DIY tips for the holidays

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Anyone who knows me very well knows I have a severe case of I can make that syndrome. I do enjoy making things, but sometimes it gets me in a little trouble. This article features some great tips to successfully do it yourself.

Do It Yourself Gift Ideas for Christmas

By Aurora McCausland

The Holiday season is definitely one of the best times of the year. The weather gets a little, or a lot, colder and makes you want to stay inside with a cup of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, snuggling under a warm blanket with your loved ones. It’s also the season of giving. Planning the holiday season and the gifts you’ll give to the most important people in your life is one of the best, and most exciting, parts of the holiday season. Having a lot of people to love is such a blessing, but it can end up being a bit of a financial burden when the holiday season comes around. The impending financial investment can put stress on a lot of people and take a lot of the joy out of the season.

Do it yourself

If you find yourself falling in the category of people that are struggling to find a way to afford all of the gifts you want to give the people that you love, consider a do it yourself route for some, or all, of the gifts you’ll be giving during the holidays. When people think of a “DIY gift” they often think of refurbished gifts that are lopsided and wonky that will gather dust in your basement from going unused, until you throw it away a few years later. Or they imagine the infamous “love coupons”, redeemable for back rubs and coffee runs. That isn’t the way that do it yourself gifts have to be, though. You can easily create something that will last a long time, will be cherished and appreciated by the recipient, and will bring you a great amount of joy during the process. Making something yourself makes it mean a lot more, and the people that receive your gifts will feel the same way upon receipt of their diy gifts.

Repurpose what you already have

Perhaps the most inexpensive diy gift idea, can also be one of the most difficult to figure out how to do effectively. We tend to think of the things that we already have as “junk” or unusable. This just isn’t true. The beauty of repurposing something that you already have is that you’re giving something a new life. Great things that can be repurposed include any sort of hardware or wood leftover from projects that have either gone unfinished. Or perhaps, you bought a little bit too much wood when you fixed your fence over the summer, leaving you with the perfect materials for a diy gift for someone that you love. The things that you can create with wood are endless. If you’re particularly ambitious, you can try and create something like some simple furniture, such as a new bed frame or a small coffee table for the living room. These are gifts that don’t take very much experience or knowledge to make, but are incredibly useful and will be loved for a long time. If you feel like choosing something a little bit more simple, go ahead and try your hand at making wooden wall decor.

Restoring antiques

One great resource for DIY gifts, is antique shops, thrift stores, and yard sales. You can often find unwanted gems that you can restore into something new and beautiful. Think things like reupholstering old and dingy furniture, painting over old and ugly canvas paintings, or using old bedding for the fabric, if you happen to be handy with a sewing machine. It’s important to keep in mind who you’re making a gift for. Your husband may not appreciate a new sign for the kitchen, but your mom or mother in law would. Knowing your audience is important when preparing gifts for the holidays, whether you’re making the gifts yourself or not.

Take care of their chores

Is there a task that’s been lingering on your loved ones’ to-do list indefinitely? It might be a matter of cleaning out the garage, getting new tires on the car, or fixing a dilapidated fence. Taking care of something like that might seem obvious and mundane, but for many people it’s an amazing gift. It shows that you cared enough to invest some time and effort. It also shows that you notice what they do and what they need, which makes it beautifully personal.

Think about what your friends and family really need

One of the best things about do it yourself gifts is that you can really cater to exactly what the recipients of your gifts need. If you have a family member who needs a new tv stand, you can make one much more inexpensively than you could purchase one. If you have another member of your family who is crafty, finding some vintage fabric that they could repurpose themselves could prove to be an invaluable gift.  

Holiday Shopping

*sponsored post-all opinions are my own

Let's talk shopping. It is cyber Monday so there's all kinds of shopping talk happening on the internet today. I'm far too late to talk cyber Monday deals. There are plenty of posts with those. I am still looking for a few gifts and hope to make a few more purchases today.

images via uncommon goods

Are you a Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopper? I don't really consider myself a super shopper on either day, but I do tend to buy a few things here and there. The big rage last year was the instant pot, and it seems like it is still pretty popular.

I totally missed Small Business Saturday this year, and I am really sad about it. I like supporting small businesses especially local businesses. The day got away from me, and before I knew it, it was over.

There is still time to buy unique gifts including jewelry, tabletop gifts, and other handmade items. I recently discovered Uncommon Goods-a privately owned retailer based in Brooklyn, NY. All products are safe to the environment, people, and animals so you can feel good about purchasing their products. They aim to give artists and designers a platform for their work. Many of the items are handmade, and many are made from recycled and upcycled materials. If you're like me and still looking for a few Christmas gifts, this is the perfect spot to shop. They have jewelry and apparel for women and a lot of great options for men of various ages. 

I have a handful of things I still need to buy, and I am definitely looking at Uncommon Goods for some of my gift giving needs.

How is your shopping going? Are you taking advantage of any deals?

Thankful 13

I’ve always wanted to do a turkey trot on Thanksgiving, but I typically travel that weekend. Since I stayed in town this year I decided last minute to run the Thankful 13 half marathon. ReNae, JoAnn, and Mike decided to join me. 

packet pickup 

getting ready to start

The weather was amazing. It was pretty sunny most of the time. The mile markers had gratitude quotes and all along the way there were signs of what people are grateful for. 

I was not feeling well at all so I was especially thankful it was a half. I like to keep a pretty decent base mileage so I can decide last minute to do a half. ReNae was so great and stayed with me the whole way. 

San Diablo Churros were at the finish line as well as pumpkin pie and rolls. 

