Mermaids at the Zoo

     Lately the 4 year old has been very inquisitive about animals.  More specifically which animals are real and which are make believe.  Are Fairies real or just in stories?  Are giraffes real or just in movies?  Do trolls really exist or are they fake?  Are dinosaurs real or made up?  I have been fielding questions like these for days, weeks, forever!  Ok maybe not forever but so frequently in the past month or so and it feels like an eternity of real or fake animal questions and answers.  The big girls had all last week off from school due to fall break and Grandpa Dennis was in town giving our friend Carl a ride home from Texas after his traveling buddy had a bad motorcycle accident soooooo LET'S GO TO THE ZOO!

     I had mentioned a few weeks ago to my handsome hubby that a trip to the Denver Zoo would be an excellent way for Paige to see which animals are real and which are not.  Since the girls are out of school and Grandpa is here now seems like the perfect time so off we go!  My hubby, father-in-law and daughter #1 went up to Casper, WY for a few days so my handsome hubby could get some work done and then they drove down to Denver.  I loaded up little Byerlys #2-4 and drove over the mountains (through the snow) to meet up with them.  We visited the Front Range cousins at their new home and enjoyed dinner with them then let the girls swim in the hotel pool.  All this time Paige has no idea what we are planning for the next day.  I love surprises!!!!  

     It's ZOO DAY!  We wake up in our cozy crowded (there are 6 of us in a double queen room!) hotel room and everyone showers, primps, pastes on their faces and prepare for the day!  We grabbed a quick and yummy and FREE breakfast at the hotel and headed out on our adventure.  Since my hubby had driven down from Wyoming, I had driven over from home and neither of us would be going back to where the cousins live we had to take 3 vehicles from Loveland to the zoo.  Convoy!  Well, it was a convoy until the front range cousin who spends a lot of time in crazy metro traffic got tired of driving slow like us country cousins and flew by us... then there were two.  Haha.  We arrived at the zoo, found parking, opened up strollers, packed in bags of snacks and diapers and started our adventure.  As soon as we walked through the front gates the 4 year old realized where we were and she was THRILLED!  

     We walked all of the 80 acres that the Denver zoo covers.  They were featuring a neat exhibit aimed at bringing attention to ocean pollution where trash is used to create sea creature sculptures.  Cool.  We saw every "real" animal they had to show us.  There were penguins, monkeys, zebras, birds of many colors, lions, tigers, and bears, Oh my!  We were almost back to the entrance when the 4 year old spotted... Mermaids. That's right people- mermaids at the zoo.  So after telling the 4 year old for hours that now she can learn which animals are real and which are fake because every animal that is in the zoo is a real animal here in front of me set 2 mermaids.  Ugh.  The 4 year old is ecstatic though! She runs over to the sirens of the sea and throws her arms around their necks and enthusiastically introduces herself.  She asks for pictures with both and pets the scales on their tales and their fins.  She runs over to her daddy, shaking with excitement and yells, "I JUST MET A REAL MERMAID. MERMAIDS ARE REAL! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO MEET A MERMAID!" 

     And so our 5 hour drive over the mountains through the snow to see every "real" animal in the zoo taught the 4 year old that fairies, trolls, and pegasus are probably just make believe and that giraffes, hippos and mermaids are most definitely without question real.  

 

Thanks for stopping by to check-in on my 4 Little Byerlys.  Have a great day!

My Chalky & Company adventure...begins.

     About 6 months ago I started using a product called painters powder from Chalky & Company.  It mixes with latex paint and gives a "chalky" finish to items painted with the mix.  I love it!  After using it for months on the crafts that I sell I asked myself a question, "Why am I paying full price for this product when I could be getting a discount and possibly earning $$$ by selling it?"  Silly me!  So I contacted the nice lady that sold me my product and signed up!
     I fell in love with this company right away.  Like literally the moment I opened my starter kit box!  I lifted the lid and found a hand written Welcome message from the co-founder of the company Buffy Dumont.  How cool is that?! I have been involved with a few direct sales companies over the years and never have I ever felt so welcomed into a company.  I couldn't even tell you who the founder, co-founder, or owners of the direct sales companies that I have been with in the past are but with this company I was personally welcomed by one of them!  That just amazed me.  Before the box even arrived my upline added me to several private Facebook groups that are all about Chalky & Company and I received dozens and dozens of welcomes by the other group members.  Just moments from becoming an independent consultant with this company I knew already that I had made a great decision in joining the company!

