4 Reasons to Shop Small Presented by American Express

The holidays may have come and gone, but we learned a bit about ourselves in the midst of shopping mall madness and Christmas decoration overload. The simple truth: sometimes the best gifts are found while shopping at small businesses. We love the unexpected, one-of-a-kind finds from small makers and artisans.

The Walnut Animal Society makes handmade stuffed animals that are meant to be “friends forever” with your little one. Plus, you can build a whole wardrobe for your new furry friend.

Jewelry from Coral & Stone has us completely obsessed and swooning. Amp up any outfit or your go-to LBD with a bright-colored statement necklace or drop earrings.

When we first saw Kindah Khalidy’s colorful clutches, we just knew… gotta have one! These bright bags are perfect for date night or everyday.

With the New Year in full swing, maybe you’ve started making a list of resolutions. Are you thinking a minor home makover, perhaps? Well, spruce up your walls with wallpaper by Juju Papers. It’s a gift that will keep on giving all year long.

So, what about you all? What are your favorite small businesses to shop throughout the year? Let us know in the comments below!

This post is in partnership with American Express — committed to connecting small merchants to more customers through the Shop Small®movement.

There are so many ways you can reach customers today, from online marketplaces to social media platforms, websites and beyond. But which is right for you? To keep up with the fast-paced world of online selling, you want to explore ways to stand out in your market and create new revenue streams. A unique way that’s proven to be fun and actually effective for many small businesses? Live selling.

What exactly is live selling? Think of it as your own online show, where you invite new and loyal customers to chat and join in a livestreamed auction of whatever you’re selling. Entrepreneurs sell everything from trading cards, comic books, and memorabilia to fashion, beauty, electronics, and even live plants on Whatnot’s livestream platform. They share product details in real-time, chatting directly with potential buyers, and selling to the highest bidder.

Here are five reasons why small business owners are loving Whatnot to build their business, grow their online community, and connect with their customers.

1. Create new revenue streams

As a small business owner, you want to look for additional ways to boost your income or diversify your revenue streams. With Whatnot, you can tap into the rapidly growing livestream shopping market and boost your bottom line. In fact, according to Whatnot’s State of Livestream Selling Report, 66 percent of Whatnot sellers earn more than $10,000 per month through livestream selling, and one in four sellers report making over $300,000 each year! That’s a pretty sweet side hustle, andyou may even find it’s your favorite way to sell.

2. Build your community

Whatnot isn’t just a sales platform; it’s a space where you can build a strong community. Through livestream selling, you can connect with customers in real-time, build meaningful relationships, and host dynamic auctions or flash sales – turning sales into engaging experiences that drive loyalty and repeat business.

3. Reach a wider audience

Finding the right customers is critical, and your odds are better when you can reach a broader audience instantly. Whatnot’s interactive format lets you share your product or service with millions of users. Livestreaming offers a way to reach potential customers who may not have discovered your business through traditional channels.

4. Make selling and buying more fun!

Whatnot takes e-commerce to the next level by making sales more interactive and fun. Livestream selling turns ordinary sales into exciting events, with real-time auctions, flash sales, and engaging chats. This approach not only boosts sales but also creates memorable experiences that keep customers coming back for more.

5. Stay competitive

By offering a platform that blends community and commerce, Whatnot empowers small business owners to scale faster, adapt to market changes, and stay competitive. The sense of community is an element that makes the sale less transactional and more relational. And that’s good for business!

Learn how to become a seller on Whatnot today – it’s a total game changer!

Treehouse aesthetic is not only a charming decor trend, but it also evokes a sense of nostalgia, whether you grew up with one or simply wished you had. Santa Barbara architect Dylan Henderson and designer Bailee Roberts have reimagined a 1960s hillside home into a stunning modern retreat inspired by the magic of treehouses. Perched among California’s iconic coastal oaks, this home embraces its natural surroundings, offering breathtaking views of the Santa Barbara harbor and the rolling mountains beyond. It’s the kind of place that inspires daydreaming — it's my ultimate someday escape.

