Originally posted on My Make Do and Mend Year:
Wow, that wins the prize for longest every blog post title. OK, so hands up-who thought this would be a one hit wonder? Well, it’s not, it is at least a…
Oh hello February…. how did that happen?! Wasn’t it Christmas only last week?!
The weather is shocking and we’re craving some sun… Time to get all loved up and have some fun!
(Poet, didn’t know it)
Have you been inspired to make something or do something you found on Pinterest? Did you blog about it? If so, please link up your blog post into the linky below, we’d love to hear all about it!
I have a ‘Smooch’ board on Pinterest, geared towards all things Loveable.
Check out these awesome Valentine’s cards I found at Not On The High Street
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Or these amazing Love Goggles to make with the kids by makeandtakes.com
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This is one of my favourite kids songs.. Skinny-ma-rinky-dinky-dink, Skinny-ma-rinky-dooooo, I Love You! Print available on Etsy.
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Of course every girl needs a sweater with a big, sparkly, red heart on it…. Too cute
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What do you have planned for Valentine’s this year? Don’t forget to add your Pinspiring blog posts into the linky below too!
Happy February ya’ll,
Kerry x
January.
Yip, it’s that time again… the time of year we sit up and take stock of ourselves, our lives, our wants and our dreams. For many of us, those dreams include taking the plunge and stepping into the unknown world of ‘Self-Employment’
I have been self-employed for most of my working life and although it is a constant ‘kick yourself up the backside and plod on’ kinda venture, it is also HUGELY rewarding. Selling something you have created or seeing the results of your work makes your heart burst with pride and gushiness. Yes, 10 Noddy badges per triumph over here! Being able to fit things in around school plays, sports days, anniversaries & birthdays is a huge bonus too and well worth the work done in the wee small hours of the morning to catchup!
So, I did a little research and have come up with these top 5 tips for those of you who may be considering the road to self-employment, be it an Etsy, Folksy, eBay store or even becoming a professional blogger. (Dream job alert!)
1. Pricing
Don’t be afraid to charge what the value of your product or service is worth! So often I see entrepreneurs undercharging for beautiful items or services (particularly social media related!) which I know have probably taken them the best part of a week to complete!
All credit to Tolmema for this handy formula!
Bailey sums up this (sometimes tricky) issue for crafters in particular here in her article by saying:
“If you want to actually profit from your crafting, you HAVE to charge what your product is worth. It’s going to be higher than Walmart pricing, and that’s okay, because your items are made by hand and that takes time, effort, materials, and more. If the consumer truly appreciates the products that you are selling, they will buy it, regardless of the price. The biggest factor is demonstrating the value to your customers. Once you do that, people will realize that your products are worth their cost, and you will see more sales!”
2. Find a Space
Designate a little corner in your home that is Just Yours. It could be a spare cupboard, a chest of drawers or even a movable caddy like this:
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Whatever it is, assign yourself a little space to get creative and help keep yourself organised! If you really want to have a mooch around a heavenly craft space, check out Jaime’s room over at Raising Up Rubies. *Drool warning!* Pure.Happiness.
3. Have a system & a schedule
Organisation in your ‘workplace’ is key here…. you will be the Director, HR Manager, Secretary, Marketing Guru & Creative Genius all wrapped up into one! Implement a system for keeping all of those bits of paper organised, orders in check & dates diarised and you will sleep waaaaayy easier.
I find it all too easy to just pop the laundry on, or stop what I’m working on to vacuum the house because it’s bugging me….
Have.A.Schedule. And stick to it! I found a great article on How to Create a Cleaning schedule that really works over on Organise My House – check it out Here!
How to organise your time when working from home by Christina’s Adventures
4. Surround yourself with things that inspire and motivate you!
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Staying motivated is KEY to being successful by working at home. It’s all to easy to sit at your computer / craft table for 6 hours straight without taking a breather. I often get ‘writers block’ and the best way to unleash the words is to go and sit in a coffee shop with a notebook & pen. People-watching creates great stories! So does coffee. Oh coffee how I love thee.
Give yourself a break to go and do something you really enjoy… even if it’s just a brisk walk around the block or a quick swim before you pick up the kids – the perks of working from home is that you are able to schedule time to do these kinda things!
Make it pretty! I have a stationery PROBLEM. I heart pretty stationery… pens, post-its, sticky tape, paper – you name it, I LOVE it! I have loads of the stuff and use it daily – I’m convinced it helps me be more productive. Convinced. 🙂
5. Be Easy on Yourself
Working from home isn’t always plain-sailing, BUT it’s hugely rewarding. Don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t get all 52 things on your To-Do List done today. Becca at My Crazy Good Life has some great advice here…
“Your to-do list will never be done.
Every night, circle the three most important things on your to-do list for the next day.
Get them done.
If you have time, do more. And at the end of your day, turn your computer all the way off and close the door to your office.
There’s always tomorrow.”
Keeping home and work seperate is always going to be the most challenging, and you won’t always get that balance right – don’t beat yourself up & most importantly have fun, network lots, read lots & enjoy every second of being your own Boss!
