Immediately after I received my newest planner, the Kikki K Lilac and Gold 2015 Time Planner, I went through something of a Filofax revival! All of a sudden I was super obsessed with my planner again, I scoured the internet for new inserts and goodies and started watching way to many planner set up videos for new inspiration. At some point, I watched a video where a woman showed her setup and briefly commented on a DIY folder she had assembled for her planner. I remember thinking it was one of the cleverest things I had seen in a planner in some time, and made a mental note to attempt to DIY one for myself, not knowing exactly how she had gone about making hers. A few weeks later, I found a little note in my planner that referred to this file folder DIY, and feeling crafty, I decided to see what I could come up with!
Many of you have seen exactly what the result of my labor was, and have commented on your interest in seeing a DIY on the topic. So, I went ahead and filmed a video where I walk you through how I made mine. As this wasn’t my original idea, I really wanted to find the source of my inspiration and link you all to the original video I had seen that had inspired this creativity, but for the life of me, I can’t find the video! I searched through my YouTube history, spent days searching videos trying to find the originator of this idea, but alas, I could not find it and thus do not know who I should credit for this idea, but thank you, whoever you are! I love this little folder I have made for myself and I think you guys will love this DIY because it’s really almost too simple!
I considered whether or not I should write out the directions to this tutorial, but I know I will probably get a bunch of questions on the process because I feel like crafty tutorials like this need to be seen, not read. So, below is the video where I walk you through the process. Here is a list of supplies I used and suggest for this project:
A Target $1 Spot File Folder
A cutting mat
A metal ruler
An exacto knife
A permanent glue roller
Clear tape
Scissors
A single hole punch
I hope you all have enjoyed this video and this DIY! I think this little folder is great for storing a variety of different planner supplies like extra paper, sticky notes, page flags, stickers and more! It can also act as a divider as well or even a dashboard if you keep yours in the front of your planner like I do! If you have a planner that lacks lots of pockets or if you just need a more unique storage idea, definitely take the time to try this out and share it with your planner friends as well!
We are nearly half way through my favorite month of the year and although I am sad to see the time passing so quickly, I will say that I am very happy about how much I have managed to pack into this month thus far! This may be my most eventful October to date and I may have to credit my 31 Things to Do In October Printable for that! You seriously need to check it out and download it before the month is over- it has really helped me stick to the Halloween/Fall spirit! In 14 days I have actually managed to check off 14 items from that list, including take a hayride, visit a pumpkin patch, and complete a corn maze- three fun activities that I crossed off this past Sunday during my visit to a local farm. You may have noticed the Instagram picture of an adorable little pumpkin just waiting to be picked… yep, I brought him home with me along with a few of his friends. In fact, for the first time in a number of years, I not only purchased real pumpkins (I normally prefer the fake, non decomposing types) but I also had a blast decorating them! Yea, you see these pics? These aren’t designer pumpkins I pulled from Pinterest, no, they are my pumpkins! I decorated them all by myself, and I honestly couldn’t be prouder! Of course, for those who know me and my aesthetic, it should be no surprise that I went with a glittery black and white scheme with a punch of turquoise thrown in the mix. I’m especially pleased with my black and white rugby stripe pumpkin that I painted by hand after a few failed attempts at creating straight lines with tape. He’s quirky and a little messy… just like me.
These pumpkins were really fun to paint and decorate and not too difficult either. All I did was primed the pumpkins with a white spray paint primer (thank goodness I used spray paint because it made the process so much smoother and gave me a fresh base for my pumpkins) and let them dry. Then I painted two of them black by hand with some acrylic paint, and one turquoise. I knew I wanted to use silver glitter and plastic rhinestones to bling them up, so I got those over at the craft store! For the glitter topped pumpkins, all I did was spread Elmer’s School Glue in sort of a drippy pattern on the tops of the pumpkins and then covered the glue in glitter before it dried. As you can tell, some of the glue dripped down a bit more obviously in certain areas, but it all adds to the charm! Then for the rhinestone pumpkins I just applied some super glue to the backs of the rhinestones and arranged them in place. I like how one of the rhinestoned pumpkins looks like it’s wearing a jeweled collar and the other looks like polka dots. Of course my special turquoise pumpkin got the best of both worlds with the glitter and the rhinestones and I love her excessive bling. She is my official Strange & Charmed pumpkin, so she sits front and center!
