Loving the Coconut Oil!

If you read my post last month, you'll know that I've recently discovered the beauty of coconut oil as a hair conditioner from another pinterest pin. Yesterday, I found this pin on pinterest here--http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/80-uses-for-coconut-oil/ that describes 80 different uses for it! I'm all for things are reasonable and have multiple uses around the house.

First thing I did was try the coconut oil as a moisturizing lotion for my legs, arms, and hands. All I did was literally scoop it out of the jar and put it on my skin to rub it in. It was a bit greasier than I like for lotions, but my skin feels amazing this morning! So soft and moisturized! I have super dry skin in the winter, so this is huge.

Next thing I did was try the coconut oil as a chapstick for my dry lips. Besides dry skin, I really get dry lips in the winter, and my other chapsticks are not cutting it. A little coconut oil on my lips really did an amazing job last night. Hoping to get them back in shape soon.

If you are looking for cheap and easy DIY Natural health and beauty recipes, check out the above link for 80 uses for coconut oil!

Merry Christmas!

I got a little off track w/ my blogging last week while finishing up holiday shopping/ wrapping/ cleaning and then having my daughter home for half of the week for Christmas break. I have loved spending time with my friends and family.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

doTERRA Family Physician Kit--a Family Review

My follow-up to an earlier post this week, I plan to blog about our initial experiences with our new doTERRA Family Physician Kit. We have had our kit for 3 weeks now and have taken it on vacation. During that time, we have started to get a few colds, had some aches and pains, fevers, upset stomachs, pink eye, and headaches, and the flu and stomach flu are both going around my daughter's Kindergarten class. We were on a cruise with over 4600 other people and through numerous airports during this time.

*****small disclaimer--I am a current wholesale member and new consultant with doTERRA, but I didn't receive anything for this post nor am I looking to gain anything by posting this other than helping my friends and their families.

The Family Physician Kit contains 5ml bottles of the following oils--lemon, peppermint, lavender, on guard, breathe, melaleuca, oregano, digestzen, and frankincense. You also receive an audio cd for information about using the oils and a 15ml bottle of Slim and Sassy. We have tried all of the oils at this point, and all three of us are reaching for the oils first now. My husband even asks me to put the "fix it" stuff (aka On Guard) on him, and my daughter sticks her feet up in the air for oils!

Our Ailments Over the Past 3 Weeks--

Runny Nose/ Cough--used Breathe and On Guard, worked great. We love On Guard!

Upset stomach--Digestzen worked for hubby and for our daughter after her motion sickness

Fever--used On Guard and Peppermint for our daughter at bedtime, and her fever was gone when she woke up the next morning. She felt great!

Pink Eye--currently using Melaleuca and Lavender oils around my eyes, and they are stopping the itch and reducing the pink/ red. Will post pics tomorrow.

Sinus/ Tension Headache--used Breathe and Peppermint, added Frankincense a few times. I did have to take an excedrin at one point when the hormonal headache was added on top of the others, but the oils mostly did the trick here. I ordered PastTense (for headaches) to see how this works next time.

Joint/ Muscle Pain--used Deep Blue oil, and hubby felt better; used it on my daughter's finger and felt better

I have also been putting a drop of lemon oil in my water for detox and feel it helped. I have treated a sinus infection and pink eye on myself with great results--no doctor's appt. or antibiotics! Woohoo!

The Slim and Sassy is definitely reducing my cravings to snack in the afternoons and evenings, and it tastes great. The bottle seems to last awhile, too, as I have most of the bottle left. For our family of 3, we go through the On Guard fastest, and I would highly recommend it to other families with kids, those with weakened immune systems, etc. If you have any questions, please list them in the comments, and I'll try to help.

Tomorrow's post--More information on these oils--what they are, etc.

Book Review--The Happiness Project

I love to read on vacation and have to have a good book in my hands for the airplane rides, time by the pool, and the beach. This year, I was able to read a newly recommended book to me, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubins. One of my main goals for this year was to read more books and focus on my overall health, including mental and emotional, and this book was perfect.

