Thanksgiving is a day away. Time has flown by this year and if you're anything like me, you keep running out of time to do things. With Thanksgiving so close, everyone is ready for a break. Why not take the time to create a fast, simple DIY banner to dress up your dining room just in time for that turkey dinner? This banner only costs $5 to make and takes up only an hour of your time.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I put together a beautiful DIY Fall wreath using items for Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree, and my yard. Altogether, this easy fall wreath only costed $5 to make.

As the nights get colder, I find myself wrapping up in more and more blankets. I wish I had a fireplace in my room that I could curl up next to and fall asleep to the crackling embers but, alas, my house was not built that way. So, I have found a way to make do with this DIY indoor bonfire.

As I put all the Halloween decorations away and began to get the supplies for my Thanksgiving crafts, I took a moment to photograph the things I made this Halloween season. I had a few busy weeks around Halloween, but I managed to crank out a few DIY crafts. I got most of my inspiration from Youtube videos and Pinterest. I made two matching scary face candle holders, a small "boo" throw pillow, and a small "spooky" plaque.

I did the two scary face candle holders first. For those, all I needed to buy was two plain glass candle holders from the dollar store and some chalkboard paint. I made the outline of the face on yellow tissue paper and I used a glue stick to stick on the candle holders. From there, I used my handy dandy hot glue gun to outline the eyes, mouth, teeth and rim of the candle holders. I made sure that the glue had lumpy spots, like melting wax. I also created little droplets all the way around the candle holders. I proceeded to paint the candle holders with chalkboard paint. It took all night to dry. After, I brushed chalk around the places I had used the hot glue to make it look older.

For the "boo" pillow case, I ended up going down the more complicated route. I cut black fabric in the shape that I wanted and proceeded to use embroidery thread to stitch the "boo" and sew up the left and bottom sides. I then stuffed it myself and finished stitching the last side. It took way longer than I wanted it to. To make it easier, you could take an already made black pillow case and pillow in the size you want and stitch the "boo" into that.

Lastly, for the "spooky" plaque, all I bought was a small plaque from Michael's. I painted the whole thing black and wrote the "spooky" out in pencil. I tried to get a calligraphy effect by using a toothpick dipped in white paint, but using a paint pen would have been just as effective. For a finished 3D touch, I outlined the edges of the plaque.

And there you have it! Those were my (somewhat) quick DIY Halloween decorations for this year. Now that Halloween's over, I can't wait to get started on all of the DIY Christmas decor I have planned!

Check out my Pinterest to see what's inspiring me for the holidays!

I have been very lucky in the past few months to have so many business opportunities arise. I have been working since May to find a way to work through college without having to add an extra schedule to my already full plat. That's right. I am 19-years-old, I am a full-time college student, and I am successfully self employed. I am my own boss and I am loving every minute of it. I take breaks when I want (and yes, this includes many naps), I take vacation when I want, and most importantly, I work in my pajamas. The best part is, I am doing work that I genuinely enjoy. Not many 19-year-old's can say that, so I know how lucky I am.

However, this kind of work does not come without a price. Working from your laptop can seem like a dream come true until you realize one small fact: You. Can't. Get. Away.

Having emails, documents, and productivity apps at your fingertips really makes the job easier, until you realize your clients can get to you anywhere. At school. In the store. On the toilet. Anywhere. There is no clear definition of beginning and ending work for the day and it gets draining. Like any other work, there is a constant to do list that seems endless with all of the extra tasks being added to each day. Two weeks later, you realize you haven't left your house in two weeks and sunlight hurts your eyes. 

I have been working on trying to separate work from the rest of my life and I am getting there. I've started by letting myself slack off and spend hours staring at projects on Pinterest that I probably will never do when I finish a big project or a large chunk of work. This week, I completed a 70+ page project. To say the least, today has been a Pinterest day.

To top everything off, I drive an hour to get to school. That's at least 10 hours a week a loose just to driving. With everything going on, it can be hard to find enough time in the day to even get mundane tasks, like cleaning out my purse, done. But I am trying. And I feel like I am succeeding. I am making a good profit without having to invest much of my own money. It has been a long process trying to get this whole freelance business under control, but I think I have finally figured it out. I even have plans on expanding and offering new services to clients. You are going to be hearing a lot more from me by the end of 2015.

My name is Jennifer and I am a 19-year-old full-time student by day, newspaper reporter by night, and a social media manager/content writer/Etsy seller and just plain-ol' trying to survive college all of the time in-between. And I am enjoying every minute of it.