Des Moines Parent Spotlight: Eva Helps Owner of Helps Homestead

Des Moines Parent Spotlight

by Erin Huiatt

Des Moines Parent Spotlight: Eva Helps

Eva and I have been friends for a few years and I am so glad this talented mama is in my life! Eva owns Helps Homestead that creates custom beautiful, home decor. Eva and her husband have built two loft beds for my kids. Learn more about Eva, her family, and business below.

Give us a little background of your family and personal life! How many kids do you have? Have you lived in Des Moines all your life?

I grew up just outside of Des Moines in Dallas Center, moved away for several years between college, the Marine Corps, and traveling to visit new places. I returned when I was ready to settle down and start a family because I couldn’t imagine raising my family anywhere else!

I am a boy mom x3 and loving it! I have a 1-year-old, 6-year-old and 8-year-old boys. We love exploring both indoors and out all around Des Moines and Iowa!

What is your business, and what do you do?

Helps Homestead is my business. Right now we (my husband and I) do mostly custom home decor orders where we make your visions come to life! I also host Make + Take workshops where you can come to create your own unique masterpiece with my guidance! I love helping people get creative and see where it takes them! I can also help you and your friends unwind with a private Girl’s Nights where I come into your home (or other places) and bring the creative fun to you. I’ve done bachelorette, wedding, baby shower, or just a plain girl’s parties! I also do Kiddo creative birthday parties and team parties (softball, etc).

Why did you become a small business owner?

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and also wanted to ‘stay home’ with my kiddos, so being a small business owner just kind of fell into place. We had created a lot of our own decor and furniture and friends had started asking for us to make things for them, so Helps Homestead was born!

Where is your favorite place to take your children to play indoors?

My youngest is a huge fan of the Des Moines Children’s Museum! When I take all three the Backyard Adventures is always a hit, but it may be tied with the Science Center. A little parenting nugget I learned early on is the Skywalks … they are a GREAT place to let your children burn off energy if it’s too hot or rainy!

Where is your favorite place to take your children to play outdoors?

Wow, this may be the toughest question because we LOVE exploring the outdoors together most! If I HAD to pick one place IN Des Moines it would be Gray’s Lake. You can bike, walk, swim, play in the sand, have a picnic and play on a playground all in one place! But some other faves are all the bike trails, ANY park (I LOVE to use the Des Moines Parent app to search nearby parks and try and hit a few new ones), the Zoo….and around Des Moines we love Jester and any state/county parks to hike.

Parent’s day/night out. Describe your perfect parent only day/night out in Des Moines.

There are so many amazing things to do in Des Moines! My perfect day/night out would involve starting at the Farmer’s Market grabbing a bite from Tacopocalypse, maybe having a drink at Blue Moon then wrapping up by listening to some live music at Brenton Skating Plaza after finding a food truck like Top Bun for some grub.

What are some tips on juggling parenthood, working, and personal life?

Juggling parenthood, working and personal life is beyond tricky. And I think it looks different for everyone since we all have different working parts. I always try to put my kiddos first when they are around while they are little. So I try not to work when I know they are around and plan for working while they are at school or have something else planned. Scheduling is key, but I get it, life happens, kids happen, and it doesn’t always pan out. I try to have at least 2 regular time slots for work, and then adjust week to week. As far as personal life, what’s that?! Ha! I ignored the need for this for my first 7 years of motherhood, and have made it a priority the past year, and can tell you it has made me a much happier person, better mama, and more loving spouse. I encourage you to fill your cup with personal time and personal life ‘stuff’ to keep you level.

What is your number one parenting tip?

After having my third kiddo I just really try to stick with ‘live in the moment’. I feel like I have been through nearly every phase of early kiddo motherhood. I’ve been the hovering mother that boiled the binky if it touched the ground and freaked out when my kiddo got a scratch. I’ve been the cloth diapering, organic mama that scoffed at Doritos and had oil for that. And now I’m the ‘older’ mom that has been there done that … with boys … so I am the mom I always dropped my jaw at that lets my 3rd be ‘free range’ lol. He wears bare feet and mud up to his ears, eats day old crackers off the floor, loves his fruits and veggies, asks for oils with ouchies and couldn’t be happier. So take a deep breath and just be there for your kiddos is parenting tip. It really does help, and I promise it gets easier to take that breath (and not overreact in my case).