Anywho, enough about painting pumpkins! On to the real topic of this post, my favorite non-Halloween, Halloween movies! Okay, so what do I mean by non-Halloween? Well, I mean movies that aren’t your typical blood, guts and gore horror movie! These aren’t necessarily all kid friendly movies, and some definitely fit into the horror genre, but they aren’t your typical slasher/monster/ghoul movies either!
So, I hope you enjoyed this little update to my month and got some good ideas for some movies to watch as we near Halloween! If you’re looking for some actual Halloween type movies, I found this list of the best Halloween films currently on Netflix. If you’re looking for a more traditional scare, I’m sure you could fill more than a few movie nights with some of those! Let me know in the comments which movies you are excited to watch for Halloween and if you do some pumpkin decorating I would love for you to tag me in an Instagram picture so I can see your October spirit as well!
Last year, I was obsessed with the Nordic Ware Halloween Skull Cake Pan from Williams-Sonoma. I’m not really big into baking, but the thought of being able to bake a cake in the shape of a skull was enough to turn me into Betty Crocker! Well, unfortunately for me, the pan sold out relatively quickly last Halloween season, but this year it came back and I had to have it! So, my husband surprised me with it last month and to thank him I immediately made him a cake using the pan!
Mike loves red velvet cake, and I thought it would be the perfect type of cake to make to test the pan! The cake itself is obviously red, and when covered with the off white cream cheese frosting, I thought it would look like a real (enough) skull, and then when you cut into the cake it would look like it was bleeding because of the red cake underneath! I was super excited to make the cake, and although I used a simple cake mix and pre made frosting, it was a really fun and festive activity.
As you can tell from the image of the cake pan, the cake is made in two pieces. The pan itself has two wells, one for the face of the skull and the second for the back of the neck and head. Once the cakes are baked, you connect both halves to create a complete 3D skull! But I was thinking about it and if you wanted to, you wouldn’t necessarily need to make the whole cake, you could just use the well with the skull face and that would make a festive cake that didn’t require too much coordination connecting the two halves of the skull. Using both wells, it took two boxes of cake mix, so it becomes a rather large cake in the end once it’s all together, so in the future I will probably end up making half of the cake more often than the whole head!
Now, although this is a Halloween themed cake pan, I think it’s interesting enough to use year round and I plan to make skull cakes for every event I plan to attend from now until forever! Really, the possibilities are endless. The next cake I make may be a white cake, perhaps an angel food cake?!? That could be awesome and it wouldn’t require frosting (which, admittedly, I am not so good at) but would still give that bone white skull look! For now, if you would like to see how my cake turned out and the process for how I put it together, check out my video below!
I love this cake pan, and if you are a fan of skulls and/or Halloween, I think this is a great festive addition to your bakeware collection! Now, if you like the skull motif but don’t think you would get much use out of such a large pan, Nordic Ware also makes a Mini Skull Cakelet Pan that makes 6 large cupcake sized skull cakes (face only). Since the Halloween bakeware is currently on sale, I may go ahead and pick this one up as well!
Thanks for reading (and watching)! So, tell me… who else is super excited for Halloween? What sort of festive treats are you looking forward to for celebrating the season of spooks and ghouls? Let me know in the comments below!
October is here and I am super duper excited! I know I mentioned this in my impromptu post yesterday, but October is one of my favorite months of the year, mainly because it’s the first official month of fall, and fall is my favorite time of year! October is filled with so many wonderful things, and this month I am hoping to share some of those things with you! You may be wondering, what the heck I am doing writing a letter from the editor to you, anyway. Well, the thing is, I am shaking things up a bit on the blog, as I tend to do from time to time, and I decided that at the start of each new month I would write a personal letter to you, my friends and readers, outlining my plans and the type of content you can expect! I know in the past you could never really tell what you were going to get from me each week here on the blog, and although I’m not going to reveal all my secrets, I thought giving you a sneak peek into the sorts of content you can expect would be a nice way for you and I to connect!