I think we can all learn to be happier and to appreciate what we have more. There were many helpful things about this book that I can definitely apply to my own life, but a few things really jumped out at me. Gretchen takes an overwhelming project, a yearlong happiness project, and breaks it down into manageable monthly resolutions. She came up with a list of things she knew to be true, 12 things she wanted to work on over the year, and then broke that down into several resolutions to focus on each month. She then kept track of her progress on a daily resolutions chart. I definitely need to do this.

I love the fact that as a Mom of two, she kept it real. She only focused on changing her behavior. I plan on doing a modified happiness project in 2013 as we finish up Kindergarten and start school full-time next fall. The one quote that has stayed with me from this book is that "the days are long, but the years are short."

I highly recommend this book, and I'm currently reading the follow up book, Happier at Home. I'm also getting things organized for my happiness project to start in January by following Gretchen's blog here--http://www.happiness-project.com/  Happy Reading!

My New Journey with doTERRA Essential Oils

As some of you may know, I recently started using doTERRA essential oils before our vacation, and I will never go back to a life without them. I've had several friends and family members asking what they are, what I think of them, how they are working, etc. and plan to address questions and my experiences here where I can write and share more. I decided to start out by telling why I took this journey and then go from there.

I have gradually started changing over our household items in the past year or two to more green cleaning items, less processed foods, and more natural health solutions for myself but still relied on the dr. visits for my 5 year old daughter. She doesn't get really sick but almost constantly has a cough, more so in fall and winter. Every time she gets a runny nose, it turns into several weeks of a cough. Our friends and family have grown to accept that she's not really sick but coughing.

Over the past two years, we were typically at the dr. once per month. Occasionally, it was a sinus infection or ear infection but mainly just a cough that they would attribute to a virus or to an unknown cause.  Allergies and cough-variant asthma were both mentioned repeatedly, but allergy testing last spring came back negative on everything. I do realize that they could still develop, and while her asthma test was also negative, the allergist wanted to put her on an inhaler to see if it would help her cough. We have turned down advice for inhalers and allergy prescriptions because we just don't feel comfortable trying random things on our daughter to see if they work.

Recently, we were referred on to an ENT specialist as her dr. felt it didn't sound like cough-variant asthma anymore. The specialist didn't find anything wrong and felt we needed to get more aggressive from the beginning when she gets this runny nose/ cough. She recommended OTC children's mucinex and possibly an acid reducing medicine if we feel the cough may be coming from acid (we don't). Again, not trying random medicines just to see if they work.

We decided this year to not get her a flu shot and try a more natural approach because honestly we figured we had tried the traditional medicine route w/ her the last few years without much success. Last year, she developed an allergic reaction to the antibiotic Omnicef. My Mom and Brother are both allergic to the "cillan" medicines and found out when they were older, so I'm hoping she doesn't develop more. Also, we recently had a friend develop Steven Johnson's Syndrome after allergies to antibiotics and prescribed medicines, so we were completely ready to give the all natural route a try. I spoke w/ a friend of mine who used doTERRA essential oils for her family and was an Independent Consultant and signed up that day for the Family Physician Kit, wholesale member, and to become an Independent Consultant myself although my primary goal is to keep my family healthy.

The rest of this week, I will keep blogging about the essential oils we have tried and our experiences with each one. We have tested out most of the oils in my Family Physician Kit at this point (unfortunately we've needed to), but I feel confident in sharing our results. Let me know in the comments if you ever have questions, and I'll try my best to answer them.

Recommended Book--The Happiness Project

Back home from vacation and ready to resume the blogging! I have several posts planned for this week and next, including a post about a great book I read on vacation and posts on my recent experiences with doTERRA essential oils. Happy Reading!

