The Ultimate Side Hustle Book - 450 Moneymaking Ideas for the Gig Economy

 A recent book I browsed through was The Ultimate Side Hustle Book - 450 Moneymaking Ideas for the Gig Economy by Elana Varon. As I'm trying to think of ways to earn money when Olivia begins college, I'm looking at some side hustle books. This one had quite a few ideas that sound intriguing and worth exploring. 

The ones I'm most interested in or intrigue me are:

- Arts or Crafts Teacher - teach art or craft classes to adults or children. Need experience with the medium or method you are teaching, a teaching degree or certification if teaching at a school. Teachers charge students for materials, but for photography courses, students bring their own equipment. Can offer private lessons to groups or individuals. Promote lessons on social media. Teach through adult education programs. Charge per student - about $60 or more for an hour lesson. Earnings depend on what is left after your expenses.

- Lesson Plan Creator - sell your lesson plans and teaching materials to other teachers. Post materials to online marketplaces where teachers sell lesson plans and materials. Set your own rates for materials. Sites take a cut plus may require membership. Prices range from less than $1 to $15 or more.

- Baker - sell baked goods, such as cookies. Need to be able to bake plus comply with state and local cottage food laws. May be able to sell your products from your home. Customers and social media generate orders. Set up a booth at the local farmers' markets or events. Sell through local stores. Price your products to cover your costs and time.

- Fiber Artist - make woven clothing, accessories, or home goods. Need to be good-quality items. Need yarns and equipment. Sell online, farmers' or crafts markets, or in stores. Use social media to market your work. Cover your costs and pay yourself for your time. Craft artists make an average of $19 per hour.

- Personal Chef - cook meals for clients in their homes. Know how to cook nutritious everyday meals. Professional training can help you get started. Get friends and customers who have had your cooking spread the word. Network with friends on social media to promote your services and meet potential customers. Private chefs can earn $30 per hour or more. 

- Photographer - Event or Portrait - photograph weddings, individuals, families, children, or pets. Need artistic ability, experience capturing individual personalities and group relationships, and ability to create rapport with reluctant subjects. Having a portfolio enables you to showcase your abilities. Need a camera, lenses, and related equipment. Just as with the above side hustles, social media, friends, and customers seem the best way to get leads. Event photographers can charge $100 or more per hour and wedding photographers get $2,000 on the average per event. Portrait photographers earn about $20 per hour.

- Photographer - Prints - shoot images to sell as artwork. Know how to compose, shoot, and edit photos. Hospitals, libraries, and places of worship may show work for sale by local artists. Galleries and art shows are other options. Cover your costs and time plus whatever fee a gallery or shop takes out. Average pay is about $20 per hour.

- Social Media Marketer - write social media posts for companies, interact with followers, and manage social media accounts. Need writing, digital marketing experience, a social media presence, and knowledge of social media metrics. Need a computer, smartphone, and reliable internet service. Join an online freelance platform, network with colleagues, and promote your services on social media. Pay ranges from $10 to $50+ per hour.

- Event Planner - plan and organize conferences, lectures, or social events. Bring an event concept to fruition. Develop and work within a budget. Coordinate vendors such as caterers, florists, speakers, and entertainers. Start by planning small, social, community, or business events. Network with people you know, promote your services on social media, and get referrals from people who have attended events you planned. Earn about $25 per hour.

- Home Organizer - help people arrange their space and reduce clutter. Have experience organizing closets, drawers, and living spaces. Take classes to improve your skills. Do projects for your friends and use social media. Pay ranges from $40-$200 per hour, depending on your experience and location. 

- Party Planner - plan and organize parties, such as birthdays and special occasions. Identify a niche theme - children's birthday parties, baby showers, spa treatments. Need equipment and supplies. Can earn anywhere from $250 to $2,000 depending on the type of event and number of guests.

- Slide Presentation Designer - create presentation slide decks. Have design ability, business, marketing, or industry knowledge; storytelling ability; and expertise using PowerPoint. Leads - start-up companies that need a library of slide decks for presenting to funders and customers. Rates vary. For formatting and basic editing, it may be less than $20 per hour. Someone with proven storytelling and design skills can charge $100 per hour and up. 