So, what do I have planned for you this month? Well, to start, food… lot’s and lot’s of food! Specifically, I have a couple of recipe posts to share with you guys starting on Monday with a very special seasonal experiment in baking that I have been very excited to share with you! If you follow my YouTube channel as well, you may have seen that last month I started a series called The Lazy Girl’s Cookbook, where I feature recipes for seasonal meals that are super easy and delicious! Well, that series is going to continue on this month as well with a few more of my favorite fall recipes! Moving on from food to fashion, I have a fun scarf tutorial planned just in time to keep you warm in the crisp fall air! Of course, since it is October, and I am obsessed with Halloween, you can expect a Halloween themed Geek Speak feature this month, as well as a seasonal installment of My Productivity Playlist! Rounding out the month, I am also planning a few new reoccurring features around planners and productivity inspiration!
I hope you’re all as excited about my upcoming month of content as I am! I also wanted to take this opportunity to say a sincere thank you to everyone who showed their enthusiastic support for my new shop yesterday and downloaded the 31 Things to Do in October printable! I am so glad that so many of you were as excited about it as I was, and I hope that throughout the month you will keep me up to date as you check those seasonal items off your list! Feel free to tag me in photo’s on Twitter and Instagram so I can follow along with the fun!
Thanks again everyone and I hope you enjoy the great things I have in store for you this month!
Happy first day of Autumn everyone! I am so glad that fall is officially here, although it does feel like it’s still summer, I’m just happy that I can start celebrating the season in full force! I thought it would be especially festive if we celebrated together today with a fresh installment of Starbucks @ Home, my recipe series where I teach you how to make versions of your favorite coffee house drinks at home! I have already covered how to make a pumpkin spice latte last fall, but this year I wanted to put together a skinny version of the drink because Starbucks does not have a skinny pumpkin spice latte. The Starbucks #PSL is made with a pumpkin spice syrup that is filled with sugar, very, very sweet and high in calories. As much as I love a good #PSL, I don’t need that sort of added sugar in my diet, so I would prefer to make my own skinny version at home!
Skinny Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe
Coffee of choice (a pumpkin coffee would be perfect!)
2 packets of stevia (or other sweetener of choice)
A shake or two of Pumpkin Pie Spice
Sugar Free Creamer (I use hazelnut flavored because I believe it brings out the pumpkin flavor, but any dairy or non dairy creamer or milk of choice works)
Fat Free Whipped Cream (optional but exponentially more festive!)
So, let’s be honest, you don’t need me to tell you how to put together a coffee, so instead of writing a how-to summary, I thought it would be fun if I just made a little video showing you how I assemble my skinny #PSL! Below is a very short, but fun video walking you through the recipe! Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed this video and my Skinny #PSL recipe! Are you a fan of the Starbucks #PSL? Are there any other Starbucks drinks you would like to see me make an at home version of? Let me know in the comments!
At the end of August, I picked up the NYX Love in Paris eye pallet and immediately knew it would be my go-to for fall! It’s a great neutral eye pallet with a selection of cool tones, some matt, some iridescent, that I couldn’t help but compare to the ever popular Urban Decay Naked pallets, but at a fraction of the cost. For me, it was perfect, and I immediately began experimenting with different looks for fall. Once I found the perfect fall eye look, something simple and taupe-y, I began messing with my blushes to find the right shade in my collection that would compliment the fall tones I was going for. Eventually, I settled on a creme blush out of my Sleek Blush by 3 Pink Lemonade Pallet because it was a matt, berry/rose color that was somewhat deeper than my normal rosy pink blushes of choice. Then, something funny happened. While putting on my makeup one day, I realized that the NYX Pallet I was using and the Sleek Blusher had a similar name; Macaroon! I thought this was highly ironic, because I love french macarons (although I normally spell the word with one “o” not two) and I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed the names of the colors before this! So, I immediately thought to myself that this was a sign that I should film a makeup tutorial for my channel based on the look, and viola, Macaron’s in Paris was born!
