How I became a business owner while still being a mom!

Hi, I'm a mom. For a long time I felt like that was all I was and all I could ever be because well, my kids need me and they will always need me. Somewhere between changing my daughters blow out diaper and suctioning my sons runny nose with a nose frida I decided that it HAS to be ok to want more than just this. And here we are.

Side note, if you don't know what a nose frida is you are missing out on one of the best products for suctioning your kids snot out of his/her nose so check out the link below on where to get one. No, your kids snot doesn't go into your mouth so you can stop gagging now. You can thank me later.

I've always had a crafty side and have always enjoyed teaching myself things. I'm that mom that goes to the store and sees something I love and says ehh I'm sure I could make that. I'm also that mom that actually goes home and figures out how to make it. #youtubeforthewin Now there have been many times where I have done this and realized it was way worth just buying the damn thing I liked versus struggling to make it and ending up paying double for the materials then what I would have paid for it had I bought it outright. Then there were those times where I made something and blew myself away at how incredible it came out. And CharmingChace was born.

My daughters 1st birthday was coming up and well #pinterest can be awesome but the devil all at the same time. It shows you all this cute stuff you just have to have and then leaves you scratching your head thinking umm how the heck can I make this reality. Kind of like those #tiktoks where people take a picture of their Pinterest inspo and then the reality and it's NOTHING like that Pinterest image. Well, I sort of made my inspo reality. The theme was lemons, ONE in a Lemon. I really wanted a lemonade stand and I wasn't about to buy a super expensive item for one event. If you are thinking "well you can always use it again for another event or when your kids get older to have an actual lemonade stand", let's be real, it will sit there collecting dust for a couple of years until it starts to fall apart and only then will you throw the damn thing away. So I went over to all the craft stores in my area and picked out all the materials I needed. My first stop was #JoannFabrics because I really wanted to see if I could find the fabric for the top part of the stand there as well as the other materials. Well, I purchased a wooden crate there, white spray paint with primer in it and 6 dowels. Surprisingly, I did not find any fabric that I just had to have at Joann's sp off to Hobby Lobby I went. #Hobbylobby is where I got the lemon fabric for the top of the stand. I saw this fabric and just had to have it! I also bought fabric clue because at the time I didn't know how to sew. I knew I wanted something to finish the ends of the fabric so I bought these reels of some sort of pom pom ribbon. I got home and went to work, again not having any idea what was doing! I did a decent job at gluing the fabric ends together so they looked finished and then adding the pom pom ribbon to it. I mean, for something no one was really going to pay much attention to I was happy with it. (see image below)

I had enough fabric leftover to decide that I wanted a mommy and me matching headband and bow for my daughters photoshoot. I whipped out that fabric glue again and boy was I disappointed. I knew this was not going to work and that I would have to learn to sew. YouTube had me thinking I was the Martha Stewart of seamstresses and within 24 hours I found myself meeting up with some shady guy off Facebook Marketplace buying a machine that might as well have been a jet engine because I didn't know the first thing about this thing! I got home, plugged this thing in and realized I had no clue what I was doing. Fast forward to months and months later and here I am making gorgeous headbands, scrunchies, baby bows, baby bummies, my kids Halloween costumes and full attires for my daughter. (see how my daughters baby bow and my headband came out below)

So when I'm asked how I started my business, I usually just respond with explaining how I wanted to make something cute for my daughter's birthday and it developed into this amazing thing. But not many will ever know just how in depth this journey went and how very much like sewing, I went from nothing to something. I spend countless hours choosing the perfect fabrics, cutting them, sewing, photographing them, listing them on my website and then advertising. How do I do this while also being a mom, home maker and wife?! Very little sleep is how but the long nights are temporary. I have finally created something that gives me some purpose in life outside of being a mom. I absolutely love being a mother and love even more that I create beautiful items that both my daughter and I can wear together. I hope that eventually as my daughter grows I can teach her she can do absolutely anything she puts her mind to. And maybe one day I will have this awesome thing I created that she can call hers.

I leave you with this, if you are a mom that's feeling lost in the day to day #momlife don't turn away from an opportunity to make something that is yours. It's ok to be a little selfish for ourselves because as I tell my husband and kids, when mommy has some time to herself she is a happier mommy.

Please support my small business and check out my website. www.CharmingChace.com