After I opened my box and started unpacking my items I found reason #2 why I love Chalky & Company: each package is a treasure... in a treasure chest! 

Who doesn't love receiving awesome products in treasure chests!? Love these boxes! So... after I opened my starter kit and played around with the products a bit I felt like it was time to have my first Chalky party.  A friend of mine is also in direct-sales and suggested that we do a party swap.  She would host a Chalky party for me and I would host an Arbonne party for her. Perfect!  Her party was small- just herself, her daughter, one friend and myself.  This was a perfect way to start out!  I know and enjoy being around these ladies and was comfortable in the hostess' home.  It made my first party go smoothly and encouraged me to do more... plus we had a ton of fun!  

Next I reached out to friends and family to host parties.  My sister agreed to host a party.  She lives about 400 mile aways from me but I was happy to travel that far because we wouldn't only have her party but I and my daughters would get to visit with friends and family as well.  As an added bonus another of my friends that lives in the same town as my sister inquired about hosting and I booked her party for the same weekend.  2 parties, 1 trip, lots of fun- sign me up!  

My sister's party was much bigger than the first party that I did.  She had herself and 8 guests plus she bought small crafts for the kiddos to paint while the ladies were enjoying some mommy only time.  Her home is not large so she set us all up outside.  She is such a great hostess- she decorated each table with a color/theme, she made yummy snacks, she set up a kids painting area and had our little brother keep the kids occupied while we painted.  It was great!  The only hiccups we ran into where some overly friendly wasps and a bit of the infamous Wyoming wind.  Everyone was able to visit, enjoy snacks and complete their kits even in the wind though.  A few ladies purchased embellishment kits to add to their kits and they turned out beautifully.  

I have been painting and partying ever since and I love it.  I love being invited into peoples homes and getting to know them and their friends/family while helping them complete their kits or teaching them a technique that they didn't know.  It is a great time!  I also love this company.  I love our co-founder Buffy Dumont.  She does weekly consultant meetings and Facebook live videos to share information with all of us.  She is so honest, down to earth and transparent with all of us about who she is and how she behaves all the time- not just for the camera.  She busts out into song, makes jokes, shares personal stories, and so much more.  It is very refreshing to be working for/with someone who always tries to be her self and encourages all of us to do the same.  My fellow consultants have been nothing but kind, helpful and encouraging teammates and I am so thankful for them.  I love this company, the products and the people associated with it and I hope you will check out Chalky and Company and love it as mush as I do!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! 

If you are interested in hosting and earning free or half price items please contact me- 

I would be happy to help you get those free goodies! 

Do you love to paint, craft, and hang out with your girlfriends and getting paid to do it?  

Maybe becoming a Chalky & Company independent consultant is the perfect thing for you!  

Contact me today to chat.  

Chalky & Company is a new company and there are still areas with no consultants.  This could be a great business opportunity for you and we would love to add you to the team!

Here are a few of my favorite kits...

Want to check out all of the Chalky & Company products? Visit my website!

Thanks again for stopping by my blog! 

Things Kids Say

Out of my 4 Little Byerlys there is 1 that is... witty.  Yes lets call it witty.  In fact, she often out wits her very witty parents and she is only 4.  Have you ever been out witted, out smarted, or out smart-assed by a 4 year old?  It is simultaneously infuriating and hilarious.  One of the downfalls of parenting this child though is that other adults are constantly smiling, giggling or turning around to laugh out loud at things this child says, often while I am trying to reprimand her for saying whatever it is she may have said.  It's impossible to discipline a child that knows they are wrong but cute.  Damn you laughing adults!  But I am also guilty of smiling, giggling and laughing so I can't really blame you.  Once my sister had noticed that not only she and my brother-in-law but SEVERAL of the adults around us were reacting to my little sweet peas sassy comments this way I decided that she was in fact funny and naturally fluent in sarcasm and that I wasn't just being bias and thinking that my kid was the orneriest and wittiest of all.  So, I started writing down some of the cute, witty, and outrageous things that my kid says.

1. While being naughty at dinner my brother-in-law told my sassy little Byerly to set down and eat or he was going to call me and tell on her.  Paige's response, "I will set down Uncle Chad but you are rotten."

