Dreams: Christmas Cards

What's more unique than a handmade Christmas card? A hand painted Christmas card.

My Christmas factory has been busily designing, creating and painting Christmas cards. Thanks to a good friend, Rick, I received and finished my first order of 16 homemade, hand painted cards! Done in layers of colored paper with the main image painted in acrylics, I have illustrated Cowboy Snowmen.

For the Cowboy Snowman and snow, I used a base of purple with glaze then add layers of white and blue. The hat is painted in layers of yellow ochre with glaze, tan and brown using white and black to highlight and shadow.

But I'm not limiting myself to just Cowboy Snowmen. I'm painting poinsettias, ferns, Christmas balls and holly. Interested? Please go to my website millerswrappedexpression.com

Dreams of Saving Money

It's difficult to save money these days what with the economy the way it is. If you're without a job or your hours have been cut back, it's next to impossible if not entirely impossible to save for that rainy day, vacation and/or retirement.

My parents didn't teach me how to save or economize. They didn't tell me to save at least fifteen percent of my pay checks. It wasn't until I was in my thirties I even heard about putting a portion of my income away into a savings account. They also never suggested to me to wait for sales to buy clothing, vehicles, food or anything for that matter. And, how many of us have ever heard the words don't buy what you can't afford? What we do hear plenty of is buy with credit. We're inundated with that message.

When I was a kid growing up on a farm, whenever my parents needed extra money Daddy would sell a hog or two. Unfortunately, I don't have that option today but I have learned to not buy what I can not afford.

This brings me to my list of things we do to save.

• There are no credit cards in this house. Nothing is purchased with credit. What would happen if we did then found ourselves without jobs? Think about it because in today's world losing a job is more likely to happen than not.
• We paid off our car early. Yes, I did say I don't buy what I can not afford but few of us have ten thousand dollars laying around to buy a used car.
• That's another lesson I learned: Don't buy a brand new vehicle. Think of the money lost in interest and car value when you drive it off the lot. I saved at least ten thousand dollars (not including interest) buying used instead of new.
• In a past post, I wrote about using coupons. Wait for the coupon. We NEVER buy glucosamine at full price nor do I buy supplies for my hobbies at full price. We wait for the fifty and forty percent off coupons. In truth, we use coupons for everything from dish soap to oil changes.
• Our bank offers the opportunity to save when we use our debit card by rounding up the dollar amount then putting it into a special savings account. At the end of the year, they match the savings up to $250.
• When I saw our bank was charging us a minimum balance fee, I called and threatened to change banks. We pay no fee what so ever.
• We mow our own lawn, turn out lights, keep the thermostat at sixty eight during the winter and eighty during the summer.

What is the number one thing I do to save? Fear. I use my fear of being without money as the main driving force to save. If you've never been able to pay for utilities, make the car or house payment, or pay rent, you will understand the fear. Other wise, you'll simply have to use your imagination.

Website and Blog Optimization: Not for the Amateur

My dream of optimizing my website, https://sites.google.com/site/millerswrappedexpression/, and blogs (this blog plus http://paintcreaterepurpose.blogspot.com/) has been shot down. Finding that I can't took nearly a day.

My biggest road block? I'm not familiar with HTML and using a free optimizer requires that I do. I could wing it but I risk screwing up my website and I have no friends to help me here in town. According to the free optimizer instructions, if I don't know HTML then I should find a web master to help me. So much for retaining independence.

So, what do I do now? The answer: Continue researching using key words like optimizer. That said, it is one of the basic necessities for getting a website known. Use key words people most likely would search.

Next, I will find other websites like mine and ask for a reciprocal link.

I already have my blogs and website URLs in the signature of my email which is helpful.

As for my blogs, I have begun clicking the share button to share them on a social network.

For both my website and blogs, I have taken advantage of AdSense, a free add-on that puts advertisements on my sites according to content. According to my account, people have visited my sites and I have had click-throughs which has earned me about ten dollars. Still, it's exposure.

Many people have the information I need. I find it all over the Internet. It's simply a matter of reading, studying and using the information I find.

If you can't afford a website and you utilize free space offers on your own with no help from a web master, expect to use the basic of basic methods to get traffic moving through it.

Dream of Making/Earning Extra Money or Income

I dream about making extra money all of the time. Some questions I ask myself are, "What can I sell on Craigslist?" "What legitimate websites offer opportunities to earn extra income?" "How can I optimize my website and blogs using the tools Google (and other search engines) offer?"

Using Craigslist was easy but a hit and miss endeavor. It involves testing items to sell. Last Spring when I started my garden I decided I would test selling young, three inch tall sunflower and tomato plants. Once they were to height, I listed them in two separate listings for $2 each. The listing titles simply said, "3" Sunflower Plants", or "3" Tomato Plants".

