Sparkly Creepy Crawlies

We are heading into the second week that my husband has been home. In the construction business, things tend to slow down in the winter months. This winter has been slower than usual. I blame the economy. I have to decided to not allow myself to worry. What does worry really do for you other than give you ulcers? Instead, I am falling back to the natural talents that God gave me, both because they relax me and they bring in much needed cash.

I write because I love it and it brings in income but I do other things as well. I am a craftaholic. If Pinterest were a store, I would move right in. Forever. Yesterday I put my computer away and brought out all of my jewelry making supplies. I sat and made spiders. Yes, I said spiders. Those eight legged, creepy crawlies that I prefer never to come face to face with, but in jeweled tones, I not only like them, I see them as something beautiful.

Bugs are the big thing in jewelry this year. Don't ask me why. I really have no idea but I do know that they are easy to make and can be used in anything from scarf pins to hair bands to necklaces and bracelets. The list is really only as limited as your imagination.

My picture came out a little fuzzy. Maybe photography will be my next hobby but for now, I am just going to make a whole pile of crystal spiders and put them on what ever tickles my fancy. My youngest daughter, who does not like bugs at all, saw one of these little spiders and asked if I would make her a scorpion as a scarf pin.  I am going to do just that. Everything else will go in my etsy store and hopefully, find new homes.

My point in telling you all of this is that we each have natural talents that bring us joy and calm us when everything else seems to be going wrong. They can help get us through rough financial spots too. Doing what you love is not work. It is pure joy. Finding ways to earn a living doing what you love will allow you to live in that sweet spot forever. Kind of like if I was allowed to live inside Pinterest.

How do you turn your hobby into income? I suppose that would depend on your hobby. If you are an artist or crafter, run a search on places that will allow you to sell your art online. Etsy and ebay are both great places to start. You can place free ads on craigslist to sell what ever item or service that you are offering. There are also local yard sale sites on facebook that allow you to post your item/service for sale. Just run a search string: yardsales in (insert town or zip code).

Spending money to begin advertising is not necessary in the beginning. All of the websites that I mentioned will allow you to advertise for free and I know that there are more out there. When your business grows to the point that you need to reach out further, you can pay for advertising then.

I have found several lists of sites that offer part time work from home. I am going through those sites one by one to see which ones are not scams. Once I am through that list, I will post the legitimate sites here for you, but if you need a job now that is an actual J-O-B and not a home based business, I have two that I know to be legitimate. Westathome.com hires home based call representatives. I have worked for them and they do provide a two week training period (that you get paid for) and you are allowed to set your own schedules as long as you work at least 20 hours per week. I was paid on time, every time. You will need a basic phone line so that they can route their calls to you. The calls are generally those who are ordering from infomercials and catalog sales from several companies. When I last worked for them, I was taking orders for Eddie Bauer.

The draw back for West is that if you have satellite internet service or Voip, it isn't going to work. We now have satellite, otherwise I would still be working for them. I liked them very much. The other work at home job that I know of is West's competitor, AlpineAccess.com. They do the very same thing that West does. I have heard nothing but good things about them as far as making sure that you are paid on time, every time. You can also go to WAHM.com (Work at home moms) and scan through their job board. You will need to sign up for a free membership but it is totally worth it. The site has tons of information about working from home, a forum where you can network and get advice and the job board is updated daily. I visit the site often and have found several freelance jobs there.

As for me, I'm heading back to my bead boxes, needles, threads and wire. I have scorpions to make. If all goes well, these sparkly little bugaloos will keep the bills at bay. May you all have a sparkly day!