DIY Glitter Tags Using Planner Stickers!

Hi there! I'm currently applying to participate on the Creative Team for one of my favorite planner sticker shops and as a part of that process I had to write up a sample blog post. I enjoyed it so much I figured why not actually post that sample post on my real blog! If you are as immersed in the planner and crafting world on Instagram like I am then this little DIY is just for you!

In this month's PopFizzPaper planner kit I received some full box stickers sized for the Happy Planner and the floral watercolors were so pretty I was thinking how cute one would be as a gift tag! The more I thought about it the more I realized making gift tags would be the perfect way to use up any extra full box sized stickers I wasn't going to use in my planner (like when 8 come on a sheet but you only have 7 days in the week, amiright!?) Today I’m going to show you how I DIYed some gift tags with that extra full box sticker and some supplies I bet you already have on hand!

Here’s what you’ll need!

Full box stickers, glitter paper, scissors, hole punch, & string!

Once you have selected your full box sticker apply it to the back side of the glitter paper. Avoid applying directly to the glitter side unless your paper is smooth since the sticker won’t adhere well to textured glitter!

Next cut out your desired shape around the sticker. You can use a tag you already have as a template to ensure your cuts are even!

Using your hole punch (I used a 1/8” punch) make the hole for the string. Make sure you don’t punch too close to the edge or the paper is more likely to rip once the string is tied.

Now you are ready to attach the string you’ve picked out. You could use ribbon, bakers twine, yarn- anything that can tie! Just make sure it is firmly in place so it doesn’t slip off!

You could stop there but if you like to get fancy (and don’t we all) you could try inking the edges for definition, using alphas to personalize, or by adding die cuts, puffy stickers, or enamel dots for a 3D effect!

Now you’re done! You have a unique tag to tie onto any gift or project and no reason to let that oddball full box sticker float around in your collection any longer! This is also a great way to clear out those bits of string and scraps of paper we are all holding on to because us crafting ladies can’t seem to throw ANYTHING away!

I hope you enjoyed this simple DIY! 

Do you have a go-to project you find yourself making time and time again when you have extra scraps and supplies to use up? Let me know in the comments- I’d love to have a few more up my sleeve!

sweet // simple // genuine // quiet // love

I was going through some old notebooks of mine when I came across a "journal entry" of mine from Friday September 5, 2014. I don't actually keep a journal but on a random page in this random book I wrote "Today I feel like journaling. I don't know why exactly except that I have thoughts to get out of my head that maybe I'll want to remember some day." Guess what- I was right! I am so glad I wrote theses things down because I do want to remember them. The things I wrote really struck a chord in me as I re-read them tonight so I decided to share them here as another way to look back and remember. So here goes...

Friday September 5, 2014

Today I feel like journaling. I don't know why exactly except that I have thoughts to get out of my head that maybe I'll want to remember some day. 

Tonight Adam and I went to dinner. He suggested we go out which doesn't happen as often. Usually I want to go out (because I don't want to cook or I don't want to be in the house). It was sweet of him to suggest. I didn't even think I'd see him tonight because he has a derby tomorrow. But he came home and we went out. 
He suggested going to the next town. That never happens but I always ask. Tonight it was his idea. After dinner we drove home and he talked on the phone the whole way. I didn't mind but I was a little disappointed we didn't go anywhere else. As we pulled in the driveway and he got off the phone he asked if I wanted to go get ice cream. I've been asking to do that a lot lately but it doesn't usually happen. Tonight it was his idea. After ice cream we drove past a Redbox and I asked if we could get a movie (knowing he doesn't like watching movies). He said yes. A chick flick even! When we got home he did his best to watch for a while but he gets bored in the middle so he turned his computer on. Thirty minutes or so later I looked over and he wasn't looking at his computer- he was watching the movie. 

He did everything I wanted to do tonight. 
He is so sweet to me. 

Sometimes I get so caught up in the fairy tales and the chick flick romances that I start to feel like my marriage is missing something. I tend to get down on myself thinking "If only I were {insert negative thought here} then our marriage would be perfect, it would be a fairy tale, we'd always get along."
I'll admit we have flaws and things to work on but you know what? We aren't doing too bad.

My husband was sweet and kind and thoughtful tonight. That sounds exactly like a marriage should be. Considerate. Patient. Loving. I don't need fancy gifts, expensive vacations, or sweep-you-off-your-feet declarations of love. My husband loves me. The kind of love that forgives fights and hurtful words. That withstands rough patches, boredom, or ruts. He loves me no matter what I look like or how messy our house gets. He appreciates when I make him dinner, do his laundry, or rub his back.

