I'm Home Manager?

Yes, the title has a question mark. I say this just as Ron Burgandy did in Anchorman.



As a mommy that works full time I am constantly searching for balance and I am always looking for tools & resources to help me find that balance. Between working, being mommy, being wife, sister, daughter  AND cooking, cleaning, paying bills etc.. and just finding time for myself, I feel like overwhelmed. Did I mention I also volunteer at my church and handle their administrative and financial departments. Yeah, I am stressed. Oh, and the baby still does not sleep thru the night, YAY.

One my favorite websites that I have come across in my search for how other moms get by is Simple Mom, she believes that parents are the home managers and when mom & dad are doing well the whole family thrives. Some of the steps on her blog that she suggests are:

• Setting Reachable Goals
• Establish Routines
• Create a Home Management Notebook

I want to try these. I am not one for routines but now that there is a baby I know it's necessary. One of the steps I have taken to help me achieve more is changing my work hours. I work from 8-4 instead 9-5 and that has cut my commuting time in half since I am missing traffic. It feels great already!

I have also starting setting reachable goals, see my 101 in 1001 list.

My #1 goal? To create a little order in my life so I don't feel so stressed or like I am not accomplishing anything and once said order is set I can live!!!! party & bullsh*t! :)

Let's see how this goes. 

DIY Gift Ideas on a Budget

This past Christmas our funds were limited so while the little kids in our family got gifts, I still wanted to give something to cousins/sisters/nieces. I researched a couple DIY gifts on the blogesphere and came up with these 3 fun projects. My partner in crime Diana did the same thing and here is how they came out (Click on links for step-by-step instructions).

These two ideas came from http://www.momadvice.com/

Oatmeal Milk Bath - Great for people with sensitive skin

 Ingredients

 Blend until fine

Put in a pretty mason jar & done! Super Easy.

Pretty Bath Salts - **Great Valentines Day Gift***

 No blending required on this one. Just colorants! ;)

See the pink swirls - they make me smile! :)

Facial Scrub - Inspiration came from Kelle Hampton's blog but we ended up making it our own and it's pretty amazing, I have been using it myself. Won't share just yet how we made our batch but you can always try Kelle's version.

 mixing the ingredients.

 pretty

ready to gift!

These were both super fun to make & with a 8 month old they were all made after he went to sleep so it was also nice to be able to chat with a friend while DIY'ing. Oh and by the way all this stuff if pretty much made out of natural ingredients! Enjoy!

21 Days to Getting ORGANIZED Challenge

The last couple of weeks I have failed miserably at cleaning & organizing my household. I am taking a couple days off of work to really focus on getting things together before the new year. I just want to feel like I am getting off to a good start. I came across this challenge over at A Bowl full of Lemons, and had to join up. I need all the motivation I can get! Have I mentioned how lazy I am? yeah I need all the motivation I can get!!

If you want to join up, here's a post on what you can do to prepare for the challenge.

Slowly going back to normal

My life is a mess!

Well no it's not but my house is so it makes me feel like my life is too hehe.

To save money this year I went the DIY route with a couple gifts (post on that coming), so I have junk everywhere! Over the last week I have lost my keys more times than I can count! and my husband keeps leaving his keys & wallet on the couch which drives me insane!

I have a 5 day break coming up which I will use to clean & organize a bit but I did tackle our key problem!

Inspiration came from the DIY Show off blog, I did a search to see if they had any ideas (since I do not have an entryway), they had this super cute super easy thing I had to do!

I got a serving platter, Letter stickers & mod podge.

 Super Easy! and cute and will get the job done until we get an entryway!
And, here's an awful pic of me & the little guy but I Love how he looks over at me like "put that camera down lady!"

Adieu

My Baby's First Christmas

I am off of work for a couple days and I am just excited - this will be Aaron's first Christmas and I can't wait to see what the day brings. I probably won't be posting much the next couple of days since I will be soaking up these days with my munchkin but I wanted to wish everyone a most Joyful & Happy Holidays!!!!

After the holidays, I have much to share:

• a couple DIY Christmas gifts
• a super easy way to create a key holder
• more baking
• my new "100 in 1001" initiative
• and I'll share how the little guys first Christmas went

so back to bed I go, to cuddle with the big & little guy! It's going to be a great couple of days!!!

XOXO,

 

DIY Christmas Cards

I made my own Christmas cards this year!!!! They are not amazing as I am just learning how to use Photoshop but I came across a simple template and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

I found an awesome free template HERE.
Here are more free photo card template resources I came across in my search: http://www.mydeliciousambiguity.com/2010/12/free-christmas-photo-card-templates.html

Enjoy!


 

2nd attempt at Digital Scrapbooking

Template: Jessica Sprague - Echoes of Asia Kit
Done in Photoshop CS

Thoughts or tips?