Reversible scarecrow snowman porch sign, how this custom order brought me to tears

I love fun décor. My grandma was the queen at free handing pieces like these. Hers were WAY more detailed and more amazing that anything I could ever dream of doing though. She had an eye and talent of taking old discarded pieces of anything, rusty saw blades, pieces of drift wood, old shoe horns, and turning them into beautiful works of art.

I am proud to say that I got a small morsel of her free handing abilities though. Although I don’t do a ton of free hand work I do enjoy creating this particular piece. I love that no two signs are identical. I love flaws. I love imperfections. I have never been a perfectionist….thankfully. I am a momma and Lord knows life with kids is full of imperfections.

We’ve been making this particular sign reversible porch sign for a few years in our shop and I love when I see these orders pop across our dashboard.

This winter we got a message from a super sweet lady requesting us to make her two of these reversible porch pieces. And she also asked if we could add a little extra touch to them. She was buying them for a friend of hers that was going through a pretty rough season in her life. Her friend had been faced with a lot of heartache in the last year and she wanted gift her something special.

She requested we add cardinals to the hats of these sweet guys. See, her friend had lost loved ones in recent months and when people see a cardinal they tend to associate them with their loved ones who have passed on. It’s not often we get such sentimental requests in our shop so when I read this one I broke down. It hit pretty close to home for me. I’ve lost many people in my life that I love and care so deeply for and when I see a cardinal I think of them too.

I’m not going to lie, I was so nervous creating these pieces for her friend. This was such an honor. Such a big job. Such a sweet request. And I couldn’t let her down.

But there was just one problem…I had never free handed a bird before. That wasn’t stopping me {after all, I’m a mom of four, us moms can pretty much do anything if we set our mind to if we try}! I couldn’t use stencils because the rest of the face was all done free hand, talk about mismatched. So I practiced a few times on a piece of scrap paper. The first few didn’t turn out so great but I finally drew the perfect cardinal and I was so darn proud!!

I decided I was going to cut that perfect little guy out and lightly draw him on the hat brims. This way they were similar but not identical. I was so happy with the outcome of these! They have so much love behind them and I am happy our little shop got to spread happiness to not just the women who lost her loved ones but also her friend that gifted them to her.

I sent our customer a picture of them once they were finished and she was so insanely happy. She had nothing but the most kind words to say to us. Again, insert the tears!

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You can order your own handmade reversible SNOWMAN SCARECROW porch sign here

Do you LOVE DIY? Try my super simple CRAFT KITS. Everything you need to create your own Pinterest worthy pieces at home.

SAHM into Mompreneur, adjusting into this new role in life

Being a mom is hard. Throwing the mompreneur in there...that takes it to a whole new level!

My husband and I have 4 smart and beautiful little girls. Before our precious daughters came along we knew I would stay home with them. While it works great for some, we didn't want to put our babies in daycare. So, a week before our oldest made her debut I quit my job as a hair stylist and then spent the next 10 years being a SAHM. Over that time we welcomed 3 more daughters into our lives and let me tell ya, I don't regret not going back to work for one second!

I am so incredibly thankful I got to be the one to take care of them 24/7 while they were babies. I got to be the one to change all the dirty diapers, clean up the puke, pick them up from preschool and the one to be there for all their classroom parties. I wouldn't trade it for a career working for someone else, those days are so precious and I will cherish them always. 

Fast forward and here we are running a brick and mortar/online business! How on earth did that even happen? I NEVER in my wildest dreams thought this dream would come true. This kind of stuff doesn't happen in real life. In real life moms don't turn into mompreneurs. In real life moms don't chase their dreams. In real life things like this just don't work out...or do they?

Since I was little I dreamed of owning my own craft business. Crafting and DIYing has always been my life.  When my business was just a hobby I did little craft shows here and there {one craft show in particular I actually did 3 days after we had our 3rd daughter! Who does that??!!} and had my creations in some local boutiques. It wasn't till we were pregnant with our fourth daughter that I knew I could make a real business out of this whole "crafting" thing. Other people did it why couldn't I? And so our journey on Etsy began. I do have to admit that I sat on that Etsy shop for MONTHS before I got the courage to actually list anything.

I'm still learning every single day of what it's like to be a mompreneur. It's all trial and error, trying to find your own rhythm. What works for one family won't necessarily work for another.

Here are my tips to help you and your family adjust into the mompreneur life.

• Communication with your spouse. This is KEY for any successful business. If your aren't sharing with your spouse your dreams and goals, more than likely you won't achieve them. There is something about saying them out loud that makes them real.
• Set your hours. This can be during the day while the kiddos are at school, a few hours in the afternoon, or late at night while the rest of the house is sleeping. Whatever your hours are be sure you show up! When you show up you are proving to yourself that your business WILL be successful.
• Leave the housework alone while you are working your business. I'll admit this one was hard for me. I would start on order then while paint was drying I would put in a load of laundry then while putting it away I would notice the dishwasher needed to be loaded...before I knew it it was time to pick the kids up from school. Don't do this to yourself. It's so tempting but your business will suffer.
• If your kiddos are old enough and they don't already have chores, set up a chore chart. This has been life changing for our family. Before I would have our girls help with things but it wasn't till this past summer that I realized we have way too much laundry and way too many dirty dishes every single day. So I set up a chore chart and it has made our girls think twice before they get yet another glass down for water even thought the one they had an hour ago is still clean. Or before they change their clothes for the 10th time for the day and throw them on the floor...
• SCHEDULE, you need a schedule to keep your sanity. I struggle with this I admit. I was NOT a schedule kind of mom before having our business. But now I'm finding that I feel better on the days that have a schedule. I don't feel like my head is going to explode on those days. Our online business has developed into our brick and mortar and while I'm still adjusting into that life there are things that I have down. We are only open 4 days a week. On the other days I do our grocery shopping and our business runs. I do all the cutting and sanding on certain days and don't do anymore the rest of the week. If we run out of certain bases for our walk in crafting I don't replace it till the next week. At first I did but that got to be too much so we decided we would just have a certain number of projects for the week and once they were gone they were gone.
• SELF CARE I'm not talking about going to the beauty shop to get pampered. I'm referring to getting enough sleep, eating right, drinking enough water, and feeling your best. I know for me there are days I forget to eat or drink enough water and my brain is fogged and I can't find the words I'm trying to say. On the days where I try my best to get enough self care I notice a big difference in myself.

I hope this helps another momma out there go after something she's been dreaming of doing. Just remember, this mompreneur thing isn't easy. You'll have good days and bad ones but at the end of the day it's worth it.