Day 30: Winding Down

Hey Guys! So this is something I've really been trying to do for a really long time. There is really nothing that improves my quality of life so much as a good nights sleep. There is really no amount of coffee or cold showers that can make me feel alert and awake if I have had just a really bad sleep the night before.

I've heard in quite a few different places that one way to get a better sleep is to sort of 'wind down' before bed. This just means, like, turning off unnecessary lights, turning off the computer, and phone, and just relaxing for a while before you go to sleep. A normal night for me is where I literally close my computer and jump into bed, and when I close my eyes I can still vividly see whatever it was that I was just working on.

Tonight I decided to actually try this "winding down" business. I'm turning off my computer and phone well before I plan to go to bed, and I'm just going to look through these knitting (well knitting and crochet) books while I drink some tea. Here's hoping I'll actually get to sleep right through the night!

Day 14: Decorating with Household Items

So, this probably seems pretty obvious to most people, but when I think of decorating a space I usually gravitate towards cute nicknacks, candles, and vases. I was thinking today about how I have so little space, and don't really want to be cluttering it with a ton of little things; I would rather just have a nice looking usable space. This got me thinking about what a useable space was to me. Being that it is fall, going into winter, I like to have people over a lot and hope that they will feel free to help themselves to a nice cup of tea! Unfortunately I have all my tea stuff in like, three different cupboards, so it's not really easy for guests to just quickly make themselves tea. Because of this I decided to make a little tea area on the counter.

It's kind of nice having all the tea stuff set up and ready to go for me too, because it will also be a lot easier for me to make a cup of tea, and I think it looks nice on the counter.

I'll probably end up changing around the set up a little bit with time, but for now I really like it, and it was a really easy way to add some interest to my kitchen without buying anything! I just decorated with some household things that I already had.

Some things I for sure eventually want to add is a better way to organize the tea, like, maybe getting a little basket for the tea pouches. I'll probably also get a canister for the teas I buy a lot of at once, like orange pekoe. I'm really excited for this new little space in my kitchen, and I'm really excited about the idea of making different places around my home look a lot more finished, while also making them more functional!

Thanks for reading!

Day 3: Craft for the Sake of It!

Hey Guys! So basically I was thinking today about how crafting, for me anyway, has become sort of a means to create things for my home or to create something to sell. Either way, everything has a purpose, and it's always "productive". I decided to go back to crafting just for fun today, and actually wasted a good couple hours (VERY unlike me) to make something I've been wanting for a while.

I bought a travel mug a little while ago that was all black, and had a removable insert that you could decorate to have a custom travel mug. I bought it with the intent of making a ton of different inserts so I could really have fun with it and change it up all the time. I FINALLY got to making one, and I couldn't be happier with it.

So for starters I pulled out the black paper insert and sort of used it as a template. I cut out the cardstock and got to designing.

I took inspiration from a lot of the hand painted white ceramic mugs I've been seeing lately. I just love how some of them look like the string from a tea bag hanging out the side of the cup! I wasn't really sure if drawing on cardstock with a permanent marker would have the same look, but it was worth it to try.

I just love it! I proudly showed it to my sister who was over at the time, and she thought I should maybe add some color. Sounded like fun so I gave it a shot.

Coloring took a little lot longer than planned because I could not find any markers, and ended up using a green and red colored pen!

I'm so excited with how it turned out! I think the color really was worth it as it added to the charm. I'm so excited to use this cup now, even though it's the exact same cup I've been using for a while now! It can be really fun to re-vamp something you already have to make it fun again. I think I'm going to be making a LOT more inserts for this cup.

It was also really nice and kind of relaxing to just do a craft for fun. It really did make me feel kind of like a kid again. Back when doing something "productive" and "fun" were the same thing! Do you have any crafts or hobbies that you do just for fun? I think it's about time every body goes out and picks up a pack of construction paper and a box of crayons.