Goals for 2014

Hello, and happy 2014! I cannot believe that it has been close to a year and a half since the last time I blogged here. I will be back to explain that absence soon - it involves starting two(!) of my own businesses - but in the meantime I wanted to share this simple craft project with you.
Make your own book of goals for 2014!  You will need:

• a sketchbook
• kraft paper
• scissors
• paper cutter (optional)
• adhesive
• washi tape
• pen
• pencil
• eraser (not shown)

1. Trace the cover of your sketchbook.
2. Cut around your tracing.
3. Cut exactly on your line with a paper cutter (if you're not using one, skip this step and just cut carefully with scissors).  
4. Adhere the paper to the cover of your sketchbook.

     5. Draw your design and words, first with pencil, then trace with your pen.

6. Add tabs with washi tape. I have four categories that I wanted to use, so I counted the pages     equally and cut four long strips of washi tape.  I folded each piece of washi tape in half, around the first page in each section. 

7. Label your tabs, and the inside pages if you'd like to. I divided my goals into four categories: home, bookstore, photography, and personal.

8. Start listing your goals!

The first goal that I wrote down under "Personal" is to blog more here. That should be easy - with this post I've already blogged more than I did in 2013!  ;)

I love having my goals written out like this, especially for the bigger things. I can get bogged down in the day-to-day to-do lists, and not make enough time for some of the other things I want to accomplish. Having those goals written down makes me more likely to spend time on them.  I made this book on Sunday, and have already started on a number of my "Home" goals!

Do you have new year's goals or resolutions?  How do you keep track of them?

All photos taken with my iPhone and edited with A Beautiful Mess App.  

Organization Tip: Earring Display

I just read Elsie's post on organization, including ways to display jewelry, and it made me think that some of you might find this earring organization tip useful (plus it's really, really easy!). 

All you need are two pushpins and some fishing line (or clear wire). Cut your fishing line to slightly more than twice the length of where you are going to hang it. I have a wooden shelf in my closet that I attached it to, so I stretched the fishing line across the length of the shelf, then doubled that amount and added a little more so that it has a bit of give.

Tie the loose ends of the fishing line together so you have one big loop, and then start twisting it (a lot). Once the whole thing has been twisted, use your pushpins to attach both ends wherever you are hanging it (in this case, the edges of my shelf).

All that twisting made little loops, and now you can put one pair of earrings together in each loop.

This works for any type of earring back - I use this for all my earrings, except for the tiniest little studs.

So now not only are my earrings all together in one place, they are easy to see and choose from and they look pretty. Functional and decorative is always a plus!