I spotted Louise making these a while ago and thought – Hey, That is so flipping cool – No Sew? I could TOTALLY try that.
Then I forgot all about it.
Until she started stocking the kits in her Shop. And then I fell in love with this fabric…..
And so my love affair with Lampshade making began. I whipped up some Patio Lights fabric, a 30cm kit and sat down one evening and decided to just MAKE something.
The fabric arrived all beautifully presented in pink tissue paper and Louise’s loveliness. (yes, that’s an actual thing) EEEEEKKKK!!! Once you’ve rubbed the fabric around your face one too many times opened it up – you’ll find a few bits and pieces inside the kit and think to yourself… How the HECK is this going to make a giant lampshade??!
All hail the simple instructions. Srsly. Photo instructions – this kit is Right up my street!
The Contact paper was the most concerning bit of the project for me, but it was Easy as Pie to do.
No fancy tools required – big pink scissors, fabric and the kit and you’re good to go!
And TA-DAAAAA!!! One beautiful lampshade that I made all by myself. I can’t show you it up in my office yet as we’re moving house on Friday (eeeekkk!! must start packing….) so as soon as it’s up I’ll post a pic 🙂 This whole project took me an hour from start to finish and I’m already planning 2 more for the girls new bedroom. These would also make fantastic gifts for Chrimbo don’t you think? For £16 all inclusive, I reckon these are just FAB FAB FAB.
I committed the ultimate blogger crime and took these photo’s at Night, on My Phone. Sorry!
I’m also opening the November linky on this post. Have YOU made something inspired by Pinterest? It could be anything crafty, diy, a recipe, a room makeover, organisational stuff, if you’ve made it – link it up! Read more about it here.
The linky will be open until November 30th – we will then pick a Random entry to win this month’s prize… have you guessed what it is yet? A lampshade kit of course 🙂
1 x 30cm kit up for grabs with the Sew Scrumptious fabric of your choice – winner picked by Random.Org – so what are you waiting for?! 🙂
Pin it, Make it, Blog it, Link it, Share it!
Here’s the Link!
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Half term is so close you can almost smell it now. I know my children are ready for a bit of downtime. We’ve got a mix of days at home and days out planned. To ensure that we don’t spend all the days at home watching back to back Scooby-Doo I’ve been keeping some recycling to one side ready for a bit of junk modelling.
I’ve got random bits and bobs that they can use to make anything they like, but I’ve also kept some specific items to make these:
I’m sure most of you have already seen the Elmer, made from a large milk carton. If you use PVA glue mixed with a bit of water it is really easy to get the tissue squares to stick to the carton. Give it a good wash of PVA afterwards too, so it seals all the paper. You could add lots more embellishments and some paper ears too.
The second one, is from a yoghurt corner carton. This is really fun as the children can put their hands in the back of the top and bottom of the carton and get the dog to woof or talk. You hardly need anything else to make this, just some coloured paper, black permanent pen and glue. you could even get them to colour their own tongue/ears on white paper.
So keep hold of those toilet rolls, egg boxes, milk cartons and yoghurt pots this week – you can transform them into treasure next week.
If you’re looking for further ideas then just put JUNK MODELLING into the search in Pinterst – a whole world of inspiration.
I find cooking the same meals each week quite tedious at times, balancing what I know the children will eat against how many times I can bear to make spaghetti bolognese in one month. So when a twist on a firm favourite comes along, I’m all for it. We do have mash quite often in our monthly repertoire, in various forms – shepherds pie, sausage and mash, fish pie to name a few. So when I saw the first Jamie Oliver programme (Save with Jamie), and he did a sweet pea mash fish pie, I tried it last week.
It was a big success, you don’t even need to boil the peas, just pour the hot water from the boiled potatoes over the peas so that they are defrosted enough to be zapped in a food processor/blender. Fold the peas into the mashed potato and use as you would the plain mash.
Of course a search on Pinterest for ideas of other tasty twists for mash brings up a whole range of ideas; cinnamon and apple, celeriac, juniper and red lentil to name a few. What are your favourite mash combinations?
Last week I posted about starting on the Sorbetto pattern for myself, after not sewing clothes for years. I’m delighted to say it turned out really well, so I can definitely recommend the pattern.
I’m glad I used a hack version I mentioned last week and added the sleeves rather than keep it as a tank top. I’ve blogged the bits I found a bit tricky and will refer back to that when I do another one. I’ve got my eye on attempting a tunic/dress version of it, and in true Pinnaddicts style, I’ve got a Pinterest board started for ideas.
So… the nights are drawing in and we can already feel a fresh nip in the air … FRESH… a word my partner likes to throw at me in the dead of winter when I say I am ABSOLUTELY FREEZING and he replies with ‘No… It’s just FRESH’
Grrrrrr……
We do however have a FRESH new look on the site… what do ya’ll think?!! This amazing new look was conjured up by the wonderful Annie from Mammasaurus….. she is Fabulous, A total darling, and a design WHIZZ. If you’re looking for a new blog design I cannot stress enough over how much you should contact her… she’s affordable, so easy to work with and amazing. Are you getting the picture here?! Ha! Let us know what you think in the comments! You can tweet her here too: @mammasaurusblog
So… apart from the much spoken about drop in temperature, there are loads of scrummy things about Autumn too…
Apple Pie ‘n Roses? Yes please!
