29 Ways to Stay Creative Poster
I couldn’t resist posting this amazing, inspirational list from MoreDesignPlease.com. Just uplifting. Stay creative, everyone!!
xo
Carly
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Leave Comment7 Ways How to Make Good New Year’s Resolutions – And Keep Them
I would have loved to roll this post out while everyone (including me!) was still in the planning stage for their Resolutions, but, alas, an Internet issue has delayed this post. But it’s never too late!
Some of you may have already made your Resolutions for 2014 – and others may still be deciding (the old ‘should I or shouldn’t I?’ question). After all, how many Resolutions have we been able to keep in the past?
I think there’s a distinct reason why Resolutions are so hard to keep – and why the concept of endeavors spanning a year are so difficult to visualize to fruition. Here’s how to make good Resolutions – and set yourself up for success! – in keeping them:
1. Don’t Focus on the Whole Year – Split It Into Parts
12 months is a huge timespan to consider, and resolve inevitably fades after a month or so. Why not split your year down into manageable sections? The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months
2. Don’t Make Too Many Resolutions – Stick to 5 or Less Per Quarter
Again, a hallmark of productivity advice is to not self-sabotage from the outset by focusing on too much. Even with a shorter timespan to focus on, you can still put way too much on your plate by trying to tackle 10 or 20 goals. Pick 5 -3 goals (the fewer, the better!) with which you want to start out in order to maximize your results.
3. Make Your Resolutions Quantitative and Measurable
Don’t write down “Be more thoughtful to my Grandma” or “Get healthy”…be specific! How will you be nice to Grandma – what will you do? Write a letter every two weeks? Send impromptu flowers? What does “Get healthy” mean to you? Is it “drink no soda”? “Limit coffee to 1x per week”? “Walk 5000 steps per day”? Make it as specific as possible so you can measure your progress and make sure you are achieving the overall goal.
4. Create a String of Unbroken X’s
A common motivator is to have a physical calendar with your daily goals on it, and draw a big X on each day that you hit your 5000 steps, post a blog post, don’t spend any money, take the dog for a walk, etc. The visual chain of X’s that you create when you repeat these actions day after day, week after week, will help motivate you to keep going so as not to break the chain.
5. Create Regular Check-Ins For Yourself
Designate a day of the week, each week, and a day of the month, each month, to check your progress. Are you hitting your daily, weekly, monthly goals? If not, step back and assess. What can you change, how can you help yourself achieve what you want? Set aside 5-10 minutes at least to reflect and recalibrate in order to better tackle your Resolutions.
6. Create Motivators and Rewards for Yourself
Accountability is a huge part of achieving goals – as is rewarding yourself. Schedule in a fun experience, shopping treat, time with your friends, whatever motivates you as a reward for all your hard work. (These rewards have to be motivating enough to keep you going when the going gets rough – and help you put down that donut, refuse that drink, do an extra set of dumbbell curls…when you really, really would rather not. Plus, those rewards can’t be such that they undo all your hard work and set you back into the habits you are trying to change: i.e., a shopping binge for someone trying to curtail spending for example.)
7. Remember It Takes Time
It is said that to change any habit permanently you need a minimum of 21 days. Each time you do not indulge in that habit, you create new neural pathways that reinforce good habits. But the slope is slippery – and it’s very easy to fall back into old ways. If you slip up, don’t beat yourself up and decide to throw in the towel. It’s just one day – so what? Get back on that horse, back in the saddle, and keep going. That is the hallmark of a true goal-getter – and someone who will be keeping those Resolutions this year at last.
xo
Carly
Images source: here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Leave CommentSweater Yourself and Host a Festive DIY Holiday Sweater Party: Guide from Goodwill
With the holidays in full swing, it’s that time of year when holiday sweaters abound. Goodwill has partnered with Ad Council to produce a couple of cool tools to help celebrate that sweater-y time with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor about the (sometimes) questionable and ubiquitous HIDEOUS CHRISTMAS SWEATER.
