Speaking of creativity + entrepreneurship (yesterday’s post) …
Porter recently got an idea of how he could earn some extra money. He woke up early, got out his paper and markers, and nearly finished his sign before anyone else was even awake that day. You know that feeling when you get an idea and you’re so excited about it you just run like the wind with the idea? That was Porter. He starting pulling little toys out of the play room and labeled them. Fifty cents for this. Ten cents for this. Everything under a dollar.
I was fully supportive. Heck yes. Porter is always so charitable and giving and this is his first real entrepreneurial endeavor.
The marketing? He made a list of all the families he wanted me to notify about “the sale”. I happily sent the email.
I suggested he sell some original handmade coloring books in addition to the toys. He created all the art. I took care of scanning & printing. He collated. I stapled. It was beautiful team work. (Let’s just say the apple didn’t fall far from the tree here.)
I also suggested that he sell homemade treats. Just trying to make his shop even more marketable. Claire got involved and helped me make Chex Muddy Buddies and Pretzel Hugs. Porter wrote the treat names. I scanned, printed, cut and stapled the bag labels. We all participated in snacking on the scraps. : )
We set up shop on this past Monday since there was no school (thank you, Mr. Columbus, for giving us an excuse to have a day off). The shop was B-U-S-Y. So many supportive friends & neighbors came.
It was so busy, in fact, that we blew right through all the snacks and decided to take pre-orders … 9 more packages of Chex Muddy Buddies which we delivered later in the day. (I had to explain the concept of pre-orders to Porter.)
……………………
[ My TOP TEN notes-to-self from this experience ]
10. Porter learned how to take a little idea and carry it out in a big way. Yay for that.
9. The boost in self-confidence is priceless. Porter was beaming about how many friends came to his “Sale”.
8. Wear tennis shoes for an outdoor sale because chasing after Crew down the street 7 times in flip flops isn’t the best idea ever.
7. Sell water bottles.
6. Make more treats. Have samples available for those who want to taste-test.
5. Encourage Porter to start working on his next coloring book.
4. I love where we live.
3. I love shade.
2. Being a mom is the best ever.
1. Taking the time (it was a chunk of time) to guide Porter through this process was totally worth it. We are so doing this again.
Tags: creativity, sale
OMG I loved this post. How absolutely bittersweet. You and your children will remember this “sale” forever!!! Gonna check out the snack recipe’s now:) Thanks Becky!!! When is the NEW Project Life gonna be for sale???
That is precious! I love how you’re teaching him to work hard and be successful. This is so sweet!
This little man is following in his Mom’s & Dad steps…what creative entrepreneur! Love his graphic designs! Way to go Porter
That is great! You are a wonderful mom to take the time to do this with Porter. Not to mention that he will, without a doubt, remember this forever!!! Priceless memories for sure! Yay Porter!
What a fabulous way to spend time with your son! Love how supportive you are about all of it and how you helped him with other ideas as well! He can start his own etsy shop with the coloring books – the part that I could see from the pictures looked adorable! (No, make that very scary – in case he reads this
)
Great idea! I love the picture of the lady with the five darling little girls!! Precious!!
I ♥ to see mothers like you that truly love motherhood, and just seem to “get” what it’s all about. Thanks for the awesome example…I hope to be that {a mother} one day.
Amy – my heart kind of jumped when I read this … I hope- make that pray – that for you as well!
So cute & such a great learning experience. Porter is a little “mini” you!
Love his entreprunieral spirit! Great idea to raise money for a worthy cause. I may just have to “lift” this idea!
LOVE.IT. Way to take the “lemonade stand” concept to another level Porter! (The coloring books are SUCH a terrific idea!!) And I love it that you were so supportive Becky! He truly will be talking about this for YEARS!!
WOW – amazing.
what a fun day – could even make label wrappers for the bottles of water
Porter is truly as gifted as his mother. Now……. to only motivate my 15 year old to get creative and start his business, i.e, lawn mowing, leaf racking, snow removal…….
Becky, this is the sweetest post ever. You are so supportive and an excellent teacher.
Porter, nice job with your sale, you gave me an excellent idea, you rock!! I have a feeling you will do great things in the future.