When we went out tonight I didn't stop to think about the fact that we were doing all the things I like to do. I was happy and having a good time but I didn't stop to think about how my husband was doing all the things I love to do without making a "scene" or trying to get recognition by saying "See! We're doing what you want!!" He just did it and didn't need to point it out. I think that's love. Not declare-your-love-on-the-empire-state-building love but just sweet, simple, genuine, quiet love. And that's just what I want.

P.S. also if further proof of his love should be needed- he just woke up and saved me from a big huge centipede. It was huge and nasty and he woke up and killed it. THAT is true love!

-Me 

Planner/Scrapbooking/Papercrafting Haul {New goodies @ WalMart}

Last week I was wandering through WalMart and decided to see if they had any new stickers. I was blown away to see that they not only had new stickers but they had re-done that whole aisle and added a papercrafting section. I wanted to buy one of everything but forced myself to put at least half of it back! Everything was super affordable so take a look below at what I picked up and then RUN to your WalMart and get some before it sells out because I'm sure it will go fast!

They had several sets of  journaling cards from We R Memory Keepers for only $4.97. Each set has 100 double-sided cards in it. I picked up two sets.

The first is the celebration/birthday set...

The second is the chalkboard set...

I love the designs on each card and can't wait to start getting crafty with them. I have so many ideas for how to use these making cards, gift tags, scrapbooking, mini-albums, & in my planner!

Next I picked up a 24 page set of phrase cards from Colorbok. This was $2.97 (if I'm remembering correctly)

The aren't double-sided but each page can be cut into 2-4 smaller cards. Again, I love these designs and the different phrases.

I picked up a 2-pack of Fiskars paper edgers for $3.00.

The set comes with a chevron edge and a scallop edge. I used to have a bunch of these when I was younger and really into scrapbooking but I seem to have lost them all over the years so I was happy to see this set (and for such a reasonable price)!

WASHI TAPE (need I say more... it is a love of mine...)

$0.97 each

And finally, stamps! They had a variety of stamps to choose from and they were all really cute. The single stamps were $0.97 each and the alphabet stamp sets were $1.97. The Studio G ink pads were $0.97 each.

The alpha sets came in several different fonts and you could choose either upper or lower case. This is my first ever set of alpha stamps and I find I like the look of all lower case better than upper case so it was easy to choose this set!

The ink pads are very good quality. I only had 1 other ink pad (a navy blue one from the Target Dollar Spot) so I was thrilled to pick up a few more colors for such a low price. I purchased black, dark red, and aqua!

GO! Go to WalMart right now and get yourself some fun papercrafting supplies before they run out! I'm sure they will restock when they run out but who knows how long that might take them... so run! Go! 

They are so pretty... :) And so are you! Perfect match!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

Dollar Tree Haul: A little bit of everything!

Oh how dangerous it was for Dollar Tree to open near my house... I stopped in after work one day in search of a pill box to organize those little stickers from etsy and happened to find a few other cute things as well...

I love looking for stickers at Dollar Tree. I found a new pack I'd never seen before.

I like the shapes and colors and how sparkly the background is!

I found two cute college-ruled mini notebooks.

I love the patterned covers! I brought one to work and kept one at home.

I've never heard of Elmer's school glue pens before but I thought these would be handy for different craft projects!

I tried to exercise some restraint and only bought 1 fall decoration!

I love the glitter, I couldn't resist.

I picked up a few more of these chevron collapsible bins. These are so cute and really nice for organizing. I'm using them in my pantry, I'll have a before and after look at how I'm using them coming up soon!

And now for the pillbox!

The little sections in this pill box are the perfect size for my etsy stickers. I love that they are all held in this clear container but that each colored section can come out too. This will be so handy when I'm planning I can just grab the one or two sections I need instead of the whole box.

I saw someone on YouTube talk about these reusable wipes so I decided to try them out for myself. It comes 8 to a pack and each towel is a really generous size. I can't wait to try these out!

I just love this store. There are a lot of things there that aren't a good deal but there are plenty of things at the dollar store worth checking out!

If you want to see more about these items and what they look like out of their packaging you can check out the video I posted on YouTube!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

Affordable Organizing: Craft & Office Supplies {Before & After}

I have been on a mission to re-organize (or just plain organize) the cluttered spots of my home. I had bought all of those awesome bins from Dollar Tree and I was ready to start putting them to good use. I decided to start with the cabinet in my kitchen above our desk (and "command center") that, on one shelf, houses my craft supplies and my office supplies.

