Fun with Subway Art

Subway Art

I’ve been having having a lot of fun playing around and creating Subway art lately.  The sky is the limit and it’s fast and easy!  Here’s one of my first tries, I’ll be sure to post more.

Subway Art

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Organizing: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Turns Pretty

Hot Pink Thirty One Skirted Purse

I love the thought of being completely organized at home.  It’s really exciting, but when it comes down to it I find it hard to commit to taking my precious down time to clean a closet – you know what I mean?  I’m a coach, so I know full well that I’m making excuses, but I just don’t make it happen.

I went back to work full time last year which was a bit of an adjustment.  Even while I was home with my daughter for 10 years, I was always working part time and running my own business.  So, working wasn’t necessarily an adjustment, but working out of the home, full time and a generous commute was.

Luckily, I have an incredibly supportive husband who basically jumped in and did everything that needed to get done.  We hired back a cleaning service, but he does everything else; laundry, getting my daughter to school (making her lunch), toting her around, the yard work and on and on.  (YES!  I really do know how supremely lucky I am!)  It makes my life so much easier right now to know that I can come home at the end of a long day and we can all just spend quality time together.

So, I know my house is clean (our cleaning service is amazing!), but I have these nagging projects that I just never seem to do.  I mean, I would much rather have fun with my family on the weekends or my days off than clean a closet.  I’m sure you can relate!

Anyway, one of my good friends recently started selling for Thirty One Gifts.  I had heard of Thirty One a little over a year ago and was always very curious.  I had a party with my friend last month and became instantly hooked!

Of course, I love purses, so one of my favorite items is the skirted purse.  Isn’t it super cute?!

I am really picky when it comes to handbags, but have to say that I am in love with this one!  It’s the perfect size for what I need to carry, but is not too heavy which can often be the case with some of my bags.

I absolutely love this bag’s fashion versatility.  These two bags have the very same base, the covers (and cute flower pins) simply cover a plain black bag.  They easily switch out with a hook and eye attachment in less than a minute.  I love different looks (easily) and this totally fits the bill!  Ok, so I digress – back onto the topic of organization…

Beyond the cute fashion stuff, Thirty One offers many great products to use for organizing and a funny thing happened after I got my order, I was motivated to organize!

One Sunday morning, my husband and I opened the doors under the kitchen sink and started to dump things.  (I guess I should have taken a before picture, but I’m sure you can probably imagine what it looked like).  Needless to say, I was beyond excited that 1) We actually took the time to do this project (which was literally 20 minutes) and 2) It looks so pretty!   I mean, who gets excited to open the cabinets under the kitchen sink?  Well, now I do!

 

This little success has me totally motivated to continue with these little projects throughout the house.  So, here is another…

As a hostess, I was able to purchase a hostess exclusive.  I went right for the XXL Utility Tote, because, at an incredibly reduced price of $40 I thought it was a super deal – although I had no idea what I was going to do with it!

I decided to use it to organize my yarns and projects for all of my crochet.  The first picture shows all of my projects, scraps, and yarns and the other shows them neatly stored in the bottom of my *newly* organized hall closet!  I love this piece so much that I put together another small catalog show to get another. The second will be used to organize scarves, hats, and gloves.  I can’t wait to get it and keep organizing!

Ok, so that’s it for now (I’ll post more pictures as I continue to organize!)

The moral of the story – whatever motivates you to get it done – just go with it!  I felt such a sense of accomplishment and energetic relief to work through my blocks and get things done!

 

 

Reflection:

What kind of blocks are you experiencing in your life?  What’s holding you back?  What can you do to break through?

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Lovely Leg Warmers

leg warmers

I am a super crafty gal.  I have dabbled in every kind of craft you can imagine.  This winter with all of the crazy snow we have had, I spent a lot of time crocheting.

Now, I’m pretty much self taught – aside from some mini lessons and tips from my Aunt, who is a pro.  I’m best at small projects and haven’t yet mastered the afghan.  For some reason, even though I count my stitches they tend to be a bit lop sided…so I stay away from those!  :-)

This winter I ventured in to some new projects.  I made some really cute hats and leg warmers.  I made these leg warmers which I worked up really quick over a weekend.

These are amazingly warm and cozy and look oh so cute.  I get so many compliments on these.  They look fantastic over skinny jeans or leggings.

Of course, if you know me, you know I love to accessorize so here it’s all about the shoes!  I love my Uggs, don’t get me wrong, but with the amount of snow we were buried under this winter, these cute heels just bring a smile to my face.  I bought these inexpensive shoes at Payless just for these charcoal colored leg warmers.

This pattern is super easy, if you want to purchase your own copy from JackieMoon’s Etsy Shop and give it a whirl – click here.

Oh and PS – everyone wants to know how the heck I took this photo.  Well, I had a little help from my munchkin and her mad photog skills!

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