Roasted Green Beans with Mushrooms

While trying to make the rest of my family eat healthy foods with me, I stumbled across this blog post from Pinterest a few weeks ago, and it looked really yummy! http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/01/recipe-for-roasted-green-beans-with.html I decided to give it a try and had picked up fresh green beans at Trader Joe's the week before. It's definitely a keeper with a few tweaks.

The above picture is mine and hows how our dinner looked before the oven. The smell of this recipe before it went in the oven was absolutely divine. However, it tasted like it needed more balsamic to me. I love the taste of balsamic vinegar , and while it smelled like a strong balsamic, it tasted a little bland on that end. These were really, really yummy though, and I'll definitely make them again. Enjoy!

Cleaning the Microwave with Vinegar

While I know that steam helps loosen everything inside the microwave, I was a bit skeptical of this pin after reading the comments. However, my microwave desperately needed cleaning for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I decided to give it a try. My end result wasn't too bad.

Here's the original blog post that I pinned on Pinterest--http://lifehacker.com/323232/steam+clean-the-microwave-with-vinegar . I started out by filling my bowl with half water and half white vinegar. I love the smell of white vinegar, so I wasn't worried about the comments that mentioned the smell. I was worried about the comments that said their bowl exploded, so I started out at 2 minutes and then added one minute and then another minute for 4 minutes total.

I will say that even after 4 minutes on high, I still had to scrub a bit in spots, and the cleaning wasn't as easy as I had hoped. It was definitely easier than before, and my microwave looks clean. Let me know how this works out for you if you try it.

Cyber Monday!

Cyber Monday Sale Starts now through Tuesday morning--25% off anything in my Etsy shop using the code CYBERMONDAY. Happy Shopping! www.tscrapper.etsy.com

This includes ceramic coasters, party supplies, luggage tags, checkbook covers, and more--everything! I am also including custom orders, so if you don't see exactly what you want, please message me.

The Dollar Tree Mug Art Project

I'm sure many of us have seen (and pinned!) the Dollar Tree mug/ plate art project on Pinterest (original blog post is here http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/31-insanely-easy-and-clever-diy-projects ), and I'm here to tell you that we tried it. Super easy+super cheap=we will be making many more of these. Little one loved it!

 First, we got out all of our Sharpie markers. From teaching and crafting, I had several colors on hand. Little one created drew her pictures on the mug for Daddy, and we baked it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

It appears to be a great mug, but I haven't tried washing it yet. I'm only going to handwash it. This project was a total success and makes a great gift for just a little cash. Enjoy!

Shutterfly's New Card Service--Treat!

Have you heard about Treat yet? All of you know that I love Shutterfly and the quality of their products. Treat is Shutterfly's new greeting card service with cards for all occasions that be personalized and sent directly to your recipient!

Your holiday checklist just got shorter. Create and send a totally personalized greeting card from Treat for FREE. Whether saying thanks for Thanksgiving, wishing a best friend a holiday birthday, or simply sharing the holiday cheer with a just because card, Treat lets you create a one-of-a-kind card that is sure to impress. Use the code TREATBLOGR today, 11/19 or tomorrow, Tuesday 11/20 for a free card.

**Disclaimer--I am receiving free cards from Treat for this post.

The Calming Jar

When I pinned the calming jar on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it out for my five year old. She is a very well-behaved child normally, but she does go from hot to cold pretty quickly. She loves glitter and all things girly, so it was worth a shot.

The original directions came from this blog here--http://www.herewearetogether.com/2011/06/27/another-mind-jar/ and worked fairly well. I used purple glitter glue, warm water, a mixture of regular glitter (just added until it looked like enough), and some drops of vegetable oil to help separate everything. I used an empty jar from the pantry, but it is important to know your child here. Do not give a glass jar to an upset child that may be tempted to drop or throw it. You could always use an empty peanut butter container or other plastic jar. Once everything was mixed together, we still had big glops of glitter glue, but she noticed that if she shook it sideways, it started breaking up.

The above picture is our actual calming jar, and it's a beautiful purple color. The whole project took less than 5 minutes to make. While I'm not sure how effective it will be for calming/ replacing time outs, she does like it and enjoys spending time watching it. Hope this helps some of the other Moms!

