The Best Travel Souvenirs You Can’t Get from a Store

The Best Travel Souvenirs You Can’t Get from a Store

The Best Travel Souvenirs You Can't Get from a Store
The Best Travel Souvenirs You Can't Get from a Store
After many, many years of doing a terrible job at organizing and storing our collection, we finally found the perfect home for our travel sand and water collection. It’s the only souvenir that has stood the test of time and many moves. You definitely need to start one.
We get our little spice jars from Bed Bath and Beyond for a dollar a piece. The display rack from Michael’s is actually meant for shot glass collections, but our containers fit like a glove. Then we printed some stickers of all the locations to put on the jars for consistency. You could easily use a label maker as well.
We also allow unique additions from friends and family. It’s a fun way to get more people involved and we’ve found ourselves with a lot of cool, unique samples that way.
It’s by far the coolest thing we have from our travels. When gathering samples it feels like we’re just picking up more sand, but when they’re all together it’s obvious just how different the colors and styles really are. Plus besides the cost of the display and jars, these souvenirs were free. We can still remember all of the places where we gathered the sand or the people and their stories who have donated to our collection. 
Now we just have to figure out where to hang it.
Thoughts on 25

Thoughts on 25

Today is my 25th birthday. Man do I feel old. Everything seems fine until you hit your mid twenties and realize you’re technically supposed to stop eating an entire box of cereal in one sitting. I’m so not ready for this.
Beyond the startling fact that I’m just as close to thirty as I’m away from twenty, I’m pretty excited about this next year. It feels like I’m finally starting to shake off all the insecurities and self-doubt I’ve felt through my early twenties. I’m beginning to settle into myself, feeling more self-assured, and ready to see what comes next.
I’m at that point in my life when a lot of my friends are still gripping onto college, refusing to abandon multiple day hangovers and dead-end jobs. When Alex and I moved to Grand Rapids it felt like we skipped ahead twelve spaces in the game of life. We found ourselves living a life another fifteen years down the road, right now. It feels like a dream and I’m trying not to blink.
My twenty-fourth year was an amazing one. I got married. I settled into this new home and lifestyle. I took bigger risks with my business. I also failed a lot more. Yet I feel all the better for it and more ready than ever to try new things in my twenty-fifth year.
So what’s on the agenda. Our first craft show is in just two days with three more following throughout summer. We’re attending more conferences and have travel on the books. We’re also eating better, taking care of our relationship, and sending as much time with family as we possibly can.
So although the number is scary, I can’t wait to see what happens next. So here’s to 25. 
10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner

10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner

10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
Although I’m a huge fan of my planner for just daily life, the Erin Condren Life Planner has so many extra features and pages to really step up a planning game. I sat down and thought of 10 unique ways to use your ECLP beyond just the basics. Let’s do this thing.
10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
1. Use the new coloring pages in the back of the planner as trackers. Color in a space for every book you’ve read, every pound lost, or use it to track daily moods with different colors. 

10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
2. Use the year at a glance as a mood tracker if you rather just color in your coloring pages like normal. After every day, shade in the corresponding mood and after a full year you’ll have a rainbow of feelings.

10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
3. Use your monthly view as a gratitude journal and write something you’re grateful for every single day. Add in a sticker or two to spice things up. 
10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
4. Use some note pages to make a bullet journal within your ECLP. Track movies you’ve watched, books you’ve read, places you want to travel, tv shows you want to watch. The sky’s the limit and there are plenty of pages to track anything you can think of without needing another planner.

10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
5. Use your planner as an actual scrapbook. Planner decorating is more or less just “daily scrapbooking,” so use a coil clip or some glue and put down photos, ticket stubs, and other mementos into your planner. I recommend adding them in little by little so your planner doesn’t get too bulky.
10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
6. Use the note pages as places for self reflection. Write who you are currently on one side and who you hope to become on the other. A big part of self-improvement is being accountable. Writing it down in your planner can definitely help. Try the exercise every few months to see how much you change and grow.

10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
7. Use the yearly plan page as a monthly memories recap. Write down big events that happened each month, add photos, and throw in a sticker or two. By the end of the year you’ll have all the highlights in one place.

