Halloween Decor | 2017

October 1st! Let the Halloween decorating commence! 

Everyone is different with how and when they start decorating their house. It's hard to wait sometime, especially when you know you have some cute stuff you got on sale last year just waiting to go up. My decor schedule looks like this:

Fall decor on the first day of fall--maybe a week before if I'm antsy

Halloween on Oct 1st

Back to Fall Nov 1 until after Thanksgiving, the CHRISTMAS EVERYTHING!! 

So here is what I have up so far. The outside stuff is going up when when my hubby can help, so I will have to add pictures later for that. 

Little bow on the mailbox, I made this last year and I think the ribbon is from Wal-Mart.

Door hanger is from Kirklands last year. I want everything in that place, sadly my husband doesn't agree *sigh*

Did just orange and black this year on the mantle. I'm trying to keep all my color combos in one place...you'll see as you scroll. I have to keep reminding myself I don't have to put out every single thing I have. I can leave some stuff for next year or for when I have a place for it.

All of this is from Target over the last 3 years.

Loooove! I had to throw away my witch ones last year that I thought were so cute because they just got too old looking, so I'm really glad I found these.

 The best thing about this picture is the Meyer's limited edition Apple Cider products, omg I love these so much! You can get your own here.

Keeping a black and gold theme for the dining room table. I haven't used a tablecloth in awhile, but I really like this one and I have the plates to match. I have them in the dishwasher since they were stored all year they needed a good cleaning :)

Entry table looks kinda crappy haha. I wanted to do purple, green and orange here. I definitely want to get a runner in those colors to put down and then maybe a candle or something.

Downstairs bathroom. Little ghost hand towel on the other side, a rug and this very annoying talking ghost that my Mom got the girls and they insist on putting it out. It's on a sensor so it scares the crap (literally) out of you when you walk in.

Fall House Tour | 2017

   

I have been so excited to decorate for fall. It's most people's favorite season because the weather starts to cool down, football season starts and all the fun holiday's are quickly approaching. I decided to do a house tour because I get compliments on my decorations all the time and they are not expensive AT ALL. 

So, starting at the front door is the wreath that I made for this year out of a cereal box, yep a cereal box people! You can get all the info on how I did that here.

This is my entry way table, and I think my favorite part of the house! I really want to get something to put above it on the wall, but I haven't found that special something yet. For now it will just be blank.

Breakdown:

• Thankful sign- Dollar Spot at Target, $3
• Flower and leaf arrangement- Dollar Tree, $1 a piece (jar is filled with coffee beans)
• Both pumpkins- Dollar Spot at Target, $3/piece
• Lantern- IKEA, Price unknown but I want to say $10?
• Table Runner- IKEA, Price unknown

The next two pictures are of my coffee table and the end table beside my couch. The platter stays out year round and I usually put the remotes there and a candle. 

Breakdown:

• Green jar - Bath and Body Works old candle jar
• White platter- IKEA, $8

Breakdown:

• 2 small pumpkins - Dollar Tree, $1 a piece
• Water can- gift

 I love my mantle because it's the main focal point of the family room, so it is something we look at a lot since that's where we normally are. I try to keep it bright and happy and not too cluttered.

 Breakdown:

• Football/Fall sign- Dollar Spot at Target, $3
• Various flowers- Dollar Tree, $1 a piece
• Pumpkin (I vinyled our name on it)- Dollar Spot at Target, $3
• Sunflower pillows- Dollar Spot at Target, $3/piece
• Banner- - Dollar Spot at Target, $3
• Small wreath- Dollar Tree, $1
• Orange Mason jars- Dollar Spot at Target, $3/piece

 My dinner table is ok for now, but I have a feeling I will be adding stuff to it pretty soon. If I do I will update pictures!

 Breakdown:

• Pumpkin jar- Dollar Spot at Target, $5
• Leaves- Dollar Tree, $1 for a "bunch"
• Chargers - Dollar Tree, $1/piece
• Glass Pumpkins- Dollar Tree, $1/piece
• Napkins and napkin rings- Dollar Spot at Target, $3/piece

Onto the kitchen...I never really do a lot in here because I'm afraid of braking it or getting it dirty. I move my candles around, so you can usually find a vanilla marshmallow pumpkin burning in here from time to time. On the stove is one of my favorite fall treats to make - pumpkin muffins. My husband LOVES these and always asks for them.

  Breakdown:

• Oven mit and dish towel- Wal Mart, $3

I will be adding pictures if I change anything, but this is what I have so far...a lot of stuff from Target and Dollar tree, I know. Where are your favorite places to shop for your fall decor?