Thanksgiving Learning Activities for Kids

While I took yesterday off for my birthday, I'm back today with a few items that we are loving around our house this time of year. My daughter loves themed printables and games for the holidays, and Pinterest never disappoints me. I find tons of activities for every holiday and season on there. Thanksgiving was no different.

I've mainly focused on math activities and games and crafts for this holiday because it really seemed to sneak up on us this year. I swear it was just Halloween last week! Not sure how Thanksgiving can really be in less than a week from today. Anyways, here are the activities that we've been working on this week in our house--http://blog.maketaketeach.com/?p=3460 for basic addition fact turkeys (shown above) and http://www.readingconfetti.com/2011/11/word-family-turkeys.html for word family turkeys (shown below).


Both of these sites have some fabulous learning activities for kids that are free, many printable, and fun for the preschool/ Kindergarten/ early first grade kids. I love that they also turn into holiday decor! Hope everyone has fun learning this week!

Portobello Mushroom Parmesan--Yum!

As many of you know, I became a vegetarian in early 2012, and I'm still going strong with this new way of life. I absolutely love it, and I'm constantly looking for new recipes to try. This portobello parmesan recipe that I pinned on Pinterest originally came from this blog post here--http://oneperfectbite.blogspot.com/2010/01/baked-portobello-parmesan-dieters.html and was absolutely delicious and really easy to make. I'm an awful food photographer, so the recipe photo is also courtesy of the above blog.

I was running short on time, so I really didn't add all of the spices, etc. that it mentioned, and it was very forgiving. I definitely plan on making it again in the future. Enjoy!

If you're not currently following me on Pinterest, you can find me here--http://pinterest.com/tscrapper/. I'll keep blogging about items that I've pinned. I'm so excited to finally start going through my list!

Dry Hair No More!

To kick off my new blog postings, aka ramblings about things I like, I decided to post about my latest adventure into creating my own beauty products for my family. This idea came from Pinterest and the original blogpost found here--http://www.littlehouseliving.com/coconut-oil-conditioner.html.

On my most recent trip to Trader Joe's, I decided to buy some coconut oil and try this for myself. I have really dry, fine hair, so I wasn't sure how this would work, but many drugstore shampoos/ conditioners leave my hair too dry. Anything was worth a try.

Before showering, I took a small amount of coconut oil and ran it through the bottom half of my hair, mainly focusing on the ends. After a few minutes, I washed my hair as normal in the shower and towel dried my hair. Once dry, it was really soft and felt so much better! The next day, I decided to try this remedy on my 5 year old daughter's hair, which is much thicker and curlier, but I tried a different strategy. I thought I could use it in the shower as a conditioner on her hair and then just rinse it out really well. Do not try that strategy! Her hair looked so greasy that it looked wet. :( Note to self--always apply this before the shower and then wash out thoroughly.

I would highly recommend this as a conditioner. Both of us still have soft hair two days after the initial application and with no conditioning afterwards. My daughter's hair is normally so tangled after showers, and it's the easiest it's ever been to brush through.

Let me know in the comments if you decide to try it!

A new take on this blog...

So I've been blogging on here for a few years now, and I still feel that this blog doesn't really have a clear direction yet. It started out as a blog for my Etsy business, T and Little S Designs, and featured items from my shop, new designs, etc. Then it gradually started featuring other sellers in an interview format. At this point, it's been so long since I've consistently blogged that I'm ready to start anew. I honestly miss blogging.

Going forward, my blog ideas will be things that I like to read (Pinterest ideas that I've tried, crafts/ learning activities with my Kindergartner, Etsy designs from my shop, DIY natural ideas, etc.). I plan to take a much more relaxed approach with my blogging topics while still blogging every day. For instance, I may blog about a Pinterest idea I tried one day and then focus on an organizing challenge that I'm participating in on another blog the next day. More than likely, it will be extremely based on my social media connections and my Pinterest pins. I truly love seeing new ideas and knowing how they work for other people, and I have hundreds that I plan to try for myself!

