Earning Extras

I, like many moms out there who are also about to go back to work after maternity leave, am DREADING my return. Not because the work stinks or because I don't like the people I work with, but because the thought of leaving my 2 little dah-lings in the care of another bothers me.
I hate the rushing in the morning, the conflicts with other kids (however few they may be), the huge expense, the weepy goodbyes, and so on and so forth. BUT, like most of us of there, what can I do? I would love to stay home with my kids but, can we afford it? What would we have to sacrifice? Do I really want to give up my independent self that exists outside the home? Do I want to give up my pension? SO many things to question and really think about...meanwhile, I have this ticking clock saying, "make your decision now because you are running out of time!". Usually what ends up happening is I stress about it and then push it deep down and think that I'll worry about it later. So, this is getting me nowhere - fast!
I don't know what I will decide in the end but what I do know is that with all this soul-searching and money fretting I've come up with a few ways that I could make some extra dough, doing things that I actually would enjoy. I wanted to share them with you because, who knows, maybe you've already decided to make that plunge to stay at home and need a few ideas on how to raise some extra cash! So, ta-da! - here are a few things that can earn you that extra bacon: 1.Become a vendor for a home-show company. Yes, they can be annoying at times but if you find a company whose product you really like then it could make a lot of sense. If you have a passion for something people can generally sense that and become more invested in what you are presenting to them. Do your research and find out what companies have to offer in terms of compensation, support, sales requirements, product, etc. You don't have to be a pushy sales person who is always bugging friends and family to support you. Use the tools (often times free)out there to build a network...create a Facebook Business Page, pin your stuff on Pinterest, put an add on Kijiji, place a sign advertising your items on your community bulletin board, and whatever else you can think of!

2.Start a blog. Believe it or not, you CAN make money by writing a blog. Okay, well I don't make any money but I've heard of it being done!! How you ask? Well you start a blog and write about what interests you! Sewing, cooking, photography, whatever! You can monetize it through your blog provider or sell your own advertising space. If you're not sure how or where to start...check pinterest (yes my go-to place)...there are tons of ideas and tips there for blogs!3.Open an Etsy account. If you craft, bake, or create you could have an Etsy account. If you're not sure what Etsy is it's an amazingly awesome website that's like an on-line farmer's market. You can open you're own shop and sell your handmade goods that you've made from home. Click HERE to go check it out.

4.Pay more attention to your loyalty programs. Depending on what loyalty programs you are involved with you could really benefit from these at key times during the year. For example, my sister gets points through her credit card. She uses her card to purchase big items throughout the year (even if she has the money to actually buy something, she uses her card and then pays it off immediately on-line) and then at Christmas time she always has enough points to order gift cards for everyone in the family. There are so many point programs out there I can't speak to all of them but what I can tell you is that if you focus on one or two that you can redeem for something worth while to you (flights, free groceries, free gas, etc.) you can actually end up saving yourself quite a bit! My personal example is that I collect points for flights. I have a credit card that accumulates these points, I go to the pharmacy that gives me them, shop for items that give me bonus points, etc. In the 5 years I have been collecting them I have redeemed my points for 5 flights to Las Vegas, 2 flights to Vancouver, and I already have enough for a flight to Europe now!

5.Consign things that you no longer need. Decluttering your home can benefit you in several ways. When you get rid of the things clogging up your place it can actually be quite liberating for one. Why not make a few bucks at it too? Go though items and weed out the ones that are consignment worthy. Depending on where you consign them you could sell clothes, toys, small household items, DVDs, accessories, etc. If you don't know of any consignment places around you, check on Facebook - chances are there is one organized on FB by someone living in your area (be sure, however, to check out how many followers the page has and read their policies closely before bringing any of your stuff to someone you don't know.)

I'm sure there are so many ideas out there how to save cash and how to raise cash. Please feel free to share in the comments section because, like I said, I'm still decided on my own situation and the more money earning ideas the better!!

little changes, big results

I have recently started to enforce a major change in my household. With all the recent news we've been hearing here in Canada about retiring ages going up, the poor economy, pension problems, etc. I knew we needed to start doing something now to prepare for the future we have envisioned for ourselves.

I am a huge Pinterest freak so I started there. There are so many great ideas on Pinterest on how to save money, plan for your future, waste less, be more productive, being sustainable, and I could go on and on. I also found several absolutely fantastic blogs via Pinterest who's main focus are centered on being frugal and smart with your hard earned cash!

I decided to start small and to make myself the promise that this lifestyle change would not mean that we had to be "cheap" or go without but, rather, it would mean that we would cut where we could, make smarter decisions, and really look at wants versus needs. I think to start out with small changes is a great idea because it can ease you and your family (because without their support, it'll never work) into thinking this way and will set you up for success.