I spent the rest of the day with the Reeds. We had a delicious dinner and then went out shopping. We stayed out until 2:00am. It was so much fun, but I was so exhausted. 

It’s always hard not being with family on holidays, but I am so lucky to have great friends that treat me like family. I went to bed feeling very thankful for all I have. 

Wear it Wednesday-Warm Fall

We are having the most beautiful fall weather. The mornings and evenings are a little cool, and the afternoons are warm and sunny. Layers have been the key to dressing for the weather. 

I went to Boise a couple of weeks ago knowing the weather was similar to SLC but also knowing it could change to winter any second. I packed clothes with layers, and it was perfect. 

Cardigan/button down-Gap outlet. Skirt-Target. Booties-Toms from Nordstrom 

I packed tights thinking it might be a little cold. The ripped while I was putting them on, and luckily it was warm enough without them. 

I know I’ll be bundled up in winter clothes soon enough, but for now I’m enjoying these warm fall days. 

November Happs

The holidays don’t really officially start until later this week, but the hustle and bustle of the holidays sure has started. I love this time of year. It’s busy and goes by so quickly, and I love all of it.
The month started with a beautiful fall run. The weather has been so nice this fall. I’m sure winter is right around the corner. We took a few detours to play in the last of the leaves.
Celsey and I took a sewing class with my friend Kimberly from little olive clothing co. We each made a pair of leggings and were so impressed with ourselves. I can’t wait to make another pair.
My high school friend Jesse was in town for business so we met up one night. We haven’t seen each other in nearly 20 years, and it was fun getting caught up after all those years.

Mandi and I took a road trip to Boise to visit Jen Davis. The drive was quicker than we expected and we had a great time chatting and really catching up. We took a spin class, celebrated Jen’s birthday, went on a small hike, and had lots of fun.
Emily and I took a day off work to skip work and craft. We made a few gifts and made plans for another craft day soon.

I’ve been a bit of a slacker with mail lately. I love to send things in the mail and can’t wait to use all of this cute stuff from Ello Paperie. They have stationary, cards, pins, and other fun things. With the upcoming holidays I will definitely be sending more in the mail and using some of this cute stuff.









These are a few of the many cute things in the Ello Paperie etsy shop. Go check them out.

Unblogged Bloggable-KMB Lakehouse Weekend Part 3

A trip this epic takes several posts to get through. See part 1 and part 2

Kate had to leave early Saturday morning to be with her family. We were sad she had to leave but happy she got to come for part of the trip.

We had a lazy morning. We had breakfast with mimosas. Mela still wasn't feeling well. Darcy took care of her and gave her bananas to eat. Danielle A and P and I did a circuit workout in the driveway. Ana and Mandi came out for moral support. 

We went to MaBank for a little shopping. They had a great wall for photos. We looked around the shops, had cupcakes, and made the facebook page of a little boutique. On the way back we stopped at Sonic for Danielle A's favorite drink.

Some of wanted to get in the lake. The house had several rafts and other things for the lake. We blew up a giant raft and hauled it down to the lake. We got on the raft, and Mela and I kept sinking in the middle. We sang some songs. Ashley swam up to scare us. Ana did some pole dancing. I almost killed myself trying to get off the raft.

 

Mandi insisted on a group sunset photo. There was a little complaining about it, but it turned out so amazing. It's one of our favorite photos. We spent the rest of the night hanging out, playing makeup and brows, learning the curling wand. 

We went to Whattaburger a little later. Ana's order number was 22-the date of her birthday. The guy thought she said it was her birthday that day and gave her extra desserts. He said Happy Birthday as he gave her food to her, and Mandi responded with Merry Christmas. Some girls danced around the fire (the proposal style) and played cards again. Danielle wasn't very good:) and Mela acted out a few.

We made our own Harlem Shake video. Hibiscus' hair flew everywhere. Mandi called her Habascus accidentally and it stuck. We "called" on the banana phone and snapped Cody. He wanted to be on the trip with us, but we told him no boys allowed.

We had a big breakfast Sunday morning complete with tons of bacon. Ana wanted hard bacon and not turkey bacon. Some people did impersonations of people, and Ana did the perfect one of Mandi putting on her lipstick. 

We got all cleaned and packed up. Mela couldn't believe I left my running shoes (something I often do on trips). We signed the oar and took more pictures.

We sang O Town I want it All over and over. Ana insisted on taking a booty pic of all of us looking out towards the lake. We all wanted to get out of the house and protested. She insisted and we are so glad she did. It is another one of our favorites. As we were leaving Danielle made plans to meet Ana at chemo that week and do a dance to juju on that beat. They joked about making it viral and had no idea that would actually happen.

We said tearful goodbyes and went our separate ways. Our car (Ana, Danielle P, Mel, Mandi, myself) met Frank and Sharon at the Texas State Fair. It was a quick meeting, but it was so great to meet them and see the fair. It was beastly hot but still a great time.

Ana dropped us off at the airport and snapped and then there was one... We ate whattaburger again and waited for our flight. Mandi and I flew back to Vegas. We tried to sleep on the plane and traded off trying to sleep in the car. It was a long drive back. We talked about highs of the trip. 

a few things that didn't make it anywhere else

-Ana and her snaps from the toilet

-Ana "why do you talk like that?" making fun of Danielle's nodes. Mandi "you can make fun of her cancer"-Ana laughed so hard

-Ana sitting on Mandi's foot multiple times

-snapping BTK sr

-facebook live-everyone wants to be KMB

This trip was incredible. We had the best time together. These girls truly are my sisters. Ana was doing so well with her treatments and was able to fully enjoy the trip. We had no idea a few shorts months later she would be gone. I will be forever grateful for this time we had together.