6 #thriftscorethursday Media Cabinet

It's Thursday which means it's time for another #thriftscorethursday!!

We're at it again folks, Brynne from The Gathered Home, Megan from Rental Revival and I are challenging YOU to scour your local thrift stores to find unique and interesting pieces! So grab your camera (or cell phone), head to your local thrift stores, and show off your treasures using the #thriftscorethursday on Instagram or #thriftscorethursday on Twitter. 

6 Valentine's Day Magnets + Free Cut file

Hello friends!! With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought it was high time to put the finishing touches on these Valentine’s Day Magnets that have been swimming in my head for the past month or so.

Last year, I helped my niece create Valentine’s Day cards for her family, they were one of the first projects I tackled with my Silhouette Cameo (it was a love hate relationship at first), and this year I recruited her help yet again! New tradition, I think so!

Don’t own a Silhouette? Click here for your chance to win one (entries accepted until 1/31/14).

Yep, I’m a proud auntie- she even shared her milkshake with me!

44 January Silhouette Cameo Giveaway!

Alright friends, I’m nearing my 200^th blog post (remember the 100th post celebration back in May?) and what better way to celebrate than by offering another SUPER AMAZING Giveaway?! 

This time ‘round I’m excited to announce it’s a SILHOUETTE CAMEO!! You know the one tool in our vast collection... the one that I use more than any other tool combined?! Well besides our computer and a paint brush.

11 #thriftscorethursday number one

Hello friends! I'm super excited to announce a new series 'round these parts. We're calling it #thriftscorethursday. Just as the hash describes, we're strutting out to our local thrift stores weekly and scouring the racks for some pretty fantastic pieces, things that we may add to our own homes.

You know, vintage China, furniture stuck in the 90's, unique house hold items, thingamabobs, or even weird finds- that we probably wouldn't try to fit into our lifestyles. Maybe even things that really SHOULDN'T be donated/thrifted?! What ever it is we we're on the prowl!!

12 Super Bowl Sunday Party Appetizer: Stuffed Cucumber Cups

Is SUPER BOWL Sunday really two weekends away?! Where did the season go? I guess after the Packers lost in Lambeau (I’m from Wisconsin, represent!), I stopped paying attention to football er time. Anyway, Super Bowl Sunday is huge with our family and friends, a day to eat a bunch of snacks until you’re full, watch commercials, and throw back a few. Which is exactly the point of today’s article- the perfect Super Bowl appetizer. I should probably mention that this snack shouldn’t be limited to Super Bowl Sunday because it’s totally perfect for Christmas (hey it’s red and green), parties, and more!!

In fact, we actually made these for Christmas, which you may have noticed a teaser on Instagram, but we wanted to be sure they were gobbled up as soon as the tray hit the counter a hit before posting for all to replicate.

Last thing before we get into the recipe, I’m not normally a ‘food blogger’ but we love to spill the beans on a few of our favorites when we stumble across a great concoction. You see, we’re a ‘throw it together and see what happens’ kinda household. We experiment a lot. I’d say we’re about 90% successful since we tend to toss our favorite foods together and hope for the best. That or we’re cleaning out the cupboards, or we were really hungry. I’ll go with the latter. Rest assured, I tested these bad boys on very truthful family these Stuffed Cucumber Cups were gone so fast we barely had a chance to scoop a few into our own mouths.

18 Silhouette Pen Holder Blade Hack Tutorial

You were promised you a Silhouette Blade Hack on Monday, when I used the ‘hacked’ pen holder for the DIY Planner tabs, and I shall deliver! In other quick news: Yay for staying on top of my goals/resolutions this week with three posts this week!!.

Alright so you see, I’m a huge fan of recycling. Reusing stuff not only helps the planet but makes one feel less, well wasteful. We’re no strangers to repurposing- from using doors as shelves, to using cardboard as chipboard, to making over some tired directors chairs.

Now you may be asking yourself, “but there’s pretty sketch pens, specific pen holders, a sharpie pen holder, and even transform a sketch pen holder to fit different pens, why should I follow your hack?”

Because if you’re like me, you like to repurpose what you have lying around, in this case dull blades. That or you have a teeny-tiny personal vendetta (which may or may not have involved a mini-meltdown) when you burned through your VERY FIRST blade. You know, during your frustrating learning curve-- aka trying to figure out how the dang machine operates! Newbies, the trial period is totally worth the struggles- pinky swear!!

Enough of my rambling, let’s just jump into the tutorial, mmk?

24 Printable Blogger Planner | Half-Size (Filofax A5)

Update: this planner is temporarily not available for free download since Facebook updated it's policy. Stay tuned for further updates.