10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
8. Use the note page before the monthly spread for a large project you want to complete in a month. Maybe you plan on redoing a bedroom and want to write down everything you need to accomplish. Maybe you have a big project at work. Use the circles for main objectives, the two lists for ideas and tasks, and the bottom section for inspiration.
10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
9. Use the yearly plan page to tackle a year long project. Home improvements aren’t so intense when they’re split up a month at a time. Use this page to plan out when everything will get done and the note pages before the months to break it all down.

10 Unique Ways to Use Your Erin Condren Life Planner
10. Use your planner as a baby tracker/baby’s firsts keeper. Use the monthly spread to write something new that happened every day and the weekly pages to track things like breastfeeding, sleep schedules, and daily photos. After a year you’ll have a lovely book of memories.
I’d love to hear if you have any other unique ideas for Erin Condren Life Planner uses beyond just daily planning. Leave your thoughts in the comments!

5 Other Uses for Makeup Bags Beyond Storing Makeup

5 Other Uses for Makeup Bags Beyond Storing Makeup

There’s just something about a small makeup bag/clutch that I can’t seem to get enough. I probably own a good twenty of them. And sure I definitely need to cut it back a little, but there are a ton of other ways to make use of all those little bags you’re hoarding beyond just storing makeup.

How to Use Makeup Bags Beyond Storing Makeup
Store planner supplies. These little cases are perfect for toting around a few pens, scissors, and your must have planning accessories. It’s so much better than just throwing those items into the bottom of a bag and having to dig around for them later.
Create a mini walking pharmacy and first aid kit full of must-haves. Include things like Tylenol, band-aids, hair ties, wet-ones, and scissors. Add things depending on what you or your family may need so you’re never without anything. Plus just like the planner supplies option, it’s easy to transfer the kit from one bag to another.
Along the same lines, it’s always helpful to have feminine pads and tampons tucked away in little pouch. So many times I’ve had girlfriends ask me if I have one and it always makes life easier to have a few on hand. 

How to Use Makeup Bags Beyond Storing Makeup
Turn one of your spare makeup bags into an electronics holder. That way your headphones aren’t making a mess in the bottom of your bag and you have all your chargers and accessories right by the electronic device. This could also work for kindles or small e-readers as well. I personally use one to store all of my Polaroid Zip items so I don’t have to run around searching for more paper or a pair of scissors to cut out my photos.
Use makeup bags to make packing easier. I always have a makeup bag filled with our usual travel toiletries. It’s so much easier than having to dig around our drawers trying to find everything we normally need. This way I’m not forgetting anything and if I’m in a rush to pack, it’s basically already done ahead of time. You can also use makeup bags to section of packing. Use one for socks, one for underwear, one for medicine bottles, you name it. Makeup bags come in all shapes and sizes so you’re sure to be able to have something you can use already on hand.
I figured we could all use a post justifying our massive collections of little makeup bags and clutches. And the next time you feel the impulse to pick up a cute one you see at a stationery shop, you’ll have a good reason to.
What are some ways you re-purpose makeup bags?

Why I Still Blog 10 Years Later

Why I Still Blog 10 Years Later

Why I Still Blog 10 Years Later
I’ve been blogging for around ten years. My blogging life is the age of a 4th grader. I haven’t achieve wide success for my blogging and I definitely can’t quit my day job because of it, but I haven’t stopped after all these years.
There are a ton of reasons why I haven’t given blogging up as a hobby after all this time. Blogging has done a lot for me over the years. It’s helped with my anxiety. It’s improved my photography skills so much that I’ve started getting freelance product photography gigs. It’s helped me get “real” jobs before I started my own business. 
I’ve also continued to blog for so long because this is a type of hobby that changes and adapts with the author. My blog has come miles since I first started it and I’ve abandoned quite a few other blogs along the way for platforms that suit my style better. You get what you give to blogging, which I love. The more energy you put into it the greater self-accomplishment you’ll feel.
The main reason though, above everything else, is that it makes me better. It pushes me to create a better post than the last, take a better photo, and encourages me to try new directions in content. It’s always there waiting for me, like a loving pet, to type up another beauty post or gab about new planner supplies. It’s been my friend when I’ve felt alone. It’s brought me out of my shell and has given me a voice.
So yeah, I’m a big fan of blogging. I’m certain that the blog as it is today won’t always be around, but that’s ok. My life will change as my family expands and my interest goes into different directions. But it’s nice to know that this friend will be with me through it all. And I hope you will too.