December 12th, 2011
Okay so I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a Motivated Monday… I have just been so swamped with work stuff. But I finally finished the majillion projects I was working on and can get other stuff done – like updating my blog and creating free organizational printables!
This week I have “neighbor gifts” on the brain. I’m not sure if this is a regional thing or everywhere, but we like to give home-made gifts to our close friends and neighbors. Last year I made 16 round pans of cinnamon rolls, this year we are making Jamaican Christmas cake.
Anyway this printable helps you organize any gifts you are making/buying. You can also list all people you are delivering gifts to, as well as whom you have received gifts from — not so that you can revel in all your loot – but so you can reciprocate with a gift or a thank you card etc.
This printable works for office gifts, teacher gifts, extended family gifts and more! If you are looking for a more custom gift list, check out my gift organizer.
(Click on the image to begin PDF download)
Click on the form image above to download a PDF version of my printable neighbor-gift form. The downloadable PDF in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany and images from my site with a credit and link back to this article. As a courtesy please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to this page. At this time, no customizations of this or any of my forms are available. Forms are a free download AS IS, no customization or changes can be made.
December 12th, 2011
Over 1 month ago, I finally paid for my first cell phone.
{All the other cell phones I have had, I got them for free.}
I made the hard decision, and got myself an iPhone. WAHOO!! 
Long before the phone ever arrived….well, even before I ordered it….I started looking online for cell phone covers.
I had no idea how many different ones are available, and how hard the decision would be to make to pick just one.
At one point, I was inspired by another blogger who designed her iPhone cover by taking her own picture and uploading it to a site and getting it that way. After I looked at the site and the costs, I immediately had a different idea in mind.
After a stop by the book store on the campus I work, my idea was put in to action.
I then spent my lunch break crafting.
{I love it when I can do that!}
My idea….get a clear cell phone cover and design my own inserts that I can change out as I want.
Using PowerPoint {because it does a nice job of making ‘pictures’ when I’m at the office} I pulled together some fun digital scrapbook papers and elements and designed my own personal cover……that can be changed in the future.
{The design pictured is actually my second attempt, since I rearranged things because of the wording on the bottom. I didn’t notice it the first time.}
After I got home, I took a look at the Lost & Found Christmas papers, which are part of Jen’s line. I had a friend select 4 Christmas papers for me to use, because I couldn’t make up my mind on which ones to use.
To complete your own custom iPhone {or any type of phone for that matter} cover, you will need a CLEAR cover, a digital design or scrapbook paper, a pencil, an exacto knife, and a mat to cut on.
As you can tell in the picture below, I made the digital design much bigger than it needed to be. I wanted to be sure I had plenty of extra room to work with or mess up.
I traced the cover on to the design, then cut it out. Cutting out the camera opening served to be the biggest problem for me.
Just be sure that you cut it out the correct way, so that the camera hole will actually match up! {I messed that up on one of the papers.}
Paper number 1 for the 1st week of December.
Because I have 4 different Christmas papers cut out, I decided that I would change it out every week.
Once Christmas time passes, I will just keep changing up the paper or digital design to what I feel like, as often as I feel I need to.
I think that makes this the best type of cover!
Instead of spending $30-40 per each cover, I spent $20 on one clear cover.
To change it out will be free or just a few cents if I find a fun scrapbook paper.
Another idea would be to insert pictures of your kids {if you have them}, your favorite niece/nephew/pet, scraps of material glued to a piece of paper, etc.
Don’t let the cell phone cover companies limit what you can do with your cell phone.
I think your phone should represent you, not what is available for you to purchase.
Happy Creating!