Using their Sweater Yourself App, you can upload a photo of yourself through your Facebook account, selecting an avatar with accessories and hideous sweater of your choice, and send to all of your friends as a fun little holiday card. (Bonus: It also helps support and increase awareness for Goodwill’s mission to provide job training and community services to people in need.)
In addition, they’ve also created a fun little guide for throwing your own hideous DIY Holiday Sweater Party on Snapguide. Browse through to get some inspiration and ideas for making this season fun and festive, and when all the celebrations are over, consider donating what you don’t need any more to Goodwill to help provide people with jobs, training, youth mentoring, and education. (I wrote a post awhile ago covering the life cycle of a garment donated to Goodwill…which may surprise you in the ingenious lengths the organization goes to in order to ensure that every piece of clothing has a final use (instead of just landfill). Seriously – if you haven’t yet…go read it!)
What could be more chic than paring down what you don’t need and helping others in the process? (And having fun while doing it 😉
xo
Carly
Leave CommentCreate Your Own DIY Holiday Gift Bracelet with Persona
Lately it seems that beaded bangle bracelets have gone completely DIY, with companies offering a variety of different beads and charms to completely customize the look of the bangles to the wearer’s identity. Each charm can be something meaningful or commemorative for your recipient, and with a number of beautiful and semi-precious options the resultant bracelet can become a timeless family heirloom. Persona is one such company that offers the choose-your-own-charm option for bracelets, and they kindly sent me a bangle with 2 beads and a charm to review.
The bracelet arrived in a lovely jewelry box inside its own sleeve, along with a soft jewelry pouch, silver polishing cloth, small gift bag, and even some folded tissue paper in case you might want to present it to someone inside the gift bag. It’s an incredibly thoughtful array of packaging and needed items for the long-term care of the bracelet, which is much appreciated.
This particular Bangle from the collection is rhodium-plated, and has easy-open swivel ends. They also included a couple beads and a charm for decoration. From left to right: Crystal Cove bead from the Celestial Collection, Tiger Tooth from the Highland Collection, Lucite Beehive bead from the Celestial Collection.
The jewelry is a bright, non-tarnishing silver – and I love that the bangle has adjustable stopper beads to prevent all the charms from sliding around (space them close together or far apart, however you want them!). It is very lightweight, though – and barely feels like I’m wearing anything (great for bracelet stacking purposes!) The charms are incredibly detailed (the tooth charm is my fave!) and I like how they look edgy and modern (as opposed to stuffy and outdated like some other brands I’ve seen).
For someone like me, who loves black, silver, and sparkles and things with an edge, these beads and charm are perfect for my personality. But what if that’s not your style?
The great thing about the Persona collection is that you can totally customize the look of the bracelets no matter what your style. If you like pinks and baroque styling, then beads from the Versailles collection might entice you. If you prefer neutrals and black, the Highland Collection might speak to you. And if sparkles are your thing, then go for the Celestial collection! You can choose Zodiac beads, affirmation beads, crystal beads, beads with Swarovski rhinestones, Italian glass beads, and marcasite beads, a well as precious metal beads of silver and gold. They also have a number of different bracelet styles so you can customize the base of your arm adornment too. In other words, you have complete control!
Check out the graphic below for a quick how-to:
If you’re looking for that perfect gift for a special someone, you could make it truly unique to that person with your choice of beads and bracelets.
Check out Persona
xo
Carly
FTC Disclosure: I was gifted a bangle, 2 beads, and a charm from Persona for review purposes. The opinions above are my own. I have received no compensation for this post. For my full Disclosure Policy, click here.
Leave CommentReview & Giveaway: Diamond Candles and 5 Ways to Tell if Your Diamond Candles Ring is Real
Candles are a great way to brighten up and add some glamour to any living space. Diamond Candles takes it a step further by including a surprise in each and every soy-based candle: a $10, $100, or $1000 ring! They have some really fun scents, too, like Caribbean Dream, Cupcake, Sweety Pea, Ocean Mist, Chocolate Truffle, Vanilla Lime (yum!).
