How does a major Halloween crafting session correlate to being a successful Virtual Assistant? Hold onto your broomsticks, I'm about to tell you!
*This page may contain affiliate links to products I recommend. If you purchase something from this page, I may receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.
Setting the Scene
I don't know about you, but I am the girl who sees a DIY project on Pinterest and thinks, “psssh I can TOTALLY make that!” Which then leads me to spending $187 at the craft store, so I can make a $10 piece of Halloween decor. But, the satisfaction I get from spending a cozy, rainy, Fall afternoon crafting, is totally worth it. Which, of course, is exactly what I did.
So there I was on Sunday afternoon (which is by far the “coziest” day of the week), with my boyfriend Eric, transforming our living room into a dark fantasy of crafting awesomeness. I had my list (when don't I have a list, get the printable list) of the Halloween decorations we were going to magically create, all of our supplies gathered, and some VERY vague ideas about how to fabricate these devilish little trinkets.
To complete my idyllic, macabre crafting afternoon, we were binge-watching the Harry Potter movies, starting at the beginning of the mythical saga. *Side note, I have to say, there is something utterly enthralling and spellbinding about watching the magical Harry Potter movies, on a drizzly fall Sunday, while I snuggle up with the other half of my soul. The medley of engaging activity, feature film, atmospheric conditions, and aforementioned snuggly day, produces a cauldron of senses that ultimately just make me feel like everything is right in my world, completely content.
Anyways, back to it. Sometimes, I just feel like being crafty. You know, brew up a new recipe, work on my never-ending scrapbook, or spend untold numbers of hours making baubles we will only display for 30 days in October.
The Projects
Many of us have an inane sense to create. Hello, why do you think craft stores make so much damn money (most of it mine, it seems).
So on my mystical crafting afternoon, we made 3 projects.
- Skull vases
- Potion bottles (my fave!)
- Rope/twine pumpkins
*If you would like a (very abbreviated) description of how I created them, I put the description at the bottom of this post, so obviously, read to the end!
Just in case you were wondering, they turned out wickedly awesome, if I do say so myself.
Create, Creativity, Creative...and a bunch of synonyms
As I was immersed in my hocus pocus, and believe me, I was deeply enthralled, I found myself contemplating how I could relate my thirst for DIYing to my business (ok I really just wanted an excuse to post pictures of my supernatural masterpieces). But in all seriousness, as a business owner, especially a Virtual Assistant, I am ALWAYS thinking about my business, plotting how to improve and make it better for my clients, and more productive for me.
So, I thought about what, exactly, I was doing, creating, using my imagination, being artsy, being creative, etc. Then, I thought about the word “create.” The definition of “create” is “to bring something into existence,” or “form out of nothing.” And, the definition of the word “creativity,” is “possessing the ability to create.” What does it mean to be creative? I think, this is an extraordinarily hard question to answer. It's one of those questions that doesn't really have a comprehensive answer. It can be interpreted in so many ways. Create and creativity have so many synonyms, and most of those synonyms can mean several different things on their own. Trying to understand the word “creativity” and its root word, I found myself in the center of an ever-expanding spiderweb of words, definitions, and interpretations, because the words create and creativity are completely ambiguous, or in the words of Webster, “open to interpretation.”
“Create” Synonyms
- Make
- Produce
- Form
- Invent
- Originate
- Spawn
- Generate
- Dream-up
- Forge
- Contrive
- Fashion
- Imagine
- Beget
- Design
“Creativity” Synonyms
- Imagination
- Innovation
- Cleverness
- Uniqueness
- Adventurous
- Artistry
- Inspiration
- Expressiveness
- Fantasy
- Ideation
- Resourceful
- Productivity
- Genius
- Inventiveness
- Visionary
- Originality
With all of these synonyms for this simple word (simple, HA! that's what I thought before I did the research for this post), none of them fully embody the true meaning quite as authentically as the original…create. Creativity, to me, means “possessing the ability to make something beautiful out of a sliver of an idea.” I use “beautiful,” with the understanding that, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” it may not be traditionally beautiful, but beautiful to its creator. The goes for “creative,” “creativity is in the eye of the beholder,” it may not be traditionally creative, but “creative” is open to interpretation.
Translating Hobby Creations to Creativity in Virtual Assisting
We as Virtual Assistants, provide a wide variety of services for our clients. It comes with the territory. We have to provide what they need. So, how do I translate creating epic Halloween decorations to being a virtual assistant? So ridiculously easily. On a daily basis, we “create” constantly. We create social media posts, advertisements, graphics, etc. for our clients, hell, we create those things for ourselves! Virtual Assistants can offer any service they want, and as long as it's something someone needs, then it is a valid service.
If you want more help learning about what Virtual Assisting Services you should offer, check this out!
