Cookin’, Wrappin’, Relaxin’ & Preparing for Snow!

Merry Christmas friends! I have to say that this has been my favorite Christmas season in many years. What was different?  Why was I not a stressed out mess like I usually am this time of year? Well, there are a couple of reasons. For one, my house is less cluttered. Holiday decorations used to stress me out because we were always so rushed and I always meant to declutter before decorating but I would get busy and the kids would want the decorations up so I would go up to the attic and drag down the totes and let them have at it so there would be decorations on top of the everyday clutter. It was a mess. This year I took everything out of the attic. We went through everything, got rid of a lot of things that were shabby and did not hold any sentimental value and put out the stuff we loved. We had 14 totes of christmas decorations and we weeded it down to about 5. I have been enjoying my home decorated for Christmas instead of looking forward the the 26th when I can pack them all away. Why did I live like that?

I also I decided to get rid of expectations. I would not “panic shop” because I have found that gifts bought in that frame of mind seldom hit the mark. I did most of my gift shopping locally (I used to dread going out in public and shopping but this year I enjoyed it!) I took the time while waiting to pick up my kids from practise to stroll around local stores and choosing gifts that I really felt people could use and love. Let’s face it, four crappy panic gifts to not equal one good gift. I wrapped gifts as I went and never when I was tired or cranky. If I was tired I went to bed whereas in years past I would just brace myself and marathon wrap until it was done. Ironically I never felt done, if I had extra time after wrapping I would go into panic mode thinking I must not have bought enough if I am done wrapping already. This year seeing my kids discard several panic gifts that never got opened helped me see the error of my ways. The biggest change I made was allowing myself enough time to do something instead of cramming every little thing in that I could. Today I cooked some cranberry sauce and baked garlic rolls for Christmas Eve dinner. Old Lindsay would have squeezed in one more DIY gift project before starting to bake and left the house in a wreck to leave for the party only to come home to a stressful mess. I stopped the insanity! Oh, and I think my garlic rolls came out better than before, I can taste the calm! I’m not sure what I taste in the Cranberry sauce…the zesty tang of my new zesty approach to life? It’s a bit tart LOL:)

This Christmas will be a bit different from every other Christmas as we are getting a foot of snow tomorrow between 3am and 6pm so traveling to my folks for Christmas will be out. I called my mom and asked if we could get together on the 26th instead due to the storm and she said it was fine so for the first time in forever we will hang out at home and take our time opening gifts and lounging around enjoying each others company. I’ll miss spending Christmas Day with my folks but I am looking forward to hanging out with hubby and the kids all day and staying home too! And since we will visit on the 26th it’s like we get to extend the good times!

I think it is funny that something as simple as decluttering my home this year would make such an impact on my life as a whole. I think it helped be to be more present instead of rushing to the next thing. That is why I am enjoying this holiday season more, because I am in the moment. I am setting realistic expectations and pacing myself instead of cramming more in. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate) and a safe and happy New Year! Take care of yourself and til next time happy crafting!

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You know what? I am really excited for Christmas this year!

Hi friends! I have a confession to make, I usually approach Christmas with a bit of dread and anxiety. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting together and spending time with friends and family, watching Christmas specials with my hubby and kids and attending the kids Christmas concerts at school. But then I have the shopping/gift anxiety, the clutter of too many decorations added on top of an over cluttered house and cooking anxiety. I actually declined an invitation EVERY YEAR from a sweet friend to a fun cookie swap because I was embarrassed about my cooking ability, instead I would just lurk on Facebook the day of the event and feel sorry for myself as they shared pics of all the fun they were having. I was so lame. I would live in a state of overwhelm from November 1-December 25th. But this year I am looking forward to the holiday, why you might ask? Because of the decluttering process I started in February. I have room for decorations. I spend less time cleaning on a daily basis and if we are having people over I can have the house presentable in 1 hour (vs the 8 hour cleaning marathon two days before Christmas last year!) I finally feel like I can relax and enjoy the season.

I am also looking at my gift giving with new eyes, this is something I have been leaning towards for the past few years but now I am not going to feel badly about it. I have received gifts that I couldn’t use before but the guilt of getting rid of something I did not need make me keep the item. I don’t want others to feel that guilt either so I am changing some of my gift giving tactics. The following are my gift giving guidlines:

• Give a gift that is consumable: A bottle of wine, coffee, fine vanilla etc.
• Give a gift card to a restaurant, grocery store of the recipients favorite store
• Make it reusable: Craft cute handmade gift card packaging that can have a label removed and it can be reused.
• Make it handmade AND useful: Hand knit hats, mittens, cowls, socks, cutting boards etc.

I used to feel bad picking up a gift card and then I’d go into panic shopping mode. I didn’t want someone to think I didn’t care about them enough to select a perfect gift. Ironically that meant I would buy completely random stuff that did not hit the mark. How did a holiday of love and togetherness come to this? I say “no more!” We will have joy and abundance this Christmas, the question is will you be too stressed out to enjoy it?