How To Make A Wreath With A Cereal Box

It's early September, but I have that fall itch so I decided to go ahead and make my fall wreath. I didn't have a lot of supplies, but I also didn't want to buy anything. I made it work though, you can always make it work with what you have! 

What I used:

• 1 cereal box
• Silhouette Cameo
• 1 pool noodle
• glue
• glitter
• ribbon of your choice

I will admit I did not get pictures of the first part because I wasn't sure how it would turn out haha. All I did was take the pool noodle and make it into a circle. I used hot glue on the ends and duct taped it together- super easy!

This ribbon is a roll from Hobby Lobby. I got it on sale last year, so even though it say $9.99, I think I got it for $2--SCORE!

I literally just wrapped the ribbon around the pool noodle and secures it with hot glue. I made the bow with what was lift of the ribbon and tied it on the top. Now the fun part....

I got one cereal box and cut out the back (cutting off the flaps as well). Any thin cardboard you have would work if you don't have a cereal box available.  I already have this "C" vine monogram saved in my Silhouette files, so I pulled it up and and cut it using the settings below. Other options could be a pumpkin, a fall leaf, a 3 letter monogram, or a cross. I would keep it on the simpler side since it's being cut onto cardboard 

*My Silhouette mat is pretty worn so I did tape down the cardboard to prevent it from sliding.  

As you can see it came out very well, I didn't have any problems with getting the letter out. The letter I cut was about 6 inches in width. 

When I was all done with the letter I was going to paint it orange using acrylic paint- when I went to grab the paint from my supplies I saw the gold glitter and decided to go that (much messier) route instead. I actually used a glue stick and just poured the glitter on. It was very simple and I think it turned out nice.

I went for a simple look on the wreath but there are an endless number of possibilities with what you can glue on or add. Dollar Tree always has cute floral pics and many other holiday accessories. 

The finished product. Crazy that it was under $5 too!

The ULTIMATE List of Free Fonts

When I first looked up how to download free fonts, I was amazed! My collection is probably way bigger than any normal person should have. I put together a list of my personal favorites and most used overall.

These all come from Da Font which is where I always go for the best new fonts. They have them all categorized or you can search them by name.

These fonts cannot be sold and cannot be passed off as your own! You can also donate to the creators of the font from the Da Font website. Just a way to say thanks for the freebie :)

Sweet Pea | Cheddar Jack | Gloss & Bloom | KG True Colors | Jenthill | Sunshine Poppy | Millennial Solstice | Luna | Moon Flower Bold | Noteworthy | Daydreamer | Cutie Pop | Sign Panthers | Janda Happy Day

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PC

1. Click on the name of the font you’d like to download from the list above (under the heading ‘Fonts To Download’)


2. It will take you to the website that allows you to download it. Click on “download”.


3. Once the file has downloaded, drag it onto your desktop or into your documents folder.


4. Open up Control Panel > Appearance + Personalization > Fonts


5. Drag the font file from wherever you placed it to the Fonts folder and it will automatically install.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAC

1. Click download


2. Open downloads folder, find your font & click install font

30 Amazing Blog Post Ideas When You're Stuck

When you're a blogger and you are posting at least a couple of times a week it becomes difficult to think of new post ideas. I pulled together a list of 30 ideas to help when you have a writer's block or maybe when you just don't have time to plan your week out.

You can always change the title to something more catchy, but these are just some ideas to get you started!

1. _ Things You Don't Know About Me

2. My review of:

3. __Helped Me Stop __

4. My Kids Love When We __

5. The Best Things to Do in (your city)

6. My Go To Beauty Product is ___

7. Best Recipe to take to a Cookout

8. What My Cleaning Schedule Looks Like

9. Behind the Scenes Office Tour

10. My Travel Essentials

11. What I Keep In My Purse

12. Best Gifts Under $10

13. Easy Dollar Tree Craft

14. My Favorite Crockpot Meal

15. I Wish Someone Told Me...

16. Things To Not Do in an Interview

17. Cheat Sheet on ____

18. Go To Workout Playlist

19. Splurge-Worthy Beauty Products

20. New Trend. Love it or Hate it?

21. My Advice After Having  (#) kid(s)

22. What to Wear on Gameday?

23. Little Things to do to Surprise your Significant Other

24. My Biggest Pet Peeve is....

25. Life Hacks You Need To Know

26.  How to Stay Motivated When you just Aren't Feeling it

27.  My Favorite Accounts to Follow on Instagram

28.  What I do With My Kids On Rainy Days

29. Easy Hairstyles

30.  How I Set Up My Journal/Planner/Calendar

Grove Collaborative | Is it right for you?

