Needing Ideas for making my own money

[imarodeomom]

Thanks for all your input! I think what I am gonna do is spend this winter learning from my mother in law and becomeing better at sewing and really get the kids rodeo shirts down pat and then next rodeo season have them for sale, my husband can also make some rope halters.

 

[Dace]

That sounds like a good plan rodeo mom...this way you can start giving away some of your shirts to friends so they can start wearing and promoting them....build your business slowly

Another thought it that while most flea markets are on the weekends, sometimes you can find farmers markets on weekdays...which may help you to bring in a few bucks during the week without interrupting your rodeo days...where of course you can be marketing your shirts

 

[Aidenbaby]

I'd also check to see if your local flea/farmer's market has a weekday that they are open. Ours is open every Friday year round.

 

[FarmerChick]

So true AB

we sell Tues/Thurs and Sat at one market

Definite Sat at the big market every week with weekdays thrown in when we can.

So most big places are open thru the week.

 

[Aidenbaby]

I had initially thought about having a yardsale at my house but after thinking about the whole flea market thing, I remembered that our flea market welcomes people yardsaling. Since I live in a small town, I think I may take our crap... I mean, stuff to the flea market.

edit for major spelling issues. LOL

 

[Wifezilla]

Flea market is a good idea

 

[Beekissed]

Since I live in a small town, I think I may take our crap... I mean, stuff to the flea market.

Love it!

 

[k0xxx]

Photo Repairs - The long story


If you know your way around a computer, photo "restoration" is an easy way to make a few dollars.

Long Version (you can skip to the short version below): My wife and I started scanning all of our parents' family photos to put them on DVD. When completed, we will send each member of the family a copy of the DVD that has all of the photos for their side of the family (mine/hers). That way, should any family member loose there homes and photos due to some calamity, they can get copies of the family photos from siblings.

Well, to make a long story even longer... I started noticing how many photos had been creased or otherwise damaged over the years. I had an old copy of Photoshop and started experimenting. After a short while I was getting decent results. Then we had a tornado come though our town, and I offered to try to restore some of a friend's damaged photo's. Word got a round and I ended up restoring about 280 photos for local folks that had them damaged in the tornado.

Shorter Version: Now, though word of mouth, I repair photos for anyone. Most photos can be done in a half hour or less. Some months I may do 25 photos, some months none. I charge $5 for most photos, a little more for some, a little less for others depending on the amount of work needed. I could charge more, but I am sure that I would end up doing a smaller number of photos, and I really enjoy doing them.

I tell every one up front that I am not a professional, and that each photo repair is subject to their approval. Also, there are some that can't be saved, at least by me, especially those with damage to the faces in the photos. Also, I scan the originals and then return them to the owner. That way they are not subject to damage while in my possession. Once the work is done and the owner is satisfied, I present them with a CD containing the photos. They can print them out themselves or bring them to a processing center like those in Walmart, to have them printed there.

Photoshop is an expensive program, but older used copies can be found on eBay at a more reasonable price. I would recommend Photoshop CS2 as the oldest version to purchase. There are also some online forums for Photoshop Newbies that you can visit to learn more.

Below is an example of one that I am currently working on.

 

[Dace]

K0...that is very cool. You do a great job and if it is something that you enjoy then you have got a good thing going!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Good job on that photograph! And you've had no formal training, thats awesome!
Photoshop is an expensive program, but there are alternatives. I use Adobe Photoshop at work, at home I use GIMP. Its a FREE alternative to Photoshop. Almost anything that can be done in the newer version of photoshop can be done in GIMP and they even teach you how to use it. http://www.gimp.org/