22 An Organized Gifting Caddy

First, THANK YOU! I sincerely appreciate all of your encouraging comments on my last post, as well as the abundance of emails and messages I received. This community really amazes me, and I adore that we all bond over a passion for our homes and organization! It sounds like many of you are on a quest to simplify and reduce home clutter with me this year, which keeps me awake at night with excitement! Let's do this 2019!

I have always been a bit of a sentimentalist, and I really love giving gifts to friends and family throughout the year. Just as much as I find joy in the process of looking for something thoughtful to give, I also really enjoy the process of wrapping it all up! I have absolutely nothing against a gift box or bag, but sometimes it just feels a little more special to add a ribbon, embellishment, a handwritten note, an ornament, monogrammed tag, etc... And those extra touches don't have to take much time, but they really go along way.

141 Catching Up and a Hello to 2019!

Happy New Year to you! I hope that the holidays have left you with a full love tank and that your 2019 is off to an incredible start!

Oh, how I have missed you all so very much!

It always feels a little awkward coming back from an extended break, especially when they are unplanned and much longer than ever anticipated.

Truth be told I have always had huge goals and amazing intentions for this small slice of the internet, but 2018 just wasn't meant to be my year (again, womp womp). For someone who is generally an energetic go-getter, learning to navigate the past few years has been a true personal challenge and journey. And having to do it online has been flat out tough, especially when I am trying to walk the line of personal and professional in front of an audience. If I have learned anything, it's that no matter how much you plan, life can change those plans in an instant. And as a self-proclaimed planning obsessed girl, that has been a hard pill to swallow.

I am not 100% ready to dive into my absence, although I hope to someday down the road. Just know that your support is deeply cherished and I appreciate those of you who continue to check-in. The outpouring of love, comments, emails, DM's, etc, has been so overwhelming over the past couple of months, and for that, I am eternally grateful. They continue to uplift and encourage and I truly hope that THIS IS THE YEAR that I can give that back to you.

27 How To Flock a Tree (or anything really)

The hustle and bustle of the holiday season has come and gone, but today we are going to chat about one decorative detail that was a really nice addition this past year. Flocking! I wasn't introduced to tree flocking until a few years ago, and it always seemed as though it was either too expensive or too messy. But I LOVE all of the pretty, fluffy white! So file this one away for next year if you have been in that same boat. It is a little messy, but I can testify that it is worth that mess in the end. And because we purchased a non-flocked tree last year (which was the right size and budget), it didn't make sense to purchase a flocked tree this year no matter how much I wanted one.

So I did a little research and figured it would be worth it to try and flock one of our artificial trees myself. And based on your feedback, it sounds like many of you are interested in doing the same!

I flocked our artificial tree, but I don't think anything is off limits. Garland, live trees, wreaths... 

I put together a quick little video tutorial to show you just how simple the flocking process is, but will also recap a few things below as well.

First, let's chat about the type of flocking I purchased. I found a 5 lb box of Sno-Bond flocking powder on Amazon for $27 shipped, back in November. That seems like a really great price as I am struggling to find it anywhere near that now. If this is something you are interested in, I recommend setting up a price alert to keep an eye on it throughout the year. I used the powder, but I have also seen it sold as a spray. Also, 5 lbs was more than enough. I have maybe used 1/4 of the box to cover my 7 ft. pencil tree twice. I imagine you may be able to split that size of a box with a couple friends or family members, or use it to flock a fresh tree multiple years in a row, or even sell the remainder of the contents through a local Facebook group.

As I mentioned, it is a little messy. The process of flocking requires you to wet the surface and sprinkle the white flocking powder onto the branches. Then, you spray the water again to cure that flocking to the tree. To prep, I recommend laying out a large tarp or painter's plastic, below and behind where you will be spraying. It is cold here so we set up an area in our garage, but I imagine you could do it outside in warmer climates. Not only will the dust settle below the tree, it does waft through the air a bit, so just consider that if indoors is your only option.

If you are flocking an artificial tree, we found it easiest to work in sections. Our tree breaks down into three pieces, so we did each piece separately, and then one more coating on the entire tree when fully assembled just to fill in any gaps. It was also helpful to have a second set of hands; Bryan would hold or spin the pieces while I sprayed and sifted. This allowed us to get under and all around the branches much easier. He recommends wearing rubber gloves or your hands will also be completely flocked by the end (although it does wash off easily).

Another tips is you can use the power of your spray bottle to squirt and push the flocking powder deeper into the tree as you sift.