Here are 12 home decor ideas I'm stealing from this modern treehouse retreat.

Gavin Cater

1. Exposed Wood Beams

This project was a full gut renovation, designed to blend with the natural landscape while bringing the homeowners' vision to life. The couple, both in their 60s, wanted a home that felt nestled in the oak canopies of the Honda Valley Preserve while making the most of the light and sweeping views.

Gavin Cater

From the moment you step inside, wood beams pull the outdoors in, setting the tone for the entire space. The clients envisioned a retreat that felt both elevated and deeply connected to nature — warm, inviting, and sophisticated.

Erin Feinblatt

2. Floor-to-Ceiling Windows

The team wanted to maximize the ocean and mountain views by increasing the roof height and fenestration on the Southern façade. They also introduced upper west-facing clerestory windows to welcome the warm afternoon light. The result? Sweeping ocean vistas that take center stage, while natural light floods in throughout the day.

Erin Feinblatt

3. Folding Doors

The design team rebuilt the existing 1960s home to feel like a "treehouse in the sky." The folding door system blurs the line between indoors and out, extending the living space and creating a seamless flow to the deck.

Gavin Cater

When opened, they expand the home's footprint while framing breathtaking views, making the transition between inside and nature feel almost invisible.

Gavin Cater

4. Cozy Yet Refined Furniture

The result is a warm, multi-layered sanctuary — an elevated treehouse retreat that blends with its natural surroundings while revealing a refined yet cozy charm.

Gavin Cater

5. Shelfie Perfection

Balancing tradition and modernity, Bailee combined the couple’s beloved antiques and heirloom pieces with contemporary furnishings and carefully curated fixtures. This shelfie is a thoughtfully layered mix of books, pottery, antiques, and personal treasures — designed to be both visually striking and inherently soothing.

Gavin Cater

6. Fluted Island

Fluted kitchen islands are a hot trend right now and I love the architectural detail and modern aesthetic it brings to the space.

Gavin Cater

Adding a gentle curve at the end of the kitchen island enhances both form and function — creating a more visually dynamic focal point while also maximizing space and flow.

Erin Feinblatt

7. Layered Lighting

Want to create ambience in the kitchen? By combining different sources, layered lighting enhances the mood and versatility of a space, making any room feel more inviting and well-designed. Sconces here add warmth while the pendant chandelier above creates a statement while diffusing light beautifully.

Gavin Cater

8. Earthy Palette

Sunlight pours into the home, accentuating the rich woods, organic textures, and an earthy palette that enhances the seamless indoor-outdoor flow.

Erin Feinblatt

9. Statement Artwork

This vintage goose painting beautifully echoes the room’s palette while adding an almost whimsical energy. The expressive pose of the goose brings a sense of movement and charm, making it both a statement piece and a harmonious accent.

Erin Feinblatt

10. Floating Sink

Floating sinks are a game-changer for smaller bathrooms, creating the illusion of more space while maintaining a sleek, elegant look. Marble is also a hot trend we love for kitchens and baths.

Gavin Cater

11. Entertaining Deck

Outdoor living is essential, and this deck is the perfect extension of the Santa Barbara treehouse — designed for lounging, dining, and entertaining while embracing the beauty of the surroundings.

Gavin Cater

12. Modern Landscaping

Modern landscaping transforms the curb appeal by blending clean lines, native plants, and strategic lighting for a polished yet inviting look. Thoughtfully placed greenery, sculptural hardscaping, and layered textures create depth and dimension, while sustainable elements like drought-tolerant plants elevate the home's exterior.

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Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

Whether she’s choosing the perfect ‘fit for a movie premiere, choreographing a music video, running a marathon, or sparking viral TikTok trends like “I don’t want it,” Anna Sitar brings authenticity, humor, and a genuine positivity to everything she does. It’s no wonder she has built a community of nearly 12 million followers on TikTok, or as she calls them, “friends,” and more than a million on Instagram.