Here are a few small changes that we have made that is already resulting in some actual results:

1) Make a list of small things you can change to save some money in your budge that you wouldn't even really notice. The point of this is to show how little things do actually add up! I made a list of eight things I knew we could easily change. They included, turning off lights when we are not actually in the room (we were sooo very bad for this), unplugging the coffee maker during the day, watch a little bit less t.v. (therefore less power), following through when I wash a load of laundry (to reduce having to rewash if I left it too long), etc.

2) Take advantage of that food that's already in your freezer and pantry! We have an entire freezer full of meat in our basement and the one on top of our fridge is always equally as full. So much so that we often struggle to pack more stuff in it! Why on Earth am I always buying more, before I use what I actually have? So plan ahead. Make a weakly meal plan, using what you have on hand first, which cuts down on your grocery bill.

3) Put your spare change to work! Contrary to many people, I actually enjoy doing laundry because my husband never empties his pockets. I secretly pick his pockets and always keep the money I find inside (hahah!) - I consider it like my pay check for cleaning his underwear! :) I started putting all that change into a large mug hidden away in the laundry room....and really, it hasn't taken that long to grow to $50! Sweet, I'll take that and put it towards something I usually don't have enough extra cash for (like in my RRSP!). Think about it...$50 here and $50 there adds up!

4) Make a few more things at home. This has been one of my favorite changes! We've always been a family that bakes and crafts but focusing that energy more towards what we actually need has been great. Whether you make some more baked goods (and buy less granola bars, bread, or fruit snacks at the store), your own Windex or laundry detergent (which is probably better for you anyways), or art supplies for your kids (like eco-friendly finger paints) you are just putting money in your pocket. You can usually make your own version of the store brands for way less and it's generally better for you! Not to mention the invaluable time you are spending when you do these things with your kids!

5) Consider growing some of your own food. I've always wanted to have a garden, however, a lack of time, knowledge and space has always stopped me dead in my tracks. With my beloved Pinterest on my side this year, I'm ready to make the plunge. You can have a garden or a garden-esque type set-up in any living space. We have a backyard so I'm going to attempt to make two raised garden areas and include a few "garden pots". Even if you lived in an apartment and had a small balcony you could do a few "garden pots" (check these out on Pinterest...love them!) and grow your own herbs! With a little planning ahead I am hoping to find success here! An added bonus is that I will be including my 3 year old in the process and she's going to love learning and growing some veggies from seeds!

So, the five things I mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg! There are so many things you can do to make smarter money choices and, remember, it's not about going without it's about getting the most for your hard earned cash! Over time, small changes make a big impact on your wallet! Think about what you and your family need rather than what you want in this moment. If you've made any changes please share because I would love to hear them!!!

p.s. This afternoon, my daughter and I were raiding the stuffed freezer in our efforts to use what we had. We found a half of a bag of frozen berries just waiting for us. The result...super delicious Pro-biotic Frozen Pops!! In total I had to spend $3.50 on the Greek yogurt because I already had everything else I needed to make them!

Pro-Biotic Mixed Berry Pops

Ingredients:

Frozen Berries (I had half a bag in my freezer)

2 Tbsp sugar

3Tbsp of lemon juice

3 Tbsp honey

1 Container of Strawberry Greek Yogurt

Instructions:

Mix the frozen berries, sugar, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Stir together well and let sit for about an hour.

Put the berry mixture and honey into your blender or food processor and mix until completely blended.

Pour mix back into bowl and then add the container of Greek yogurt.

Pour this mix into some popsicle moulds or whatever you would like. Put into freezer for at least 4 hours.

Enjoy!

**I was able to make 8 pops out of this recipe. With the brand of yogurt I used, each pop works out to 150 cals.

Handy Crafts

One of my favorite things to do with my three year old is to make all sorts of different crafts. Today our theme was hand prints - partially inspired by Pinterest and partially inspired by my daughter's favorite show, Out of the Box. We had a few things on our to-do list that I thought we could incorporate into our craft time today and below is what we came up with: Our first step was to start out with tracing a bunch of hand prints. The plan was to do a few thumbprints and footprints too but we didn't get too far with that plan!
Next job was to colour and decorate up the prints (before cutting!). I tried to convince her to try a few different colours but, come on mom....that's crazy talk!! :)

In addition to tracing out the hand print and colouring them, we also made some prints by covering her hands with some acrylic paint and stamping it down on some paper.
This one was my favorite of the day. I had seen this on Pinterest and it originated from a blog called A day in my Life. We needed to make a thank you card for my aunt so I thought this would be perfect. We glued hearts on each hand, one saying "i love you..." and the other holding our note of thanks. The middle section, of course, completes the message with "i love you...this much!". Next on our list was to make some hugs to mail to some out-of-the-country family. We made these ones out of the hand prints we had cut out. Then we measured my daughter's arm length and cut out a piece of ribbon to that measurement. And voila! A hug, just her size!