2. While watching TV the word actuary is brought up.  My 14 year old asks what an actuary is.  Paige's responds with out missing a beat, "A business person who searches for tax exemptions."

3. After getting slime on the bed and the baby's blanket I take away and throw out the toy slime.  Paige tells me, "Without that slime you have really crushed my dreams.  You are the worst mother ever."

4. When pulling up at daycare she says to me, "Now Mom don't say no... can I take a toy with me?"

5. She is suppose to be cleaning her room and I ask her if she is finished so I can check it. "Yes mom. You are gonna be so proud of me.  I did such a great job cleaning but don't check my closet.  Its just too clean to look at." (It most definitely wasn't haha.)

6. She comes up to me crying.  I say, "What's wrong Paige?"  Paige tells me, "I fell over and now I am afraid of heights.  I don't want to be afraid of heights."  (She fell over from standing flat footed on the ground.)

7.  She calls grown-ups tall-ups.

8. She calls go carts co carriages.

9.  She calls goulash goulash.

10.  Everything happens yesterday or last year ago.  Those are the only 2 measurements of time for events of the past.  They are interchangeable and yet completely different but can have happened in any order.

11. While she, her older sisters and her cousin are receiving a stern talking to from her aunt: the other girls are hanging their heads in shame and quietly waiting for the lecture to end so they can apologize and promise to never do it again.  Paige on the other hand is bent forward with her hands are knees shaking her head and she looks up at my sister and says, "Ok ok ok.  Can you stop talking now?  Just go inside and shut the door."

12.   After exchanging valentines with her friends at daycare she sets in the middle of the living room floor sorting through all the goodies (while wearing a Cinderella dress-up dress).  After a few minutes she comes running into the kitchen smiling, waving something in the air frantically and shouting, "Look mom!  Look at what I got!  Look at this!  I got an eraser... on a STICK!" It was a pencil.

13.  After assembling a lunchables pizza (again while wearing a Cinderella dress-up dress) she stands up out of her chair fashions her hands in  Vanna White look what we have here pose and says, "Deep Deep Deep Dish Pizza, Yummmmm."

14.  While visiting Papa I go inside to use the restroom.  After a few seconds she asks Papa what is taking me so long and he says to her that maybe they should go check on me because I might have "fallen in".  She waves her hand dismissively and says, "She'll be fine.  That happens to me all the time."

15.  The brutal honesty of a 4 year old strikes again.  I am setting at my desk typing and she walks up to stand next to me.  She sweetly sets her chin on my shoulder and places a hand on either side of my right arm.  She then pats my arms and proclaims, "I just love the saggy way you are mom." Saggy? Thanks.

16.  Trying to spook her big sister she shouts, "There's a spider on you!"  The 14 year old having become wise to the ruse calmly says, "There is no spider on me Paige."  To which Paige responds, "There was a spider on you.  Maybe the spider went into your wiggy thing. (Making a disgusted face and gesturing towards Caity's hair)."

17.  Little miss sassy pants is walking around the kitchen /dining room counting.  When she reaches 29 She pauses in thought and then proceeds with 20-10, 20-11, 20-12 and so on through 20-19 and then 40.  Haha

18.  When digging up potatoes from the garden for dinner daddy and the biggest sister unearth a large chrysalis that is pulsing and moving- WEIRD.  Daddy hollers at me to come see their find.  He looks at it and then me and asks, "What the hell is that thing?"  Without missing a beat Paige says, "It's a chrysalis Daddy.  Caterpillars form them around themselves when they are ready to turn into butterflies or moths.  It won't hurt you silly.  We should keep it and watch the butterfly emerge."

I know there are many many more cute, sassy, and smart-assy things that this little peanut has shared with us over the past 4 years that I am forgetting and I am sure there are more of theses comments to come but these few give you a pretty good idea of what she is like.   I will ad to the list anything I can remember and everything adorably rotten that comes out of her mouth.  Thanks and have a great day!

Essential Oils- What do I use?

      I was talking yesterday with a friend who is new to using essential oils.  She says to me, "There are so many oils and products and so much information to take in.  I don't know where to start!  What oils do you use?"  I thought to myself, 'What a great starting point!'  This should be what I tell all my friends and folks I meet that are new to oils because there are a lot of oils, blends, supplements and products available and there are so many different uses for each of these amazing oils.  It is a lot to take in!  Where better to start than with examples of use from me ( a real live person that they know and trust!)  

