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YouTube Holiday Craft Tutorial and Giveaway

December 1, 2017 by VintageMama 2 Comments

If it’s a Friday during the holiday season, then there is another new giveaway sponsored by Katherine’s Corner!

The Katherine’s Corner “Annual Season of Giveaways” continues and I am joining Katherine and her sponsor Simple Nature Decor to bring you the YouTube Holiday Craft Tutorial & Giveaway

***You do not need to have a YouTube account to watch the videos***

One winner will receive a holiday sign painted by an artist named Maria Zimmerman $75 value and $40 cash (via PayPal) you do not need to have a PayPal account to receive your prize.

christmas youtubegiveaway main image

Prizes are provided by Simple Nature Decor, Katherine’s Corner and some of Katherine’s bloggy friends. YouTube is not affiliated with this giveaway. PayPal is not affiliated with this giveaway.

Please remember to follow your giveaway Sponsor and all of the Giveaway Hostess so you can get all of your entries!

youtube giveaway hostess-1

Katherine-Katherines Corner

Maria-Simple Nature Decor Youtube channel

Diane-Recipes For Our Daily Bread

Lisa- Blogghetti

Marilyn-Marilyns Treats

Nina-Vintage Mamas Cottage

Roz-La Bella A Vita Cucina

Disclaimer from Katherines Corner-Some of my giveaways have sponsors, Katherines Corner may receive compensation for reviews and advertising provided. However, no compensation will influence the outcome of any review. Katherines Corner provides reviews to readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. Katherines Corner and its affiliate Bobskatie Enterprises reserves the right to not publish a review of a product or products that do not meet the specified instructions provided to product submission companies or individuals. Reviews are posted in the appropriate section at Katherines Corner and also at Amazon.com ( subject to products availability) This in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

To enter please log into the entry form using your email address or facebook log in

Good Luck in the Giveaway!

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Filed Under: Craft Tutorials, DIY Tutorials, Giveaway, Holiday giveaway, Katherines Corner, Vintage Mama's Cottage Tagged With: Christmas crafts, Holiday Crafts, Holiday Giveaway, Katherine's Corner, Vintage Mama's Cottage, YouTube Holiday Craft Tutorial and Giveaway

It’s almost December!

November 30, 2017 by VintageMama 4 Comments

Christmas wreath on fence NO TEXT

It’s raining here today so it is rather gloomy and dreary, but at least it isn’t very cold. It won’t be long, however, before the snow begins to drift down from the heavy gray clouds that sweep across the silent corn fields and farms bustling with Christmas lights and decorations here in our little corner of the world. Outside my window the trees are mostly bare with just a few lingering, brittle brown leaves hanging on until the next windy day comes along. This time of year can be rather difficult, especially when darkness falls so early in the afternoon. It is usually completely dark here by 5:30 – 6:00 p.m. so it is fun to have our supper at the kitchen island which just seems a bit more cozy than in the dining room. Which is kind of useless these days anyway, as all of the bedroom furniture is still piled in one corner of the dining room while we are STILL waiting for the damage from our little flood to be repaired. Should be soon!

TATTERS to TREASURES BANNER

In the meantime, while we are still in a bit of a mess around here, I’m doing my best to get ready for the holidays. I’m working on my little online shops, Tatters to Treasures and Graceful Home Studio, as well as keeping the RUBY magazine and community rolling along. The December issue of RUBY magazine is now available if you would like to read some of the inspirational articles, short stories and poetry, or you  might be interested in some new Christmas recipes and craft ideas. We’ve got lots of great writers who contribute to the RUBY magazine, and you might even be interested in sending along something to us for a future issue of RUBY. Stop by the SUBMISSIONS PAGE on the RUBY blog for all the details on submissions to our monthly Christian women’s magazine.

GRACEFUL HOME STUDIO BANNER

For today, I hope you can join us for the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party – it’s a great way to connect with other bloggers, learn lots of new stuff, discover a ton of creative ideas for your home and family, and make new friends along the way. Hope to see you there!