So, grab your morning beverage each day and come back for your morning reading. I love to hear comments on the new format and any topics you would like to see me discuss. Here we go!

Shutterfly Thank the Troops

Many of us know someone either currently in the military or someone that has previously served, and we see the hardships on their families. Shutterfly has a wonderful way to send a card to our troops to tell them how much they are appreciated.

It’s more than a card, it’s thank you for our freedom.

Over 1.5 million troops serve our great nation. Many of them will be overseas, in harm’s way, and away from their families over this holiday season. Our mission is simple—to send a thank you card to every American hero. To succeed we need your support. Just select a card from our 4 different designs, add a personal message (or photo) and click send.  Shutterfly will print and ship your card to the troops at no cost to you.

I encourage you to create a card for the troops, and if you can please share this with your Facebook family and friends (There is a share option when you complete your card). 

https://www.facebook.com/shutterfly/app_525739750774135

Thanks!

Book Review--21 Days to a More Disciplined Life

I recently had the chance to review the new e-book by Crystal Paine (otherwise known as the Money Saving Mom on her blog, etc.), and it was another fabulous book written by her. I personally struggle w/ being disciplined in both my personal life and with my Etsy business, and while I have a daily to-do list, I often get sidetracked with Facebook, Pinterest, etc. This book offers clear, concise ideas for really focusing on the important things in your life, as well as taking big tasks and breaking them down into manageable projects.

I highly recommend this book if you're looking to become more disciplined in your life. For the next few days, it's only .99 for your Kindle!

http://crystalpaine.com/21-days-to-a-more-disciplined-life/

Shutterfly $50 Giveaway!!

I am having a Shutterfly giveaway for $50 off your total order, and it's super easy to enter!  All you have to do is comment on this post, and the winner will be drawn at random via random.org. For extra entries, feel free to do the following--
1. Follow my blog
2. Like me on Facebook at T and Little S Designs

Just leave a blog comment saying that you followed or liked for two extra entries!
Giveaway prize: $50 off total order (does not include shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos)

Contest ends 10/29/12, and winner will be announced the following day. Thanks!

Shutterfly Holiday Cards

This is a sponsored post. I am receiving $100 off my holiday cards from Shutterfly for blogging about their cards.

It's that time of year to start planning your holilday cards and any photo shoots to go along with them! As you know from past posts, I love Shutterfly holiday cards, and this year is no exception. They have some gorgeous designs to choose from for all of the winter holidays and more.

I've loved looking through their holiday photo cards Photo Christmas Cards  and have picked out a few designs as possible choices for our cards this year. These may not be the exact ones I go with, but they are a few of my current favorites. I tend to go with cards in traditional red/ green colors but with a more modern message. There really are some fabulous choices to pick from this year!

So, go check them out now and start planning for your holiday cards. Make sure you check out Shutterfly's special offers page here on your way to ordering. http://www.shutterfly.com/special-offers

Shutterfly's Long Live Summer Photo Contest

If you're anything like me, you're probably spending your summer days swimming, playing outside, and generally staying busy enjoying the warm sunshine. You may even be taking a vacation or two. I hope that you're also taking pictures to remember these lazy days of summer.

Shutterfly is sponsoring a Long Live Summer Photo Contest! http://bit.ly/sweepS Each week has a different theme and more prizes. Everyone who submits a photo wins a prize! Details below:

Long Live Summer – Facebook Photo Contest details (US residents only)7/9 – 8/12 Multi-week summer themed photo sweepstakes with instant win prizes.http://bit.ly/sweepS

Win a trip for four to The Bahamas and a professional photo shoot so you’ll remember your vacation forever. All you need to do is upload your favorite photo and caption based on the theme of the week. Get a gift from Shutterfly just for entering! You can enter at any point during the 5-week sweepstakes period.