As you can see in the video, the process is:

1. Mist water onto the branches to give the flocking powder something to adhere to.
2. Using a colander, sift the flocking over the branches of the tree.
3. Mist the water onto the flocking again, this time to cure the powder to the branch.
4. Let sit for 24 hours to fully cure prior to decorating.

The goal is to make it look like your tree is covered in beautiful white snow. What I love most is that there really is no right or wrong. You can add as much or as little as you like. And because snow doesn't fall perfectly onto every single branch, you can add more or less and it can be as even or uneven as you prefer. Nature is creative, and you get to be with this project too!

We allowed the flocking to cure the recommended 24 hours prior to decorating. There was some flocking that fell off the tree and into the tree skirt and onto the floor and gifts during decorating and just over the course of the few weeks that we had it up. But it wasn't sticky or anything that the vacuum couldn't easily and quickly handle. And I sort of loved the little dusting it left on our ornaments. It really did have a snow-like magical effect.

And that is it! It wasn't nearly as intimidating as I had built it up to be, and I am so happy I gave it a try this year! Feel free to leave any additional questions you might have about the process in the comments below!

Now, enough Christmas chit chat for now. We are starting a closet project to get one of our boys more organized and I am more than ready to start sorting and labeling! More on that soon!

305 A Warm Welcome to 2018!

Well hello everyone! It sure has been awhile! I hope that your 2018 is off to an amazing start and that you had a very warm and fulfilling holiday season. I have missed you all so very much!

My sweet boys returned to school this week and the house is so quiet now, maybe even too quiet. I am definitely ready for our "normal" routine to set back in but I am also really missing their sounds and spats and smiles and having them home with me during the day.

Although I haven't been online much, I have been writing this post in my head for days, weeks, even months. I honestly don't know where it will go, I just plan to let my feelings flow through my fingertips, so hang on for a little ride on my roller coaster of thoughts.

I didn't really plan to take such a long break. But it happened for a culmination of reasons; including some unexpected health concerns and out of town doctor visits with one of our boys, three months of lost planner work (and then re-creating all of that work in a few weeks time), and then the general craziness that comes with the holidays. I blinked and December was gone and so was 2017. Which I am more than OK with. I couldn't be more ready to start this new year with fresh perspective and motivation. 2017 wasn't my best or my favorite. Our son is OK, but watching him go through days of testing leading into the holidays weighed on me quite a bit and ultimately led me to crave a bit of an online break and some extra time with my family.

With that, I have been so grateful and overwhelmed by the number of you who have reached out to me personally through email, DM's and comments to check in on us. Living a life online can be such a tricky thing, it can get to me after awhile but I also miss you all whenever I step away to breathe. So thank you to each of you who have messaged me, your support and kindness have been so appreciated and have completely blown me away. I am still working my way through the notes and replying directly to everyone. ♥ 

So, with everything going on behind the scenes, this year I decided to pass on the gift guides and putting together a Christmas home tour. In fact, my Christmas decorating was almost identical to last year, which you can check out here. Keeping it simple and the same allowed for me to really soak in what Christmas is all about. December is also my busiest month in my Etsy shop, which can really clash with projecting and decorating and trying to do it all and be it all. So this year was the year of less stuff and less decorating and less sharing online. Taking some extra time off also allowed me to begin designing new items for my Etsy shop and consulting with some clients, both of which were very refreshing and so good for my soul.

I also did a little reflecting and really tried to figure out how to re-light that fire and get my blogging mojo back. Blogging was once my personal therapy and now there are moments that I think it will be what actually puts me into therapy. Ha! OK, so that is a bit dramatic, but I did have some mixed feelings about it all this past year. Blogging has evolved and changed in some really great and amazing ways, but also in ways that I haven't been able to quickly and openly adjust to. I am sure many of you could guess that my long-time loves of cleaning, planning, and organizing are my personal ways of working through deeper rooted messy life issues. And when I found blogs and started writing, it was a whole new world for me. And really, I was the happiest I had been in years. Not only was it friendly and imperfect and raw and real, there was this amazing community that was all about conversation and relationship building and I connected with folks that were just like me. And I felt like I was using my passion for good and readers were feeling excited and inspired and motivated. That was everything. I felt like I was making new friends with similar passions and relating with folks all over the world. It was normal for posts to have 100+ comments, multiple times per week and I loved the feeling of hitting the publish button.

