Greetings!
Needless to say, the past few years have been life-changing for many of us. Personally, I kicked off the pandemic by having a baby in a COVID hotspot. Then we moved in with my parents to be closer to family. Then the hubs changed jobs. Then we bought a car. Then we bought a house and permanently moved across the state. Recently I lost a large percentage of my job.
How do I deal with stress and anxiety? I get super creative.
Thus 2020 meant nesting hardcore by painting, tiling, building a deck, and generally making landscaping where there was none at our first house.
Then I redid my parents’ basement.
Then I started tackling the unending projects that still lie before me in our 3800 sq. ft., 1990s brown everywhere you look, wall anchor-infested fixer-upper.
Along the way, I’ve documented it all, mostly by pictures. And I’ve found overwhelming support in my DIY endeavors to the point that I’m now turning all this into something I should have done a long time ago – a business based on the activity I love the most, i.e. creating awesome surroundings and treasures out of what most people consider junk.
I’m also nothing if not a storyteller. Like I said, I documented all this DIY madness. I figured that someday when life with the toddlers calmed down (feel free to laugh at me here!), I’d start blogging about my projects. Well, now that I barely have a day job, this seems as good a time as any!
…And I might as well start selling some cool art pieces. I’ve been told all my life “You could make that!” and “You should sell that!” So, I’ll give it a whirl, and the SunnyMommyCreations Etsy shop will be opening soon.
…And maybe I’ll hire myself out for reno projects. (My mom’s taken advantage of my talents for years, so why not? 😉)
OR maybe I’m having a midlife crisis. Whatever. But really, it’s about time I did something like this. My girls are so used to my “mommy projects” that they know to “ooh” and “aah” when I’m done to make me feel good. They also know this usually earns them a cookie.
(Btw, while maybe I shouldn’t make marketing decisions at the advice of a 3-year-old, I thought her nickname of “SunnyMommy” had a nice ring to it. Seriously, do you have any idea how many Etsy shops already use my first name somehow?! I had to get creative.)
Anyway…
I aim to blog weekly with different projects I’ve worked on. I’ll include how-to instructions as much as I can and offer tips I’ve learned. (I’m a wealth of info on what NOT to do!) I’ve also spent months pinned under sleeping babies, so I’ve gotten really good at online research and shopping for deals on the best (and usually inexpensive) supplies, tools, etc. If you’re looking to do these sort of projects yourself, I’ll tell you where I purchase what I use and what works best…and what doesn’t. I’m by no means an expert, but I’ve gotten pretty good at a lot of house reno and think I have a pretty good eye for what looks good.
Nothing is more fun and fulfilling than making something pretty where before there was only something blah. I’ve always assumed I had a little artistic talent but that basically anyone could do what I do. I’m just really good at Pinterest! 😂 But maybe I DO have ideas and tricks and supply-shopping hacks that could help other people tackle DIY projects that aren’t as impossible as they may think – sometimes we just have to roll up our sleeves and get messy.
So join me and learn as I go!