Nina Signature

Please join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop!

TFT Main Image AUTUMN 2017

Please take the time to get to know ALL of your hostesses

It’s Party Time

Thank you to all who share with us every week.

Please follow all of your lovely hostesses, they are amazing women. Their blogs are the first on the list

 

katherines corner

TFT hostess

TFT hostess

tft hostess

An InLinkz Link-up


Filed Under: Blog Linky Parties, Katherines Corner, Linky Parties, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Vintage Mama's Cottage Tagged With: Katherine's Corner, linky parties, Thursday Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party, Thursday Linky Party, Vintage Mama's Cottage

Holiday Memories Giveaway sponsored by Katherine’s Corner

November 24, 2017 by VintageMama 3 Comments

holiday memories giveaway main image

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s officially time for Christmas music, shopping, decorating, and everything that goes along with this, the “happiest time of the year!” I hope you had a safe and joyous Thanksgiving celebration – we were away at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for the day so today is a “catch-up” day around here. No shopping for this Vintage Mama. More Thanksgiving festivities planned for the weekend, so I’m on my way to get ready. In the meantime, you won’t want to miss out on the “Holiday Memories Giveaway” sponsored by Katherine’s Corner. Come on along and join the fun!

The Katherine’s Corner Annual Season of Giveaways continues and I am joining Katherine and her sponsor Canvas Factory to bring you the Holiday Memories Giveaway

One winner will receive a $75 gift code to transfer a happy memory photo onto canvas and a $35 cash (via PayPal)

Holiday memories prizes

Prizes are provided by Canvas Factory, Katherine’s Corners and Some of Katherine’s bloggy friend. Amazon and PayPal are not affiliated with this giveaway. They are a means of providing the prize.

Please remember to follow your giveaway Sponsor and all of the Giveaway Hostesses so you can get all of your entries!

holiday memories giveaway hostesses updated

Katherine-Katherines Corner

Diane-Recipes For Our Daily Bread

Lisa- Casa Bouquet

Marilyn-Marilyns Treats

Nina-Vintage Mamas Cottage

Roz-La Bella A Vita Cucina

Rhonda – Mother 2 Mother

Diane- Mamal Diane Keeping Life Simple

Disclaimer from Katherine’s Corner-Some of my giveaways have sponsors, Katherine’s Corner may receive compensation for reviews and advertising provided. However, no compensation will influence the outcome of any review. Katherine’s Corner provides reviews to readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. Katherine’s Corner and its affiliate Bobskatie Enterprises reserves the right to not publish a review of a product or products that do not meet the specified instructions provided to product submission companies or individuals. Reviews are posted in the appropriate section at Katherine’s Corner and also at Amazon.com ( subject to products availability) This in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

To enter please log into the entry form using your email address or facebook log in

Good Luck in the Giveaway!

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Filed Under: Giveaway, Holiday giveaway, Katherines Corner Tagged With: Giveaway, Holiday Giveaway, Holiday Memories Giveaway, Katherine's Corner

A few of my favorite things!

November 16, 2017 by VintageMama 5 Comments

A few of my favorite things

I think Thursday is my favorite day of the week . . . . well, maybe I like Saturdays and Sundays just a little bit better because my little family is all together for two days in a row . . . but I just LOVE Thursdays because we get to party! I’ve been pretty busy between all of the home renovation projects going on around here and all of my writing / editing / creating projects, so it is really fun to take a little break from all of that on Thursdays and connect with other bloggers and make new friends. I hope you can join us at this week’s party – I’ll be looking for you!

One of my other favorite things is learning new skills and finding creative inspiration from other bloggers. Here are a few of last week’s Favorite Things Linky Party bloggers that I “met” and thought it would be fun to share with you what I discovered.

 

Linen-and-Lace-Cuff-Bag-Cover

Linen & Lace Cuff Bag

from Orange Bettie

Check out this gorgeous Linen & Lace Cuff Bag designed by Orange Bettie! The complete tutorial is HERE if you would like to make one yourself. It would make a great Christmas gift or an autumn tote bag for YOU!

