What you should consider as an independent contractor when calculating your pay.

Here is a question you could ask yourself? Are you an independent contractor?  Do you have control over how and when you can perform your events, tasks, or assignments?
What demands are required as part of the job that you may not be taking into account.  Are you researching, reading or preparing for an event in advance? Do you count this into your compensation calculation?
Are you preparing a report at the end of the event, are you dependent upon software from others that may not function properly, are you spending time and money on stamps, trips to the post office?
These costs and time do affect your final pay in addition to some of the more obvious costs such as gas, tools needed and last minute demands for supplies.
By the time you have completed your contracted assignment and calculated the true cost of your compensation you may be making minimum wage or less.
After being compensated you now need to determine what amount what not taken out for taxes or future benefits that a regular employee may receive.
If you have invested in your contract and are not able to recoop the cost of uniform, tools, supplies, you are now in a loss situation.
Independent contractors need to be in more control over what they are required to do before, during and after an assignment in order to properly control costs and make a profit that is a reasonable.
While you are in business for yourself, you are also in part your own employee and your compensation, benefits, and the protections for future retirement, savings and security should be a consideration in what you are willing to risk for each contract you acquire.

I created this QR code for my plant exchange. If you would like to start a plant exchange in your community, you will need to get the word out about your group. I have chosen a variety of ways to get the word out since I am not sure who will be a part of my group. I may have elderly people who do not have smart phones. I have have a person that only uses their home phone of basic cell phone for communication and does not have an email address. Plant people generally like to be outside and not attached to their cell phone or computer.
I have created a sign up sheet for people to add their name address and their location so I can get an idea of where most of the people that are interested are located. I may want to use a church, scout hut, or local community center or park for my events.
I have also created a group page on my facebook account to keep people up to date with my upcoming events.
I have also created flyers to hand out during city events to get people interested in the exchange.
For my plant exchange, I am offering the community a way to swap plants and ideas for free. They can bring some plants and take someone else's plants in exchange. They can hear ideas about how to grow the plants, where and when these plants grow. Ideas and information from local growers is very helpful to the community.
I am excited to offer this fun event to my local area. I am hoping for a good turnout and interest in my group.

Homemade bird feeders from recycled materials

I have built a number of homemade bird feeders.
I used staircase posts to give my bird feeders some height. These can be planted in the ground and moved around the yard to find a compatible location that works for the birds and your yard design.
I then found some dishes that kind of matched for color or style and had fun.
I used E6000 glue to hold the dishes together and hold up under various weather conditions.
I used painters tape on the posts to create a variety of designs for my paint and color coordinating.
I have included a few examples of the birdfeeders that I finished.

 Easy to spray with spray gun or spray cans. touch up with small brushes for detailed lines if you prefer.

 This is a couple of candle holders and  a plate that I put together.

This is what happens when your dog has puppies and has run out of ink for her color printer.

Getting Ready for the Birds

The birds have been coming to the house for food, but have you really invited them to stick around so you can enjoy them year-round. Having a variety of food, feeders and houses for them can be a nice incentive.  We have added some fun new houses each year.
Home Depot puts on several workshops throughout the year which allows your kids to build a bird house.  One you have finished building the house, you might as well have fun painting it with some style. Here are a few ideas we came up with for our houses. Also remember you can take, lint or left over strings and set them out in a bundle for birds to use as they are building a nest.