5 New Year's Resolutions You Should Definitely Keep This Year

I don't usually make many (if any) New Year's resolutions. 

I think I've come to realize that in many ways, they are a waste of time. Historically, I haven't fully followed through--usually I get halfway and then got distracted. Why make a resolution if I'm not going to keep it? I also have come to the conclusion that I often make resolutions throughout the rest of the year. Whenever there's something I feel the need to work on, I do it then and there instead of waiting for the new year.

But I do recognize the value in setting aside specific time to make changes in your life and change the things about yourself that you don't like. And if the turn into a new year is what gives you the motivation to finally get it done, then that's great! Even if you aren't making any official New Year's resolutions, here are five things we could all do a little more in our lives.

Laugh more. It's scientifically proven to improve your life and make you live longer. They even say that faking your laughter eventually leads to real laughter. If you don't think you have a reason to laugh, force yourself to laugh at lame jokes or dumb cartoons, and you just might find yourself feeling happier and laughing for real.

Help others. It just takes so little effort, and it leaves you feeling better about yourself and the world and life. Of course there will be times when helping someone isn't within your financial or physical or emotional grasp. But often it is, and we should jump on those chances. Helping someone carry their groceries, make someone a casserole, assist in setting up for an event... the possibilities are endless.

Learn something new. This one is so EASY you might have already done it. Here's the secret: learning something new doesn't have to be a huge undertaking or a big consumer of your time! It can literally be ANYTHING. It can be as simple as looking up facts about your favorite historical vacation site or learning how your french press actually works. You might learn something about a coworker or friend that you never knew before. If you're feeling ambitious, you could learn a new skill at work or figure out a new hobby. Learning enriches your life, and it makes you feel good about yourself!

Make something. Again, so easy you probably have already accomplished it. But there's a huge sense of satisfaction in making something for yourself. Making yourself dinner once in a while instead of always going out to eat totally counts! If you're up for it, dive into the DIY world and pick a project that you can use in your house. There are endless ideas out there, and chances are good that if you can imagine it, someone has already tried it and written a tutorial for it. If not, experiment for yourself and then write your own!

Invest. Especially in things that make you happy. Take the time to truly invest in the things that are worth it. Spend a few extra moments with the kids in your life or work a little harder to complete your projects. Don't forget about the little things. Don't let your life pass by without putting in the time and reaping the benefits. Invest.


My one, actual resolution this year is to blog more. So hopefully we will all enjoy the fruits of my labor. :)

Anchored

"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, 

a hope that enters into the inner peace behind the curtain." 

Hebrews 6:19

P.S. I am taking orders if anyone would like one of these.... $30 for an 11"x14"

DIY Canvas Art

I've seen this one circling Pinterest for awhile, but never really found one with super clear instructions. Most of the pins are just pictures of the finished product. And I know, it's really not that difficult and probably summed up in a simple phrase: Put painter's tape on a canvas and paint over it. (The "peel the tape off after it's dry and you have awesome original wall art" part is implied). But I figured I'd write my own blog, give my two cents, add all the little tips that none of these sites seem to have. So after my adventures with paint and stickers, I thought I'd give this one a try. Sara was looking for a fun and easy project for her youth group to do while on a retreat, and so we decided to test it out. I think they turned out well!

Supplies:

~canvas

~paint

~paintbrushes

~masking/painter's tape

~newspaper (if you want to cover the table)

Step 1: Paint the canvas. 

Pretty basic. Apparently neither one of us likes red paint, haha.

Step 1.5: Wait for the paint to dry.

This was Sara's least favorite part. 

But seriously. Pretty important if you want your design to turn out

the way you want it. Otherwise, the tape peels up the paint.

Step 2: Place masking or painter's tape on the canvas.

You can use it to make letters, lines, squares, shapes, just about anything. The tape is the part that you won't be painting over, so anything underneath it will show through in the final product.

Step 3: Paint black over the whole canvas.

Paint carefully. Make sure the tape is firmly pressed down. Try not to let the edges get peeled back while you're painting. Take your time, or the paint might seep under the edge of the tape, which makes more blurry lines. Using spray-paint would probably solve that problem. I haven't tried it yet because I haven't taken the time to go out and buy black spray paint. 

Step 3.5: Wait for the paint to dry. Again.

Sara's other least favorite part.

Step 4: Remove the tape from the canvas.

Peel carefully! It's really important (again) to make sure that the paint has dried completely before you start to peel up the tape, or the paint will get smear-y and might peel up with the tape. But hey, the results are pretty great:

And really, that's all there is to it! Sara is a self-proclaimed non-crafty person, and she had a great time. I believe her words were "Super cool and super easy!" It's really a basic project that anyone can do, even kids. Mom could put the tape down on a canvas and let the kids finger-paint over it, and it would have the same result. 

Have at it, friends! Let the original-art-making commence!

