My name is Charity Cummings, and I am currently self-employed cleaning homes for a living.

In my experience of cleaning and being self-employed, there are some ups and downs to this business.

In case anyone's interested in starting a cleaning business, I thought I'd share some of the things I learned along the way. Plus, some of the differences between working for a cleaning company vs being self-employed with your own cleaning service.

I awoke this morning to find this...

What is it?
It's a bloody blue massacre featuring one busted shower gel bottle -- its entire contents puddled on the shower floor -- and one nifty little "bottle holder" that failed miserably.

And to think, I had such high hopes for this cool, new-fangled way to store & use shower gel (and shampoo) on a daily basis.

Notice the tall, black thing stuck on the wall -- above the little ledge?...

I've heard it called "towel origami" before.

But I've always referred to it as "cute folded towels" and "unique ways cruise ships fold towels".

I've been keeping a collection of creatively folded towel photos for some time now.

I think it's time to share them with others...

Finally... I thought of a creative use for all those little yard post signs left behind by lawn care companies!

If you want to have a successful yard sale, one of the most important things you can do is to get more people to simply notice your yard sale.

What it all comes down to is this:
It's a numbers game. The more people who a) See your sale, then b) Choose to slow down when driving by your sale, and finally c) Actually get out of the car to have a look around your sale... the higher your profits will be.

So think: "What can I do to bring attention to my sale?" Here are some things you can do at the yard sale itself...

When it comes to having a successful yard sale, you should always have a rain plan.

Otherwise, if it rains, you've gone to a lot of work for nothing!

Here's some good advice if you're contemplating having a garage sale, and you want to be prepared in case it rains...

In addition to neighborhood and directional signs which tell people how to find your yard sale, you'll also want to hang a number of signs on-site at the yard sale itself. This will make it easier for people to find the prices and locate similar items by "theme".

Here are some tips for making both types of yard sale signs:

#1 Neighborhood & Road Signs

#2 Price & Category Signs