 

DIY Vintage Style Books – Restoration Hardware Inspired

from Life on South Pointe Drive

I’ve seen these painted vintage books before, but I’ve always been rather intimidated to slap paint on perfectly good books . . . even though I really like the vintage look. But now, since we are knee-deep in home update projects, it just might be time to give it a try. We have a ton of books, none of which I would ever dream of painting, but I’m thinking I could find some old books at the thrift store that could use a little TLC. Looks like this might be a project in my future! You can find the complete tutorial at Life on South Pointe Drive if you are thinking of trying your hand at creating some of your own DIY Vintage Style Books.

 

Painting a Paneled Door

from DeeDee at Clover House

At the minute, painting our front door is not my top priority (at least until we get our laundry room and bathroom put back together after our mini-flood of a couple of weeks ago), but before all of the messiness of dealing with a flooded laundry room entered our lives, I actually bought the paint for our front door. Well, actually two front doors. We have one door off of our kitchen which was the original front door, but then we have another door on the front of the house that opens on to our deck which is the newer part of the house.

The color I chose was kind of a dark teal, not as blue as in the picture above, but since our house is a very light gray and the shutters are a dark red / burgundy color, the dark teal really looks pretty with the other colors, all with white trim. But then life happened, and the door did not get painted yet. If you are thinking of painting your front door, here is some encouragement and inspiration from DeeDee at Clover House. She shows you, step-by-step, how she masked the window and cut-in everywhere that needed to be painted by hand, and then she painted the raised portions of the door with a roller. Looks great! It might be time for me to paint that door, even though the construction crew should be here any minute to install new insulation and dry wall in the bathroom.

I am so ready for my house to be back to “normal” so that I can think about something else beside how to navigate around all of the misplaced furniture around here! Hope you have a great week, and let me know if you try any of these creative projects. I’ll post pictures as soon as something is actually finished in our home remodeling journey.

Nina Signature

Please join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop!

TFT Main Image AUTUMN 2017

Please take the time to get to know ALL of your hostesses

It’s Party Time

Thank you to all who share with us every week.

Please follow all of your lovely hostesses, they are amazing women. Their blogs are the first on the list

 

katherines corner

TFT hostess

TFT hostess

tft hostess

Leave some comment love my friends, have a great time at the party Happy TFT day!

Tell your friends and share your wonderful blog posts with us.

 

An InLinkz Link-up


Filed Under: Blog Linky Parties, Katherines Corner, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop Tagged With: Katherine's Corner, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party

Kindle Giveaway sponsored by Katherine’s Corner

November 10, 2017 by VintageMama 3 Comments

It’s the Annual Season of Giveaways at Katherine’s Corner and I am joining Katherine and her sponsor Casa Bouquet to bring you the Kindle Giveaway.

kindle giveaway prizes

 

One winner will receive a Kindle e Reader and a Colored Cover ( winners color choice from provided selection in photo)

Prize is provided by Katherine’s Corner, Casa Bouquet, Some of Katherine’s bloggy friends and Katherines Corner Shop

This giveaway is NOT endorsed or affiliated with Amazon

Please remember to follow your giveaway Sponsor and all of the Giveaway Hostess so you can get all of your entries!

 

Kindle Giveaway Hostesses

Katherine-Katherines Corner

Lisa-Casa Bouquet

Bev-Eclectic Red Barn

Tamaki-Bubbling with Elegance and Grace

Diane-Recipes For Our Daily Bread

Marilyn-Marilyns Treats

Nina-Vintage Mamas Cottage

Disclaimer from Katherine’s Corner-Some of my giveaways have sponsors, Katherine’s Corner may receive compensation for reviews and advertising provided. However, no compensation will influence the outcome of any review. Katherine’s Corner provides reviews to readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. Katherine’s Corner and its affiliate Bobskatie Enterprises reserves the right to not publish a review of a product or products that do not meet the specified instructions provided to product submission companies or individuals. Reviews are posted in the appropriate section at Katherine’s Corner and also at Amazon.com ( subject to products availability) This in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

To enter please log into the entry form using your email address or Facebook log in

Good Luck in the Giveaway!