I came across Grove Co. from a Facebook ad, surprisingly. It's probably because I'm guilty of looking up Mrs. Meyers products. I decided to look into it and after going back and forth for 2 days I finally placed my first order.

Grove Co. is a monthly subscription box for eco friendly cleaning supplies that allows you to choose what is in your order and how frequently it arrives.

I think the eco friendly products are great, but if I'm being honest what really caught my eye was the free, yes free, Mrs. Meyers products on my first purchase. The products I got were :

• Mrs. Meyers hand soap
• Mrs. Meyers dish soap
• Grove kitchen towel 
• Full Circle dish brush
• Walnut scrubber sponges

I was actually supposed to get other stuff but my offer expired because I waited too long, but I'm still totally happy with what I got. Just make sure not to let your offer run out! The original offer is $20 of products and you only spend about $20 (depending on what you choose). This offer gives you 60 days VIP trial membership which means 2 months of free shipping. 

If you decide to purchase the VIP package it's about $40-$80 a year depending on if you have coupon codes and such. This gets you free shipping all year and that pays for itself after 2 months!

The packaging was nice, nothing crazy but it got the job done. It took a little while to ship, but I got it within a week and half.

ALL OF THIS FOR $20! GET YOURS NOW!

So, after your first month Grove will send you a few emails to remind you of your next shipment, which will bill and ship automatically. You can log into your account and edit the products you want and don't want. You can even put a month on hold if you're good on all your products and don't need anything. 

Another thing to mention is Grove offers a price match guarantee, just in case you find a product cheaper somewhere else. Chances are you won't though, because their prices are great and they tell you how much you save. So bottom line, if these are products you already use this is definitely a great deal for the year! If you are trying to get out cheaper you can do the 2 month trial, spend about $40 and then cancel your membership! Try Grove, you won't regret it. 

The BEST Side Hustles to Earn Extra Cash

This post contains affiliate links. 

I love finding ways to make or save some extra money. Having 2 girls means there is always a some kind of miscellaneous expense! School, clothes or extracurricular activities...the list goes on. I WFH part time, but who says no to extra money, right?

Whatever it is that you need some extra money for, these side hustles are sure to bring some extra income your way!

YARD SALE

You can set up one at your house or collaborate with a friend or family member and make a bigger sale. Our neighborhood has 2 a year and some people I know have rummage sales at their church too. It's a great way to make extra money, clear up some space and you can donate what you don't sell so that you keep the free space!

OPEN AN ETSY SHOP

Maybe you have a hobby of making jewelry or you do some graphic design on the side, you could be making money from this! It's free to open an Etsy shop and you get 40 FREE listings. Depending on the work you put into your shop this can bring in a lot of extra money for you. I learned a lot in my my first year and I'd love to share some secrets with you.

BABYSIT

This is not just for 16 year olds or college students. There are always parents looking for a reliable babysitter! Try putting an add or Facebook so people you know see that you are willing to do it. If everything works out, chances are you will be the first person they think of when they need a sitter again! Babysitters can make $10-$15 an hr and it's possible if you have kids they can all just play together. 

IBOTTA

I just found out about this one about a year ago! Ibotta is an app that you can earn cash back from everyday grocery purchases! Select your favorite stores, see what products are being offered and just take a picture of your receipt and send it in. Most purchases are verified the very next day! Download the app and get $10 with code gcwtdia. You can transfer your funds to PayPal or select from different gift cards Ibotta offers. Earn your first $10 now.

BAKING

Maybe you have some great family recipes or you are awesome with fondant - either way you can earn some extra moola making cupcake's, cookies or cakes for birthdays, baby showers or bridal showers.

HOUSE CLEANING

Start a Facebook group or let your neighbors know you are offering services to clean houses. Make a digital flyer with your rate and pass them out!

HOUSESIT

Not into cleaning houses? You could housesit for your neighbors when they go out of town. People will also pay extra when that includes taking care of their pets!

DOG WALKING

Speaking of pets, dog walking is an easy way to earn a few bucks for owners that may work long hours and not be able to walk their dogs as frequently as they would like.

SOCIAL MEDIA

You can sell things through Facebook marketplace for free. Just snap a pic, describe your item and you can set up a meet with someone in your city. Easy and no fees! You can also use the apps LetGo, VarageSale, or OfferUp.

CONSIGNMENT

We have a store in our city called Kid2Kid that allows you to bring in clothes, shoes and toys for you to sell to the store. They look through your items while you browse the store and then they offer you cash or store credit for  the items they choose to take in! They will also donate the items they don't take if you do not want them back. There is and adult version called Uptown Cheapskate and Plato's Closet. See if there is some in your area!

