The Good Life

Hey Everyone!

I posted a recipe on A Charming Twist that I thought you all might love! It’s Garlic Butter Chicken with Rice & Veggies! Check out the link above to see the recipe!

Yesterday I spent the day in the kitchen and out in the pool with Emma beans 🙂

I also got some new listings done for my etsy shop! My goal has been to post something new each day that I’m home. So far I’ve gotten this made and listed:

 

Cell phone cases anyone!? These are so much fun to make!!!

Finally! I’m all set up to make burp cloths again – I made a set just like this for my friends baby shower and loved the fabric so much I decided to make some more! Emma has been saying: RAWWWRRRR I’m a DINOSAUR!! every time she see’s them 🙂

If you want to check out my shop it’s: Daydreaming Gifts

 

Thanks for stopping by!

J

Are You Up For A Challenge?

I just love that I posted about my future schedule not to long ago and here I am mixing up my own schedule to make things work out 😛 Anyways!! So I had a long way past due thought last night and I couldn’t get it out of my head so I decided to write about it and give you a challenge to step up and do it yourself!!

I am all about having priorities, keeping them in mind, sticking with them, and then when it comes time to – reprioritizing them! I had an AH HA moment which I seem to have on a quarterly basis (haha that’s sad) that made me take a step back and say, “Wait a minute – I’m not moving forward here – what am I doing wrong?”

You could say that my schedule these days has seemed a bit packed but to be completely honest I love being busy! As long as the busy that I’m being is making me happy, I see no harm in it. Sometimes I get busy helping other people and realize that I’m losing myself and my priorities in the process. This tends to happen more often that I’d like it to but I have such a big heart and have a hard time saying no – I chalk it up to life lessons. These things are holding me back.

As most of you know, Brian and I have been house shopping!! Which is on my 30 things to do before I’m 30 list so BOOOYAH it’s happening 😉 haha. This has been taking up a lot of our nights and weekends but I’m so giddy and excited about it – I DON’T CARE! Obviously this is a new priority in my life and I’m loving it.

Other things on the other hand have seem to gotten off track to where I want to be. One of my goals was to notch this blog up and really  make it the dream blog I always hoped it would be. As most of you, I’ve been slacking in that department but I haven’t stopped trying! The effort is still there!

The saddest part is I’ve put my Etsy Shop aside. I’m actually embarrassed I’m even saying this because it’s the ONE HUGE MAJOR GOAL I really want to achieve. I want my shop to be my full time job – I want to wake up every morning and know that being creative has gotten me there and I’m going to keep doing it until I run out of it 😉

I was reading a post the other day about selling items to shops, wholesale orders, and their experiences. It was like a punch in the face that I’m not doing what I want to be doing. What’s stopping me from working my tail off at my shop to do this? Oh right, all these other things that I’ve been making time for that I shouldn’t be.

As I’m writing this I am shaking my head but also so darn proud of myself for seeing it so clearly and knowing exactly what I need to do in order to fix it.

So I’ve decided to start a trend. I want everyone to make a list of their priorities in life – what’s most important to you and what do you want to spend a majority of your time daily doing – down to the not so important but you still want to keep it up. Now make a list of your goals where you want your priorities to be in five years. Think about your future and really plan on what you think are reasonable (maybe a little unreasonably but not totally) goals that you could see yourself doing.

Now figure out what it’s going to take to get from your current priority list to your five year plan. Start looking at what you are doing on a daily basis that’s holding you back from that.

Are you able to cut back on that? Is there a way out? If not, stick with it but remember that in five years you don’t want that thing to be a priority anymore. In order to get rid of the things that are keeping you from your goals you need to MAKE them go away yourself. Find a solution – even if its a long term solution – that could really make a difference in your life.

Let’s make this a movement to do what you want to do – after all it is your life!!

Feel free to leave a comment below to let me know some of your goals and what you hope to stop doing and start doing these next few years! I’d love to hear them!

Love Always,

J

What Are You Doing!?

Today I am doing finishing touches to make sure I’m all prepped for my show tomorrow!

 

These are pieces of wood I spray painted with chalkboard paint to make price signs for the show. I love how bright they are and how they stand out. I also love that I don’t have to tag price EACH item I’ve made. I’ve tried many different ways to tag price my items and realized that all of them take WAY to long and I could have made more items for my show instead of wasting time tagging each and every single thing.