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Filed Under: Giveaway, Katherines Corner Tagged With: Giveaway, Katherine's Corner, Kindle Giveaway

Fixing Up Our Old House: Will it ever be done?

October 19, 2017 by VintageMama 7 Comments

Will it ever be done?

I think we have reached the stage of “fixing up our old house” where we just want it over. Kind of like being pregnant. It’s time to get this finished . . . but it just can’t be rushed. This past weekend we were able to get new flooring in the master bathroom, but since we had to remove the toilet to finish the floor, we ran out of time to replace the toilet so now it is just sitting in the bathroom, not hooked up or attached to any of the plumbing. It’s a good thing we have more than one bathroom in this house.

We did get the walls painted and the floor down, though, so that’s a big part of the project. But there is still much to be done. There are shelves to be painted and put back up; the cabinet under the sink needs to be painted and the hardware painted and replaced; and there was a cabinet above the washing machine that needs to have something done with it, but I’m not sure I want it back in our little laundry room off the bathroom. It really seems much bigger and brighter without that cabinet in there so maybe we’ll use it somewhere else. We’ll see.

A couple of weeks ago the old yucky carpet in that bathroom had become so annoying that we just ripped it out. Down to the bare floor boards that still had old glue from the previous floor covering, so it was really, really disgusting. Even after sweeping it and cleaning it the best I could, it was still really nasty. So getting new flooring down was a pretty high priority, and I’m really glad that part of the project is finished.

I still have to paint all of the trim around the doors and the baseboards around the floor, but we removed that trim so we can paint it separately. This weekend, I hope! When we removed the base boards, however, I discovered old, old wallpaper that had not been removed before the most recent renovations happened, probably around 30 years ago. It’s a good thing Annie loves to remove old wallpaper, because I’m just done with all that mess!

A few months ago we refinished the shower, which was still in great condition, just needed a bit of fixing up. We removed the old glass and metal-frame doors so I could use just a (WASHABLE) shower curtain, so that really made a big difference. My dear sweet Hubby wanted to try to use a textured finish on the shower floor, so we gave it a try. Looked all over for the right kind of paint that was supposed to be specifically for showers and tubs . . . . and it looked really nice at first. But then, it only took a few showers before it started to wear thin and now it looks HORRIBLE!

Seems like it will never end, this project we started to fix up our old house! Now, along with everything else we need to do to get that bathroom finished, we need to sand off the texture surface on the bottom of the shower and repaint it with the same stuff that we used on the walls. Which really looks very nice, actually. So we carry on . . . and on . . . and on . . . and I hope we can wrap this project up this weekend.

In the meantime, there is a 24-hour bug going around here and I was completely miserable yesterday, so here I am trying to recover today and get everything done on today’s To Do list along with everything that was on yesterday’s To Do list – I guess some things will just have to wait. One thing I’m determined to do today is follow through on my project to clear out 10 things in 10 minutes. At least I should be able to get that much done. And then it’s back to painting cabinets, shelves, and trim in the master bathroom. Here are a few pictures of what it looked like after we ripped everything out and started to paint – the next pictures will be much nicer, I promise!

Hope you can join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party – I love meeting other bloggers and discovering new, creative ideas for our home and family. Come on along and join the party! It’s fun!

Nina Signature

*******************************************

Please join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop!

