bookmark how-to

1. cut your small square piece of felt into a circle swirl. 

2. from the outside end in, roll the felt up like a sleeping bag.

3. smother the bottom side of the rolled felt with hot glue.

4. press the remaining piece of felt {kind of shaped like an apostrophe} into the rolled felt. 

5. dab some hot glue onto the clothes pin.

6. press the back side of the felt flower right onto the glue.  

voila. you have some lovely handmade bookmarks. 

xo

*you still have time to enter this giveaway!* 

soaping

i've been getting lots of questions from my blogging friends about what 

"soaping" is and how you do it. here is a post i wrote about a year ago before i was

 buds with many of you that explains a bit more about it! 

 soaping is a super practical way to do daily devotions in your b.i.b.l.e. 

{yes that's the book for me} and i am in love with it. let's be honest it's way to easy to let

 distractions keep us from reading God's word, but this useful tool has kept me on track

 and i am thankful.

ok, soooo soaping is a simple way of journaling while you study your bible.

below is the acronym for what s.o.a.p. stands for.

you can write it all down in your favorite journal like me or you can get these nifty life journals {pictured above} that are made specifically for journalling and "soaping". 

these life journals are great because they have a yearly reading plan already set up {hello} that you can easily follow. they explain to you all about soaping and even have an area to document your prayers. 

i know that soaping isn't necessary to get into heaven . . . at least i think . . . {harty har just messing please don't write me an email} but it certainly has helped me not only stay consistent with my bible reading but also take more insight away from what i've just read.

see more about journaling and purchase your own life journal here. and if you start soaping or do something similar let me know! i'd love to hear about it. 

*don't forget to enter this lovely bip and bop giveaway!*

bip and bop giveaway

    {etsy}{facebook}{blog}{twitter}

i'm excited to bring you a lovely giveaway

 today from one of my sponsors!

 this is nicole of bip and bop. 

isn't she gorgeous?! such a beautiful family. 

  

not only does she have some pretty adorable accessories 

for little ones but also for us mommas too!

to enter:

mandatory entry: 

1. like bip and bop on facebook and leave me a comment that you did.

additional entries:

1. pin a bip and pop item on pinterest and leave me a comment with the link to it. 

2. become a follower of bip and bop on twitter and let me know you did. 

*also nicole is so sweet she wanted to offer all of my readers 40% off your orders by using the coupon code STEPH at bip and bop until 2/16/12!* 

{giveaway will close on 1/20/12 at 8:00pm est} 

planning fail

more organized. 

this is my pretty little planner. cute huh?

welp, this is what the inside of that planner has looked like 

since i bought it in september of last year. 

my goal is to get it consistently looking more like this. 

there are so many things i want to do in a day like:

soap {aka read my bible}, 

clean, 

cook, 

craft, 

organize,

take photos,

blog,  

etc. etc. 

but for some reason i just have a hard time fitting it all in. before i know it
my whole day is gone and i pretty much did nothing. i feel like if i

could just be a little more planned out and organized maybe i could do it all?

are you laughing at me right now? 

you're thinking "yeah right, that 'planning' will last about two weeks".

yep you're probably right. i need help! 

any expert planners/ organizers want to throw me a bone?!

i love this weekly planner my friend anna from in honor of design 

made up. adorable and practical. 

{source}

any tips? thoughts? or encouragement??

i need all the help i can get. 

xo 

splish splash

so pais has what i thought was an ingrown toenail. but turns out is just a fungal infection that can be caused by consuming too much yeast! our bodies do some of the craziest things. "hey, you've been eating to much pasta and sugar so i'm going to show you i don't like it by making your toe swell up!"thanks mr. body. we appreciate it. 

for the last week or so pais has been having to soak her toe in warm water and epsom salt. i thought she would hate having to sit still not not be able to take her foot out of the water 
but...i thought wrong. 
at least she's taking the positive route and seeing the fun in it? 
splish splash. 

xo 

giveaway winner + 5 current makeup favs

the shabby apple duchess necklace winner is {drum roll please} . . . 
#6  a la mode designs  
 A LA MODE designs said...

Love The Duchess necklace! Below is my entry:

1. I liked Shabby Apple on FB. 

2. One of my favorite items is the Gondola dress. :)

3. I am following Shabby Apple on Twitter.

THANK YOU!

congratulations a la mode designs!
 if you could please send me your info that would be lovely!

         

these are some brilliant beauty products that i've been into lately. 

a couple days ago i made the switch from mineral makeup back to liquid foundation 

{i had been doing mineral for 7 years eeeeep!

 i was kind of scared to make the switch}

and so far i'm really loving it. 

i've been using make up for ever's HD foundation. have you ever tried it? 

i also love their microfinish powder. so so great. 

a few of these other products i got as christmas gifts and so far i'm a big fan! 

have you tried any of these products? 

did you love them or not really? 

a day at the museum

last week my best friend and i took our kids to the museum here in our town. 

 it's a very small museum but still had plenty of things to entertain the kids. 

in fact, they had so much fun running around it was hard for me to snap any photos!

their favorite thing was by far the moving dinosaur.

do you have a good museum in your town? have you ever been?

xo 

p.s. stop back tomorrow for the winner of the the shabby apple necklace giveaway!