If you know me, you know that my job is a serious one.  I don’t take my work lightly and I feel that I work very hard at what I do.  I am a stay at home mom.

What?  Isn’t that just staying in your pajamas all day and watching Netflix?  No, it’s leggings and Hulu episodes of The Mindy Project exsqueeze me.

All kidding aside, I know that a lot of us stay at home moms have one of the hardest jobs around.  Raising children is no easy task.  It is a juggling act.  And, there is no manual to tell you that you are doing something right.  I am constantly questioning myself!  Did I wash this already?  Who stinks?  Is it okay for them to eat floor food?

But something I don’t want to have to question is a little extra income for me and the kiddos to be able to go out and enjoy ourselves from time to time.  That is why I recently started a side hustle that I am really excited about.  I am now a Charlee Jack consultant and run my own brand of that I named Homespun Designs.  Of course my sister, Adrienne, is also a part of the Homespun family and my side hustle partner in crime.  She is actually the person that found Charlee Jack.

What is Charlee Jack you ask?  It is a do it yourself rustic wooden sign design party experience.  That is a mouthful!

Have you ever gone to one of those paint night parties?  You sit at a restaurant and paint a picture of whatever the company had selected for that evening…and you have fun and a few drinks while painting a picture of a sailboat or a giraffe?  Sure, we have all done these parties.  They are a good time and I have done it twice and probably will do it again.  It’s a great idea and a fun way to get out of the house and do something different.

The only problem is…I have no idea where in my house I am actually going to hang that awful amateur painting of my sailboat and giraffe.  And apparently no one at my yard sales wants it either.  They were recently in our playroom with other art work like my caricature of Caitlyn and I, the awesome picture hand drawn for me of the Golden Girls as babies (by artist Angus Oblong), and my skeletal best friends picture from Unkie Des.  They worked great there, until Caroline needed to move out of her bassinet and into her own room.  That playroom then became non-existent as Catie moved into that space (hence why we were looking for a new home).  Now, they are sitting in my attic.

 

 

That isn’t the case with Charlee Jack and Homespun Designs.  You get a professional hand-made craft.  The company cuts and stains the wood for you.  Each sign is either 18″ or 24″ around or squared.   They send the paint color or your choice, a vinyl application and hardware for you to hang your masterpiece anywhere in your home.  And you will actually want to hang this!

There are so many designs to choose from. Everything from family oriented signs, inspirational quotes, funny, kid friendly, and religious.   I have so many that I want to make.  My husband is convinced we may have a sign in every room in our house…and he’s probably right.  I already have about five that I am going to order!

You can choose to make a sign on your own or throw a sign experience in your home or at a public location.  We have done a few at some local restaurants for private and public events.    Everyone pre-orders their own custom design and arrives at the party to put everything together.  And by custom we mean that you choose the size, stain, paint color, image, wording, and vinyl color for your sign.  That way everyone has a unique creation at the end of the night that they would be proud to hang.

How does this relate to My Past Life you ask?  Well, I figured that family is important.  And these signs can showcase your family!  My mom made a sign for her surname Ferguson.  She got to display her last name proudly with the established date for my parent’s anniversary.

 

 

It turned out great!  And as someone who is interested in genealogy, I think this is an awesome way to show your family pride.

If you are interested in making your own family sign, please visit my website at mycharleejack.com/88 and browse through the designs.  If you are thinking of throwing your own sign experience and you are in the Hampton Roads area, you can visit my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/homespunsigns .  You can also search for a consultant in your hometown at mycharleejack.com.

For me, this is just one step in the direction I would like to take My Past Life.  I am hoping to add to the inventory later this summer!

Thanks for reading!

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