Archive for ‘Holiday Inspiration’

February 8th, 2012

Forgive Me Fellow Friends…

while I sit down and sleep.

{found on pinterest}

Lately, I’ve been having dreams that tell me things like, “Slow down. Savor more.” No joke. But the irony is that I can’t sleep. I take this as a sign that my health’s wonky again so I probably need to take it down a notch.

This also means checking Facebook and Twitter may be excruciating these days because it’s an energy sucker that reminds me of all the things I won’t be doing in the next few days.

Forgive me while I take a slumber and take care of myself.

Have you done that lately?

Have you been running the never-ending treadmill because you’re “dying” to catch up with the rest of the world? Or have you been shutting down early these days in favor of sweet slumber and family QT (quality time)? I hope you’ve been choosing the latter. And you don’t need a blog wake up call to remind you that walking on the wild side isn’t meant to be a permanent thing. Unless you want to wake up with an irreversible disease. Not fun.

But if you do need a wake up call, I’m happy to offer it. Read day 1 of my Get More by Doing Less Challenge to start.

We’re barely gracing the surface of 2012, let’s keep trudging on. But can we do it at a turtle pace? Can we walk quietly for the sake of feeling the dirt beneath our feet instead of running quick to get to the end of the road?

Valentine’s for You

And while I’m at it, I’m vowing to make February the month of self-love. Anyone else with me?

Instead of paper hearts and sweet chocolates, I’m devoting the short month to taking care of myself. (P.S. Part of my self-care was getting crafty so I made both in a DIY Valentine for family members. Will share those soon.)

This means:

  • you have permission to make a dent on your couch for a whole day watching bad TV and catching up on never read, but meant to read magazines.
  • it’s okay if the laundry isn’t done, the dishes are piled up and the floor needs sweeping.
  • saying, “No” is not only an option, but that it may be necessary.
  • saying, “Yes” to yourself is mandatory.
  • that you will for one hour a week (at least) put yourself first.
  • that it’s okay to spoil yourself and forgive those that see it as selfish and don’t see the value of doing so. {they’re just jealous}

For me, this means a haircut I’ve been meaning to get, more time lying doing nothing, meditating and feeling okay with missing the gym every once in awhile. I vow to take care of myself before I get sick. I don’t want to get a double dose of sickies again (I caught the flu and a cold in one month recently).

If you’re in and want to celebrate with me, let me know what you’re going to vow to do this February.

February 3rd, 2012

Creative Friday: Crown Jewels for Cheap

When I was scoping out Anthropologie over the holidays, I caught site of some amazing baubles. Some I wanted for my own. If only I had a unlimited budget, I’d grab them all.

But sadly, I could only ogle them. And go home with a few ideas to make them mine, but cheaper.

Here’s my inspiration: 

sudsy glass strand

Gorg right? It’s called Sudsy Glass Strand and sadly they no longer have it at Anthropologie. And they don’t have the price either. But I do remember it was expensive. Too expensive for me anyway. But I also saw this as an exciting challenge. And decided to make it my own.

How I DID IT:

Basically, I took my skills from a one day class in jewelry making that I learned over a decade ago. Then, I grabbed these clear jewels from Michael’s. (I couldn’t find ones exactly like those at Anthropologie. But these were a lot cheaper.) And then I threaded them through fishing line. (My dad’s fishing line and his rusty pliers come in handy for jewelry making.) I used my crimp tube, spring ring, and close ring to finish. It took about 10 minutes or less to do it. And I ended up with this:

While it’s heavier than most of my necklaces, it gives what my husband calls a “fancy” look to it. And that makes me pretty happy.

Got anything that makes you feel fancy, but secretly is pretty cheap? Share please.

January 20th, 2012

Creative Friday: More Peace Please

Anyone else reluctant to take down their Christmas decorations? I am. Especially since I worked so hard on them this year sans Christmas tree.

Yes, I still have them up. And will probably keep them up until the next holiday comes on by. {don’t judge me.}

Until then, I decided to redo one last holiday craft that can possibly be used year round especially in light of our recent Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. It’s my bowl of peace. Remember them?

Well I still had leftover styrofoam balls from my snowman project and floral wire so I decided to let peace go. And here’s what happened:

I used the same technique that helped me to create my snowman snow globe. All I did was thread floral wire between a letter ball and a foam ball. Then, I just placed them next to each other. Easy, peace-y.

What have you been working on lately?

December 29th, 2011

Revolutionary Resolutions 2012

{via pinterest orignally from reasonstobreathe.tumblr.com.}

I’ve been making resolutions since I was a teenager.

Looking back I wrote things like:

1. lose 10 pounds

2. stop drinking soda

3. write a book

4. travel to Europe

I managed to somehow tackle items number 2 and 4. And surprisingly eliminating soda was a lot harder than finding my way to Europe.

But this year instead of racking up another thoughtless throw-away list, I wanted to create something revolutionary. What if I compiled a list of resolutions that actually meant something to me?

After rolling up my sleeves and digging in there deep, I realized that in 2011 I did more healing than I did producing. I still haven’t finished that book and I’m still working on getting closer to my dreams. But I worked on being more conscious of how stress affected my body, how taking time to be in nature was just as important as writing a blog. I learned that people may stay the same, but that I can change how I react to them. I re-discovered yoga and found peace in tai chi. I learned that it’s not the sunset, but it’s opening your eyes to that sunset that makes a difference.