Anna has always been passionate about staying true to herself and maintaining authenticity in her content creation. By doing so, she’s fostered a community that connects with her genuine self. Over time, she’s discovered various tools and techniques that help her share her best creative ideas with her audience. Anna attributes her ability to bring her creative visions to life in a way that represents her, to having full creative control when working with tools like Photoshop.

www.tiktok.com

Replying to @laurenashleygibbs ask and you shall receive 👀 spooky season is upon us so unleash that creativity with @Photoshop !! Update or download Photoshop using the link in my bio. #AdobePhotoshopPartner

10 million new friends

Anna first learned about Photoshop in high school. It fueled her passion for bringing her creative visions to life. Then, at the beginning of her grad school career, an exciting new opportunity to express herself came along when a friend told her about this new app called TikTok that was blowing up.

Anna was getting a masters in film and television production in Los Angeles, which, she says, “was a full 180 switch” after graduating in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

“My mom and dad always instilled in me that you should take chances while you're young,” says Anna, who has always had a passion for multimedia.

She started playing around and making content on TikTok that felt natural to her creativity and sense of humor. Six months later, COVID hit, and she was sent back home to Michigan to study online.

“I was like, ‘you know what? I should really try this TikTok thing,” Anna recalls. It marked the beginning of her journey to establish herself as a content creator and commit to producing content consistently on the platform. She started doing fashion and makeup GRWM videos, and. music became a big inspiration for her during this. “I would create morning musicals where I make a music video out of my morning routine. Then, I started making these “I don't want it” videos,” she recalls, which ultimately took off as a major social trend.

While she says she was “mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared to be some director's assistant for the next 10 years,” before she knew it, she had over 10 million friends on the app.

“It was such an incredible way to not only connect with people, but to share creativity and feel so freely self-expressive too. I'm so happy to be here,” she says. “TikTok reignited that creativity that I had as a kid,” she told us.

www.tiktok.com

out with brat summer, in with feral girl fall 🍂 whats your aesthetic this fall? @Photoshop #adobephotoshoppartner

It’s all about the (creative) process

Anna admits that she’s not really a planner. “My mom always jokes, ‘I get my best ideas when I'm sleeping,’ and I feel the same way,” she says. Her creative process always starts with whatever inspires her when she wakes up in the morning. Then she’s able to turn a creative idea into something that’s fun and silly and resonates with her audiences. And that’s why she works with tools like Photoshop, the ultimate image editing and design app, that lets her bring her creativity to life at the speed of her imagination whenever and whenever her inspiration strikes.

“Photoshop allows me to just have such creative freedom. It's such a powerful app and allows me to not only have precision and creative control, but it lets me bring ideas in my head to life. I love that it's something that connects all of us,” she says.

She’s able to take a photo or video and elevate it in a way that makes it even more beautiful and powerful than it was before. Photoshop can be used in so many ways during the creative process beyond photo editing – creating mood boards to kick off the creative process, graphic design for marketing and even for storyboards for videos. Photoshop has a diverse set of features that help with inspiration too. So what is her latest obsession with Photoshop?

“I'm obsessed with making collages – that's my new little love right now in life,” she says. When we spoke, she was getting ready for a spec shoot, and using Photoshop to put all of her ideas in one place, making sure colors worked well together and idealizing and expanding images. She was focused on building the flow of her video through inspirational imagery, so she could execute the perfect setups, fashion, theme and a plan to film her video. As a creator, she doesn’t just shoot and post, but loves to get creative with tools like Photoshop to bring a larger concept to life. “I love that I have an app that just allows me to expand further from just taking a photo and posting it on Instagram versus really bringing different ideas to life,” she adds.