For the top one we had cut out a matching hand print and wrote out our message on it. Below, both sides of the hand prints were decorated so we just cut out some more hearts, pasted them on and wrote out a small message.

And finally, my daughter made a card for her to give to my husband. We made a few thumbprints, using the acrylic paint, and a set of hand prints to make a cute face. I just hand wrote a message on the card but you could also print off a message and paste inside. This card reads "I love you the most..." on the front and then on the inside I wrote, "hands down!".

I love making little projects with my daughter and I can hardly wait until my youngest is old enough to join in. It's so much fun to see them experience and explore different types of crafting, especially when it crosses a few things off of my very, verrrrry long to-do list!

Happy Crafting! :0)

Wish List Wednesday

I would like to introduce my second Wishlist Wednesday item...I think it's one of the very first items I "hearted" on etsy when I joined waaaaaay back when.

Right now, there seems to be a huge demand for fun, funky aprons. I love the sweet '50s style ones that are very popular right now because they are an excellent combination of fun and flirty. I also love the aprons that are the half style, covering you from your waist down. I think I would be more comfortable, however, wearing one of these types of apron (as opposed to the full out sexy '50s style ones) while actually cooking/baking in the kitchen and especially if I was entertaining at the same time; the aprons from Snappy Shop appeal to me in particular because they offer such fun, memorable, and original designs (in the form of the apron's pocket).

My favorite part of this apron in particular is the matryoshka pocket, of course, but I also love the fun, bright pink of the cotton/poly fabric, in combination with the polka dot tie. This apron will set you back $45 USD (plus shipping) - very worth it in my mind for all the great memories you'll have when wearing it and baking up a storm in style!

DIY Handmade Gifts

So every year around Christmas time I kick myself for not starting my handmade Christmas gifts a little earlier. I love the idea of giving someone special something I've made with my own two hands.
Keeping in mind that there are so many other things to think about over the year (and other holidays to craft for - omg, Valentines day is coming up already!!) I thought I would make a mental note of some items that would be great to make. When some free time pops up (does that actually happen?) I can go back to my mental list and maybe start a project or two! 1. Burlap Table Runner
Who: This would make a great hostess gift. Every year, without fail, my family celebrates Christmas Eve at my aunties house and I would love to present her with this gorgeous runner. From the Living with Lindsay blog, this piece is a beautiful mix of the textures and, who isn't in love with ruffles.

2.Lion Taggie Toy

Who: Super fun gift for stocking stuffers or as a small gift for family friends who have babies. I love this so much because you can play around with textures and colours. It doesn't have to be a lion, I'm sure you could easier convert it into a puppy, a cat, or whatever your imagination can come up with. Chez Beeper Bebe blog has a tutorial for all your crafting needs on this one!

3. Family Portrait Cross Stitch

Who: Perfect for parents, newly married couple, or anybody! I'm pretty sure I almost pee'd my pants when I saw this. What, a cool cross stitch pattern? What personalized? OMG! I love absolutely every thing about this (tutorial at Martha Steward.com) and I can't wait to make one for my own home!

4. Heart "Felt" Bookmarks
Who: In my case, this is SO perfect for co-workers. Easy to make, inexpensive, and full of thought these would be so great for the 10 people in my office (tutorial from Simple Serendipities). Maybe I could even monogram each persons first initial on them.

5. Family Tree Embroidery

Who: Grandparents, in-laws or parents. This is such a lovely thoughtful gift and for me, I know my mother-in-law would love this. You can framed or not, it can be personalized to reflect things that are important to individual members of your family, and it can include whatever your heart desires! Love it. There was no tutorial for this one, but the picture can act as a source of inspiration for your own creation!

So now the easy part is done...choosing some handmade lovelies. The real work start soon....I HOPE! :)

My new Pinterest Interest...well, okay, obsession!