The items I was storing there had long outgrown the space so I decided it was time to separate the craft things from the office supplies and dedicate the shelf in the cabinet solely to office supplies.

Here is a before look at the cluttered mess of a shelf it was before...

As you can see I was really cramming things in there and it just doesn't make sense to have notepads with glitter with pens with paint with mod podge with binder clips. There was no organization. And I won't even start with that wicker basket overflowing with my crafty odds & ends.

So I took everything off the shelf and put it on my kitchen table. I separated everything into two categories: Craft & Office. Anything labeled Craft would go to another area of my home. Everything labeled Office was going back on the shelf.

Once I could see everything that would be going back on the shelf I picked out my Dollar Tree bins & put my office supplies back on the shelf.

Here's how it turned out!

I love it! Nothing is left sitting out. Nothing is overflowing or falling over. Everything has a place so it is easy to get out AND put away.

In this blue basket (from Dollar Tree) I have a set of stamps I use in my planner and 2 back up rolls of tape (the roll I'm currently using it out on desk in an organizer). This container is by no means full. I can utilize vertical storage if I find something else should be stored in here. However, for now I think this set up is perfect. I can easily see and get to what is in this basket.

This blue basket sits on top of another blue container from Dollar Tree...

This was actually labeled as a food storage container but I liked that it had a locking lid so I decided to use it for storing other things. Currently it houses a bunch of little stickers I ordered from LilBitCountryDesigns on etsy. They are bill pay reminder stickers I use in my planner. At the time I received them I didn't have anything to organize each type of sticker and I didn't want to just put them in small ziploc bags for fear that they might get bent or squished. Instead, I have corralled them all in this container to at least keep them for getting damaged. I'll admit it isn't fun digging through all of the stickers to find the one I want so I'm on the hunt for a better way to store these. In the mean time though, this will do just fine! At least they are all in one place and aren't going to be falling out!

This next container is another one that isn't my ideal set up but does the job so until I find something else this will work just fine.

I am using a tupperware container I already had on hand to hold my unused binder clips and extra magnets. I do use magnets on my fridge to hang up reminders and important things I need to take care of. I don't like having unused magnets scattered across the front though so I took the extras down and placed them in the cabinet so they are out of sight but easy to access when needed.

I have two pen cups on this shelf now. One is for miscellaneous writing utensils: permanent markers, dry erase markers, my husband's pens, extra pencils, etc. I'm also storing our hole punch in this cup. This cup was purchased a year or two ago from Walmart's office section. The cup was black and I used mod podge to cover it with some cute scrapbook paper.

The second cup (which I picked up from Target in their Dollar Section) houses the pens I use specifically for my planner, calendars, and list making.

The last containers are these awesome stacking bins from Dollar Tree that I'm using to store my planner accessories 

The top bin holds my most used accessories. I have a smaller container inside the blue bin to sticky notes, page flags, labels, etc. The smaller container helps to keep those items standing up. Just next to that I have larger notepads. In the space at the end I have stored a glue stick, paper punch, stapler, and extra staples.

This bin is really easy to pull out and set on the desk when it comes time for planning. I love having everything together in one bin!

Here's the bottom bin...

The majority of this space is going towards my overflow washi storage. 

But I'm also storing chalkboard clips & clothespins...

Mini clothespins...

Chalk (for chalkboard labels)

I really like how easy it is to stack these bins on top of each other with the little folding lip on the side.

I love opening this cabinet now!

But I'm not done! Because for some reason my husband didn't want the craft supplies piled on the table ;) so I had to find somewhere to store them...

I settled on a mostly empty Sterilite 3-drawer organizer. I don't have a ton of craft supplies so I was able to organize everything into 2 drawers.

In the front I have my acrylic paint, chalkboard paint, and small paint brushes.

In the red container I have some gift wrap decorations and tags. Off to the side is my glitter and mod podge.

In the red bin I'm utilizing an old gum container to hold my gift tags to keep them from falling all over the place.

In the back container I have different kinds of cords, twine, string, and some extra scraps of lace.

The bottom drawer is pretty empty and random. But I only had a few miscellaneous items left so I tried to lay them out as neatly as possible.

I'm storing some craft sticks, marbles, and cricut cut outs.

I saved a box that came with an order from Sephora a few years ago

I decided to use it to corral the little odds and ends I didn't want rolling around in the drawer.

Old paint brushes, confetti, small bags from online orders, thread, bottle caps, etc.

And the best part is, I got my basket back! I can use this as decor in my house instead of hiding it away in a cluttered cabinet!

It feels so good to finally take care of this space!

xoxo