Tiny Plastic Houses

The Holiday Season Approaches!

As the holiday season approaches, I find myself thinking of all the things I’ll have on my plate during the next few months. First there’s Halloween and El Dia De Los Muertos, with their scary costumes, sugar skulls and falling leaves. Then we have Thanksgiving, full of delicious dinners and family time… And finally, there’s Christmas and New Year’s, which are never complete without gift giving, song singing and lot’s of fun gatherings of all my favorite people!

… And all this piled on top of my newly registered business, my photography pursuits and my family’s needs and wants! Before I began feeling truly overwhelmed, I decided I’d better sit down and decide what my goals for the upcoming quarter really are.

Seasonal ToDo’s (Personal & Professional)

• Finish Kids’ Costumes

This is huge! Being big She-Ra fans, each has picked a character from the cartoon to mimic this year. Miranda is to be She-Ra herself, sword and all, while Mae has chosen Frosta with her blue hair and snowflake staff to emulate.

She-Ra: Miranda’s Inspiration	Frosta: Mae’s Inspiration

I think I’ve got a good bead on how I’m going to make them happen in a cost-effective manner.We’ve already got the wigs and I purchased body suits to go under so everyone stays warm (and non-wardrobe-malfunctional). I’ve also got a portion of Frosta’s blue leggings procured, I think. Now, onto the rest! With funds tight this year, cutting corners is a must, but I hope I can put together something pleasing for both girls! I’ll keep you posted via Facebook, Twitter and, of course, the blog as things progress, I’m sure!

• Seasonal Photography

I really need to get out and photograph some of the beautiful fall foliage, fun decorations, goblins, freaks or spooks and all the other stuff that really says “Fall” to me.

I’ve been looking through the festival calendars and have a few that I think would be best for the family and I to attend and that would give us a lot of great pics. I’ll be sure to post up my favs as they’re captured.

I’d also like to get some good winter shots as the season progresses. I mean, nothing gives good bokeh like Christmas lights!

• Get the Business in Order

My goals this season are to simply get established on Etsy, possibly put something together on Zazzle with Jas, and to figure out what I need to do the weekend art show circuit.

Since I only recently started my Etsy shop, I am looking for unique growth and promotion strategies and trying to figure out the best way to get my art noticed and items purchased.

I also hope to introduce some other items based on my photography, like tile coasters, hand bags or coin purses, jewelry and paintings/drawings, that can be purchased as gifts this holiday season.

Oh! And selling enough items to clear cost and propel some of my future artistic endeavors would be great!

• Help the Children Get Settled

We’ve been switching the children’s rooms around this month and I’d really like it all settled by the middle of October. We’ve gotten the toy room cleared out. (This in and of itself is a massive feat!) Now it’s on to Mae’s room, where we get all those toys, clothes, collectibles and other things sorted, thrown out, sent to Goodwill or filed away. Then, it’s on to Miranda’s room, where the same must happen along with moving her prized possessions into the old toy room, where she’ll have more space, brighter walls and, hopefully, a happier disposition!

The Toy Room After A MASSIVE Clean-up

Since everyone has full-time day jobs, we work on these projects primarily on our weekends since the day-to-day grind of housework, homework, product creation and school events takes up most of our week. Still, I think this is doable in 2-4 weekend days and everyone will be settled in their happy places before Halloween!

• Have a REAL Holiday Party

I’m hoping to host a holiday party for our friends to drop in, say “Hello” and have a drink or two… Maybe some other refreshment. I guess it’s more of a very casual, later-in-the-day, semi-cocktail party with light music and conversation, small gifts and prizes, some interesting beer, a few mixers and hors d’ovres? (What does one call this in the real world? :-/ ) I admit, my social skills are, at best, classified under “Awkward” and I don’t normally host get-togethers, because, honestly, I don’t have many to get together with! But I’m not all bad, once you get to know me (and if I am, then I’m bad in a good way, right?!) and Jas has a lot of friends and I’d like to host a party for them all to share some time with one another, throwing out the odd war story or spin a few new yarns.

I hoped the girls would play supervised hostess to any other children who might come, entertaining them in the upstairs play/media room we hope to put together once the rooms have been switched up.

(Ok, not quite like that… But you get the idea! )

• Art Stuffs & Reclaiming the Back Jungle

I’ve been working on an image that I hope will resonate with female mechanics, greasers and any girl who works on or enjoys classic cars of all ilks. The graphic is slow going, though, mostly because I feel like I have no where to be. My work room is full of Jason’s things and a gigantic mess that I can’t even muddle through. My living room, on any given day, looks like a tornado hit it, even after I’ve cleaned all day! (Thanks, Family ) and I really have no space to exist in my own home! I think it’s time to reclaim the back room, get Jas to sort through all the junk he’s piled in there and maybe, just maybe, carve out a little space for me. I mean, it is my house after all!

Wish me luck ,

~H

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 at 10:52 am. It is filed under Blog, Connect. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.