Fostering Creativity

I lost my mom to cancer when I was a teenager, but her many lessons of love, nurturing, and creativity keep her memory vividly alive in my heart.  She always stressed the importance of art and creativity with children. 

Before they can even write, read or speak, children have an innate desire to express themselves.  Coloring, drawing, scribbling and creating allow children to have a safe outlet to communicate their innermost thoughts and feelings. 

Our home is filled with things to foster a little one's imagination and creativity.  In every nook and cranny, you can find books, easels, arts and craft supplies, paper, etc... so I was absolutely tickled pink to find a couple of treasures at garage sales this month to help organize our creative endeavors!

Just in time for back-to-school,

I came across these adorable items at local garage sales:

For just $2.00 I found an adorable pencil table that holds three shelves of creative supplies.   The nearly matching, little pencil-legged stools I purchased separately at another garage sale for $3.00.  How adorable for a child to sit on while leafing through a favorite activity book.

Designating a little area for arts and crafts not only keeps things nicely organized, but it also creates an appealing place that encourages little ones to explore and create.  You don't need special furniture to make an aesthetically pleasing craft corner - even a simple bookcase filled with containers of markers, stickers, crayons and colored pencils will more than suffice. 

An inexpensive Phineas and Ferb bucket from Target's dollar section holds colorful markers.

Stores are having awesome back-to-school supply deals right now which makes this the perfect time to stock up!  Set out buckets, cans, baskets and containers of glue sticks, papers, activity books, paper, folders, notepads, rulers, crayons, markers, etc.... all within easy reach for your kids to find. 

Empty aluminum cans (with the labels removed and the sharp edges bent under) make great little containers for holding markers and pencils.  Target's dollar section always has mini buckets, as well as other plastic containers, too.  Tin lunchboxes and pencil boxes can hold a variety of items.   

The idea is to make it accessible, colorful, and fun! 

With school starting soon, we want our kids to be enthusiastic about returning to the classroom.  As parents we want our kids to shut off the TV and do something that nurtures their development.  What child doesn't enjoy creating something of their very own? 

Simple mini bucket filled with colorful crayons

So as the summer winds down and you're out and about shopping for back-to-school supplies, pick up a few extra while the deals are hot, and create your own special spot for your kids to color, draw, and paint.  So when the temps get too cold or the weather is too harsh to venture outdoors, your kids will have somewhere extra wonderful to retreat to instead of on the couch in front of the TV :)

....

this post is part of Making the World Cuter Monday.

Holiday Planning

There are two things you should know about me: 

1.  I'm a born planner 

and

2.  I adore the holidays

I know, I know - you don't even want to think about back-to-school let alone Christmas. 
Believe me, I completely and wholeheartedly understand.

BUT...

Planning ahead makes life SO much simpler!

Maybe it's due to working full-time and being stretched for time, but I always try to plan ahead. 

My friends and family jokingly call it seasonal schizophrenia,

 but it's not uncommon for me to be shopping and planning for events and holidays

months in advance. 

With a preschooler and a career, I have to stayed organized!

First, take assessment.

Dig out last year's Christmas photos and for 30 minutes, reflect on what worked well for your family - what needs improvement?  Were you too stretched for time?  Didn't budget well? 

Well the good news is that it's still early enough for you to develop a plan for this holiday season!

Second, make a plan.

I've found that keeping a holiday journal can be so helpful.

Your journal can be as ornate or simplistic as you'd like.

In it, you can keep a record of everything to keep you on track:

• Calculator
• Budget (for gifts, cards, wrappings)
• Shopping lists (sizes, wish lists, fav. items)
•  Calendar (events, when to ship gifts, send cards, party plans, cleaning)
• Recipes (tried-and-true and wanting to try)
• Decorating ideas
• Record of last year's decor (what to purchase, where it's stored, how it was laid out)

etc..

There are many websites to help you set a plan for everything from budgeting

to cleaning schedules so your house is picture perfect. 

I've found that it's so much easier to do things when you set goals for yourself.  

Summer is the perfect time to off-season shop for the holidays. 

While everyone else is shopping for back-to-school,

look online for great deals on holiday items! 

Want to try out a particular craft or idea that you've seen on Pinterest? 

Now is the ideal time to find those ideas you've been aching to try,

 buy the materials and get to work!

Love handmade items but you're not crafty?
Summer and fall are the seasons for craft festivals,
 tag/yard/garage sales, and outdoor markets of all kinds.
Check out sites like Etsy to commission artisans to create those unique,
handcrafted, one-of-a-kind items
that your friends and family will cherish and adore.

Want an adorable photography card of your family this year?

Good photographers get booked well in advance.

This is a great time to book early.

If you're taking the photos yourself, start gathering ideas for location/outfits/poses.

With a little pre-planning now, you'll find that your holidays can be much less stressful,

much more enjoyable and a whole lot more fun!!

Turning the BIG 4-0

From the movie When Harry Met Sally...

Sally: "...And I'm gonna be 40!"

Harry: "When?!?"

Sally: "SOMEDAY!!!"

....

My birthday is coming.  Let me rephrase that - my 40th Birthday is coming (I don't even like typing that)!  While there are those that might say that age is just a number, 40 seems like an awfully BIG number :(  I didn't think turning the big 4-0 would bother me quite so much, but truth be told, I'm less than thrilled about it.  But I won't bemoan the reasons here...suffice it to say that I've made my peace with it :) 

I've never done much to celebrate my birthday. I'm excellent at celebrating for others - but my own is typically low key. 

A beautiful cake from my Sweetie ♥

This will sound quite sad, really, but I've only had a handful of birthday cakes in my lifetime!  Like seriously - I could probably count them on one hand.  Truth be told, I'm not much of a sweets person, and only until recently have I learned to enjoy a really decadent, delicious cake :)  


I know more and more women are making big party plans for their 40th,  but that's just not my style.  However, if I could plan the ultimate "turning-40" girly-girl party, my dream birthday cake would look exactly like this...

Source: maggieaustincake.com

That may be the very prettiest cake
(and believe me - I could stare at beautiful cakes and baked goods ALL day)
I have ever seen.

Do you do your own birthday up in lavish style or are you more like me and keeping it simple?