Making a Card Album

For about two years now, I've had this dilemma.  Wedding cards.

I'm sure some of you can relate. :)  We got so many beautiful cards, so many encouraging notes, that even the "minimalist" inside me cringed at the thought of just tossing them all out!

Finally, one day, in amongst my usual exploring of Pinterest, I found this beautiful tutorial, and the solution to my card dilemma!

Source: somethingturquoise via Caleigh on Pinterest

So I decided to do my own version.  I do crafts a lot like I do cooking, I read the recipe, and then go do my own thing based on the ingredients. :)  (I do sometimes follow recipes exactly, but not very often! :P)

Our wedding cards as they were:

First step, I organized the cards into three piles: small, medium, and large.  This part wasn't included in the original tutorial, but when you have over 300 guests at your wedding, you end up with a lot of cards! 

Next step: I needed to find cardboard to make the backs and fronts of each of the albums.  We had a few smaller boxes around that worked for the small and medium albums, but nothing was working for the large one.  Not being the most patient person, especially when I get excited about a project, I finally remembered that we have a small space heater.  And seriously, who keeps their heater in its' original box?!  So this box got cut up, and the biggest album had its' covers. :)

 

The most monotonous part was probably the hole punching.  There were a lot of cards = a lot of holes!  But I got it all done, ruining just one hole punch in the process. :P

I didn't take any pictures of it while I was doing all the glueing and paper cutting and stuff, so you get to jump ahead to the finished product!

Ta-Da! :)

I'm thrilled with how it turned out!  Now we can look through our cards whenever we want, and we have them on display (or not) instead of stuffed away in a shoe box in our closet. :)

For those of you who were counting, I haven't "quite" finished the other two albums yet, but they'll look pretty similar to this one. :) I just got so excited I wanted to share it with you all!

Shall We Begin?

In light of my recent post about my New Year's goals this year, I wanted to share a project with you that makes me smile every day!

May I introduce you to our office: 

Before

One of the only places where unpacked boxes still hide out.  A place where clutter still feels at home.  A place that looks like a war zone half the time!

Yes, it was getting so bad, I almost didn't want to come in here!  It was the only room in the house that I hadn't officially "unpacked."  It was unpacked enough to be functional, and I had left it there.

 Before

So I finally had the energy, courage and stamina to tackle this room!  I put the children down for their naps, shut the door, turned on the music, and....finished about an hour and a half later, just as Ian was waking up!  Perfect timing?  I think so. :)

 Before

I have this thing for "before" and "after" photos of....just about anything!  I don't know what it is, but there's something about seeing a transformation from bad to beautiful that I love!

 After!

I'm so happy to finally have a room that has floor space, and desk space, where I actually know where specific things are instead of just a vague idea of which box they're in.   

 After!

This room is definitely not finished, but step one has been taken.  It's now functional and neat.  The beautification and "deep organizing" will be next! 

After!

I know this is one of those projects that is kind of like a cute child.  No one will find the child cuter than its own mom. :P  So don't feel guilty for not going into raptures of delight over this room, I just wanted to share what was making me smile today! :)

Organizing: A Recommendation

Okay, I have to tell you about one of my FAVORITE blogs ever!  It's an organizing blog, with loads of amazing, inspiration ideas!  Seriously, I practically drool every time I read the latest post!

If you love organizing, if you love making things around you beautiful, you will Love this blog! :)

It's called IHeartOrganizing! 

Check it out, tell me what you think. :)

On that note, since reading this gal's blog on a regular basis, I've been even more inspired than ever to organize spaces in my home, and make things beautiful while I'm doing it!

I've been wanting to do something with Ian's toys ever since we moved in.  I had them in a few baskets for a while, not bad looking, but not super tidy either.

Today, I noticed we had this piece of furniture that I might be able to use for this purpose!  Sure enough, when I brought it inside, carried it upstairs, and put it in his room, it was perfect! :)

I have to confess, I did this (quietly) while Ian was sleeping. :P  I just couldn't wait until morning!

I know, it's the simple things in life.... :)

I don't have a specific "before" picture - another testimony to my impatience - but if you go here, you can see what it used to look like.  Not a huge change, but I just love the look of his toys all neatly sitting together on the shelf now! :) 

Happy New Year!

I know this is a little late for a "New Year's post", but we've been super busy over the last several weeks, with a trip to Alberta, all of us getting sick at various times, and really, with just "normal, everyday life!"


I thought it would be fun to share with you all some of my New Year's resolutions goals.  I don't really get into the whole "resolution" thing, because I like the idea of setting goals better.  I like the idea of improving your life and lifestyle by learning new things and changing old habits, as oppose to the idea that your life is a mess and you have to write down these  "resolutions" to change everything, otherwise, you'll continue to be a failure.  Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh. :)  It's not that bad.  I just like the word goal better. :P
I think I've said before on here how I hate the idea of growing stagnant.  The thought of just "existing" every day, without actually living, makes me shudder!  
One of my ideals would be to always have a "big" project/subject that I'm working on improving in my life, as well as smaller ones (i.e. thing I can accomplish in a day or two).  There are sooooooo many avenues of interest that I have, this is the only way I can hope to cover them all without getting totally burned out!


Specific areas I want to improve on this year:


- Sports: Volleyball (I just joined a ladies' volleyball night, and I'm so excited about getting better!)
- Health - this is such a huge area, and so important!  It can be overwhelming sometimes with all the resources available, and all the "better" ways of doing things!  I want to *gradually* change over things so we're doing them in a better way, without getting totally burned out by trying to do it all at once!
- Sewing - I have this amazing sewing machine, which I haven't even used a tiny bit to it's full potential.  I love the idea of not having to rely solely on other sources for clothes, so this is kind of an exciting goal for me to have!
- Scrapbooking - the best way to improve something is to just do it!  I love displaying photos and memories beautifully, and preserving them, so this is 
- Fitness - work out/walk at least four times a week
- Organizing: Work on each area of my home over the next year, making it beautiful and efficient (definitely one of my favorite things to do!)
- Spiritually: Read my Bible everyday, start memorizing Scripture consistently, have one 'spiritually challenging' book on the go on a regular basis.
-Practically: Build skills that can bring income into our home, and get better at finding deals/shopping second hand, etc. (this one is a little general, I know, but there are specifics that I'm beginning to work on soon, more on them later. :)




So there you have it, a little glimpse into some of my goals. :)  I'm such a "list-maker" and a goal setter, it helps me like nothing to be focused, have direction, and purpose on a regular basis!