Please take the time to get to know ALL of your hostesses

Thursday Favorite Things Banner Katherine

nina CollageThursday Favorite Things Blog Hopangelina collage

An InLinkz Link-up


Filed Under: Blog Hops, Blog Linky Parties, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, Creative inspiration, DIY Home Decor, Katherines Corner, Linky Parties, Linky Party, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Vintage Mama's Cottage, women bloggers Tagged With: 50+ bloggers, blog hops, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, creative inspiration, creativity, DIY blog, family, Katherine's Corner, linky parties, linky party, mommy bloggers, Thursday Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party, Thursday Linky Party, Vintage Mama, Vintage Mama's Cottage, women bloggers

Are you boring, too?

October 12, 2017 by VintageMama Leave a Comment

Are you boring too?

Although I’m thinking that “bored” is not a word I have ever been particularly familiar with, I really do frequently feel that I might be “boring.” Maybe you are too. Sometimes it feels like a disease, this feeling of being overwhelmed when there is too much activity, too much noise, too many people, over extended periods of time. As I often said when my older children were small: “No one is doing anything wrong, they are just doing it all at the same time!” And I get overwhelmed with it all. Does that make me “boring”? I’m not sure, but this past week has been a whirlwind of activity (all of it good, but just a lot of it), and now I’m needing time to process and regroup and get back to my routine . . . . of boring stuff.

I’ve been on the road a LOT for the past week, driving several hundred miles, having my girls home from school for fall break, having one of our grandsons here for five days, Grandma and Grandpa coming to visit for the weekend, mini-golf with all the kids, lots and lots and lots of cooking / eating, swimming with all of the kids, talking and talking and talking, more driving, an appointment one evening, a speaking engagement one afternoon, a driver’s test and a new driver in the family yesterday morning, phone calls with big kids, worrying about all the kids, reminding myself not to worry about all the kids . . . . I’m completely exhausted!

All of that makes me feel like I’m not very much fun, and I am definitely ready to get back to “boring.” I think I might be hyper-sensitive to all this stuff, maybe more so than most people, but I just can’t help it. I’ve tried to not let stuff get to me, but it still does. And then I need to take a day or two just to recover. So yesterday afternoon, after the successful driver’s test, I watched a movie. That’s all. Just watched a movie. Kind of boring, I know.

Today there is a ton of computer work to catch up on, laundry, dishes, trash, vacuuming, paying bills, making more phone calls, more laundry and dishes, cooking, and probably a bunch more stuff that I can’t bear to think about right now. Makes me tired just thinking about it! But it’s all pretty “boring” stuff so I guess I better get to it. How about you? Are you boring, too? Or is it just me? I really want to know! In the meantime, I’m going to party along with all the other bloggers who join in the weekly Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party (it’s NOT boring, I promise!) and would love to have you come along for the fun. Hope to see you there!

Nina Signature

*******************************************

Please join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop!

Please take the time to get to know ALL of your hostesses

Thursday Favorite Things Banner Katherine

nina CollageThursday Favorite Things Blog Hopangelina collage

An InLinkz Link-up


Filed Under: Blog Hops, Blog Linky Parties, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, Craft blogs, Creative inspiration, Katherines Corner, Linky Parties, Linky Party, Vintage Mama's Cottage, women bloggers Tagged With: 50+ bloggers, blog hops, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, craft bloggers, creative inspiration, creativity, Katherine's Corner, linky parties, linky party, mommy bloggers, Thursday Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party, Thursday Linky Party, Vintage Mama's Cottage, women bloggers

Favorite Things – Autumn Days

October 5, 2017 by VintageMama Leave a Comment

A rainy autumn day

Yesterday was a beautiful, peaceful rainy autumn day. The girls and I drove up to Michigan for the day to pick up one of the grand-kiddos to come down and hang out with us for a few days. It was a perfect day for driving! The colors were just beginning to turn from the vibrant greens of summer to the softer shades of autumn. We definitely noticed that here in Indiana there isn’t as much color yet as up in Michigan, so it was fun to notice the differences.

