By Honey and the Hive

I cannot get enough of this time of year.  I love the anticipation leading up to Thanksgiving and the official start of the holiday season.  I love spending the day cooking away and ending the night with full tummies and grateful hearts.  I love putting up decorations, cuddling up with a big cup of cocoa and holiday movies, and shopping for thoughtful gifts for my loved ones.  I love the absolute sense of magic that is in the air during this season, and as a small business owner that magic is only intensified as we not only get to create holiday magic for our own families, but we also have the incredible opportunity to get to make beautiful things and send them all across the world for you to put under the tree for the special people in your own lives!

When you are supporting small business, you are supporting a dream

This is something that I can attest to first hand, as starting my own small business has changed my life in more ways than I could ever count.  I didn't set out with the intention of starting my own business, when Honey and the Hive came to be I was just a girl with a paintbrush - but as I look back on my life the clues where there all along.  I used to scribble away in notebooks drawing silly doodles of what I envisioned my life to be (spoiler alert: I never knew it would be this good) and growing up the way that I did, I learned to be resourceful from a young age.  I would make my own dress up costumes out of whatever I could find laying around; I was always making things.  It only seems fitting that I would craft a life where I got to do just that.

My years as a small business owner have been such a rollercoaster ride.  I started out painting at the kitchen table of our tiny apartment long into the nighttime hours after everyone else has gone to bed. I've pulled more all-nighter's than I care to admit, I've made some pretty bad decisions and lost money along the way, and there have been times where I just had to throw my hands in the air because I didn't know what the heck I was doing anymore.  I can say with full certainty that operating a small business and doing work that requires so much passion and heart is absolutely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but it has also been the best. 

 A lot has changed since those humble beginnings, but one thing has always stayed the same - I literally get to wake up each and every day and do something that completely fills my heart, the thing I truly feel I was put on this earth to do and that is the greatest gift I could ever get.  To be able to create these silly and inspiring illustrations, and to share thoughtfully made small-batch goods with you is my greatest joy.  There's no better feeling in the world than knowing that the things that I make are being wrapped beneath your Christmas tree to share with the special people in your life - it's the stuff of dreams.

Your decision to support small businesses truly changes lives.  It allows someone to wake up each day and live their passion.  It allows someone to support their family, to keep a roof over their head and food on the table while doing something that they absolutely love.  It allows artists and makers to thrive and with that we all get to enjoy a world that is a little happier, and a whole lot cuter.  When you are supporting small businesses, you are making dreams come true.

To celebrate this magical time of year and shine a light on some of your favorite small businesses and makers, I've created a few fun (+ completely FREE) graphics that you can download and share the love with your favorite small businesses.