Virtual Assistants fill a role for our clients. It really is up to our clients what that role is. If you want to be “the magical leprechaun of scripting captions,” go for it, as long as that is what your client needs, you do you. But seriously, we are like shapeshifters for our clients, changing into what ever they need us to be. Email manager, customer service representative, ghostwriter, researcher, photographer, you name it. In order to be capable of doing this chameleon act, we have to be creative. Naturally, when I switch my witches hat from Bookkeeper to photo book designer, it requires me to shift into a different head-space. Both can be considered creative (you remember, “eye of the beholder” and all that), but in completely opposite ways. And yes, I do think you have to be creative to be a bookkeeper, it's just not the type of seductive creativity we think of when we think of, let's say, a renaissance painting.
Creativity in the Big, Wide World
I'll tell you a secret…shhhh .. .it's a HUGE secret that all Virtual Assistants keep. Here it is … we all have LULLS in business. Ahhhh, it feels good to get that out. Lately, due to this last year of complete Covid-suckiness, I have been experiencing such a lull. I just finished up a gigantic project for one of my retainer clients, that was taking up the vast majority of my time, and now, well I have way too much time on my hands. You know what though, lulls happen! They just do, no need to panic (at least that's what I tell myself in the mirror every morning). When business is slow, social media and job search platforms become a monumental part of my research time during the day. Companies love to post on these platforms when they need a Virtual Assistant. (**Epic tip: also search for “administrative assistant, remote work, or a skill you have, like graphic design” they have very similar job requirements and most are contract positions.)
Companies love to list EVERY possible skill they can think of, so they can find the right candidate. You know that list of synonyms I gave for the word “creative,” TONS of those synonyms are listed as skills that employers are searching for. They want someone who is innovative, resourceful, original, productive, (insert ANY synonym for “creative” here) etc. Which is why being “creative,” is totally a life skill and we should celebrate it, (and totally embrace our obscene craving for DIYing marathons).
In Other Words
Understanding the word “creativity” (or creative, or even create), gives us a boost in discerning our worth as Virtual Assistants. I love being “crafty” (as I have no doubt mentioned once or twice), but I do not consider myself a very “artistic” person. I cannot paint masterpieces, draw, sketch, hell .. .1 can barely finger paint, but I wholeheartedly believe myself to be a CREATIVE woman. I can take beautiful photos, I can write content (that at least I think is passable), and I can come up with the most badass filing systems this side of Hogwartz. Creativity is all in the eye of the beholder. Different types of creativity, (you know, different strokes for different folks) but still, “possessing the ability to create something beautiful out of a sliver of an idea.” Hello, that's how I create dinner every night, on a wing and a prayer mostly, but it starts with an idea.
Creativity is one of those skills that is all-encompassing. We use it everyday, at work, at home, in our personal lives, and in our hobbies. As Virtual Assistants, especially, creativity is an invaluable trait to have to contribute to our success. I vehemently believe that nurturing our creative side can only help up grow, and add more talents to our arsenal of abilities that we offer to our clients.
And that, my glorious people, is how I justified a blog post so I could post pictures of my bewitchingly spooky Halloween decorations, in all their CREATIVE glory.
Halloween Knickknacks
Rope Pumpkins
- Small sticks (6 inches) or Cinnamon sticks
- Twine or small rope
- Hot glue gun
- Floral wire
- Lace ribbon or other ribbon
Take length of twine, and wrap around your hand 12 times to create a circle bundle. Secure bundle with floral wire. Make 6-8 of these bundles (depending on how thick your stick is). Hot glue bundles individually to bottom of stick (so there is a “stem” at the top). Use as many bundles as it takes to go all the way around the base of the stick. Wrap lace around the base of the stick, inside the circle bundles, to cover the floral wire, secure with hot glue. DONE.
*Too much effort? Try these cute pumpkins instead! Or these ones!
Potion Bottles
- Small glass bottles with cork stoppers (try these ones)
- Chalk paint (black, gold, copper)
- Distress Ink (for paper labels)
- Paper labels (I designed my own on Canva) and print on plain computer paper
- Modge podge
- Paint brushes and foam brushes
- 3D accessories (spider stickers, skeletal hands, skulls)
- Hot glue gun
- Lace ribbon
- Sandpaper
Skull Vases
- Foam skull
- 6-7 fake flowers (only 3 stems, cut individual flowers off of them)
- Acrylic paint (any color)
- Acylic metallic paint (copper and black)
- Kitchen knife
- Floral foam
- Foam paint brush
- Paint brush
- Wire snips (for flowers)
Cut hole in the top of skull, approximately 3 inches in diameter. Paint the entire skull one color (I didn't paint the naturally shaded black spots, I just highlighted them with metallic black) with foam brush. Let dry. Paint metallic black highlights. Let dry. Paint copper (or other color) highlights with paint brush. Let dry completely. Snip individual flowers about 5 to 6 inches total (so only 3 inch stems). Cut floral foam to fit in skull hole. Stick flowers in foam and arrange the way you want it. It's easier to put the flowers in the foam after you put the foam in the hole. DONE.
*Don't want to be crafty but still want the look? Check this skull out!