OCTOBER Mums

We drove along country roads where the corn stalks are now brown and brittle and ready for harvest. We got behind a HUGE farm implement on our way home (couldn’t figure out what it was or what it does but it sure was BIG!) which gave Diva Daughter a chance to practice her patience, and then eventually her passing skills as she is scheduled to take her driving test next week. On our way home we stopped at Mooville, the amazing dairy farm / ice cream shop in Nashville, Michigan. I heard they have opened a store in Ionia, Michigan called “The Udder Store.” We’ll have to visit that one next trip!

On the long drive home it was kind of quiet. Gave me time to think about some of the things that have been happening in our lives, in our country, and in the world. It could be frightening to think about all that is going on around us, but I refused to give in to thoughts of despair and discouragement, fear or negativity, and choose instead to focus on the beauty of the season. And I was reminded that, no matter what it all looks like in the world around me, I know that God is still in control. He is always good, always is working for our best, even when it looks like the complete opposite. I don’t always understand, and that’s a good thing, too. Because if I could figure everything out on my own, then I would be just like God. So I choose to trust, even when the world around me looks quite dark. I believe in the sunshine even on a rainy autumn day!

OCTOBER Mums 2

I hope you are having a good week, in spite of the tragedy that has broken our hearts this week. I pray for our country, and I pray that you, too, will seek the joy and beauty of this season as well as in the heroic acts of other human beings. Let’s not let one act of evil destroy our belief in the beauty of the human spirit. Join us for the party this week – I would love to catch up with you and see what’s going on in your little corner of the world.

Nina Signature

PS The mums were only $6 each at Mooville, so I bought three plants. I’ve been wanting to get a few for our front porch for the past few weeks, but wouldn’t pay what they were asking for them at Walmart of Kroger, so when I found them for this price, I broke down and bought them. I might even buy a couple more when I go back up to Michigan next week to return the grand-kiddo to his mama and daddy.

*******************************************

Please join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop!

Please take the time to get to know ALL of your hostesses

Thursday Favorite Things Banner Katherine

nina CollageThursday Favorite Things Blog Hopangelina collage

An InLinkz Link-up


Filed Under: Blog Hops, Blog Linky Parties, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, Craft blogs, Creative inspiration, Katherines Corner, Linky Parties, Linky Party, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Vintage Mama's Cottage, women bloggers Tagged With: 50+ bloggers, blog hops, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, craft bloggers, creative inspiration, creativity, DIY blog, family, Katherine's Corner, linky parties, linky party, mommy bloggers, Thursday Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party, Thursday Linky Party, Vintage Mama, women bloggers

Favorite Things: Making Money While I Play

September 28, 2017 by VintageMama 1 Comment

Almost every one I know would LOVE to work from home and actually make a little bit of money. Right? That’s why so many of us have little online Etsy shops or our own ecommerce sites, or we sell on Amazon or Ebay. I’ve been in groups where this topic is discussed, dissected, argued about, celebrated, and cursed. Advice is offered, often times for a fee, that sometimes works and other times is irrelevant. One of the missing links for this for lots of people, however, is that if you want to WORK from home, your need to realize that you will REALLY, REALLY have to WORK. You will have to work a lot, and it will be a long journey to get where you want to be.

One of the most challenging aspects of working from home that I have experienced, is that other people (those who don’t “work” from home or those who have a “real” job) don’t understand that even though you are at home, you really are working. Really. Often under time deadlines, with expectations to produce whatever your customer has paid you for. Whether that be a physical product or a digital download or a service, if you are getting paid to do it, then you actually have to get it done. I’m not sure why that seems difficult for some people to comprehend, but I know that it has been difficult for me to explain to people why I haven’t answered their email that they sent me an hour ago, or why I don’t have time for an hour-long phone conversation about what we’re having for supper (especially since I have no clue!), or why I haven’t returned a phone call when they left me a voice message this morning. Deadlines are a real thing!

hello_pumpkin_autumn_wreath_throw_pillow-rf36974e64dc74bd2b61c6d99ad719dfd_6s309_8byvr_324