I think this is a perfect fall look because the taupe eye is slightly smoky and chic for fall, and works very well with the berry blush and purple shade of lipstick. To me, these tones are all very sophisticated and can be worn light (as I show you) for the day time, but can then be darkened and deepened for a show stopping evening look.
I hope you check out the video and see how I pull this look together using just a few drugstore items! Let me know what you think and if you’d like to see more makeup tutorials by me. I know I am far from a beauty guru, but I do get complimented on my makeup regularly, so I guess I must be doing something right!
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”― Elie Wiesel
“Death: Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom.”― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather
“…the opposite of love is not hate — it’s apathy. It’s not giving a damn. If somebody hates me, they must “feel” something … or they couldn’t possibly hate. Therefore, there’s some way in which I can get to them.”― Leo F. Buscaglia
Not caring, apathy, indifference- it’s the plague of society. Isn’t it ironic that in a time where the Internet can bring you vast amounts of data and people are able to connect all across the globe, we are losing the essence of humanity at alarming rates. Christianity, Judiasm, Islam and all the major world religions profess caring about yourself, your world and your neighbors, and yet we are missing the message. We have become professionals at avoiding real human connection, not only with others, but most importantly, ourselves. Think about it, when was the last time you gave the excuse “I’m sorry, I am too busy to…(fill in the blank)?” Or started a diet or exercise plan only to buckle at the first sign of a challenge? We don’t even care enough to take care of ourselves. This is a major problem that really stems from a major malfunction in our own self value.
We cannot expect to care about anything truly until we care about ourselves first. Self esteem and self-love, or the lack of it, is a major player in why we cannot seem to commit. Caring is a commitment after all. It takes time and effort to care about anything, which is why I call it the art of caring. It all starts inside, within your own mind. You must silence the voice inside your head that is screaming out to you that you don’t matter. Because if you don’t think you matter, you won’t think much else matters! Indifference is bred out of fear. Fear that you will fail, fear that someone will not agree with you, fear that people are judging you for your opinions and for caring.
You’re not wrong after all. When you care about things people will judge you, you may fail, and people will certainly disagree with you, but that doesn’t reflect back on you. It’s just the way the world works. You can profess that 2 + 2 = 4 but some smart ass will argue some obscure piece of mathematical theorem that says it actually equals 5. These people don’t matter, and they don’t matter because there is always a dissenter. You’re allowed to not care about the dissenters. As for people judging you, yep, your right! When you care about something or even someone there is always judgement. Like the dissenters, these people also do not matter because someone always has an opinion and wants to share it. While I wish the world would abide by Thumper’s “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” it’s actually more along the lines of “misery loves company.” Remember, other people who “don’t care” are going to be confused as to why you “do care,” and they are going to feel inadequate about your caring because they lack self-esteem enough to appreciate the fact that you care about something. It’s a vicious cycle, don’t get caught up in it, just ignore it! Finally, caring may also not work out for you. It is possible to fail at caring. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try, if anything, it is all the more reason to give something a shot! Everyday is filled with failure. Things you were supposed to do, but couldn’t get to. New meals you attempted but ruined. Appointments you were late for. All of this is failure, we live with it everyday and it propels us forward. Think about it. When you are running late for an event do you just decide not to show up? Probably not. When you don’t complete a task today, does that mean you can’t try it tomorrow? Nope. When you burn dinner, does it mean you stop cooking? Not at all! You fail all the time and you get over it! You learn from your mistakes and try again. So next time you decide not to do something out of fear of failing, remind yourself that you fail all the time and life still goes on!
Once you have come to terms with your fear of commitment, you must begin to dismantle the barrier between yourself and the world. The biggest lie we tell ourselves to keep from participating in life is what I call “the busy trap.” You can’t do this or that because you are busy. Busy is a lie; busy is a self-made delusion; busy is the ultimate shield. Busy is our way of legitimizing our disinterest and indifference. People can hardly argue with it, as it almost gives the impression of interest while simultaneously disconnecting us. It’s as though your saying, “I would do this, if I had time” but when someone tells you they are busy or when you use the phrase yourself, remember, what you are really saying is “this is not worth my time and I refuse to prioritize it.” If you have friends who give you this excuse often, you may want to reevaluate whether you should remain friends with them. Consequently, if you give this excuse often, you need to confront yourself on why you refuse to participate in the world. Do you need to work on your self-esteem or do you need to cut off a relationship that isn’t working? You need to be honest with yourself and others because “busy” is a waste of time.
