Thrift Girl Crafts

I’ve started small businesses before, and I learned from the past that it’s not always easy or cheap and the hardest part is keeping the revenue flowing. My small business experience is based from my home, and my expenses by far have always outweighed my revenue. But, when I left my full time job to be a stay at home mom, I found that often I was extremely bored. So I started to craft (scrapbooking, crochet, and sewing) as a way to fill in those lulls during nap time and bed time, or when I just couldn’t sleep. After a while, I started having all these finished projects lying around because I just wanted to learn a new technique or try a new pattern. One day, I thought to myself, I need to find a way to make some extra cash to support my crafting habit, but there was no way with all the craziness on the calendar that I could possibly go back to work. That’s when Thrifty Girl Crafts popped into my head. At first I was a little on the downer side about the idea, mostly because I have a business that is technically still open, but I don’t market so therefore I don’t profit. I also am independently contracted with my local JoAnn Craft Store as a Wilton Method Cake Decorating Instructor, and more recently have been helping out with crochet classes as well. Neither of these opportunities could support me or my family, but are fun and do get me out of the house on occasion. So I put it to myself this way: Start an Etsy shop, it is cheap, easy, and there are helpful tools to get started. If you sell stuff, great; if not no loss. For a while this method of thinking worked, but after a few weeks of not even a single onlooker to my store, I decided I want to put more into it. I want to learn to utilize Etsy to its fullest potential. And I also decided that I wanted to really learn my trade by taking as many classes as possible. So, in the next several posts, I am going to share my learning experience. I am going to share with you classes I’ve found useful, ideas/tips that have been helpful, and an update as to how it all is going. This marks day one of my new journey in life and I can’t wait to see where this path takes me. My first task is to get organized! I need to set a schedule for myself for each week so I can manage all the craziness in my life. Here’s to the journey that is life and all the adventures that come with it!

Learning to Sew--Being Trendy, Thrifty, and Crafty all in one shot.

So being a stay at home mom while my other half goes to college full time and holds a part time job and pays for everything, I've learned many things this past year. Most of all, when money is tight, new clothes are almost a non-existent thing in this house. So, learning to use my sewing machine has become an essential to-do on my list. In my quest to learn, I've explored many options, but most places online or in person want you to spend a ton of cash on class tuition and supplies (and that is something I just cannot do right now). So I tried to look for free patterns online, and I found a bunch, but realized I lack the skills to complete the project. I decided I needed to go back to square one and learn to do the basics first. And that is when I found Professor Pincushion! It's an online blog with video tutorials. Now so far I've only watched a couple of the videos, and some of the information I already knew, but the tutorials are great. She is really detailed in her explanations and there are great projects to complete at each step of learning to practice your skills and get a great finished project. Now I get to learn to sew, on my own time, for free and complete cool projects along the way! This is one happy crafty momma!! Take a look at the website, sign up for the basics for free (or $5/month for the premium access) and get going! I'm definitely looking forward to creating new and creative projects to add to my recently open Etsy shop (more on that adventure coming soon!) Happy Crafting!