Okay, so I finally broke down and figured out Pinterest. If you don't know what this is, it's an AMAZING website that allows you to make virtual pin boards for any theme you can imagine. You take a link and upload it onto your "pin board", you then select an image from that link and voila...you have started to create a board! Now, I didn't fully realize how absolutely awesome this website was until I started playing around and, omg, I can tell you - it's flippin' life changing!! Every craft, DIY project, hair style, home decor idea, fashion guide, inspirational quotation, etc. that you could ever want and or imagine is there! I love love love it.
Although I have only been a member for a short time I have created 21 boards (and counting) which range in topic from: Fashion Fabulosity, Home Decor, My 2012, Birthday Party Ideas, Super Suppers, Free Printables, and so much more! I'm telling you, the possibilities are endless! Just imagine how helpful this website would be to someone who is planning a wedding, redecorating their home, throwing a baby shower, and really just about everyone! ;)
Below I've listed 5 of my current favorite pins from 5 different boards, just to give you an example of how great Pinterest is! 1. I re-pinned this from another member and the link brings you back to a website called PB & J Stories. I pinned it to my "Organization" board and i love it because it's brilliant!! I love the idea of re-purposing an every day item like this to organize your life. Even if you only had an old ugly magazine holder laying around you could totally jazz it up with a little spray paint and imagination!

2. I re-pinned this absolutely gorgeous bag to my "Fashion Fabulosity" board and it links back to an Etsy shop called Crazy Boy. It's $45 USD and I would love it as part of my wardrobe! The stripes are absolutely lovely!

3. This third pin links back to a blog called Wit and Whistle. It's so smart, simple, and looks great! A few years back I was on a mission to find a perfect cheese platter and I never did find one that I loved. Well, now I can just make my own using a white dish and some chalk paint! I put this bad boy in my "Projects" board.

4. Now this one I re-pinned but it doesn't link back to a webpage. It was uploaded by a member so I'm not sure if it was there own photo or taken from a website. I found it by searching "bunk beds" (my 3 year old is constantly asking for bunk beds!). I pinned it into my "Home Decor" board - something to come back to in a few years for inspiration perhaps!

5. And finally, I pinned this one, grabbing the link directly from a Stencil website . I'm obsessed with many things....two of them being polka dots and the idea of re-finishing old furniture. I LOVE the look of this nightstand and think it would go so perfectly in my baby's nursery. I pinned this one to my "Re-purposed/Re-finished Furniture" board for inspiration.

So, this is obviously a super small sampling of what sort of ideas you can get from Pinterest. I am in absolute love with this website and am so excited for all the possibilities it brings! If you are on pinterest my user name is: mrslavaj . I would love for you to drop by and check out my boards! Leave you username in the comments sections of this post and I'll come and check out yours too!! Happy pinning! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy 2012 to all you bloggers and blog-readers out there!! I hope you all had an amazing night and a super fun holiday season! I know my family and I did and I am so looking forward to the year that awaits us ahead. We were so blessed in 2011 and have soooo much to be excited for in 2012!

The big question everyone asks now that it's a new start in the new year is, "what's your new years resolution?!". Well, I usually don't make a resolution, per say, but this year I have decided that it is going to be an awesome 12 months and I'm going to make some new policies to live by! Here are a few things that I plan to focus on:

1) Be more f*&($#@ fabulous!

This year I will be turning 30. This doesn't bother me at all, but what DOES bother me is how much in a rut I've gotten lately especially when it comes to my wardrobe! So, this year, I vow to be a BIT more adventurous in my attire. I've always wanted to try out new things but at the last minute chicken out and resort to my old reliable safe jeans and t-shirt. As proof of my commitment to my new fabulosity, I wore a spectacular dress last night that I love. When I first put it on and looked in my wardrobe mirror, I'm not going to lie, I had a strong urge to rip through my dresser drawers for my yoga pants. I stayed strong though and rocked it all night long in my dress. Here's a link to the Etsy shop, Heart my Closet, were I purchased my new lovely: http://www.etsy.com/shop/heartmycloset?ref=seller_info

My sister(right) and I

2) Be more organized

With two little girls, life can get hectic! Not to mention we are going on some pretty awesome trips this year, I'm going back to work, AND I will be in a wedding this summer...this all means, I need to stay more organized!! This month I'm hoping to set up a designated crafting area - as opposed to my kitchen table, which always end up taking over our whole house like one giant crafting monster mess -, clean out my closets, organize my kids activities (yes a 3 year old and an 8 month old and I'm already busy busy busy with their activities), and organize how my life will look when I get back to work (dayhomes, work schedules, etc.)!

3) Cherish every single second I get in my wonderful life!

As I mentioned before, this past year was soooo good to us. We are so blessed and I absolutely recognize it. However, many important people in our life hadn't been so lucky in 2011 and it really makes me realize that we have to be thankful for every second. I know I sometimes complain about long line ups, bad sleeps, and all those little annoying things in life but when it comes down to it I am soooo very thankful for all that my family and I have and I will remember this every day! I hope you do too!! :)

SO....Happy New Year to you all and I wish you a safe, prosperous, wonderful 2012!!

p.s. Do you have any new years resolutions? If not, I suggest the one about being f$#@*(&^ fabulous! lol!