These are the kinds of tags I was trying to use. I had to write out each tag and use string to tie to each item. It was exhausting and frustrating. Another kind i used were sticky price tags which I hated. They either leave sticky messes on your items or they fall off and are nowhere to be found which result in a, “how much is this!?”

After going through all that I realized I didn’t mind people asking me how much things were. It actually seemed to be the conversation starter and gave me a chance to explain the process of making my items and that I do custom orders as well. After that I tried to come up with a different way to price my items – which resulted in the chalkboard paint boards. Now my prices are easy to be seen but if someone really wanted to talk to me or ask me my prices I was ready and available 🙂

What are you working on today? Leave a comment and let me know or share a link to show me what you are doing!

 

Love Always,

J

Crafty Business!

As you all know – I love to be crafty, but what you might not know – I love to see other people be crafty! So today I decided I would show you a little bit of what I’m working on in hopes to inspire you to show ME what you are working on! Be crafty with me today!!!

So today I’m making crocheted necklaces. You might have seen the sneak peak of Emma sporting my first attempt:

She said she was a dragon princess and ran off to play – needless to say that necklace came back with a little pizza sauce and dog slobber on it. I don’t think anyone will be using this necklace but her 😉 thank goodness I made more!!

Now for the part about you! I’d love to see what my readers are making and what better way to get to know you than for you to comment below with a link to your blog post about what you are crafting today!? So bring it on readers!! Let’s start a crafty revolution!

Love Always,

J

P.S. I found this tutorial off pinterest (of course) and since she explains it WAY better than me – I’ll just let you run off to her site and check it out if you are interested in trying to make a necklace like this: Tampa Bay Crochet

Practice Makes Perfect!

This weekend I decided to do a trial set up for the show on the 15th. Since I’ll be going from having three tables to one, I had to figure out how to get as much stock as I could in one confined space! It took editing some things, a ton of rearranging, and not putting everything on my table.

Above is my last set up, below is cramming everything onto one table without it being overwhelming! That was definitely the hardest part. Knowing what to put on your table (what you think you’ll sell) and what not to is impossible. Not putting something out that might have sold if it was seen may cost you, but you’ll never know!

At this event – I’m excited to show off all the new colors that I didn’t have the previous year, while still trying to keep the favorite ones available 😉

 

Also new – is the cup cozies! I’m hoping this are a hit, especially since it’s at coffee shop. A few things I’ve slowed down on making are burp cloths and taggies. As much as a love these things, they aren’t getting as much attention as I thought they would and to be completely honest – I’d rather be in my living room watching Emma play while I crochet then in the studio without her!

Don’t get me wrong! I’ll be in there sewing and working like I usually do, just not as much if these crocheted things keep selling like they are! Oh and to talk about what’s selling – these things are:

These cork key chains are flying out of my hands like hot cakes! I’ve gotten a lot of people asking which ones I have and to be completely honest – up until now – I had no idea!! I spent this weekend sorting through all of them so I now have a list if anyone is looking for a specific one.

It took longer than I thought it would, but I have a feeling it will be beneficial in the long run if someone is searching for a specific winery that went with a special moment to remember.

 

Well enough about me – what did you do this weekend?

Oh and don’t forget! If you missed out on getting a Young House Love book signed – I have one up for grabs 🙂

Love Always,

J

Look How Far I’ve Come!

So last night I was checking out some of my first posts here at The Underestimated Mom. I was reading about how I had no idea what I was going to write but that I really wanted this to become a way to tell my life to anyone who was interested.

 

Back then, Emma was 9 months old and napping so much during the day that I had all this extra time on my hands that I didn’t know what to do with. I had just quit my job that I loved/hated, and was on my way to discovering what it was I wanted to do with my life (besides the obvious: be there for my daughter 24/7).

At that same time, I started to crochet and of course the crazy person I am decided to START crocheting one of the most difficult patterns ever. Here’s a picture of a sweater jacket I was making for Emma. It turned out great (minus the fact that there was supposed to be a hood that never happened).

It was then I learned that I loved being home with Emma, I loved to crochet, I loved to blog, and I wanted to do whatever it took to keep those three loves in my life.

