Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Making Scentsy samples with my little helper

This skirt has become one of Addison's "staple" items from her closet. She wears it day and night if I will let her. She even wears it to the park! (Believe me, it wasn't worth fighting the battle, even though I didn't want her to get it dirty.) She is growing up so fast! She is convinced she is a Princess, which i have to agree with. I love the fact that she thinks that any time I wear highheels, that I am a Princess too. I also made my first set of Scentsy samples the other day. I have seen different ways online to create samples. This was my first experiment with it. I melted the brick of wax (Baked Apple Pie) in a glass measuring cup for about 2 minutes in the microwave. Thanks to my sister Heather, I now know NOT to grab the handle of the measuring cup without a potholder. It gets REALLY hot.
I lined a cookie sheet with foil and poured the wax on. I let the wax set up until it was hard enough for me to cut with a cookie cutter. I bought the cookie cutters at Hobby Lobby. They are the smallest ones that I could find. Anyway, after I cut the stars out, I placed them on another foil sheet so that they could finish cooling down and hardening all of the way.
I bought some small jewelery bags at Hobby Lobby to put the samples in. The stars were a little harder than the flowers to put in the little bags because of the points. So, I will be using the flower cookie cutter until I buy bigger bags! I had a lot of help bagging the samples up. Addison was convinced that she could get the stars in the bag, so needless to say, there were a lot of samples that were broken that I had to melt back down again and start over with. She had fun helping though, and that is all that matters.. :)
She had been watching me blow air into the bags to get them to open up. Monkey see, monkey do.

Now I need to put a label on them that says, "To Smell, Not to Eat" and the name of the scent, or something like that.
So, this was one experiment with wax samples. They turned out great. There were some that ended up thinner than others, so I may try the "Candy Mold method" for the next batch and see if that works better!
I also got my coffee bean tins in. Yay! I just think they are cute. I know, I am weird. After smelling so many scent testers, they kind of start to smell all alike, so in order to clear out your nose, you smell coffee beans in between. It really works!






Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Rundown on my Jobs

In case you all don't know, I finished school and am now a working medical transcriptionist! I usually type at night when the girls go to bed, which is why I am such a stickler on bedtimes. I like routine, so you will rarely see me out and about because it will interfere with nap times and bedtimes and such.


I also started selling Scentsy...which I LOVE. And in case you don't know what Scentsy is, it is a collection of wax and wax warmers that operate off of a low-wattage light bulb. There are over 80 scents to choose from, as well as numerous fashionable warmers to go with any decor.

I am having so much fun selling it, it's ridiculous. Last month was my first month selling Scentsy, and I was aiming for $500 in sales. I thought that seemed a little steep, but I figured I would try it anyway. I ended the month at $2650.00!! Can you believe it?? This stuff sells itself! I am on track for this month too...I will reveal my total at the end of the month but I am hoping to surpass last month's goal!
Anyway, I became a fan of it after I smelled it in a photography studio. I decided to host a party and I loved the stuff so much, I decided to become a consultant. I figured I didn't have much to lose. I did not have to invest a lot to get started, just $99. I thought that if I didn't enjoy selling it, I could just use the testers of wax that you get and burn them in my warmer. Why not?? Well, it has proved so far to be a great little business for me. I am having fun..AND making money. It's not really like working when you get to go to parties! Truthfully though, I haven't had to do a whole lot of home parties either. People have been having basket parties for me. A basket party is where they take the scent testers and order forms and get the orders. All I have to do is put the orders in online, and when the product comes in, I bag it up for the hostess and give it back to her to deliver. So, really, my hostesses are doing almost all of the work for me. Thank you guys! :)


I have been working on an order tonight and here is what my house looks like on days I get a UPS shipment in.

I do have a Scentsy website www.amberbarber.scentsy.us if you are curious about the product. You can order directly online and have it sent to your house if you would like. I promise, once you smell this product, nothing else compares!

And above all, my #1 job is being a wife and mommy! It is the most rewarding out of all. I stay-at-home with my girls, so I get the joy of watching my girls grow. Macyn is getting her second tooth and just learned to crawl..although she still scoots some too. Addison is becoming less of a baby every day. I am so sad to see her grow up so fast, but I am also delighted in the progress she makes. We named her Addison Joy for a reason, she truly is a joyful little thing...and fills my heart with more joy than I could ever have hoped for!

So, I will try to make more frequent blog updates, which will probably be on the progress and activities of the girls!


Spring is Near :)

Spring is just around the corner..and I am not sure if it is time to plant herbs or not, but we did! :) It gave us a chance to get outside and enjoy the pretty weather.
Macyn Kate 7 months old

Addison showing me a "flower" (2 1/2 yrs old)
Doesn't she look cool in her glasses? :)


What a big helper!

I hope we actually got the seeds IN the flower pot instead of on the driveway.