     So here goes...

     I start my day off with a hot shower, hopefully, some mornings are crazier than others.   In the shower I use doTERRA's Salon Essentials Protecting Shampoo and Smoothing Conditioner.   I also wash my face in the shower using their Essential Skin Care Facial Cleanser.

     After the shower I dry off and then I rub the Balance blend on the bottoms of both my feet to set my grounded calm mood for the day. 

     Before I put on my makeup I apply the Essential Skin Care Hydrating Cream to me face. 

     Next I make and eat breakfast.  While I am in the kitchen I make a large to-go bottle of water.  In my water I mix 3-4 drops of Lemon oil and 3-4 drops of Grapefruit oil (always drink citrus oils in a glass bottle- no plastic!).  They taste yummy and promote healthy digestion and help with water retention.   Grapefruit is a known antidepressant, antiseptic, disinfectant, diuretic, stimulant and tonic.  Awesome!

     After breakfast I brush my teeth.  I love our On Guard Whitening Toothpaste.  It has the On Guard immunity boosting blend and I could always use an immunity boost!  Plus it has a yummy cinnamony taste.  

     Then, since my tummy is full of yummy breakfast, I take my Life Long Vitality supplements. 

And that's it!  That's how I start my day using doTERRA Essential Oils and products.  There are several oils and products that I use for specialty circumstances: headaches, cuts/scrapes, upset tummies, bug bites and so much more but these are the things that I use every day!  What do you use?

These are my personal opinions and experiences.  I am not a doctor and am not intending to diagnose or treat anyone.  These statements have not been reviewed or approved by the FDA.

The Craft Fair Mommy Part II

     As I have mentioned before I am a craft fair mommy.  I make country chic and industrial home decor items from wood, metal, cloth, mason jars and other found items and my awesome handy cowboy daddy makes home decor from horseshoes and reclaimed wood.  We call ourselves Cowboy Country Crafts and you can check us out on my other blog www.cowboycountrycrafts.com.  After setting up, tearing down, packing up, unpacking, displaying and selling my wares I have learned a few things about selling at craft fairs, fair and rodeos, farmers markets, holiday vendor events and the like.   I would like to share my hard earned wisdom with you all.  

1.  Display Display Display!
Of course you must offer a great product or no one will buy it.  Make or sell something that you are proud of and stand behind, always.  Equally important though is the manner in which you display your product.  I highly recommend setting up a trial run in your garage or living room before you ever attend an event.  Move things around and play with the set up in the comfort of your home instead of at an event where customers are watching you mess about and fidget with items awkwardly.
You will need tables, table covers (that fit properly and are not wrinkly!), display stands, props, risers or other containers to display your wears and a sign with your name or company name on it.  I purchased 2 small 4' tables and a larger 8' table at Sam's club for my booth.  They are hard plastic tops with metal folding legs and fold in half for easy storage and set up.  I purchased white tables cloths at Sam's Club also.  I cut and sewed them together to make table cloths that specifically fit my tables and hang all the way to the ground to cover any empty boxes or excess product that I may stash under my tables at events.  I also use squares of burlap material on the table covers under the display stands for aesthetics.  I may use star spangled banners around the 4th of July or holly leaves around Christmas time to make my booth holiday appropriate.
As for display stands my daddy custom built a large folding stand that I use to hang his large heavy horseshoe pieces from.   I had trouble finding display stands that where tall enough and sturdy enough to hang semi-heavy wooden and mason jar wall hangings from so I did what I do... I found some junk!  I love repurposing items.  Why fill up the local land-fill when I can use that item again instead!  I used 2 doors from our chicken brood box that my hubby built when our chicks were wee little ladies and was now going to toss because the girls are grown and living in their custom coop.  The doors are basically rectangles of 2x4"s with chicken wire stapled to the back and 2 hinges on one side.  I removed the hinges (and saved them for a later project!), scrubbed any leftover chicken germs off, painted the wood white and added legs from left over chicken coop trim board that I also painted white and Voila! craft fair table top displays.   Some venues require a tent.  I purchased an EZ-Up tent from ecanopies.com.  It was a great price and came with weight bags and a customizable sign banner that I used to make mu sign.