PHOTO THEMES

• Week 1(7/9): Americana - ended

• Week 2 (7/16): Great Outdoors - ended

• Week 3 (7/23): Water Fun – current week

• Week 4 (7/30): Sports & Activities

• Week 5 (8/6): Parties & Celebrations

PRIZES

• Instant win prizes just for submitting a photo!

• Weekly prizes (contestants can enter one time/week)

• Weekly featured photos: up to 5 weekly entries will be selected from the gallery and featured on the Facebook fan page.

• Grand prize: trip for 4 to Bahamas, 4 nights, family photo shoot

• Shutterfly Sweepstakes - Official Rules

Monday--Goals for the Week

Last week was crazy busy, so my main goal this week is to slow down! That may be easier said than done now that we're in soccer season and t-ball season.
Household
--mow
--laundry, dishes, normal cleaning
--keep working on our master bathroom project

Professional
--finish all current orders

Personal
--book hotel for vacation
--book late summer vacation
--keep exercising 2-3 days per week
--Silk HouseParty
--finish at least 5 scrapbook pages for our personal books

Inspiration Tuesday--Unless

We just watched The Lorax this past week during our spring break, and we were both inspired by the movie. I've always loved the story but feel it's really appropriate to focus on it this month with Arbor Day and Earth Day, as well as in our general lives. I urge you to find one way that this "unless" quote applies to your life and make a commitment.

Monday--Goals for the Week

Last week was our spring break, so things should be somewhat back to normal this week. Here are my goals for this week:

Professional
--get caught up on orders
--list new items in Etsy shop
--figure out answers to my poll

Household
--keep up the 15 min. cleaning each day routine
--try new recipes for my 31 party on Wed.
--decorate with Easter crafts this week (shaving cream painting, tissue paper eggs, coffee filter eggs)
--start Pre-K soccer this week

Personal
--finish reading The Maze Runner
--do daily Easter crafts with the little one (Pinterest ideas mentioned above)
--keep up with treadmill walking/ running
--have my thirty-one party this week

Wordless Wednesday--Disney Style

Monday Goals for the Week

The last few weeks have been tied up with home remodeling, vacation to Florida, and dealing with a sick preschooler, but I think things are looking up around here. Everyone is healthy, and we're back to normal. Here are my goals for this week:
Professional
--sub at preschool on Monday (done!)
--ship out last 2 orders
--list something new since it's been forever
--keep up my blogging

Household
--clean my scrapbook room
--organize the playroom
--pick out the floor tile for the bathroom project, help when needed

Personal
--read the book Matched
--try two new vegetarian recipes for the week
--keep up my blogging

Monday Goals for the Week

Hoping for another busy and productive week this week!

Professional
--finish all current Etsy and Artfire orders
--list new cupcake toppers and party supplies

Personal
--read books 2 and 3 in The Hunger Games series
--must start walking this week (I've said this for how many weeks now?)
--keep up with Lent goal of no Internet during the day

Household
--vacuum, dust, laundry, dishes
--buy materials that we still need for bathroom remodel

Wordless Wednesday--Bathroom Demo Day 1

The floor is next weekend's project, but everything else is demo'd!

Inspiration Tuesday

One of my favorite new places to search for inspiration is on Pinterest, and I've been on there a lot lately searching for everything from St. Patrick's Day crafts and recipes to bathroom remodeling design. Here are a few of the bathroom designs that have inspired our new master bathroom design:

http://www.decorpad.com/photo.htm?photoId=33902

from houzz.com and Pinterest

and from Pinterest and houseofturquoise.com

Monday--Goals for the Week

I know it's been a month since I posted last, but I'm finally past all of the valentine orders and my daughter's Sid the Science Kid party. I can finally relax a bit. Here are my goals for the week:

Professional
--list new items on Etsy (cards, more party themes)
--schedule all blog posts for this week

Personal
--walk on treadmill
--physical at dr's office on Thurs.
--give up Internet during the day for Lent

Household
--clean out master bathroom cabinets and prep doors (Master Bathroom project), help demo floor next weekend
--keep up with laundry, vacuum, dishes, dust, etc.