Since last Tuesday, I’ve been dropping hints about this ginormous post. Ok it’s not ginormous in length (at least for Miss Chatinista over here) rather what’s in store for you!! You’ve been getting bits like a S.M.A.R.T. Goals Worksheet and how to DIY your own Covers, Tabs and Dividers. Today’s the last piece… the planner.

Like I mentioned Monday, I’ve been searching for the perfect blogger planner to consolidate my unorganized blog thoughts (since sticky notes JUST weren’t cutting it). Which is why I designed one to fit the needs of a blogger.

UPDATE 1/16/14 (early morning): for the Six of you who downloaded the printable (thank you by the way!!) hopefully I'll catch you before your big print. There was a teeny, tiny typo in the word "Photography." It has since been fixed and everything is set for a re-download. My apologies, guess my fingers move too fast across the keyboard sometimes! A huge thank you to Danielle for your eagle eye!!

31 Organize this: DIY Planner Covers, Tabs & Dividers (made with Cereal Boxes)

I’ve been on the hunt for the PERFECT Filofax A5-Half Letter Size planner for ages. Over the last year after becoming a full time blogger, I knew I need something to help me organize my gazillion blog thoughts. Because let’s face it, sticky notes weren’t cutting it:

Sadly that’s only a quarter of my sticky note collection on any given day.

7 Freebie Goal Setting Worksheet

Interestingly enough, last January 7^th I committed to a few resolutions- shield your eyes from the painfully lame graphics last year. On the other hand, yay for keeping the tradition alive! In August, I revisited them giving you a sneak peek into today’s freebie printable. But before we get to the freebie, let’s recap last year's resolutions and peak at the new goals this year.

Personal

Get organized- documents: 70% Failed. I did coax my sister into purging some documents (hey it was in exchange for free babysitting, mmk?). I did however, complete most of the extra credit and transferred and all my documents to an external hard drive. I’m about 75% through purging and then just need to make additional backups.

Be on Time/Early: 80% Succeed. I give total credit to my on time/early beau, it was contagious.

Less Food Waste: 75% Succeed. We didn’t start a weekly menu, yet we still managed to have less food waste. I contribute most of our success to our cracking down on frugal ways. We also started a garden this past year and a lot of what we grew went back into canning. Through having a garden, we also realized that a lot of our kitchen waste was reused on our compost pile.

Professional

300 readers per day: 85% success. Average daily page views are right around that mark.

10 Photo shoots: 7 Shoots this year thisclose.

Educate: 110% finished the blog class AND went to Haven. This year was a complete learning experience and I cannot wait to continue learning how to become a better blogger with every post.

Overall, it was a successful year even if they weren’t all achieved to their fullest. I must say it truly helped to sit down in August and re-evaluate.

Personal

Take time to enjoy life. Easy as that. Blogs are time sucks but there’s also a life out there to live.

Professional

Triple social media. Consistent Giveaways (at least once a month). Follow more influencers.

Stats as of 1/6/14: Facebook 1042 | Google + 170 | Twitter 732 | Pinterest 1843 | HomeTalk 51 | Instagram 148 | Bloglovin 30 | Total: 4,016

Monetize. Open an Etsy shop. Finish and Launch Photography site. Gain sponsorships.

Maintain a realistic Blogging Schedule. Last year around this time I was posting every week day. The summer slowed down and maybe 1-2 posts. Not very consistent at all.

Prepare blog posts at least 2 weeks ahead of schedule (a FREE BLOGGER planner launching next Wednesday should help).

Automate by thinking smarter not harder. Last year I began making templates for repetitive actions (like blog posts and specific photos). This year I’d like to kick them up a notch and spread them across all daily tasks.

Alright so I promised a freebie, and I shall deliver. Presenting a S.M.A.R.T. Goal setting worksheet:

Download PDF

Have you ever heard of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals? It’s a concept that I became all too familiar with in the corporate world. Basically you define your goals Specifically, Measurably, Attainably, Relevantly, and Timely. You better believe now that I’ve set the goals that they’ll run through the exercise even further to *hopefully* obtain a better ratio than last year.

This goal worksheet is just a peek inside the upcoming Blog Planner, so stay tuned folks!!

What are your goals this year? Do you define them “smartly?” har har.

Remember...

11 Black and White Obsession: 2013 Highlight Reel

Sayonara 2013 and helllllo 2014.

Blink and another year is gone… I guess that’s what happens when you get older haha. Taking time to reflect on the past year gives this new sense of motivation to plow through the dark and cold early months of the New Year. So let’s open up the blog and check out a highlight reel of what the beau and I accomplished this past year…