Vintage Gifts from Mom

Sometimes, the Birthday presents that are two months late were well worth the wait! Look what my amazing mother made for me!

My mom is this stupidly talented woman, who can make intricate masterpieces out of paper. I swear to you...I have no idea how she does it. I sit there, looking at all her supplies, and I'm confused as hell as how to even glue two things together, let alone emboss and embellish my way to a freaking DiVinci piece of artistry.

For my birthday this year, the big 25, she made me a photo album that is beyond any normal photo album you will ever see in your life.

More information and photos after the jump!

Free Blogging Planner Template

Well, I have been busy! I normally post once a day, but a recent project has had me a bit tied up. I posted a few pays ago about making a Planner from scratch. However, I realized that I may not be the only one who has problems finding a planner that works for them.

So I designed one!

Please click the image below to download a FREE Planner template, with daily entry spaces, Sponsor and Giveaway pages, and a great ideas page. I hope you love this as much as I do!

Love and Lightning Bugs,

DIY Planner

Being a Full time college student, small business owner, and blogger...well, sometimes I have a bit too much on my plate to remember it all. So what's a girl to do? Why, get a planner of course! However....a pretty and functional planner for me was looking to be more expensive than I was willing to spend, so I looked around my craft corner, and decided to make my own.

I started with a plain spiral bound journal, with lined pages. Forgive the silly horse sticker on the front...I like horses. This journal had nothing in it but plain lined paper, no dividers, no tabs, nothing.

After a few hours (ok, two days off and on), I managed to come up with this! Using nothing but scrapbooking cardstock and paper, a bit of glue, and a couple stickers, I made this from that same journal.

The Cover 

 Not sure what I'm going to put on these two decorated pages yet, so I just left them open for now. I'm thinking some kind of frame to put a couple photos in...

I hand drew all my entry places. I made it more like a Student Planner here, having it go from August to August. Each set of weekly pages it laid out this same way, with a place at the bottom for comments, quotes I like, doodles, etc. You can see the monthly tabs I made on the right side, in green.

The end of my calender section. I put some ribbon around this section divider, and put fun paperclips on it so i always have some if I need them. Not sure what to put on the rest of the divider either, so suggestions are nice!

The other side of the same divider. This one has pretty little note cards in it, this would also be a great place for business cards.

 A pocket I made for spare papers, so I don't lose them. 

My favorite divider. No function, but to look elegant and pretty. 

 Other side of the previous divider. I fell in love with this paper set, lol.

This is the inside of the back cover, with again, more pockets. This is actually an accordion style pocket, which opens pretty wide when I pull on it. This has index cards in it.

From the side.... 

In my calender section, I wanted a way to distinguish holidays, birthdays, festivals, etc at a glance. So I went through my stamps, and inked away! These are only a few of my stamps, can you guess what they're for?

It took longer than just buying a planner, to be sure, but I'm so happy with how this came out!

Love and Lightning Bugs,
 

Friendship Care Package

I love my friends. I love my friends so much I take time out of my day to write them little notes on Facebook, or drop them a card in the mail...but I  probably love making things for my friends most of all! Especially when they're kind enough to buy me a gift, or lend me money, etc.

Jolene was kind enough to buy me a couple shirts from DEB, so I wanted to send her a fun package to say "thank you!".

I made almost everything inside this box, and I was so glad to hear she loved it!

 A faux pearl and gemstone headband I got from Seventeen Magazine.

 Some AMAZING Organic soap I use when reenacting, found at a local Whole Foods store.

 Some Handmade earrings, with small blue gems inside that sparkle.

 A handmade fused glass necklace, to remind her of the Ocean she loves so much.

And the best gift in the box, a 3-D dolphin plush I made. This was the first time I had ever tried doing a 3-D plush, so I was really proud of it considering!

Why not take a few minutes out of your day, send a note, fill a small box with goodies, and send it off to a friend who deserves it?

Love and Lightning Bugs,
 

Keeping Long Distance Friends Closer

We all have those friends that live further away than we would like, and sometimes those friendships suffer because of the distance. Because let's be honest, Facebook is no way to keep a friendship alive.

Having one of my best friends living more than 2 hours away isn't easy, but we manage to hang out whenever I'm in town, which helps. Phone calls and texts sent back and forth help too. But something dawned on me last time I went shopping with her. A woman standing next to us, looking at the same rack, piped up and spoke to me, asking if I could be her friend too. It was all in jest, but I guess my comments to my friend Jolene were overheard.

I'm a very supportive friend I supposed, and whenever someone I know gets to feeling bad about themselves, I'm the first one telling them otherwise. I'm the one who says, "You don't need to change, the rest of the world just needs to learn how amazing you are." I said something similar to Jolene, and the woman overheard me. I guess supportive friends is something a lot of people lack in their lives.

Not the fake, "Oh, that top looks great on you!" friend, the real,"No, that top looks horrible, whoever thought of horizontal stripes on a plus sized girl was an idiot. We need to find something to better show off those awesome curves, and put a smile back on your pretty face!" friend. Because supportive means honest, no matter what it is about.

Since I can't always be with my bestie, I thought I would send her a care package (to be posted about later), and top it off with a handmade card. But inside the card, I put some little motivational cards that she can hang up in her house, put in her wallet, etc. Wherever she needs them for a daily pick me up. The cards say things like, "Wake up everyday, ready to kick ass and take names." and other things to remind her that she's amazing, and the world is lucky to have her.

I think sending the occasional thing like this, filled with love and friendship, really help to strengthen the bond between friends, and make a relationship even stronger across such a distance. This takes only a few minutes to make, and a few cents to send, so why not whip something up for that long distance friend, and let them know that they're still special to you?

Love and Lightning Bugs,