To my surprise, I sold them all and had to plant more to sell. I concluded young plants generate interest as Spring gets underway; that next Spring I will plant other flowers in addition to the sunflowers and vegetables in addition to the tomatoes. I will also ask $3 for the young seedlings upping the price by $1.

On the other hand, I have listed two solid wood end tables. These I listed at $10 each. The post generated interest but nobody was willing to pay $10 each for solid wood end tables. I'm not willing to go down on price because they're solid wood. That people don't want to pay my asking price leads me to believe people who can afford new furniture don't shop Craigslist.

I have also tested hand painted wine bottles, new teddy bears, Styrofoam(TM), plastic vases, homemade candles, etc. None of the items sold.

The thing about test marketing is this: The success (selling the item) or failure (not selling the item) depends on many factors like the time of year, consumer confidence, if people are able to get out and about to purchase (i.e. is there a virus going around or is there flooding), if what you're selling is desirable. There are more factors to consider but you catch my drift.

But I'm not letting up testing unsold items on Craigslist. I will continue listings those unsold items but I will change the verbiage, pictures, or pricing. Any one of these changes might make a difference as to whether I sell the items or not.

The other two questions I asked myself (see first paragraph) I am still researching. I'm sure to find the answers at some point.

Some Dreams Don't Come True

I had a dream of becoming a contributor for a popular how-to site. I enjoy writing especially about things I have conceptualized and made. Although I know I'm not a fantastic writer, I thought I would submit my application. After all, the worst that could happen is they would say no.

The application process required a resume. I dug out my back up CDs, found my resume, re-worked it then saved it to my personal desk top folder.

The website also required sample writing. What I should have done was submit a piece I had written and re-written several times to ensure there were no mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Instead, I wrote a new piece. I read it over several times, corrected the mistakes I found then headed to the website to fill out the application.

I entered all the required information which was basic like my name and address; attached my sample piece and my resume, hit the submit button then waited.

It took only a couple of hours to receive their response; surprising considering they must receive hundreds of applications a day. My application was declined. I was hurt but only a little as I had no great expectations but I did wonder what was wrong with my writing sample. I pulled it up and re-read it.

Tarnation! There was a mistake in the last paragraph. I had re-written a sentence but neglected to remove a word. Obviously, I hadn't re-read what I had corrected. Lesson: Be sure to re-read what you have written before submitting it as a sample of your work especially if you seriously want to be hired to write how-tos for money.

I dreamed; I tried but apparently sabotaged myself. So, on to the next dream...

Easy Homemade Rug or Repurposing

Browsing second hand and donation stores is a favorite pastime of mine. It's even better when I score.

At Goodwill, I found two tapestry-like pillow shams for 59 cents each that I converted into bathroom rugs. Although they were pretty thick and cushy already, I wanted them to be thicker so I cut an old towel in half and inserted a half into a pocket at one end of each sham. If I had wanted them even thicker I would have inserted a whole towel in the pockets by laying it flat and inserting one end in each pocket.

Next, I folded the shams in half (along the long edge not the narrow edge) and whip stitched the edges together with matching embroidery floss pulling the floss though the gold cords that adorn the shams' edges. The sham rugs add a classy touch and look much better than a folded towel on the floor. What's even better? They were inexpensive!

Homemade Thanksgiving/Autumn Candle Bouquet

I was on a mission to make our Thanksgiving table more decorative this year. True to form, I began searching the house for materials and ideas when I spied the orange candles I made sitting in glass holders. It didn't take long for me to decide I wanted to make something a bit more attractive for them to set in.

My husband had set aside vegetable cans he had emptied the contents from and rinsed. Grabbing them, I set to work.

First, I washed and dried them. Next, I wiped the exterior with alcohol to remove any sort of film then I set about painting them with acrylic paint. After choosing the colors, I painted the background. Because there isn't one spot in our house that is formal, I didn't mind if the silver of the can showed through a littler here and there. And to tell the truth, you'd have to use several layers of paint to entirely cover the metal.

After the paint dried, I sprayed them with flat finish lacquer.

I didn't have any artificial flowers on hand and I knew the hobby stores were having great sales on their autumn flora so off I went to find a great deal on flowers. I found a small bouquet of orange and red flowers for 60% off which was perfect and matched the cans I painted.

Next, at a dollar store, I found a roll of moss for - you guessed it - a buck. When I got home, I rummaged through the garage and found the Styrofoam I had removed and saved from some teddy bear candy bouquets my husband was unable to sell.

The blocks were not so large that I couldn't simply shove them into the cans but I knew if they were too large I could take a serrated knife and saw off the edges.

After the Styrofoam blocks were in place, I glued the moss on using hot glue; removed some fabric flower heads and sprays from their plastic stems then hot glued them into place.

The candles sticks wouldn't set on top of the Styrofoam so with a small knife I cut out a shallow holes, put some plumbers putty on the bottom of the candle sticks then pushed them into place.

Now all I have to do is make napkins and place mats for our Thanksgiving table.