But with the evolution of blogging and social media came growth, sponsorships, a bazillion new blogs, Pinterest and Instagram and swiping and the need to be on every platform. Suddenly it felt like our stories were lost and everything was shifting to pretty editorial pictures and pageviews and highlight reels. Comments turned into Pins and Likes and Hearts and conversation shifted and in some ways dissipated completely. The lines of real life and online life were suddenly blurred. I lost that personal connection with many of my longtime readers and at the same time felt the pressure to push frequent content and keep up. Checking blogs, Instagram and Pinterest only left me feeling visually and mentally overstimulated and inadequate. I rushed rooms and projects to provide consistent and frequent content but didn't always love the outcome of those updates and had to live with those repercussions. I am not a designer or decorator and just like working on our home as a hobby so I make mistakes and have to try things and play with things before getting them just right. That is just my process, but being in a pool of really amazing and talented peers that seem to have a knack for getting it right all of the time, has made me feel a little inferior even. So true what they say about comparison being the thief of joy, right?

Instead of being my own worst critic, I really want to be better about sharing more of those thoughts and the process of getting something from point A to B, what we tried that didn't work and what it took to get it to a point of working. I think that can be glossed over too often online for fear of looking unprofessional or unqualified (I know I am guilty of this too), and I want to share more of those mistakes and lessons learned. If anything, I am reminding myself that my mistakes can prevent others from doing the same thing!

At the same time, as much as I truly enjoy being creative and working on our home, that creativity doesn't come in constant waves. It ebbs and flows and some days I am totally inspired and having lightbulb moments and other days I sit with my head in my hands hitting roadblocks and walls. Sometimes I just want to take a break from DIY'ing and working on our home and constantly changing things, and sometimes I want to attack all of our spaces with gusto and vigor. That's my reality. But that can also cause some challenges for me as a blogger trying to create consistent content.

So before this post turns into any more of a sulk snowball, I am going to acknowledge that these feelings have been weighing heavy on my heart for too long now and that I have to find a way off of the emotional hamster wheel. Here are a few of my thoughts going into 2018, and a few questions for you all as well:

• Conversation and Connecting: Conversation is what I seem to miss the most when I think back to the way things used to be. Most of the time I feel like I am talking to myself and that can be discouraging when I spend hours/days on a single post. How can I connect with you all more? I often throw a question or two at the end of my posts to try and keep the conversation going, but maybe they don't feel authentic (even though they are!). Do you have interest in chatting with bloggers or do you like to read and move on? What types of posts compel you to comment? Do you have any interest in some sort of live online Q&A or Twitter Chat? Do you prefer to communicate and comment more on other social channels vs. directly on a blog post?

• Content: I organize and we DIY but what type of posts and content would you like in-between? I am generally not a fluffy content creator, I like to create meaty content inspired by real-life happenings and thoughts. Bryan works full time (and coaches and has a small side business) which means that he isn't able to project around the clock with me like some other DIY duos. It's just a personal choice not to put all of our eggs into a single basket. That said, our favorite way to spend time together is tackling home projects (sipping margaritas on a tropical beach is a close second), but we do have some schedule limitations (and sleep) to consider. I also run an online shop and work with friends, family, and clients, so, there are times when I just don't have new home content to share. What types of in-between posts do you enjoy reading? 

• Organization: What are your biggest dilemmas and problem areas? I could seriously talk organizing all day every day. What is on your list to tackle this year?

• Home Updates: I have found that I like slow. I didn't make a lot of changes last year and living with things really allowed me to have some clarity. No office update? That's because it is pretty much exactly the same as the last time I talked about it. The boy's den? Basic, undesigned, but usable and also unchanged. The laundry room? Loving everything about it but putting the finishing touches around the beautiful floral wallpaper has been an utter nightmare and I am completely stuck. The thing is, I finally had an a-ha moment in terms of what I want to do with my office after using it for almost two years now. I am so glad I didn't spend much time or money on it initially and that I waited and used it and really narrowed down what I want and need this time around. Making over room after room just isn't for me. So if you are looking for that and quick room reveals, I am sorry. It causes me too much stress, money, and even embarrassment. I do want to keep sharing our updates big and small, and really want to resolve to be better about finishing what I start this next year (including finally updating our home tour page). I am really enjoying the process of building our home and spaces over time, one small change at a time!

• Cleaning: I am planning to revisit the survey from last spring and touch on a few more of the hot topics that were discussed then. And I really want to try to offer easy and quick tips that don't overwhelm or discourage. Cleaning, in general, is dreadful to most, but is there one thing in particular that you just want more help with? Or a cleaning conundrum that you just can't figure out?