- Balloon Twister - make balloon sculptures on-demand at parties or events, or create balloon art as party decorations. Know the craft. Friends, neighbors, colleagues, and neighborhood or community groups can be sources of work. About $100 per hour is common or by the piece.

- Food Tour Guide - take groups to visit local restaurants and food shops to teach them about local specialities or a type of cuisine. Know the food and establish relationships with local restaurants and food shop owners. Some cities require tour guides to have a license. Network with hotel concierges, restaurant managers, specialty food shops, and travel agents. Give free tours to generate word-of-mouth referrals and social media posts. List your tours on travel and food business review sites. Guides who work for tour companies earn about $13 per hour. Earnings are higher for independent guides. If you charge $25 per person for a two-hour tour, you'll make $50 per hour with a family of four. 

- Mock Juror - give only survey feedback to attorneys about their cases before trial. Have to meet minimum requirements. Sign up on a mock jury site. This one has multiple sites listed. Jurors are paid $10-$50, depending on the site.

Tea Party at Panola Valley Gardens - ABC of Summer Fun (Letter T)

On Sunday, August 13th, Sophia, Olivia, and I went to Panola Valley Gardens for an afternoon tea. The flowers were beautiful.

As we walked from the parking lot to the pavilion (in the background) where the tea party was being held, there were colorful gardens everywhere.

There were annuals combined with perennials.

There was a very light rain, so the flowers were covered with rain drops.

There were sheep grazing in the pasture in the distance.

Statues were in some of the gardens.

The afternoon tea menu was displayed so we knew what to expect.

The tea cups and pots were displayed on a table. Each guest could pick one cup and saucer; and there was one tea pot for each table.

Olivia liked the black tea pot, so we picked that one.

The tables were under a pavilion that had glass doors. Since it was sprinkling, the glass doors were closed.

The girls by the tea cup and tea pot table.

We had our own table in a quiet corner which was nice.

Our centerpiece was red and greens.

The table next to us had a centerpiece with pinks and purples.

This was our table setting. Each table had different color napkins, placemats, plates, and cups.

What was nice was that each table was reserved for only the guests in one's party. So, there was no need to make small talk with strangers.

There was lemon curd and Devonshire cream for the scones; and a fresh fruit plate.

We enjoyed a variety of sandwiches.

Sophia enjoyed sampling a variety of sandwiches. There were plenty of sandwiches for us to try each one.

There was a chicken salad sandwich and spanakopita that we all liked. Sophia and I liked the egg salad sandwiches too. 

The scones were delicious. Soft, slightly sweet, and flavorful - blueberry, raspberry, and cinnamon-apple flavors.

There were a variety of desserts.

The girls were so excited to try macaroons.

Each of the desserts was different from the other which was nice. There was such a variety in taste throughout the afternoon tea.

We all enjoyed the experience and would like to go back at another time. There are both lunches and afternoon teas throughout the summer. Perhaps this will become an annual activity for us.

Unicorns, Unitarian Universalism, and Utopian Society - Blogging from A to Z Challenge

This year for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I'm focusing on going through my homeschooling files that I've created from the time that Sophia and Olivia were in preschool.

Some of the files are still relevant while others I will be decluttering and recycling in the process. Each day during April, I will pick one of the files to focus on - either doing a hands-on activity or sharing some information from one of the files.

For the 21st day - Letter U - I am focusing on Unicorns, Unitarian Universalism, and Utopian Society.

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Unicorns

This file brought back memories of when Sophia and Olivia were younger. I didn't have much in it - just an idea for unicorn puppets and a picture of a collector plate with an image of a unicorn being led by a fairy.

Unicorn artist trading card I embroidered.

The image would have delighted them when they were young.

Olivia with unicorn face painting

(Taken on July 11, 2009.)

It is described as follows: "What fantasies our imaginations spun to brighten the nights when we were young! Fairy princesses and unicorns would lead us to enchanted realms."