Stay Productive While Your Kids Are Home

Believe it or not, it IS possible to get things done while your kids are home.

I have been fortunate enough to stay home with my girls. The first 6 years I worked part time outside of the home and my Mom watched the girls while I was away. After we moved away from my family from Florida to Georgia *tear* I had no idea how I was going to get anything done. I ended up getting a WFH job and was able to stay with the girls and still pull in money. Not easy, but we made it work!

It doesn't matter if you work inside or outside of the home or if you're a SAHM, these are helpful for you and fun for your kids, yay!

MOVIE TIME

Move the coffee table, put a bunch of pillows and blankets on the floor, make popcorn and let your kids watch a movie. Even if it's Frozen, even if you have to hear that damn song one more time. At least you know they will be busy long enough for you to get some quick chores done.

MAKE A CHORE FUN

This is funny, right? Magical dishes and unicorn laundry? Not quite. Have your kids help you sort the laundry or hand you the coat hangers one at a time. Most kids love feeling like the big helper, especially if they're helping Mommy!

SET UP A CRAFT STATION

I usually do this with Play Doh in the kitchen. I have a place mat type thing that I put out, and get all the Play Doh and accessories out and just let them play while I do the dishes or whatever else needs to be done in the kitchen

PICNIC IN THE YARD

This is good when the kids are getting a little stir crazy or maybe if you have some yard work to get done. I put a picnic blanket out underneath a tree in our yard and pack some fun little snacks for the girls to eat. Finger sandwiches, goldfish, fruit snacks, brownies, fruit all kinds of goodies! They put on their sunglasses, we start playing some music and have a good time!

GO FOR A WALK

Exercising is very hard with kids, I don't care what anyone says. You have to make it a priority, pretty annoying if you ask me. One good way to get in some exercise is to go on a walk. Our neighborhood has nice sidewalks, so we usually just walk there but other options are parks, tracks at a recreation center, or even the mall. Depending on your kids ages they can bike or ride their scooters too.

BATH TIME

When it's bath time, I wash my daughter's hair and clean her down first- then she plays with her toys and uses bath paint to pain the walls. During this time you can do some maintenance cleaning in the bathroom (counters, cabinets, folding towels, clean the mirror...) or if you have a blog or business from home you can check emails, do some marketing on social media, or check your stats. 

 NAP TIME

Nap time is special. If your child still takes a nap (my does not) it can be the golden couple of hours you need. I recommend one of two things. Either get that one thing done that you know will be difficult while your child is awake or lay down and take a nap yourself! If your child is like both of mine and stopped taking naps very early then you are kind of out of luck on the golden 2hrs. 

Keeping Your Kids Safe on Musically

This page my contain affiliate links.

My 9 year old daughter introduced me to Musically. All her friends had it, it was fun. She loved lip-syncing and editing her videos. I though it was cute, so I made myself a profile and let her use it - no harm done, right? WRONG. Keep reading to see what I discovered and my honest review of the privacy settings. 

APP INFO

Musically is an app for creating and sharing 15 second (or less) videos of popular songs and sound bites. You can edit the videos by speeding them up or slowing them down, filters and adding text or stickers.

Users on Musically are called "Musers". There is a main feed of recent videos that Musers can browse through and watch. They can like, comment and share these videos. They can also start a duet with that user or use the song or clip and make their own video. 

PROS

• Encourages creativity 
• Connects Musers with their friends
• Boosts confidence
• It's fun and silly

CONS

• DM or direct message feature cannot be disabled - unknown Musers can DM you 
• Songs and sound clips cannot be filtered, so there is explicit language and adult content
• Musers worry about their fan count and how many likes are on a video
• Profiles are automatically set to public
• Location services are on and show who is in your city
• Videos can be shared to other social media by other Musers
• Explicit video from other Musers can be easily found, even if you aren't searching

PRIVACY

I visited the privacy setting to see what I could change or filter. I highly recommend doing this to make the account safer. Remember accounts are automatically set to public with location services on, you must change these settings manually. Even with a private account other Musers can still see your bio and possibly find you on other social media. 

OVERALL

It is a fun app and I can definitely see why it's so popular, I just wish there were a safer version. If you decide to let your child use this app, I believe it should be heavily monitored. Talk to them about what you expect from their videos and what they are allowed and not allowed to do and share. The app is recommended for 13+ and I think even that is iffy because of the content shared - also note birth date is not asked for when registering. We have deleted the app from her tablet because even with the privacy setting, I still believe it's inappropriate. Sorry Musers!

300+ Sales on Etsy | 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I started

This page my contain affiliate links.