For 2012, I want more of that in my life. I want…

  • to remember that no matter what my mind, my neighbor, my friend or my enemy says, I have control over the choices I make in my life.
  • to remember where the sun shines not just where the shadows are.
  • to choose not just good people in my life, but the people who are strong, courageous and  supportive.
  • to pick opportunities that are not just once-in-a-lifetime, but are once-in-a-lifetime to me.
  • to bite my tongue in the heat of the moment and exhale compassion and peace.
  • to know that my purpose isn’t to change you, but to hold you in your light and then let go at the right time.
  • to learn that the only real purpose in my life is to grow.
  • that kindness always goes down better than anger.
  • to remember that you can be both good to yourself and good to others.
  • to know that my life is not measured in numbers: in age, in weight, in height, in visitor counts and social media followers.
  • to accept me even when I’m leaning on acidic and far from being sweet.

What do you want most in 2012?

Will you create a standard list or do something revolutionary?

December 27th, 2011

The Top Posts for 2011

{discovered on Pinterest. originally from lokal54.com.}

We’re sliding into 2012. But before we go, I thought I’d countdown the end of the year with a countdown of my top 10 inspiring posts. Great for the new The Inspiring Bee reader and for those who’ve stuck around when my blog was just a free little thing called 2inspired. Since then I’ve made a whole lot of new friends, had my tweet published in this book, got a new column for The Writer magazine on inspiration, had my articles published in magazines, gained new copywriting projects including writing for Walmart Labs, was made associate editor for Psych Central, and all in all just been tickled pink and filled with gratitude for all social media has brought me. And they say it’s nothing, but a waste of time.

Thank you for all who stuck by me, commented here and there and supported me when I was just starting out. And Happy New Year! May your 2012 be even brighter than 2011.

1. When You’re Feeling Uninspired

Don’t let the 0 tweet counter fool you. This one was by far the number one post ever. Maybe there’s a lot of you feeling uninspired now. It’s a timely one to read before the end of the year to help shake you out of your rut for 2012.

2. Commit No Nuisance

I wrote this one on my way back from London where I was fascinated by their use of signs like this one. Don’t you love it when you find a parallel between what’s going on inside to what you’re finding outside in the world?

3. How to Invite More Possibility and Synchronicity in Your Life

This is one of my favorite posts. And I guess it was yours too. It reminds me about how magical life can be, if we only take the time open our eyes and see. If you’re feeling hopeless, this one will fill you back up with hope.

4. Fear is a Common Denominator in Following Your Calling

Talking about synchronicity, a big one fell into my lap after reading a book called Callings by author Gregg Levoy. I truly heart that book and after reading it, I was curious about the author. A 5-minute Google search later and I discovered he was going to be giving a talk 15 minute minutes away from my house the next night. I jumped at the chance and wrote about the experience here. It inspired my first and only callings event listed below.

5. Callings Group Event

This is the event I talked about with my biggest comment count ever. I thoroughly enjoyed helping out a fellow freelancer in this post. And if you follow her on Twitter, then you know how well she’s doing half a year later.

That’s my top 5 wrap-up. Have a good one!

December 23rd, 2011

Holiday Creative Friday: DIY Calendar

Happy Early Merry Christmas!

I’m keeping it light today since the holidays festivities are in full swing with a short post on my latest holiday project.

Every year, I order mini calendars from Snow & Graham. And over the years, I’ve hung them in my home office:

And when the year passed, I used them to re-cover my mini wooden clothespins:

But for 2012, I decided to do something different.

I was super excited then when I found blank calendars at Paper-Source for just $8.95 (compared to those mini calendars from Snow & Graham at $14.95). Like a blank slate, it was mine to  paint. I’m not finished yet, but thought I’d let January make its debut a bit early:

This simple birdie drawing was inspired by a CB2 catalog. Love getting inspiration from catalogs!

What about you? 

Are you still in the creative mode? Or are you in need of putting your creative muse to rest?

December 16th, 2011

Holiday Creative Friday: DIY Christmas Trees

I vowed to be as present as possible this holiday. Mostly because ever since I was a child, Christmas would fly by so quick that I never quite enjoyed it.

I would be excited about Christmas Eve and look forward to Christmas day and then anticipated the moment when I would open every one of my presents. And then sitting in crumpled wrapping paper and torn off ribbons I’d ask: “Is that all?”

This year, I am taking it all in. Appreciating the lights, the presents and especially the decorations, as gifts to be unwrapped carefully.

I taught myself how to make my own snow globes. {The how-to is here.}

Filled an old mason jar with last year’s Target Christmas ornaments:

Put peace in a bowl. Thereby doing my part to contain peace.

Contained peace

And made my own Christmas trees this year with foam and pipe cleaners.

It’s probably my most favorite craft. I love the way it sparkles at night almost as much as I loved how quick and cheap they were to make. Basically all I did was buy silver pipe cleaners from Target and wrapped them around the foam. To get them to stay, I poked a hole in the Christmas tree shaped foam with and at the start of and at the end of the pipe clear.

Will definitely be saving these for next year.

The one that was a little harder to love, however, was my feather Christmas tree…Truthfully, they were not easy to do and did not come out as pretty as this blogger’s one. I laughed at them through my hot glue burns. They looked a little like a messed up chicken. And my bunny was not amused.

But I grew to love it. After slapping hot glue on the foam and stuffing feathers around them, I came out with this perfectly imperfect product:


I could have tossed it, chalked it up to another failed project. But I realized I had an opportunity here. Either I could abandon it, like we abandon the things about us we don’t like-our nose, our thighs, our imperfect handwriting scrawl or we could embrace it.

Don’t we all have a little imperfect feather tree in our lives? And are we going to continue to toss it, ignore it or fully embrace and love it for what it is? I chose the latter.

What will you choose in 2012?


snowflake snowflake snowflake snowflake snowflake snowflake snowflake snowflake snowflake snowflakeWordpress snowstorm powered by nksnow