Mason Jar Journal

Last year about this time, this photo was making it's way around the interwebz, on Pinterest and Facebook and Tumblr. The premise was suggesting that you take an empty jar, and write down all the fun/happy/memorable moments of the year and put them in the jar, then take them all out at the end of the year and look back on the events of the year. Being the trend-follower that I am, I also pinned the photo to my arts-and-crafts board and determined that I would follow through with it. But I (like many people) make resolutions every year and (let's be honest) who really follows through with those anyway?? They are always good ideas in theory, but rarely do I seem them come to fruition. I didn't have high hopes for this one.

Lo and behold, I sit here twelve months later, surrounded by all the awesome things that happened to me this year! Somewhat in shock, I might add. It dawned on me earlier this week that the year is almost over, and I actually completed this project. 

I've always kept a journal, but since I went to college, my entries got more and more sporadic, and it took me until the end of my senior year (December 2012) to completely fill the journal that Linna gave me on my 16th birthday (in my defense, it WAS enormous). I bought a blank journal, ready to start chronicling the new season of my life in 2013.... and it just never happened. So I have never been more glad that I completed my Mason Jar Journal. At least the best moments of my year were recorded.

Some of the highlights:

Thanks to everyone who helped make this year a fantastic one! 

DIY Rick-Rack Roses

So this whole project started when Linna posted this link from The Crafting Chicks on my Facebook wall, saying, "Can you PLEASE try these out because I maybe want to use them in my wedding?!" And of course I said YES and so while back we had a rick-rack-rose-making party! And I thought I'd share my thoughts on the project, so that YOU can make rick-rack roses too.

They make really cute bobby pins. I used medium rick-rack for these (it's about an inch in diameter), though you could use jumbo-sized if you wanted to make them bigger. Linna used some GIANT rick-rack to make some BIG flowers to decorate lanterns. I like the smaller ones for decoration, though. I cut two 10-inch pieces of rick-rack and twisted them together, like so:

Then sew down the center, or slightly off center, to give the petals a fuller look. In this case, I used thread that was the same color as the rick-rack, but of course you could always use a complimentary color to give just a little bit more pop (though the thread doesn't show too much). Because the medium rick-rack is smaller, stitching down the middle worked fine for me, but with a larger size, you definitely want to sew more to one side (and this will become the bottom of the rose).

Then start rolling from one end. Put little dots of hot glue to help the flower stay together. I used the glue pretty often, to make sure that it would stay. You also want to put the glue more towards whichever side is going to be the bottom of the flower, so that the petals can open up nicely and not get glued together.

When you've rolled the flower the whole way up, you can trim the tail or tuck it under and glue it to the underside. Peel the outer petals out to give the rose an open feel. I also put some extra hot glue on the bottom of the flower, to hold it together and also to attach the bobby pin.

And that's it! They are really quite easy to make. Linna and I beasted out about 25 of them in an hour or two (I was sewing, she was gluing). And they look great in your hair!

DIY *GLITTER* canvas painting

So we've all seen the "paint over alphabet stickers on a canvas" DIY project that is literally all over Pinterest. And really, I think it's great--everybody can create original artwork for their living room! And I have to admit, I have made several of these projects, and always been pretty happy with the result. 

Buuuuut I kept seeing other random projects on Pinterest that involved glitter, and I got this thought.

Why not do this stickers-on-canvas idea, but instead of painting over it with paint, use modpodge and GLITTER!

Clearly, this needed to happen. So here's a handy little tutorial so you all can make an awesome GLITTER CANVAS PAINTING.

Here are the materials I used:

blank canvas, Remarks "Mumbo Jumbo" alphabet stickers, ModPodge, black acrylic paint, a paintbrush and of course... GLITTER!

 First, paint the canvas whatever color you want the lettering to be. In this case, I wanted the letters to be black, so that it would show up against my light colored glitter.

 Allow the canvas to dry completely (usually at least 2 hours, maybe more depending on how thick you paint the bottom coat). Then arrange the letter stickers on the canvas. I like to cut the letters out individually so I can move them around before I stick them on for real. As you can see, I had some white and some black letters--the white were definitely easier to see under the glitter!

I divided the canvas into 9 parts, to give it a sort of star burst feel, and also to make it easier to do the glitter in sections. Going one section at a time, coat the canvas with modpodge--the more the better! Then shake the glitter onto the glue.

Then I shook off the excess glitter into a tub. I went one color at a time so that I could rescue the excess glitter without mixing it all up. 

Make sure you remove the stickers soon after you've sprinkled the glitter, instead of waiting until the glue has completely dried!! Otherwise, the modpodge glues the stickers to the canvas, and it's much more difficult to peel the letters off. I gave it maybe a minute or two, so the glue had time to set a little, and then I removed the stickers.

And voila! Glitter canvas painting! I'm planning to find some sort of adhesive spray to spray over top of the canvas, so that the glitter doesn't end up all over my house.

Because let's be real... glitter tends to get EVERYWHERE. 

"Why, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!" 

Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There

P.S. Shameless advertising..... I am willing to make one of these for anyone, custom quote and colors.... if you will pay me.... ;) But seriously, they make great gifts.