Are you thinking about opening up your own Etsy shop? I technically opened my shop in 2014, I though oh cool I will just post these on here and they will sell like hotcakes...not exactly. I found out there was WAY more to it than that, so I quit. I know, I know...but at the time I really wasn't committed.

 Fast forward to August 2016 & I was ready to start again! I had still been making stuff for people here and there on Facebook, but nothing serious. I went all in - researched everything I could on Pinterest from other blogs and I started over; re-branded my logo, put actual methods and plans into place and set goals for what I wanted to achieve, crazy right? Almost a year later and I am very happy with my progress considering I have a part time ob and 2 kids that keep me on my toes.

I was clueless in 2014, but now that I feel like I know what I'm doing I want to share my advice to new coming shop owners! 

I want 40 FREE listings on Etsy!

RESEARCH

Look up related products on Easy from other sellers and compare them to what you will be selling. What is the price range? What do the best pictures look like? Which sellers come up first in the search? Do these sellers have a lot of sales already? What variations do they offer> What title did they use for their listing?

Use these other top sellers as inspiration. Do not copy shop policies, or item descriptions. It’s wrong and it always sounds better when you put your own spin on things. Nobody knows more about your product than you. 

*Be sure to not use the very top listings as an example because they are paid ads. Not to say these products aren’t great, but the listings under that are what you should be looking at. 

SEO

Pretend you are buying your product from Easy, what do you type in the search bar? Let’s say you want to find a hair bow for your daughter for an upcoming Disney trip. What do you type in? Minnie Mouse hair bow? Disney hair bow? Disney World hair accessory? Minnie Mouse hairbow?All of these are different, but could still possibly send you to the same hair bow. When titling your listings be sure to add as many descriptive words as you can from a buyer’s point of view. What would you search for if you were buying your item?

LIST MORE

I’ve heard that once you have 100 items in your shop, it makes you sell more. I don’t know how true that really is. I do know you should be trying to add at least 1 item per week to your shop to stay fresh and active. Customers want to return seeing fun, new items not the same things they saw last time. 

QUALITY PICTURES

Really make your item look nice, you want people to purchase it, right? Don’t throw it on your floor and take a picture with your cell phone. Try to make a simple backdrop or always take your photos in the same area so your pictures look uniformed. 

Natural light is best, over exposed photos can take away from the product. I use the basic photo editor on my Mac and it works just fine, you don’t have to spend a lot of time editing your pictures if you make sure to get some good shots. It’s also best to use all 5 slots Easy gives you to show off your item. Customers like to know what they are purchasing and how well it is made. 

TOO MANY CHOICES?

Don't get me wrong, having variations for your products is a good thing-just don't over do it with too many choices. It's good to offer several different colors, but when a customer sees a picture with 10 different shades of pink it can be a little overwhelming. If it's something important that they need a special color or style in, they will contact you and you can help them from there.

Too many choices

  

Popular choices, looks less cluttered 

KEEP 'EM COMING BACK

The customer is always right...you've heard it a million times before and when it comes to running a business, it really is the best practice. For example: I have had customers message me to ask for my item at a cheaper price (you wouldn't do this at Wal Mart, would you?) so then I, *deep breath*, tell them my prices are non-negotiable, but I do offer a 15% off discount code on my website when you sign up for my newsletter. That way I give a little, and still get a new email subscriber. Everyone wins. 

ASK FOR REVIEWS

This can be on a sticker, a handwritten note or a part of the auto message Etsy sends whenever an order is placed. I used to ask on the back of my business cards, but as orders started to pick up there wasn't as much time for that. I made some cute little cards and printed them on cardstock. I include one in every order, and I think it really works. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is great because it's free marketing and there are a ton of different ways you can do it. Pictures, graphics, sharing listings, customer reviews, going live, and videos.  Be sure you have a social media account for your business on different platforms. I use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Try to have all the same handles, so it's easy for your customers to find you. Ex: my instagram is @thatssopresh, but my Twitter is @thatssopresh_, because that's the closest that was available.

>>Learn how to grow your Pinterest here<< 

REVISE

Every couple of weeks go through your listings and make sure everything looks good. Maybe you were in a rush and had some typos or there was a tag you didn't think of when you first listed your item. It's always a good idea to go back and tweak a few things. Make sure your inventory numbers match up, your pictures are on point and you have the correct shipping profile. 

TRACK YOUR NUMBERS

Even though your sales are tracked on Etsy, I recommend keeping track of your numbers separately. I track the date, item sold and price and then total it at the end of the month. I also track how much Etsy pays me per month and how much my monthly fees are. For me it gives a better overall of how much I'm really making.