So as many of you, I’ve been working from home for a long time – which has truly been a blessing for our family as I have two teenage daughters and a husband who works 70 hours a week so everything that happens around here during the week requires my attention, time, energy, and lots of planning and scheduling. I can work on my free-lance editing and writing at 6:00 a.m. if necessary or I can list new products in my Etsy shop at 11:00 pm in my jammies (if I can stay awake that late!) Recently, however the hurdle for me has been all of this home remodeling, painting, and updating that we’ve been doing for the past few months. I have had no time to get out in my sewing room / studio to make new stuff to list in my Etsy shop, and even if I had the time, there is so much other stuff out there that we temporarily relocated from other rooms of the house out to the sewing room while we’ve been painting . . . . so I can’t actually even get to my sewing machine. I hopeful that will change this weekend, so we’ll see how that goes.

Vintage Blue Watercolor Collection

In the meantime, I was getting kind of discouraged because I couldn’t make any new stuff for my shops. Then I discovered that there are websites where you can create digital designs (from your own artwork or by generating digital artwork from other available sources that transform a photo into a watercolor image . . . that kind of thing), and then make various products available with your designs on them. I’ve been doing a bit of research and I believe that if you indicate that you use a production partner, you can even list these items in your Etsy shop. I need to learn more about how that might work, but you can actually set up a little online shop for your creations on the website where you design your products. I think this is becoming popular with creatives and makers because sometimes, when you run your own creative business, you simply can’t keep up with the orders or if you get sick, go on vacation, have a family emergency, you get really stressed when you can’t fulfill your customers’ orders.

vintage_blue_watercolor_floral_throw_blanket-r9380bccd83424a6daf71f5d849641d51_z95e1_324

With my online shop, Graceful Home Studio, I get to take a bit of time in the afternoon or evening when things are quiet around here and just using my computer I can create three or four new designs and list them for sale. It is not only easy, it is lots of fun! It’s kind of like my daily reward for working so hard on my other projects . . . I get to be creative, make pretty stuff, offer it for sale, and I don’t have the pressure of having to ship out anything, and I don’t have any inventory sitting around my studio. I’ve even sold quite a bit of stuff for the few weeks I’ve been playing around with this new adventure!

Autumn Blooms Collection

If you are interested in learning more about this “third-party” ecommerce platform, here are a couple of suggestions of where to get started:

  1. Zazzle – this is my favorite because I like the way the storefront looks. It is easy to use, they have lots of great products that can be altered with your own art work, and you can choose your own percentage of profit. The only thing that I find might be a problem is that the products seem rather expensive, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for the millions of people who purchase stuff there.
  2. Cafe Press – I’ve used this platform before, and I like it, but I just really prefer the storefront on Zazzle.
  3. Printful – this is a (relatively) new one I think, but it has been approved as a manufacturing partner for Etsy shops and I believe you can even integrate your Etsy shop with your creations on Printful. I need to check this one out more, but for now I’ve been busy with my other shops.
  4. GearBubble is also a similar platform that might be worth investigating.
  5. RedBubble is also similar and it’s tagline is, “a global marketplace for independent artists.”

Here are a few of my designs that are currently available from my shop, Graceful Home Studio:

autumn_blue_pumpkin_frosted_mug-r2b23c8a7560c4de98f4c255b4f5aab3d_x7jsm_8byvr_324

autumn_blooms_round_pouf-r9a3b63872ed14afaa2690405029afbe8_z6m2l_324family_gathers_here_farmhouse_style_throw_pillow-r3fc78e6bbdfc4426984fee312c22671d_6s309_8byvr_324

https://www.zazzle.com/vintage_blue_watercolor_floral_coffee_mug-168147030906026658

Bless this Home

If you have any ideas for working from home that you have found that actually work for you and your family, I would love to hear about it! Everyone is different and some people like to “sell stuff” no matter what it is . . . others of us really have a need to “make stuff” and if we get to sell it, that is even better. What has worked for you? Have you considered trying out one of these third-party ecommerce sites?

I hope you can join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party – I always discover some amazing, creative ideas from the bloggers I meet at the party each week. Come on along, it’s fun!

