Weekly Goals

Well, I got one goal done, the stars, but failed miserably on the organizing of the books.   I was super good about finishing the stars and I'm so glad that I've finished them.  One more gift to check off the list!  I really pride myself on my gift giving abilities and I work very hard on coming up with gifts that I think people will really enjoy.  Rarely will you find me hopping into Target 15 minutes before I need to give a gift and just picking up a random candle or notebook.  Not my style! Anywhooooo,  this just means gift preparation must begin early! 

Yay handmade presents!  I love that I was able to use up some old yarn.  And some fun silver packaging stuff.  And a Proactive box.  Let's talk about making something out of nothing!  I think my aunt will really like them.  I made her a scarf last year or the year before, I can't really remember.  But she loved it!  She and my uncle are a little on the hippy side, which I love and her home is full of handmade items.  The stars will fit in very nicely I think. 

As for my books, I was very, very bad.  I did put a couple of books that I know I'll never read in my used bookstore box, but I really need to have a Come to Jesus moment with the rest of my books and be honest with myself to get rid of books that I really won't be reading anytime soon. I'll leave that moment for this week!

So, my Christmas goal for this week is to finish up my Grammy's cross-stitch ornaments, which I talked about last week.  And for my organization goal, I really will finish up the books.  This is especially important this week because my parents are coming for a visit and I know we'll make an adventure up to the used bookstore because they have a great record collection and my dad is a little obsessed.  But I promise I won't be buying any books for myself ;-)

Week Goals... Late, my bad

Well, Monday came and went.  As did Tuesday and Wednesday.  I really must be better.  This week has been somewhat busy, and goal making wasn't high on the list.  But I was able to come up with my two goals, both organization and Christmas.  The organization goal is to get my book collection under control because it has gotten a little crazy.  We have a great used bookstore in Chattanooga, McKay's, and I have no control when I go in, especially when I have a credit.  So this has caused a massive build up in books at my apartment.  I have plans to read all of them, and I've stopped buying new books, but I still need to get the ones I have under control.  So that is the organization goal.  

So many books! 

I love to read but this is a little much.

For the Christmas goal, I want to finish some knitted star ornaments that I'm making for my aunt.  They follow my goal of using craft supplies to make gifts, as I had all the yarn and stuffing materials already. 

 Here is the finished product.  I've finished 4 so far.  

 And I have two more to finish.  

They were super easy and once I got the pattern down pat, I was able to knit the stars in under an hour each.  I think I'll give my aunt 5 and keep the other 2 for myself ;-)

Weekly Goal... A little late

Well, posting about my goals on Monday did not happen.  Life is a little busy.  But oh well, we do what we can.  Although I wasn't able to post on Monday, I did have all my goals completed!  I worked on Tuesday and Thursday to clean out the bathroom, throwing away a whole bag of old and mostly used products that I had been holding on to for no reason I can come up with, but they are all gone now.  

So much stuff!

And more stuff!

OMG! The stuff! 

I was able to organize things and toss so much stuff out that I was able to get all my products into the bathroom cabinet, which makes using the things I have much easier as they are all in one place.  

I'm feeling much better about my bathroom now that I know I'll use everything that I have and I'm not holding on to useless items.  Yay organization!  Makes life so good. 

And now for Christmas.  I was able to finish the cross stitch part of my ornament, which was the goal.  I'll wait until I've finished all the cross stitching before I sew them into actual ornaments. 

I'm really loving all the vintage cross stitch books that I've collected over the past few months.  They are so much more fun than anything you can find in a craft store.  I always feel like the craft store books have no real character, while the vintage ones are so full of fun!

Stay tune for the goals for this week! 

Weekly Goal

Every Monday, I'll be posting two goals, one related to organization or general life betterment, and one Christmas related.  These weekly goals will help to keep me on track with two bigger goals that I have set for myself, downsizing my life, making it easier to move, and a handmade Christmas. 

Goal 1- I've got big plans to move into a smaller apartment in the near future, so I need to downsize my life as much as possible.  Right now I have a two bedroom apartment for just myself, which is much too big and I've spent the better part of two years filling it with fun Goodwill finds.  While I don't want to get rid of all my wonderful vintage finds, I do feel a little cramped and need to rid myself of the things that just aren't that special.   Also, I've got to come up with $100 worth of "hard goods" to donate to my Junior League's rummage sale in the spring.  All this means I need to organize and downsize!

Goal 2- I want this Christmas to be all about handmade or locally produced presents.  To this end, I'm trying to make as many gifts as possible, especially for those in my life that already have everything they need or they have to money to buy whatever they want.  Making gifts will also allow me to use up some random craft supplies, and so, helping out with Goal 1!  For these wonderful family and friends, I plan on making the gifts. or buying fun consumable gifts, such as honey, jams, or such things.  And if I am unable to make a gift, or a handmade gift would be inappropriate, I'm going to try and buy something handmade from a local artist, Etsy, or buying fun consumable gifts, such as honey, jams, or such things.

Goal 1 for this week will be to clear out and organize all my bathroom/ beauty products.  I have a good size restroom with plenty of storage space and I've let this wonderful amount of room allow me to hold on to things that I'm no longer using and have no plan to ever use again.  In addition to all the space in the restroom, I have a big plastic box full of travel size bottles and random soaps that I am clearly not using, as I store it in my bedroom closet, which is out so sight and out of mind.  This box will meet its end over the course of the week.

Goal 2 for this week will be to finish one cross stitch ornament for my Grammy for Christmas.  My grandparents have everything they could ever need and they can buy whatever they need when they need it, making gift giving very difficult.  So this year, Grammy will be getting ornaments.  I've finished one, and started another, but have been distracted by other craft projects, so this week I plan on finishing at least one.  They are small patterns, and really should not take much time.  I think I'm going to make between 3-5, depending on how my craft supplies hold out because I'd like to make them without having to buy any supplies.   

Here is the first one that I have finished the cross stitch part, I just need to finish the ornament part. 

Yay for goals! Hopefully I'll be successful in getting them done.