Best Advice for Choosing Bridesmaid Gifts

You have bridesmaid gift buying on your mind but choosing something they will cherish and actually use after your wedding day is a challenge. I have addressed some commonly asked questions to help advise you in making the best gift choice for your bridal party.

Stress Reducing Steps to Take Before Demo Day

As I stood under a temporary porch cover at my outdoor sink washing a day's worth of dishes I called my sister to chat.

A wicked wind came out of nowhere and started swirling and grabbing at the tarps protecting a portion of our unfinished remodel. A light rain was falling. The sky turned an eery green color and I felt like I was in a scene from Twister.

I wasn't sure if I should finish the dishes or go inside as I described the situation to my sister. She started laughing and said, "Wait! You had me at 'washing the dishes outside'! You have this remodel thing down and you should write about it."

So I am...

When a Home Remodel Becomes a Life Remodel

It was January 2017. We thought it would be the year to finally dive in to a long awaited home remodel. The timing seemed right and we were certain enough about it that we drew up plans, purchased appliances and contacted sub-contractors.

Then, what started out as a home remodel suddenly turned into a life remodel and all construction plans were put on hold.

How to Critique Your Etsy Shop - Does It Need a Fixer Upper?

Just like our home needs a Fixer Upper from time to time, so does our Etsy shop.

When Chip and Joanna Gaines take their clients to 2-3 houses to choose from for their Fixer Upper purchase, there are a handful of things they consider and concentrate their efforts on when redesigning a home for them.

• Curb Appeal 
• Focal Point 
• Style 
• Open Spaces 
• Color
• Organized 
• Budget 

So how can we take these concepts into your Etsy shop and transform your space into a place where your customers will enjoy their shopping experience, want to stay for a long time and come back again and again?

Grab some paper and a pen to make some notes and let's consider each of these ideas.

7 Strategies for Building a Newsletter Mailing List for Your Etsy Business

Let me start out by saying that Etsy has strict rules about emailing newsletters to customers without their permission. But, there are strategies you can use for building a newsletter mailing list that are integrated into offering great customer service and that work within the Etsy guidelines.

An email newsletter list is a powerful sales tool that is often overlooked by small business owners, especially Etsy shop owners. Personally, for the first couple of year of my Etsy business, I never considered it to be an option for me because the subject was too confusing and seemingly unimportant. 

Today, I’ll be sharing what I've learned, some of the tools I use and several techniques that have given me results. 

Curious? Then let’s get started.