So, now that you know that you matter and that you have nothing to be afraid of and are understanding the barriers you have in place between you and the world, lets discuss why you should start caring about things and the benefits it will bring you. To summarize, caring opens you up to new experiences and new people. It brings you a level of fulfillment and accomplishment in your life that you have never felt before. Caring can sometimes lead you to hurt and pain, but through it also clarity and personal growth. If you talk to parents, they will often use this same language to describe their experience with their children. If you speak to an artist, the same words are often used. The same goes for business owners, writers, athletes, model train enthusiasts and so on! When you care about something, either a person or a passion, you awaken your human spirit. You may think there is a difference between a parent caring for their child and a girl who loves fashion but to each of them what they care about is important and valuable and gives their life meaning.
When you begin to care you begin to spend your time wisely, you learn to prioritize and you live your life more fully. Humans are intelligent and creative and when we engage this natural state our quality of life increases. Get into hobbies, learn new things, connect with people, care about the world, it’s intricacies and its oddities and live life. Don’t be too busy for it all.
My office happens to be one of my favorite places to be, and for many of us, it happens to be a place we spend a good portion of our day. Whether your workspace is a nook at home, a cubicle or a corner office, it needs to feel like a comfortable and inspiring place to do work. There is nothing more un-inspirational than a bland office! So, what’s to be done when you don’t have the cash to purchase new furniture and art? DIY it of course! You don’t have to spend a lot of money to add interesting and functional elements to your office, all you need is a craft store and some creativity! So, to help you get inspired to add a little fun into your office space, I have put together a short video with 5 Easy DIYs appropriate for any workspace, guaranteed to make your work day a little brighter and a lot more stylish!
In this video I show you how to make:
A Custom Framed Cork Board/White Board Combo
A Personalized Desk Pad
A Colorful Keyboard
Inspiring File Folders
A Custom Floral Arrangement
Happy DIYing!
If you have any other ideas for some simple office or workspace DIYs, please make sure to share them in the comments below! And, of course, if you give any of these DIYs a try, make sure to snap me a pic and send it to me via Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, and use the tag #SandCDIY so I can find it!
Today is Labor Day in the U.S. which means the unofficial end to summer. Since it was a three day, holiday weekend, I went ahead and did some vlogging on Saturday and Sunday while Mike and I did some intense hours of shopping and went to a friends BBQ! One of my favorite parts of this weekend, however, was a little trip to a Gelato stand while Mike and I were shopping on Saturday! There is footage in the vlog below, but I couldn’t help but to share a few of my favorite pictures taken from our little indulgence. I haven’t had gelato in the longest time, so it was a refreshing way to symbolically end my summer!
I ordered the pistachio and Mike went for the cookie dough, both were fantastic! Like a little scoop of heaven on a waffle cone! Or in Mike’s case a chocolate and sprinkle dipped waffle cone!
Sorry about the gratuitous images of sweets, but don’t you just love the way a gelato (or ice cream) cone looks when its melting? Okay! Okay! I’ll stop now! Make sure to click on the video below to check out the vlog and see more details on what Mike and I got up to this Labor Day Weekend!
So, what do you have planned for your Labor Day festivities? Let me know how you spent your weekend by sending me a tweet and telling me all about it! Or tag me in an Instagram photo while you are out and about celebrating or even having some R&R at home!
I know, I know, summer has not even ended yet, but for me, I really don’t care! I am not the biggest fan of summer and greatly prefer fall/winter, so if I say it’s time to talk about fall, it’s time to talk about fall! There is seriously something in the air already that makes me feel like this fall is going to be epic. Knowing the sorts of blog posts and videos I am aiming to produce this fall get’s me so excited for the months ahead, and I just have this sense that some good things are going to happen next season! As much as I hope this feeling pertains to good things down the road for me, I hope to share some of that with you as well. Fall, after all is a magical time, and I hope there is plenty of magic to go around for us all! So, today I wanted to cover my top 10 must have items for fall, ranging from home goods, to beauty and fashion alike! These are the items that I am going to be living in and relying on heavily throughout the season.