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Hot Cider…. Oh YEAH
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Wrap yourself up in a scarf… I’m a huge scarf lover… it hides all the… Bits.
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Halloween happens. How COOL is this pumpkin carving?!!! I’m SO doing this!
Our nail colours get darker and because we’re snuggled on the couch more often, its the perfect time to glam up our talons!
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Of course, cooler nights would be no fun without a little chocolate… I found this Coconut hot chocolate on pinterest. GET IN MY CUP!
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What is YOUR favourite season? I’d love to know… tell me in the comments! Or direct me to your Pinterest board!
Have you been recreating stuff from Pinterest? If so, join our linky it’s now ………. OPEN!
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Did you see it?
There was a brilliant series with the Queen of Crafting Kirstie Allsopp, on Channel 4, called Fill Your House for Free, where she basically did up people’s houses on a shoestring, using ‘pre-loved’ bits (and a couple of amazing designers…).
It is possibly a little bit cruel/pointless to tell you about it now if you missed it, but you can always catch up on 4OD.
I am inspired.
Even more inspired than I was before about Buying Nothing New, and now I want to do up my whole house.
Hubby is less excited…
They did some pretty crazy upcycles, like chairs from bath tubs,
and coffee tables from car engines, but there was some more acheivable stuff too.
The over-riding message was that you can do up your house for a fraction of the price, and with significantly less environmental impact, by avoiding the likes of Ikea, and B&Q, and Next, and heading off to your local auction house, or having a look on your local Freegle site, which I think is a brilliant message.
For those of you who have not yet discovered Freegle (or Freecycle, or any similar sites), you need to. It will change your life.
People give stuff away.
For FREE.
Sometimes little things, but sometimes really crazy things, like TVs, and washing machines.
You can search for your local group, and then away you go.
And if you like the sound of that, then here is the link to a blog post I did a while back, with a list of sites for free stuff.
Enjoy!
One of the things that we love in this house are Fajitas. You can go out for them and pay, but I prefer to make them at home because they normally taste pretty close to the same :). I always like to be in the comfort of my own home when eating something messy too haha.
I started out with two really nice steaks that I got on sale for less than $6 for 4 pounds. I seasoned it liberally with coarse sea salt (The bigger the better), pepper (Always white when it comes to this house), some Burger Seasoning, and stick it all in a bowl. Throw in a bit of hot sauce and mix it all up. The hot sauce helps the seasonings stick to the steak. YUMMY!
I sliced the steak up into long strips and then sliced across. You want the pieces small enough to fit inside your tortilla shell without being too big that you can’t close it properly or eat a piece without it falling out.
Then cook your steak to your liking. Remember that you don’t want to cook it too well (even if you like it well done) because it will make it more tough when you are eating it.
Set your meat aside and cut up your cheese into strips. I like to use extra sharp white cheddar, cut up some Jalapeno’s and whatever else you like. Normally we add some sour cream, lettuce and onions but we wanted a quick meal so we just kept it simple.
You also want to heat your tortillas up. A lot of people skip this step, but the best reason why I can give you to do it is because they are more pliable. They tend to fold up a LOT better when they are warm not to mention they taste way better. So trust me, if you normally don’t heat them just try it once. It only takes a few minutes because you just want them to be warm to the touch, not piping hot.
Then you just assemble your little creations and get to eating. I didn’t take a picture of my plate because mine is boring… I only eat one Fajita, no veggies and a little bit of Mac-n-cheese. My husbands plate has much less room on it 🙂
You will also notice that there is a nice helping of Mac-n-cheese on his plate… this is the new Jalapeno Mac-n-Cheese from Kraft. It. is. delicious.
If you don’t have it available then what you can do is make your own version of Mac-n-cheese.Tthen put your Jalapeno’s through a food processor,but don’t have a heavy hand because you don’t want a paste, you want them to be chopped very finely.
Set them aside and take a few different kinds of cheese…. I like some Asiago and a really extra sharp cheddar (as in the one you used with your fajitas). I do recommend tasting your cheese together though. Some people like Asiago but don’t like it with Cheddar.
Mix your new cheeses and the Jalapeno’s together into your pasta. Mindblowing. Seriously… really tasty and people will think that you spent a much longer time making it than you actually did. You are very welcome 😉
I hope you enjoyed this weeks recipe. If you have anything you would like me to try, or think I would be interested in send it my way. Also if you try anything please please send me a pic. I would love to pump up my Viewer pics section and add your picture to it. Just let me know how you liked it, if you changed it or made it the same way I did.
Send the pic to MomofTwoSalums@gmail.com and checkout my FB page for updates or if you want to tell me how much you love me LOL
PinAddicts Challenge 