I was sent a complimentary candle to try out, and I chose the Fresh Grass scent (now sold out, unfortunately:-(
Indeed, just as the reviews say, it does smell like a hint of grass, with a fresh laundry smell, and a slightly sweet undertone. It is reminiscent of waterfalls, lush, mossy areas, and sweet, wet grass – a very pleasant and clean smell. The scent lasts awhile, lingering in the air for hours after burning, which is a huge plus (compared to candles whose smell just fades away once extinguished!) And I would definitely order it again if they re-stock it.
But of course the real draw was the hidden ring inside the candle: what would it look like? Was it real? How much would it be worth? It was sort of a treasure hunt inside a candle. You can tell where the ring is embedded from the outside: just a few inches below the top of the wax, so at least I knew what I was aiming for.
It took about 6-8+ hours to burn the candle enough to where the wax was soft enough to remove the ring. (Use a skewer or toothpick to remove, place on a paper towel, and allow to cool before handling!) Then, carefully peel off the surrounding foil and plastic packaging, making sure the wax is hard before you do so. (I was too eager and some of the molten wax got on my ring, which is proving truly difficult to remove!)
When I got my ring out I was very pleased to see that the quality of the ring was very good – in that it was an excellent piece of costume jewelry. Though I could tell almost immediately that my ring was not worth $100, let alone $1000, it was still a decent piece of jewelry, with precise settings and a pretty piece of yellow glass in the center. It could pass for an actual wedding or engagement ring, since the stone had a sparkle to it and the setting did look expensive.
But if you’re wondering if your ring is the real deal (and one of the rare rings worth $100 or $1000, as Diamond Candles says), here’s how to find out:
5 Ways to Tell if Your Diamond Candles Ring is Real (as in, Worth $100+)
1. Look at the quality of the setting and ring shank. Do you see any lines or obvious seams? If so, the setting and/or shank was created in a 2-part mold, rather than fabricated out of precious metal wire and sheet. Lines or seams in central areas of the setting and/or shank indicate the ring was cheaply made.
2. Look inside the ring shank for a stamp. Any stamp that says something like 10K, 14K, 18K, 585, 750, 900, 950, PT, Plat…or a jeweler’s name or brand name indicates the ring is made of precious metal. If there is no stamp or signature, or if like my ring, yours says “China,” then the shank is likely made of cheap, base metal.
3. Look at the stone, and turn it upside-down on a piece of newsprint or a magazine. If it is a diamond, you should not be able to read anything through the stone; if it is glass, you will be able to. A real diamond has a high refractive index and will distort type.
4. Look carefully at the sides of the stone. When you rock the ring from side to side, do you see any flashes of extra colors – like bright orange or bright green? If yes, then you may be dealing with a real diamond or citrine. Also, any colors visible in the flashes appear as in distinct bands or solid areas. Glass stones (or low-quality diamonds) will often show a full rainbow spectrum in their facets, with colors not distinct from one another.
5. Look at the inside of the stone. In glass stones, you will often see air bubbles trapped in the glass. Real gemstones may have inclusions, but not perfectly-round air bubbles. (This is something apparent upon magnification.)
This is not just a useful rule of thumb for evaluating your Diamond Candle ring…you can also use it to check out rings when buying vintage pieces or evaluating heirlooms in your collection. (Of course, a jeweler will be able to do the best job in distinguishing fake from real – but you might be able to save yourself the money by looking closely and at least eliminating pieces that are obviously not expensive items.)
So, are you ready to embark on your very own treasure hunt with Diamond Candles?
You Could Win:
Good luck to everyone!
xo
Carly
FTC Disclosure: I was sent one Diamond Candle for review purposes (ARV: $25). I was not compensated in any way for this post. The opinions above are my own. One candle will be provided to the winner of this giveaway courtesy of Diamond Candles. To read my full Disclosure Policy, click here.
Leave CommentWho I Am
Carly J. Cais I am a DIY’er, designer, sewist, maker, and marketer. Chic Creative Life is where I share what I do, and help others bring their unique style into their own lives.
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