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Unitarian Universalism

One of the articles I clipped was by Kathleen Rolenz called "Speaking with Many Voices." She said, in part, "One of the great strengths of Unitarian Universalism...is our belief that spiritual wisdom speaks with many voices....Every new person we encounter has something to teach us. Values such as love, peace, compassion, and justice are expressed in every culture and tradition all over the world, in beautifully and powerfully different ways."

She continued, "Learned from and about each other helps us practice true hospitality."

The girls having a tea party with a Hungarian theme.

(Taken on October 29, 2008.)

Her article challenged the reader to be "...engaged in the perpetual search for truth and meaning. What any one of us knows and has experienced is only one piece of the truth. Let us open ourselves to what we can learn from each other, as well as from those we have yet to meet."

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Utopian Society

Utopian societies fascinate me. There was an article in the National Geographic magazine my parents received back in March 1976 about a self-sufficient utopian society known as Padanaram. The village had a million-dollar-a-year sawmill and supported the 140 citizens who lived there.

They grew food in their organic gardens, had their own homes, homeschooled their children, did their own handiwork, and lived without televisions or - essentially - a connection to the outside world. The kids played outdoors and when they turned seven years old, would receive a pony to care for and ride through the 2,000 acre village.

Basket of yarn.

(Taken on September 8, 2011.)

Many years ago, the founder died and things went through period of transition. Padanaram is still operating today, though they have more of a connection to the outside world.

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In the process of going through the files that began with "U," I recycled 1/4 of a bag of papers.

Diaper Bassinet and Washcloth Bouquet for a Baby Shower

Sophia, Olivia, and I went to a beautiful and heart-warming baby shower this past weekend for the daughter of our neighbors. We have been neighbors since 1995, and have watched their daughter grow up from a middle-elementary school child to a engaging and thoughtful young woman.

So, I wanted to do a couple crafty gifts along with our other gifts as a way to celebrate this special milestone in her life.

The first project I did was a diaper bassinet. The idea came from this pin on Pinterest that led to Cute as a Fox's tutorial.

I used 14 diapers (size 1) to make the bassinet. There are ten for the bed, one for the backing, one for the top, and two for the base.

The first one took a bit of time to figure out since the tutorial was for size 3 diapers. However, I think they came together nicely.

I made two of them since there were plenty of diapers in the  bag. The second one was easier to assemble and didn't take as long to do.

The second project I did was a washrag bouquet. The idea came from a pin on Pinterest as well.

Basically, you take eight washrags and roll them up, insert them into a cone made from scrapbooking paper, and attach some curling ribbon.

As I looked back on the pin and my washrag bouquet, I would re-roll the washrags as shown in the pin. They look a bit more like flowers rather than washrags in the original pin. Regardless, it was still a fun way for me to present a gift rather than just having them sit in their packaging.

When we got to the baby shower, everything was so beautifully decorated. There were other ideas that  Jeannine (the grandmother-to-be) had seen on Pinterest that she created - like the balloon clouds with blue raindrops that Holly (the mother-to-be) sat under while she opened the gifts.

The little clothesline of dresses, ruffled diaper covers, and colorful toys brought back nice memories of picking out the same type of clothing for Sophia and Olivia when they were younger.

There were fun games - like a diaper raffle and  guessing how many jelly beans filled the baby bottle.

There was the Baby Shower Price is Right game. The total for the products was about $63. Most surprising was how much powdered formula had increased since we had to purchase it back in 2001-2004.

The food was spectacular - everything tasted so delicious - from the fresh fruit kabobs to the chicken salad.

If that wasn't enough: the dessert table was overflowing with beautifully-decorated desserts.

The chocolate-covered strawberries were huge and tasted so fresh - just like they were picked that morning from the strawberry patch.

Holly and her husband (Alfred) received gifts that will completely set up the nursery, and their forthcoming daughter's wardrobe for quite some time.

We had a wonderful time at the baby shower. Seeing how much work and love was put into the baby shower; the handmade gifts that Jeannine and her husband (Kent) made for the baby; and the attentive hospitality of Kent and Holly's brother, Michael, showed toward the guests made the afternoon one that was memorable and special for everyone there.