After facebooking and blogging about what Emma and I were up to, what I was crocheting, and my random thoughts along the way, a friend introduced me to Etsy. A place online where I could sell what I made. When I first searched the website I immediately daydreamed of having a shop and making an income so I’d never have to leave Emma to work again!

After months of not selling anything I went route two. I decided to provide child care from my home for a child. I can’t even explain how much I am so grateful for the moment I made that decision. Now I have two other children besides my own in my life that I’d never want to not care for! Of course, they will grow up and not need me anymore, but until then I’ll imagine they’ll never grow up!

It’s been over two years now that I’ve been blogging, selling the items I’m making (on my own site now!), and providing child care. It’s been a long two years!

 

 

For those of you who have been with me since the beginning I’m sure you are shocked at how much things have changed around here. For those of you who are new – now you know the back story! It’s amazing what a little time can do to someone. All I needed was a few weeks at home with my daughter to figure out the rest of my life. A few weeks is all it took and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I’m excited, nervous, anxious, and hopeful for what the next two years might bring!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Love Always,

J

 

The Next Big Step!

Most of you know I own an etsy shop online where I sell all the crafts I make! What most of you don’t know is that I’ve been working on opening my own online shop!

It took a lot of time and budgeting and designing – but it’s finally here!! You may notice that not all of my things are up on that store yet as I’m still adding listings and pictures. Slowly this store will be packed full of everything I’ve made 🙂

If you click on the shop page you can see everything or sort by sections. There will more sections as soon as I get more items listed 😉

Clicking on the listing gives you all the details you need and extra pictures (which most only have one but soon will have a bunch for each!)

Checking out is super easy too – just like Etsy, all you need is a paypal account which is safer to use rather than your credit card. You add your items to the cart. Click checkout, then it will take you to paypal.

My favorite thing about Etsy was it was so personal and I could do custom orders really easily. Thanks to my contact page I still can! It’s just as easy to get in touch with me and under the Shop tab I’ll be adding a Custom Order section. So if you are looking for a custom order you wanted from me you can easily find it there!

I’m so excited to finally have my own shop! Soon you’ll see a button over on my the side there —-> with my new site on it so it’s easy to find! Even though I’m doing this – I’m not closing my Etsy shop. I won’t be adding any new listings over there but I’ll still be there!

Hooray for the next big step – I’m excited to see where it takes me next!

If you are interested in checking it out it’s www.daydreaminggifts.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Love Always,
J

“Twine” Wrapped Wine Bottle

As you know I have been playing with leftover wine bottles from my sisters wedding and I decided to try a “twine” wrapped wine bottle. I’ve seen these around on pinterest, facebook, and other blogs but I’ve never really been much of a fan of them. That is, until I spotted a gorgeous natural tan colored twine that looked so elegant my jaw dropped!

This comes from from Create Cousin and it made me realize that I do love wrapped wine bottles! I can totally imagine this as part of a table centerpiece for thanksgiving or on a mantel of someone who loves rustic style decor. So I decided to make one myself, but of course if you know me at all – I don’t follow instructions well at all.

I grabbed a wine bottle, some macrame chord and modge podge and got to work! Be warned that this project is not easy to start and kind of messy! I started of slow and let the macrame chord dry before I kept going to ensure it to stay in place.

After that it was quick and easy! I kept wrapping and glueing and wrapping and glueing until I got to the top and realized I needed to stop and let it dry again. Patience is not the easiest thing for me when I’m doing crafts – but in most projects it’s the most important part so I while I was waiting I worked on other projects to keep me busy 😉

Then once it was finished I added on a final bow for that last touch! This project was not only easy, but it was fun! I would recommend this project to anyone and could even been done with school aged children. For the younger kids – I would suggest starting it for them! My next attempt will be to die the macrame chord in other colors – because my Dad is crazy about dying things, so I’ll let him have a go with that 😉

What do you think? If you are interested in seeing some other wine related items that are must haves – check out The Collectionary!

Thanks for stopping by!

Love Always,

J

What A Show!

I’m Back!!! I missed you all so much! After a super long weekend at the craft show and a long week getting everything back to normal around here – I am excited to say I’m back 🙂

Thank goodness for my trial set up or this would have taken ages to figure out. The PVC pipe held everything extremely well! My favorite part was the bar to hang my scarves on. This was my first attempt at having things up off my table and although I’m so happy with the outcome I do want to do things a little differently.

