My website is up!

For all you candle lovers out there, be sure to check out my website!

http://www.partylite.biz/snickiehbp

(also located in the upper right hand corner of my blog)

Keep an eye out for special deals you can only get through me this holiday season.

Weddings, special events or occasions, fundraisers, gifts or decorating your home with light.

As your Independent Partylite Consultant, I am happy to help!

Little You, personalized children's clothing and accessories

While browsing through our local Saturday Market about a month or two ago, I found this cute little stand with a table full of infant size onsie's with cute little sayings on them. I saw a sign that said something about personalized designs. IDEA!!! How cute would it be to have some shirts designed for my girls for their Adoption Day?! Leanna ( the owner of Little You) came up with several suggestions, and we ended up settling on "Worth the Wait" I couldn't be happier with how my girls shirts turned out. I only wish pictures from that day had turned out as well.

And how much did these personalized shirts cost? $20 a piece?

$25?

Try $11 each, and the graphic design was free!

From Leanna's website:

Little You is owned and operated by Oregon resident Leanna Knutson, who brings over a decade of expertise in graphic design. I am a mother of two who understands the budget you have for baby clothes, but also the pleasure taken in bringing the right aesthetic to your baby's style. We take orders for custom items that can be purchased for special occasions, gifts, and baby showers which includes free graphic work. Items are gift packaged at no additional charge. Thank You for visiting my website!

You can visit Little You online by going to www.little-you.com

New business!

Before we had the girls, my husband and I talked about what it would be like when we had a family. One thing was for sure

I wanted to be a stay at home mom.

If I needed to contribute an income to the household, it would have to be something I could do from home, or where I could set my own hours. I was already doing childcare from my home, so I was pretty much set. When my oldest came home, everything was already in place. There was no changing jobs because my job was already in the home. Then baby #2 came along and we decided to move to another town, we needed more space for our growing family. But that meant starting all over, from scratch, with my childcare businesss.

Which was alright.

At the time I was watching 5 other children in my home through out the day, including a graveyard shift for one family, and weekend care for another.I ALWAYS had kids over. With one baby it was no big deal, but that baby was becoming a toddler, and we'd soon have another baby in our home. We needed the space, and I needed more time for my family.

So I decided to continue the childcare, but week days only, during traditional working hours, and for one family, with no more then 2 children.

It took a while to find the right match (two months actually) but eventually we found another family that fit well with ours, right down to the age of the children, and even the fact that they had grown their family through adoption as well (Read more about that at http://astoldbysnickie.blogspot.com/ ). But their oldest is starting school this year, and their youngest (a few months older then "Bear", my oldest daughter) has been enrolled in a preK program that included their childcare.

I really couldn't be happier for them. Honestly, I was really wanting to spend more one on one time with my girls too. But that still left me with needing to find a job I could do from home. We are a two income household. Aside from childcare, before I had kids I did several work from home jobs.

First I was a Home and Garden Party Consultant (Like home interiors). I wasn't very good at selling this product. The problem was it was home decor, not a consumable product. I'm better with consumable products.

So then I tried Avon. I have a long history with Avon, it's what my mom sold for 15 years, to help put herself through college and bring in some extra income for our family of 7. Make up and lotions and bath products, plus the clothing and movies and toys and home decor, AND the seasonal decorations. Avon was a big hit at Christmas time, and Easter, and Mother's Day, and any other holiday you can think of. Not to mention, when you're running low on cleanser and eyeshadow, it's very convenient to just stock up during one of their sales. The problem was, every two weeks they came out with a new catalog. I couldn't keep up! Plus there was so much merchandise in the catalog, I'd start to feel overwhelmed. Especially when they would retire an item, just to bring it back "by popular demand". Don't get me wrong, I love Avon, and to this day I still buy my make up from them and my daughters bubble baths, and I will always track down an Avon rep in my area at Christmas time. I like to buy, I just don't like to sell it.

I even entertained selling kitchen knives for about a minute and a half (back before the husband, when I was an early high school grad and trying to figure a way out of my parents house). Until going to one of their classes to learn how to sell it, I realized I wouldn't be good at door to door sales at all. Not to mention, there wasn't ANY selection. There was one set of knives to choose from, and it was all or nothing. No thank you.

But I think I have found the proper fit with Partylite, at least for myself. A consumable product that most everyone knows, and that I LOVE! I just had my starter show, and with just 4 orders, made over $500 in sales. That earned me my starter kit (valued at $350) plus the hostess benefits of $125 in free product, two items at half price, a chance to order the hostess specials with even bigger discounts and with 2 bookings I earned an extra $100 in free stuff. I don't even have my kit yet and already word has spread like wildfire that I am back in the business (I sold for a few months a couple years ago, but had family things pop up that took priority) and I have 5 more shows booked and several more people wanting to place orders. It's good to be back, and the added income to the household is a nice bonus as well. Not to mention not having to leave my girls with a sitter.

I'll post a link to my website in a couple of weeks. But I was just so excited to share the new and exciting opportunities that have come my way.

This blog is for all you work at home/stay at home moms and dads. It will feature my opinions on the pros and cons of stay at home/work at home jobs that I come across and maybe even some free advertising on my blog for businesses run by work at home parents. Not to mention advertising of my own business with Partylite, and all things candles.

Email me at tyukumoto@gmail.com if you have a home business that you would like featured. Don't forget to add me to your favorites and spread the word!