I know some people gripe about my random konmari posts but I have to say for me The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo was life changing. I can’t guarantee results for everyone but I am looking forward to all aspects of the holidays and that makes me happy.  One thing I love is sending handmade cards, I will attack that with gusto and enjoy every minute of making them, addressing them and sending them off. And I will go to that cookie swap this year. If my cookies are a disaster I know of a few good bakeries. 🙂 I hope that regardless of what you celebrate that you enjoy the season without stress and anxiety. Happy crafting!

Get Ready for Wrapping With DIY Tags, Tape & Labels!

Howdy friends! Today we are going to make some fun wrapping supplies in bulk. I like to keep these in a box on my pool table with wrapping paper, scissors and ribbon so anyone in my family can wrap a present quickly!

I had an empty tissue box handy so I cut a diagonally on each edge and pushed the top into the box to make a holder for everything. I reinforced it with duct tape from the dollar tree and you can easily see everything in there. Try not to be jealous of my fanciness LOL!

You can easily make a seasons worth of tags in  an afternoon and it make a nice way to relax during a hectic week! Learn these easy and fun techniques in today’s video!

Sponsored by Rubber Stamp Tapestry. Cyber Monday Sale: 25% off Sitewide and free USA shipping on orders over $50 on 11/28/16 only.  And you can sign up for the Rubber Stamp Tapestry newsletter to get reminders of sales, project ideas and coupons!

Supplies:

• Tags
• Adhesive label sheets (dollar tree has rectangle and circle!)
• Dye ink
• Glitter Pen
• Spray inks
• Peg Stamps: Twinkle Twinkle, Gingerbread Wreath, Winter Pine Border, Holiday Garden, Cardinal Resting in Holly, Gift Tag Block, Old Fashioned Gingerbread

All directions to make these handmade gift tags, labels and tape are in the video! Feel free to substitute any supplies you want and make it extra unique! Happy crafting!

Fun Peppermint Decor!

Hi friends! Today I have an inexpensive way to bring the fun colors of the season into your home, best of all the kids can make these!

Watch the video to see how quick and easy this is!

Find the materials I used from our sponsor Papermart!

Supplies:
21″ wide Deco Mesh
Corsage Ribbon
White paper plates and bowls
Red Marker

Directions:
1. Make peppermint swirls on paper plates with a red marker.
2. Wrap plate with red deco mesh.
3.Gather each end of mesh and secure with ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

It’s Begining to Look A Lot Like CRAFT-mas!

Howdy friends, now tell me, you sang that headline, didn’t you? 😀 I am so excited to share the first videos of the 12 Days of CRAFTmas collaboration with some of the most awesome YouTubers in the DIY space! Today I teamed up with Vicky from the Website Clips and Cuts, you can see her video HERE, please check out her channel, if you like cardmaking, stamping and art journaling you will LOVE her videos, she is a great lady too! Here is my project for the collab:

I had a viewer request to make big gift tags, these are made from a half sheet of 8 1/2″x11″ cardstock. Have fun playing with your supplies on this one, you will need stamps, stencils and coloring media. I encourage to use what you have but I will list the supplies I used below for your convenience.

Watch the Video!

Supplies:

• Cardstock (I used the heavyweight 110# ivory cardstock from Recollections at Michael’s)
• Watercolor paper
• Bakers Twine
• Buttons
• Cedar branches
• Stamp & Dies (Stampendous)
• Ribbon
• Color burst powder
• Pearl Ex mica powder
• Texture paste & Stencil
• Prima water-soluble oil pastels

For the next 6 weeks we will be bringing you holiday inspiration, 12 projects in all, so there is sure to be lots of projects you can make for your friends and family. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

My Wish For YOU….

Hi Friends, don’t forget to relax and enjoy the season…

Wishing you all the best, Happy Crafting!

I Love those Candy Colored Pages!

Hi Friends! I love it when my kids make gingerbread houses. I love the creativity they have when decorating them. This year for the first time the kids were able to assemble the houses too! I thought they might be too old for this craft but they said “No way!” they still wanted to make them and of course they each had to have their own!

I was inspired to scrapbook these picture right away because of the brand new die cut adhesive ribbon I received from Offray. This product will be available soon in stores and on their website but you get a sneak peek of it in today’s video!

The self adhesive ribbon was so easy to work with and really flat which is nice for scrapbookers who do not want a lot of bulk in their albums and card makers who do not want to pay extra postage for lumpy items. I love to use traditional ribbon too so I used some narrow grosgrain  because it adds a great texture without fraying:

Here is a close up look at the other page:

I kinda hate to tease you with new stuff that is not available yet but there are lots of other wonderful ribbons from Offray on their website and you can save 15% off your next order with the code Frugal15 Though 12/31/14. Thanks so much for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!