bsmonograms-blog

[bsmonograms-blog]

IS THE WORD ‘PREP’ MISCONCEPTED? When most people hear the word preppy they think expensive and/or classy. You can achieve a preppy style without spending a fortune. I have always wanted that effortless but put together timeless preppy look. I think that if you have basic staple pieces that you can mix and match really pay off because they will never go out of style. Jcrew is a preppy brand where you can find very basic clothing items that are high quality but also high priced. I have a few Jcrew pieces, but I believe that Target or Old Navy has some great dupes that are half the price or even better. Acquiring the ‘preppy’ style does not need to be all of these brands in this picture. I like to build up my preppy clothing collection and it does not have to be name brand, You could just get a plain t-shirt slap a monogram on it and dress it up with a colorful cardigan and a statement necklace or some cute shoes.

[bsmonograms-blog]

THANKSGIVING. A wonderful holiday that is mistakenly looked over because everyone is rushing about Christmas. I am shamefully one of those people. I’ m actually listening to Mariah Carey’s Christmas album right now. I love Thanksgiving. It’s a time I get to see all of my family, eat good food and wear cute outfits because the weather finally starts to get cooler. Besides mom and dad rushing to get Christmas gifts and me listening to my Christmas playlist on Spotify, Thanksgiving is definitely not forgot about around here. Mom decorates the house inside and out. We have a big turkey inflatable in our front yard with leaf garland everywhere. On Thanksgiving day I wake up early in the morning with the smell of mom cooking something random she finds on Pinterest. We turn on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade on every TV in the house. While we’re frantically getting ready my dad is all ready just waiting on the football game to start and if it’s the Cowboys he is extra excited. We leave to go to our mawmaws and pawpaws on my dads side, which a lot less people than on mom’s side. We go there for lunch and go to mawmaws and pawpaws on my moms side for supper. After we all eat until we can’t eat another thing. We all say our goodbyes and my mom, sisters and I get ready for Black Friday.

[bsmonograms-blog]

BSmonograms

In December 2015, I received a Cricut machine as one of my gifts for Christmas. A Cricut machine is a machine that cuts vinyl for decals, shirts and almost anything you want. That was one of my top wishes on my Christmas list that year. I was so excited when I unwrapped that box.

I had no idea how to work that machine. I unboxed it the next day and set it up in our craft room. I was so anxious to get started. I googled it and watched thousands of youtube videos on it and I finally thought I had the hang of it. I did not know that there was so much to learn about such a simple machine.

Towards the end of January, 2016 I came to the decision that I wanted to make money off my Christmas present. My older sister, Skylar decided that she wanted to help. Since it is my machine she pays for the vinyl and I do the work. She also deals with the people. 

Our first “customer” was our mawmaw, I think she just felt sorry for us. She told everyone at her work about our little business. We even got business cards to hand out we gave them to people at our church, our family’s coworkers and anyone we felt would buy something. 

My main goal in life has always been to become a doctor, but I have always had a passion for running my own business on the side. My sister and I have always dreamt of operating our own clothing store or brand. When I got this machine I made myself and some people in my family a few decals and t-shirts. Once I felt that I had the hang of it I started making Instagram, Facebook, Etsy and an email for me to sell some things.

We had to come up with a name and after debating we finally came up with BSmonograms. Our slogan “The only BS you need in your life is BSmonograms,” At the start we were overloaded with orders, some even out of state. I would go to school, come straight home and do my homework then work on the vinyl machine. Skylar was graduating high school at the time and is now in nursing school so she doesn’t have much time and neither do I now that I’m applying to colleges.

We have orders here and there, but not no where as near the amount when we started. I am very proud that we began this and that we did not just forget about it when we got busy. I have never worked anywhere so pretty much the only money that I’ve ever got was from birthdays, holidays, chores(if I done that) and selling shirts and decals.

I have learned a lot from doing this with my sister. I will never get rid of my cricut. Now, we have an embroidery machine that is still in the box from last Christmas because we have no idea how to work it, but it will be up and running soon.