Anna Sitar

Social media Dos and Don’ts

Anna is known for herrefreshing down-to-earth personality – you can feel it throughout her content. She’s really just herself and living her best life.

“Authenticity is an absolute DO,” she says. But that doesn’t mean you have to focus on just one aspect of yourself. “People often say to try to fit into a niche and I disagree. I don't think you should make content that's catered toward one idea. I think that YOU are the exciting idea, and everything that you have – all of these passions and things that you love – are a mosaic of what makes you creative,” she adds.

Another major DO? Finding the creative tools that most authentically support your content creation process. As an avid Photoshop user from a young age, Anna has continued to utilize the app for creative design across her channels to create content that is undeniably HER, without limits.

For all the chatter about posting multiple times a day to gain an audience, you might be surprised by Anna’s Don’ts. “You make your best content when you feel creative and when you feel like posting and making things that you're enjoying. If you're in a creative block, one, two, three days of rest are actually only going to benefit you in the long run,” she says. And along the lines of authenticity, “don't feel the need to make what everybody else is making to make something good,” she adds.

Adobe Photoshop tips and tricks

Anna has had a passion for photography since childhood. “I loved making little home movies out of our family vacations, and I grew up really loving photography,” she says. Photoshop is a tool that seamlessly fits into her life as a professional and in her day-to-day.

“I think when people think Photoshop, they think, ‘oh my gosh, I have to be doing these major changes to whatever I'm creating.’ But the truth is, I really do use it for everything from my Instagram post for my podcast page to giving a photo a different color scheme, or resizing or creating a little collage to inspire whatever I want to do next,” she says.

While talking about her community, Anna mentioned how much her Instagram community loves the black and white posters she creates withPhotoshop. “Even for the simplest tasks, the first app that I reach for is Photoshop. I really enjoy having an app that makes me feel like I can have my creativity at my fingertips. It has so many uses beyond just being a tool for elite creatives. It really is a great app for day-to-day life as well,” she adds.

Anna Sitar

Finding inspiration as a creator

As a creator, it can be easy to live your life online. Anna avoids that way of life and it makes her content even stronger for it. “When you're on a phone all the time and creating content, it's so easy to get lost in filming 90 percent of your life, and filming every time you go to a coffee shop, every time you have a hang out with a friend, every time you wear a good outfit that you're proud of. But my greatest inspiration comes from actually what I'm truly firsthand living and not documenting my life. And then the lessons that I learned and the things that I see and the value that brings to my life is only further elevating the content that I make,” she says.

Anna’s advice

If you’re someone who aspires to have a creative outlet, Anna has some advice for you.“Even if it's little baby steps that you take a photo every single day, or you make a video every single day, or you brainstorm every single day, I think action is the best way that you're going to learn,” she says.

Anna also recommends doing what she does, tinker with different tools and apps, this helps make her content shine. “You can learn so much by just testing out different features to edit photos, different ways to expand and add text and ways to make your creativity really come to life,” she says

“I think the best advice is to play and do what makes you happy."

Thanks Anna! Learn more about how Adobe Photoshop empowers big and small businesses to create without limits.

St. Patrick’s Day is coming soon, and I’m already so pumped for it, thanks to a slew of fun fast food treats. From Wendy’s new Thin Mints Frosty and Dairy Queen’s Mint Oreo Blizzard to the return of McDonald’s famed Shamrock Shake, I’m geared up for all things green.

If you’re also celebrating St. Paddy’s with a sweet treat, you’re gonna want to try out this Starbucks secret menu drink that has the perfect green tint. It’s filled with white chocolate and matcha – but not in the way you’d think. Plus, it's a tasty departure from your expected mint flavors around this time of year!

Scroll on to discover the Starbucks secret menu order that’s perfect for sipping on St. Patrick’s Day!

@_starbuckssss

Essentially an iced white chocolate mocha made with blonde espresso topped with matcha cold foam and brown butter sprinkles, one Starbucks barista revealeda tasty (and festive!) new way to enjoy the chain’s offerings in lieu of St Paddy’s: the Pot Of Gold!