I want to find different hangers to put the scarves on – it wasn’t easy to get the scarves off and on the hangers which I don’t think is helpful for customers who want to try things on. I also would change up the shelves a little differently. People don’t like pulling things in and out of shelves if they have to figure out how to fold them and put them back! I’ve decided to put one blanket in each shelf instead of two and to hang up the other scarves instead of folding them in the shelf.

Other than that I was super happy with the set up!

My most picked up items were my cork keychains, cup cozies, scarves, and burp cloths. It seems like everyone that came through was touching and feeling everything and amazed at how soft everything was. Since comfort is one of my number one priorities when it comes to my items – that made me very happy!

Another thing that was picked up a lot was my business cards. So much so that I’ll be ordering another pack of them as soon as possible! I didn’t expect my cards to go as fast as they did but I am definitely okay with that 😉

For those of you who are considering doing an outdoor show there are a few things I wasn’t quite prepared for! Wind was one of them. Everything was secured tightly with zip ties and didn’t move much in the wind but my frames that were hanging from the lattice weren’t on tight. I’m still trying to come up for a solution for that one.

Another was dust!! We were in a wooded area with lots of dirt and when people walk through it – dust kicks up and gets on EVERYTHING! I wasn’t expecting to have to wipe down my items on a regular basis or have to wash & dry them when I came home. I wish I had a swiffer or duster with me so that I could have continually wiped off my items – that might have made my aftermath of cleaning a little easier.

Prepare to spend a day after the show sorting/cleaning/re-organizing everything!

One thing that REALLY helped during this show was sharing it with a friend. This was Ashley’s side from Leapinlilypads. Because we split the space we both saved on money, as well as having someone to be there when we went to go get a meal or use the restrooms.

It also made it easier on my traveling to share some of what we were bringing. We each brought two tables, our chairs, and our supplies so one person wasn’t overwhelmed with too much packing or unpacking. One thing I didn’t expect going into this was all the last minute spending I’d need to use. I planned for gas money, food money, and extra for spending (of course I’d find something I’d want to buy from other vendors).

What I didn’t count on was all the small last minute things for the show like: cash for change, stickers for my bags with my business logo, chalkboard markers (because they work so much better than chalk), 3m hooks to hang my frames, and a bunch of other little things that add up so fast! Next time I’m going to also plan for an extra $100 bucks on miscellaneous things before the show actually happens.

Some things that Ashley did that I love – used wrapped boxes to create height on her table, used cardboard and ribbon to hang her bows, and found things like baskets and vases to use to hold her items. Any way that you can save money by using things around the house as part of your table design is a great way to be budget friendly!

Some perks from our tent that I didn’t see around other ones – bright colors, hanging things from the tent walls, a dedicated table space to use for working on, clear banners so people will remember who you are, and free goodies just for stopping in (I had dum dums for the little ones).

Finding ways to be remembered is key to future purchases. Just having a business card isn’t always enough – so I like to make as many memorable pieces as possible!

We had a fantastic time at the show and are proud to say we’ll be doing it again next year! Hooray for a successful weekend – and hooray for being back home 😉 because this girl is ready to get back to being crafty!

Thanks for stopping by!

Love Always,

J

A New Set Up

My studio room has been needing a new set up for quite some time but I never got around to figuring out a plan. What I needed was to get rid of that big square table and find a skinnier one to take it’s place. Once the table was out – rearranging the space was SO much easier!

 

I can’t tell you how much this frees up the floor space in this room. With the ironing board able to fold up and be against the wall and the small 4×2 table folded up – it gives me even more floor space. I love being here but one of the most difficult things about it is working up here with Emma. There are some days where I just chose not to come here because I’d rather spend time with her but other times I have her with me and try to get as much work done as I can.

 

Now that there is more floor space for her she can easily play with her toys and not be right at my feet. I also love the fact that I can set her up at the second table and let her color and play there. She loves to imitate me these days so I can just picture her pretending to sew or paint 😉 I’m going to give it a for the next few weeks and see how it goes!

 

One of the things I am most excited about is my new mini shelf on my desk! This is the third one that I purchased that isn’t going with me to the show. As you can see it’s already over-flowing with goodies so after the show I will be definitely using at least one of these to store things in when I’m in-between shows.

Is it just me or do other people rearrange their spaces every couple months?

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Love Always,

J