugar Free Lollies At Rainbow Design

Don't get me wrong - we like our sugar.  A little bit in moderation or a lot depending on our mood, but we understand that not everyone can partake in lollies with sugar; so for those who can't, we have a new gift to share.

It's called Just Sugar Free Lollies and contains 500g of mixed sugar free lollies.  And we wouldn't want you to associate sugar free with dull because this delicious gift features Gummi Bears; Licorice, Mint and Chocolate Toffees; and Mango, Melon and Passionfruit wrapped lollies. Nothing dull in this lot at all!  Yes you heard me right - soft lollies, toffees and wrapped lollies all in the same box and all sugar free.

This sugar free lolly treat make a great addition to our store and partners nicely with our Just Gluten Free Lollies pack.  So sugar free or gluten free, we've got your back.

For only $27 you can have either of these gifts ordered and shipped direct to your door.  That $27 includes gift wrap and delivery by Toll Express Couriers (DX Track and Trace) and if ordered before 2.30pm (Monday to Friday) can be even shipped out the same day.

Customer service is important to us - you asked and we responded.  So we really hope you enjoy these new additions to the Rainbow Designs store.  And if you like what you see, please don't hesitate to share it with your family and friends.  We love to share the lolly love - sugar free or otherwise.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Australian blokes out there who just happen to be a dad as well.  We know that being a dad is not easy and today is your day to let us show you how much we appreciate all the wonderful things you do for us.

Dads - have you ever given a thought to what your child would say about you when you are not in the room.  Here is a little clip I found in which a bunch of kids share their points of view on their dad - he may sing badly, his jokes may be terrible but it seems he is loved, a lot.



So whatever your plans are today - we hope you enjoy your special day.  And we hope that it involves a little (or a lot) of chocolate to ensure your day is even sweeter.

So from Rainbow Designs to you - Happy Father's Day.

Seven Deadly Sins

Our Seven Deadly Sins gift box is one of the new kids on the block in terms of our gifts; but let's be clear about this - we aren't selling a mixed box of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony.  Our Seven Deadly Sins gift box refers to seven individual round containers, each filled with lollies or chocolates of your choice.  While our boxes may create a little bit of pride or envy, we like to think that overall they create feelings of happiness, well-being and a willingness to share with loved ones if necessary.

Choose your 7 selections from 31 delicious choices - what will you choose; that's always the hardest part in my opinion.  Gummi Bears, Chicos, Freckles, Jaffas, Raspberries, Smarties, F1 Race Cars...just a few of our delicious options.

If dad has a sweet tooth then this might be a good choice for him for Father's Day.  He can choose a box for each day of the week as a treat after work, or save them all for a weekend celebration to accompany his favourite ale or beer.

I like the fact that our chocolate and lolly gifts are a little bit naughty and a lot nice, don't you?

If you specifically like to pick your own mix we have a variety of gifts under this category.  In addition to the Seven Deadly Sins Gift Hamper mentioned above, we also carry a 1kg or a half kilo mix of lollies and chocolates in a reusable gift box, as well as a Cravings Overdrive mix (1.8kg) presented in a reusable pink Sweetie Tin (pictured above).

Choose the size of the gift you want, pick your favourites and order.  As easy as 1, 2 and 3.