Home Goods
1. Bath and Body Works Candles: I always have a stack of candles waiting to be burned 24/7 365 days a year, however, the fall is my it time for candles. When the weather changes and it’s cooler outside and you’re trying to stay warmer inside, it’s a wonderful feeling to light up a candle and cozy up with a warm drink! The pumpkin scents from #BBW are a great, festive way to warm up your home and set a wonderful ambience. My favorites currently are Pumpkin Caramel Latte, Pumpkin Cupcake and Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin!
2. A Heated Blanket: I am obsessed with this Chevron Heated Sherpa Throw that my husband got me for Christmas last year. Okay, it was supposed to be a Christmas present, but I made him give it to me early because I could not live without it! Let me tell you, I used that blanket day in and day out for months, even into summer until it was too hot to get away with using it! I am just aching to break it back out because (1) it has an awesome chevron print, and (2) it’s cozy and warm, perfect for cool fall/winter evenings!
Style
3. Blanket Scarves: One of falls big-ticket items last year was the blanket scarf. It was a hot trend and I have a feeling it’s not going away this year either! And why should it? I am a major fan of scarves, particularly large, oversized scarves that keep you toasty and warm on a crisp day! I’ll be doing some fun things with scarves this season, don’t you worry, and I’ll be sure to share!
4. Striped Flyaway Sweaters: I have already begun collecting these for the fall! They are such a great staple piece because you can layer with them and still wear jackets and light coats overtop! Target has a very lovely one in stock right now that I love, and I also picked one up from Forever 21 not long ago, but of course in typical Forever 21 fashion, whenever I find something in store, I can never seem to locate it on their website. Lucky for you, I found two similar styles that I also approve of and may actually end up ordering off their site. This is simple and stylish and this one looks super cozy (oh, they actually call it a cozy sweater, how sweet)!
6. Lace tunics: I purchased a few of these lovely lace tunics via a sale on Jane.com a few weeks ago and I absolutely adore them! When it comes to tops, I am normally much more relaxed and casual, but there is something so cute and put together about wearing a nicer top, especially if you are going out or want to look dressier. Unfortunately, since I purchased mine from a flash sale site, the exact ones I purchased aren’t available currently, but this is the Etsy shop of the maker, and here is a similar style I found online for a reasonable price if you must have a lace tunic right this instant!
Beauty
7. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure: I have been in love with the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail enamel since I first tried them in an Influenster VoxBox! They are such a great quality for drugstore nail polish and really do rival my love for OPI! For the fall, I picked up two new colors that I am obsessing over already! Plum’s the Word, which is a purple based deep grey, and Jungle Jem, a peacock-blue, almost teal color!
8. Wet N Wild Megalast Lipstick in Ravin Raisin: I am a big fan of a bright lip, but last fall I decided to make a switch from hot pink to a bright purple! That went over very well with me, and so this year I have decided to take it a step further by moving into the deep dark purple area! I picked up this very inexpensive Wet N Wild Megalast Lipstick in Ravin Raisin to test out how I like the color on me, and guess what? I loved it! It’s deep, dark, and sophisticated without feeling overly vampy! I also love how this lipstick is completely matte! So for like $2, what are you waiting for? It’s the perfect fall lip!
9. Revlon ColorStay Moisture Stain in Parisian Passion: When I first tried out this new Revlon ColorStay range, I was decidedly not impressed! But, after watching beauty guru after beauty guru rave about these liquid lipsticks on youtube, I decided I had to give them a second chance in case I just got a bad bottle (after all, liquid lipstick is like that, ya know!) So, after falling in love with the deep purples for fall, I decided to test out Parisian Passion, and I have to say, my opinion has changed, slightly! I don’t think the Revlon ColorStay Moisture Stain line is the best liquid lipstick out there, but it isn’t bad. The consistency of this darker color was much more acceptable to me and much longer wearing that the previous shade I had purchased (Rio Rush).