People are much more likely to shop at a booth that:

• Is clean and organized (No trash on ground or items poking out from under tables!)
• Has easily visible and legible price tags. (Some people will not ask for prices if they can not see them easily.  They will simply move on to the nest booth.)
• Has items displayed at eye level.  (People don't want to look down at items laying flat on a table.  Stack items up or use risers/display stands to get items up to eye level.)
• Is aesthetically pleasing. (Use a color or design scheme throughout your booth that flows well and looks nice.  No mismatched crazy colors or patterns that will distract buyers focus from your products.)
• Has a smiling, well dressed, and presentable merchant running the booth. (Shower and comb your hair, wear clean non-wrinkled clothing and smile!!!  Sounds easy right?  But sometimes at 8am on Saturday all you want to do is sip coffee in peace and quite while wearing yoga pants and rocking a messy ponytail... don't do it!  Ok, sip the coffee, but do it while smiling, greeting customers and looking spiffy.)  

2. Pricing!
This part is a bit tough for me.  I have a bad habit of underpricing.  Crazy right?  People always think that they will over price items but don't often think about under pricing.  I am guilty of this constantly though.  The go to formula for pricing hand crafted items is Cost of Materials + Time + Overhead x2 = Wholesale.  Wholesale X 2 = Retail.  At first I thought, "Wow! This is really going to make my prices too high!"  After some thought and experience though I have found this to be a very good formula for pricing.  At first I was just charging the cost of materials plus a little extra, but then I was not really paying myself and that's not ok.  If I had to hire someone to make these items I sell would I expect them to do it for free? No and I shouldn't expect that from myself either.  My time is worth $.  Don't sell yourself short but at the same time don't expect people to pay crazy high prices for hand made items at craft fairs that's not fair to them.  Try to find a middle ground that compensates you for your time and doesn't rob the customer.  Also, if your prices are too low people assume your product is cheap and won't buy it.  I am guilty of selling my items at wholesale prices rather than the wholesale X 2= retail pricing which means I can not consign items in shops because I would loose $ on the wholesale price after their fee but it also means that I can bring a great product to my customers, in person!, at a great price.  What you do is really up to you.

3.  Product!
Product is #3, really?  I know I know.  Product should be the #1 thing to think about right!?!  Yes but no.  If you have a crappy looking booth and crazy high or highly suspect dirt cheap pricing no one is going to buy from you anyway though so is really does fall in the #3 spot.  There are so many hand crafters and direct sellers out there that finding a product to sell that everyone else isn't also trying to sell can be tricky.  I suggest that you make or sell a product that is of high quality that you yourself would use or recommend to loved ones.  Sell a product that you love and believe in and are willing to stand behind.  Be creative if you are creative!  Sell an awesome direct sales item if you aren't.  Make your business your own and enjoy it!

This is my booth set up at our local farmers market.  

This is my booth set up (without tent) at an indoor event.  

The Red Door Revolution

 

The Red Door Revolution

     As many of you already know, my hubby built a large shop next to our home about a year and a half ago so that he would have a place to escape what he refers to as, "The Estrogen Ocean."    The shop is tannish gray with red trim.   A few months ago when we built the Taj Ma Coop, read about it here http://kyliebyerly.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-taj-macoop-project.html, we painted it to match the shop.  Problem being now that the shop and coop match but the house doesn't.  We aren't able to paint our entire stucco covered home right now so to tie the buildings together I used the remaining trim and door paint from the coop to paint all of the doors and door trim on the house.  Now everything almost matches. Yay! 

     I scraped and sanded all of the doors and trim, yuck.  I then wiped them all down with a wet cloth to remove any dust, cob webs, etc.  After they were relatively clean I painted.  I also scraped the stairs leading up to our upstairs deck and painted them to match the trim. 

In addition to painting the doors, trim and stairs, I also did some cleaning up and organizing during my Red Door Revolution week.  I planted a few more flowers, added 2 hanging flower baskets under the stairs, purchased a new door mat for the front stoop, etc.  My handsome handy hubby also helped!  He replaced the front door handles- which we have both strongly disliked since we moved in over 2 years ago!  He also replaced the front porch and garage door lights with new stained glass fixtures. Fancy! 

I will say that there are a lot of doors on our home and 90-100 degree heat was a bit taxing but I am so pleased with how everything turned out!  I am now anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new patio table and chairs and will go into full swing decorating mode once the set arrives.