Ah. My kids have been wanting to do something like this and we haven’t yet. Of course, our neighborhood isn’t really the kind to have any customers. . . . but still. I hadn’t thought of sending an email. Hmm. It looks fun. Kudos for you to being a patient and supportive and great mom!
What an amazing idea, kid and mom!!
Wow! Becky wow! Porter’s art is SO cool. I have admired it from other posts you have done and just have not commented before. Seriously, he is really talented for a little boy. I have an 8 year old boy and 6 year old girl and we have done something similar, but just in our house. Inviting the neighbors via email is a great idea.
SO cute, I love the coloring book idea! I hope he made some serious spending money
This is so inspiring! I want to be Porter when I grow up, hahaha! I would really love some of this Porternomics to rub off onto my 9 year old. I love Porter’s artwork, he is very talented. Did he naturally like drawing or did you influence that? Thanks for sharing. I truly love your site and the creativity it stirs up in me.
When I grow up I want to be like Becky! You do the coolest things with your kids. You are such an inspiration to us all. I love reading your blog. Also thanks for the snack treat recipes. They sound yummy and easy to make!
what a happy story! thanks for sharing and encouraging! ~k
This post brought tears to my eyes when I read the Top 10 list. You are such a supportive, loving, creative Mom… those kids are lucky to have you!
Tracy
I LOOOOVE THIS!!!
You must have been one proud momma!!
KUDOS!!
How cool!! Loved the photos, too. Would like to order xsome of those snackies, myself!! : )
What a great idea! Kudos to Porter for coming up with it and following through, and kudos to you for helping and supporting him in his endeavor. I know everyone had a great time!
What a wonderful experience!My son had a similar sale this past summer,and was so proud of himself.Thank goodness,we too,have wonderful neighbors!They made purchases and fully supported his efforts.Living among friends is a thing of beauty!
so cute Becky!
where is my like button? ha ha that is so clever of him and i’m loving his coloring books that he made. after reading this, hopefully i will be more responsive when my kids want to put up a lemonade stand
What a wonderfully creative and loving way to spend time with your son! I’m sure he’ll remember this for the rest of his life. Love the cute and simple ideas to add a personal touch to all of his “products”.
Way to go Porter! What a great idea. Last year I had all my girl scout group at our church have a business day. After their sales and paying back their investment they were instructed to tithe. What a wonderful time we had and their faces when they made a sale was priceless. What a great mom you are to support and encourage your little one.
I love your blog and frequent it can I put you on my side link marked favorites?
Have a blessed day.
Wow, you really ARE Mom of the year! That is so special that you did that with him. Something he will remember forever!
I love this creativity and effort. Fantastic team work from the mother and son. My son is 6 month now and I do want to support him at in the same way that u have done.
Keep up the good work Porter, you are so special.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful experience.
Well done Porter. Hope you enjoyed having your sale? And Becky I so agree when you said “Being a Mum is the best ever”. Thank you for sharing not just your creativity but also your beautiful family. x
How awesome that you were able to support him with fun ideas while letting him keep ownership of the project. How did it feel to have Porter as a boss?
I am in love with this post! This is my first time here and I just scrolled down. How adorable…seriously. Such a great growing-up/positive life experiences day! Thanks for sharing
We loved coming to his sale!! The boys are treasuring the toys they bought…although they were a little bummed that I didn’t get them one of the treats!
You are such a great mom and friend, and Porter is such a wonderful kid and good friend to my boys! 
Becky i love this! Porter sounds like my 7 year old, Nathan! He would LOVE to do something like this just for the sake of doing it, not even for the $! I would love to know what the inside of those homemade coloring books look like! Would Porter care to share? Perhaps a downloadable one for a fair price??! I would love to support that and my boys would love to color in coloring books that they knew were made by REAL kids!!
OK, cutest idea ever! I have loved entrepreneurship ever since I was a kid. JetPens wasn’t the first endeavor. I used to sell chocolate, otter pops, lolly pops, you name it at school. I was wondering how our little Paul was going to learn about business, my parents are small business owners. I think this idea is a keeper!
Such a great idea, gonna do this with my kids sometime.
[...] {Oct. 18} porter’s sale [...]
Oh man! I wish I lived in AZ cause I would get a couple of those fun coloring books. If Porter ever decides to open an etsy shop, let us know!