Nina signature

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Please join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop!

Please take the time to get to know ALL of your hostesses

Thursday Favorite Things Banner Katherine

nina CollageThursday Favorite Things Blog Hopangelina collage

An InLinkz Link-up


Filed Under: Blog Hops, Blog Linky Parties, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, Creative inspiration, DIY Home Decor, Katherines Corner, Linky Parties, Linky Party, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Vintage Mama's Cottage, women bloggers Tagged With: 50+ bloggers, blog hops, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, craft bloggers, creative inspiration, creativity, family, Katherine's Corner, linky parties, mommy bloggers, Thursday Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party, Thursday Linky Party, Vintage Mama, Vintage Mama's Cottage, women bloggers

Favorite Things: Making Progress on Fixing Up Our Old House

September 21, 2017 by VintageMama 1 Comment

Sorry I’m late to the party this week . . . it has been a MESS around here lately, and I can’t even get a good picture of all the updates we’ve made over the past couple of  months. I’m working on it! In the meantime here are a few pictures of where we have come from and just a peek at how much progress we’ve made.

Fixing Up Our Old House: Getting Started

This is what it looked like when we first started working on our living room / family room and the sun room which has been used for my home office . . . . .

Cedar Chest 1

this really OLD cedar chest was a gift to me when I graduated from high school. You can see in the first picture how rough it was from all those years of use, kids playing on it, moving it from one house to another to another, from one side of the country to the other and then back again. It actually wasn’t a “true” cedar chest, it was just veneer which had been almost completely ruined over the years, but there was some sentimental value as it is probably the most expensive gift my mother was ever able to give to me.

So we removed all of the hardware and painted it black, and then spray painted it (with my hubby’s trusty new paint sprayer!) a really soft cream / ivory in a satin finish. With the pretty black hardware, I think it turned out beautiful! I am still planning to add a clear coat at least to the top to minimize future dents and scratches, but it looks so much better than before.

The walls are a light gray (Silverado) and the trim is country white (all from our local Walmart!) and I had a few odds and ends around here that I spray painted with the charcoal chalk paint. I did buy a new rug, but the floor lamp is really old, too, so it will need a fresh coat of paint and a new shade and we’ll be all set. I have a shelf that I painted with the charcoal chalk paint, too, as well as a few wall hangings to add, but at the minute this is as far as I got before I needed to get to work on other projects.

Here are a few of the “before” pictures so you can see what a really messy mess we had to deal with . . . . but we are making progress fixing up our old house!

Stripping wallpaper in the living room

Stripping old wallpaper is fun, they said. So I said, “Knock yourself out!” And so they did.

 

The UGLY fireplace

Then there was that fireplace that made me crazy! Everything was so DARK and gloomy in here, so Fashionista Daughter came up with a plan . . . .

White washing the fireplace

We weren’t sure at first that it was going to work, but when it was all finished we were very happy with the results. More pictures tomorrow, gotta run to the next project that is calling my name. Hope you can join us for this week’s Favorite Things Linky Party. See you there!

Nina Signature

*******************************************

Please join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop!

Please take the time to get to know ALL of your hostesses

Thursday Favorite Things Banner Katherine

nina CollageThursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

An InLinkz Link-up


Filed Under: Blog Hops, Blog Linky Parties, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, Craft blogs, Creative inspiration, DIY Home Decor, Home Decor on a Budget, Katherines Corner, Linky Parties, Linky Party, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Vintage Mama's Cottage, women bloggers Tagged With: 50+ bloggers, blog hops, blogging, Christian women, Christian women bloggers, Christian women online, craft bloggers, creative inspiration, creativity, DIY blog, DIY Home Decor, DIY Home Decor on a Budget, DIY projects, family, Katherine's Corner, linky parties, linky party, mommy bloggers, Thursday Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party, Thursday Linky Party, Vintage Mama, Vintage Mama's Cottage, women bloggers

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