• Challenges: Sometimes a good challenge really lights a necessary fire. I want to do a large decluttering/simplifying challenge this year that focusses solely on living with less and create tools to help you all feel excited to declutter your dwelling, and just as importantly, talk about where those things should go when they leave your home. This is the biggest and most important step in any organizing project, and really deserves a lot of focus and discussion. Are there any other topics that would help give you a push to accomplish something? Maybe try a new power tool? Or a new technique?

• Celebrating this Community: I am so proud of what I see others accomplishing and tackling, and sincerely appreciate the spaces that you all share with me via email and on Instagram. Truly. This year I hope to build new relationships and uplift and celebrate all of the good happening in all of our homes and lives. We all have so much to learn from one another and you readers and fellow bloggers have taught me so many life-altering things! It would be great to highlight those spaces, projects, and tips more frequently.

• Splitting Time: My business has a lot of moving parts and opportunities which is one of the things I love most about it! I really appreciate the diversity and that I always have things to keep me busy, but it can be a challenge at times to juggle it all and do all the different things well. If I am all in and blogging a few days per week, then I can't give my all to my shop or to helping others. Working on my shop is a really nice creative break from social media while providing me with a good portion of my income, and quite frankly, there is nothing I enjoy more than helping others organize their homes. So just know that if I am quiet for bits of time here and there, that is because I am focussing on the other arms of my business during my set business hours. Sometimes those things pull me unexpectedly in different directions, but I will always come back to this hub that I call home.

• It's Time to Take a Risk: These past few years my insecurities and fears have gotten the best of me, and I have been too scared to do anything risky or exciting. It is actually a little sad and frustrating to reflect back on all of the things I didn't do out of self-doubt. This year I want to push through that and do something out of my comfort zone. Even if it is just one freaking thing.

And some final housekeeping notes:

The only change that I did make to last year's Christmas decorating is I decided to try my hand at tree flocking and I was so pleased the outcome. I was able to use one of our artificial trees and give it a fresh new look without having to purchase a new expensive flocked tree. The flock made the tree appear a little fuller and much more magical. Even though Christmas is over, would you be interested in a quick post about the process?

I know many of you have been waiting and checking in for my 2018 Planner release and it hit my shop mid-December. There are three sizes and three different dated layouts for each size available, making it a little challenging to select a favorite to use this year! As with previous years, they are designed to be printed at home or through a local printing company. My office printer is on the fritz so I ordered my bound pages from Best Value Copy and the price and quality were really great (but their shipping rates, ouch!). I will be photographing it all soon so I can get my FAQ page updated with all of my favorite ways to use the color filled pages along with my current favorite planning tools.

A few years ago I shared our Christmas storage solutions and they are still working like a dream today. You can find all of those details in this post here.

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And one more from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU to all of you who have stuck with me through it all. I know that there is so much good here in this community and I can't wait to hear your plans and goals for this year and what you would like to see more of here. We already have a few exciting projects at the top of our list just as soon as I pack up the last of the Christmas decor this weekend. Cheers to 2018!

34 Our Holiday Home: 2016

This week is always one of my most favorite weeks of the year. I love that calm between Christmas and New Year's Eve when the kids are home on break and everything feels relaxed and cozy. The decorations are still up and we do a fair amount of baking, cocoa drinking, sledding, game playing, movie watching, pajama lounging and reading. We take a break from heavy lifting and household chores and just soak up time with friends and family. Truly THE BEST.

For the past couple of years I have pulled out our Christmas bins the first week or two of December, and then just pluck away at a few areas of our home over the course of a few days. I love the warmth that a layer of Christmas decor spreads; extra candlelight, cozy blankets, mantel decor, wreaths, and trees, but it doesn't take long before I feel a little clutter induced panic.

We will host a New Year's Party and then all of the decor will come down the following day. Before it is all packed up, I thought I would share some photos of our colorful and simple holiday decorations from this year.

Our front planters were filled with some pines, and we hung a few wreaths on the door and windows. The wreaths are faux, while the pines are real.

I found the wreath for the front door at Home Depot and adorned it with a golden "J" from Target.

To add a little Christmas color on the other end of the porch, a couple of $3 (faux) poinsettias were placed inside some planters.