December 9th, 2011
Okay it’s been awhile since I posted part 2 of our kitchen reveal… I swear there will be only one more reveal when the backsplash goes in. After that we’ll just have little details that I probably wont post about because I don’t think that anyone cares to see small updates. But I know that is probably not true because I seriously stalk home renovation blogs yelling into the air for more updates. “Why (insert home renovation blogger), have you not updated in a week??? Don’t you know that I want to see the tiniest progress??” I swear I care way too much about what is being renovated in other people’s homes. We spend about 8 hours a day watching the DIY channel. I don’t think that is an exaggeration either. Don’t believe me, ask my ever-widening behind, and my baby who knows the sound that the TV makes when it gets turned on. We really do need to get out more. Okay so where was I… Yes the kitchen! Almost a month ago I posted part 2 of the kitchen reveal. I was just waiting on the marble counter tops which were just a few days away from being installed. It’s been more than 2 weeks since we’ve had the new counter tops, but I’ve been so busy (hence the lack of updates and Monday free downloads) that I haven’t had a chance to post the kitchen reveal yet. The countertop guys came and did a great job and the calcutta marble counter top is breathtaking. I knew it would be beautiful, but I am seriously in love with how stunning it is.
I have even placed my cute blue, white and taupe dishes in the cabinets. Suprisingly only the small blue plates and large teal cups were purchased recently. Everything else has been collected over the past few years.
The cabinets will have glass doors, but we’re not in any huge hurry. Also looking at this photo makes me want to do some Christmas decorations in the kitchen. maybe a dainty garland across the upper cabinets.
You can see the veining of the marble a bit better in this (awful) cell phone camera photo from the day of the install:
(I swear I need to put a disclaimer on my site about my terrible photography skills. I really am sorry that my photos are so bad. I should be fired from blogdom and have my blog taken away for such a crime against the blogging community).
You can also see above what a difference having stuff in the cabinets makes the room feel so much more homey.
Here is a peninsula view. I LOVE my corbels which I still need to post about. Can someone keep track of everything I have promised to post about and email it to me?
And an up-close shot of the upper cabinets.
So that’s the kitchen as it pretty much stands today. I don’t know what got into me but I was so verbose today! I guess I’m just so excited to have a fully-functioning kitchen!
(If any photographers in the Sacramento, Tahoe or Bay Area wants to take pity on me and come and take a few actually good shots of my kitchen please feel free to stop on by!)
December 7th, 2011
I have been wanting to make new Christmas stockings for a while and the other day I found the easiest tutorial here at Fabricworm. (And while you are at Fabricworm.com check out Jen’s latest line So Sophie.) I used my scraps from my Holiday Binder plus a fatquarter of Holly Jolly and made two new stockings. My husband and his friends love them.
This tutorial is the easiest I have found yet. I made two stockings in less than an hour. They are totally addicting and I plan on making many more before Christmas is over. Since they are such a hit with the guys, I will be making more for my husband to give out to his friends full of baked goods. This is also an easy way to wrap gifts instead of using all the wasteful paper. 
I realize this is not the best picture but you get the idea of my house decor. Holly Jolly looks fabulous with the wildlife theme we have.
December 7th, 2011
After MUCH ado, we finally have a fully functioning master bathroom. a few weeks ago, I posted a sneak peak because I was so excited about our progress. And since then, the pine planks were painted SW Duck White, the lights were installed, the plumbing finished, the cabinet stained and finished, and the mirror made and hung. Whew! Thats a lot of work, but luckily Mr. Project was up to the task and finished it fairly quickly considering he was on a business trip all of last week.
My favorite part of the bathroom is the plank wall. I just wish it weren’t covered up! But the mirror looks pretty awesome too, and it’s nice to be able to see myself when I put on make-up. Here is an in-progress photo of the plank wall… so pretty:
Here is the other side of the bathroom (yes it’s a small room, but it’s about a million times better than it used to be!). I got that gorgeous train rack from Restoration Hardware. Notice the TP holder has no TP… Ollie found out how fun toilet paper rolls are so now we keep them out of the reach of little hands. I thought about installing the bar up high, but decided no matter how much sense it made, it probably was not the best idea.
Well that’s the master bath! I do want to find a basket for under the sink, but I haven’t seen one that is the right thing for the space yet. So it’s pretty much done and I am one happy lady!