Wordless Wednesday

Monday--Goals for the Week

We had a very productive week last week w/ lots of organizing in our house. I hate to clean but love to organize. :) Other good news is that I can finally drive again! It's so nice to be able to run errands. Here are my goals for this short week:

Professional--
--finish new orders
--keep promoting my valentines

Household--
--dust and vacuum house
--organize playroom and little one's bedroom
--find new currents and throw pillows, etc. for the newly painted master bedroom

Personal--
--finish reading The Life of Pi (such a good book!)
--work on map canvas project
--start exercising again this week!!
--keep up w/ healthy/ mostly vegetarian diet

Monday--Goals for the Week

Another busy week ahead for us! We are getting ready to paint and do some work in our master bedroom and bathroom. Last night, we rearranged all of the furniture, and the room looks so much bigger already. This should be our last major house project for awhile since we're waiting to finish the basement.

Professional
--keep caught up on Etsy orders
--work on new party supply designs
--get my valentines into a local shop

Household
--organize kitchen island drawers (didn't get done last week)
--organize linen closet upstairs
--keep up w/ general cleaning and pick up
--paint the master bedroom

Personal
--finish reading The Life of Pi
--continue my healthy/ mostly vegetarian eating
--start walking this week

Technique Thursday--Subway Art!

This post isn't a technique tutorial this week but an introduction into my new love of subway art for my own personal use. Through Pinterest, I found an amazing blogger who creates beautiful subway art that you can print and use for personal use in your home. They are gorgeous, and she has them on her site, ready to print in large sizes, for almost every holiday. Perfect! I just need to get a large frame, print these babies at Staples (following her directions for sizes, etc.), and get ready to change them in and out all year w/ my decor. Here's her New Year's subway art (shown above):

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/search/label/subway%20art

Other holidays are easy to download from her site w/ the printing directions:

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/search/label/subway%20art

She even has a birthday print and a filler print! Happy decorating!

Wordless Wednesday--Art for the New Year

Inspiration Tuesday--Healthy Eating

I've really focused on what my family is eating over the course of the last year and changed what I could at home. We've eliminated most processed foods and rarely eat fast food. Sometimes in the last 6 months, it just happened when we were rushed. Now, I try to be more prepared on days when I know we might be rushed. A lot of my inspiration came from this site, 100 days of Real Food:
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-defined-a-k-a-the-rules/

It's a real family eating real food and provides recipes, etc. in easy to understand guidelines, etc. I really want to try to eventually make my own breads. This month, here are a few new recipes I'd love to try for healthy snacks--homemade Wheat Thins (which my daughter loves and I hate the sodium of normal ones) and guacamole hummus.

Homemade Wheat Thins from http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/homemade-wheat-thins/

Guacamole Hummus from http://www.marthastewart.com/349717/guacamole-hummus

Should be really healthy together, right? I love guac and hummus w/ veggies, so I'm pretty excited about that one. Enjoy!

Monday Goals for the Week--It's January!

After taking December off to finish Etsy orders, take a vacation, and celebrate the holidays w/ my family, I'm back to my somewhat normal schedule and blogging (just a day late this week). I've made some great goals for 2012 that I hope to break into smaller goals each week. I have lots of new Etsy items that will be entering my shop at some point this week, and I'm doing well health-wise. 2012 should be a great year!

Here are my goals for this week:
Professional--
--list all valentine set designs in Etsy shop
--finish existing orders from Dec.
--work on new party theme designs w/ Modern Renaissance
--try to get my valentines in a local shop for January and February
--blog all week

Personal--
--read The Chronicles of Harris Burdick
--continue to eat mostly vegetarian and healthy choices for snacks
--take it easy while weaning off of this medicine this week and next

Household--
--clean and organize laundry room
--clean and organize scrapbook room
--organize kitchen island drawers and storage
--dishes, laundry, etc.