We have always done a real tree and planned to do so again this year. But then I found a narrow pencil option that allowed us to squeeze in a tree without the need to find a new home for any of our existing furniture. #hugewin

I started out by bringing in some real cedar garland to decorate our mantel, and it gave us that fresh pine smell we crave each year, but it quickly dried out from the fireplace and looked sad and messy within a week. Out it went and I replaced it with some eucalyptus branches I purchased from Trader Joe's. I went through a process of cutting, smashing and soaking the stems to keep them as hydrated as possible on the mantle, and even as they slowly dried out, they still looked simple and pretty.

The stockings for the boys were hung with clear Command Hooks, and a couple of faux white poinsettias were placed in the center of the mantel with some ornaments sprinkled throughout.

We reused the poinsettias from last year's tree; initially, I wrapped the tree like garland, but it felt a little busy so I ended up removing a quarter of them and placed them randomly around the tree instead.

Our narrow sideboard area in the dining room served us well this season, and will hopefully be the hot spot at our upcoming New Year's bash as well. First, we used it for a small holiday themed happy hour...

And it nicely transitioned into a long-term cocoa station for the boys and their friends.

My boys absolutely LOVE making hot cocoa, and they also love serving it up for friends and family that stop by as well. Of course, we try to limit their sugar intake, so they don't drink it every day, but we love having the setup available when the mood strikes. (I just cover the fixings in between cocoa making sessions to keep them fresh.)

We use this frother for our coffee, but it also works really well for cocoa. Just pour in the milk, and after it is started, slowly add the cocoa powder through the lid opening. It mixes in the powder as it heats everything up, creating a yummy treat. The best part it that it is fun and easy for the kiddos.

The tree upstairs added some nice Christmas cheer and nightly ambiance, while the tree in our lower level family room was where the real magic happened.

Parker helped me decorate both trees, but the entire family pitched in on this one. This is the one where every random ornament and decoration gets hung and displayed, and where all of our reminiscing takes place.

Around the corner is my office, and because I spend so many hours facing that beautiful teal blue hutch, I thought it would nice to give it a little holiday bling.

This is also where I stored our gift wrapping supplies for the season. I have a closet around the opposite side of our stairs where I store many of my gift wrapping items, but to make things quick and easy this year, I placed them out on a tray in my office. It was convenient to take the tray wherever I needed to spread out for wrapping, while simply keeping all of the essentials corralled together (my essentials were my address book, tissue, ribbon, bows, mini-ornaments for embellishments, gift tags, our Christmas cards, gift boxes/bags, tape, and scissors).

In this room, I also displayed many of the photo greetings I received from fellow friends and family. You may recognize a few of the faces, many of my fellow blogging buddies were smiling at me while I worked each day (is that weird? that sounded weird...).

I ordered a customized pinboard from Minted, and it is beautiful. I selected my favorite Minted frame, which I have used for a couple of art pieces in our home, as well as a flowing blue fabric pattern. Such a nice office addition, and a great way to pin up our cards as they trickled in over the course of the month.

And now you have seen a few glimpses of our Christmas card, which I also ordered from Minted this year. It was my first card order from them, and I was pleasantly surprised. The cards are high quality, and I had the hardest time narrowing down a design from the hundreds of choices. I also appreciated that they offered a service to address all of our envelopes and that I could add a sweet little envelope lining detail.

I was originally going to just use some photos I took of the boys this summer for our card but decided on a whim that it would be nice to get the entire family in a photo. Of course, we picked one of the coldest days of the year, ran into our favorite photoshoot spot, set up the tripod, shot a couple of photos and then hopped right back into the warm car. I crossed my fingers I got one of all of us looking, and lucky for me, we did! Although my eyes were watering and my nose hairs were frozen, I was pretty proud we pulled something off. Next year I am thinking a selfie stick in November will be the way to go.

We generally only decorate the main living areas of our home for the holidays, but this year I swapped out our sunburst mirror for a berry embellished wreath in our bedroom.

And the younger two boys both received a little bedroom door decor (from Target).

Parker also strung Christmas lights around his entire room, but most of the Command Strips had fallen off of the wall by Christmas day.

And that is it! Sprinkles of Christmas in a few of our jolly spaces.

From our family to yours, we wish you all full hearts as you head into the new year. I am so grateful to have you all as readers, and for your endless excitement and support of what we have going on around here. Cheers my friends! I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and that 2017 rings in with an abundance of happiness and joy.

Oh! And before I forget, I receive a lot of questions about how we store our Christmas decorations. I updated our system last year, and it was AMAZING this year as we unpacked everything.