Starbucks

The spirited drink starts with 4 pumps of white mocha sauce, which is then combined with 2 blonde espresso shots. Starbucks’ blonde espresso has a smoother effect than their traditional shots, so expect this sip to bring on the sweetness!

Starbucks

From there, you can order the drink with your choice of milk – and it’s a total bonus that Starbucks is no longer charging extra for alternative milks like oat, almond, coconut, and soy milk!

Starbucks

The next step is to order the drink with the chain’s vanilla cold foam, adding 2 scoops of matcha powder in the process.

Note: this secret menu item was shared before Starbucks reformulated their matcha powderto be unsweetened, but the cold foam should still have some sweetness, thanks to the vanilla.

Starbucks

Finally, the Pot Of Gold matcha drink is complete, boasting a satisfying layer of green on top of a golden latte. The barista who came up with the drink topped their bev with Starbucks’ brown butter sprinkles, which is in cafes for a limited time alongside their pistachio-flavored coffees.

If your local Starbucks is out of the brown butter sprinkles, a dusting of cinnamon or chocolate curls could also be so tasty!

Starbucks

With this secret menu hack, you’ll be sipping your way through a delightful sweetness and plenty of caffeine from both the matcha powder and espresso shots. If you prefer to have less jitters in your drink, you could easily order it ‘half-caff’ or with decaf espresso shots.

For quick reference, here’s how to order the Pot Of Gold drink. Ask for:

  • A grande iced latte
  • With 2 blonde espresso shots (or your preference for ‘half-caff’ or decaf)
  • With your choice of milk
  • Topped with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam with 2 scoops of matcha powder
  • Add brown butter topping

And voila! This drink is such a fun way to ring in St. Patrick’s Day. If you’re craving an iced blended beverage, I also tracked down some pretty delicious-looking secret menu drinks for a Lucky Leprechaun Frappuccino and a Pot Of Gold Frappuccino.

Check ‘em out – and happy St. Paddy’s!

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Whether or not you understand Web3, there’s one thing you should know: it’s a massive opportunity for almost anyone — if you’re willing to have some growing pains. In this episode, you’ll learn why Web3 just doesn’t have big investors, it’s also a game-changing chance for women and non-binary individuals to get in early where they are typically left out.

Kevin Rose shares his lessons for growing Moonbirds to $500 million in just four months, and Mila Kunis explains how she has used Web3 to launch passion projects and create value for fans like never before.

In this episode, we cover:

(06:30) Meet Kevin Rose and Mila Kunis
(07:36) What is Web3, and how will it shift power to the people
(09:06) How blockchain keeps people honest
(12:20) Analogies to further explain blockchain
(18:03) Kevin's Doge experiment in 2014
(22:10) Mila's introduction to crypto
(25:00) Mila's passion project using NFTs in animation
(31:01) Why Hollywood didn’t get it right
(32:04) Mila's next project with the NFT community
(37:56) The PROOF Collective
(40:47) Explanation of the Moonbirds NFTs
(45:46) How women and non-binary folks have been excluded from financial and tech opportunities
(50:00) How to encourage marginalized folks to get involved in Web3 and the advantages of a diverse team
(55:00) Gatekeeping in the web3 community
(1:00:15) Big picture on web3 and ideas for keeping lower-income folks engaged
(1:04:00) Why NFTs and crypto should be seen more as a hobby

Where to find Mila Kunis:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/milakunisv
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MILAKUNISV/

Where to find Kevin Rose:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinrose
• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/kevinrose/
• Website: https://www.kevinrose.com/
• Podcast: https://www.proof.xyz/

Where to find First In Line and Brit Morin:
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/brit
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brit/ & https://www.instagram.com/firstinline/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@firstinline_pod
• Website: https://firstinlinepod.com/