Manic Monday >

Happy Monday ladies (and maybe some gents)! Hope you all are having a great one.

The sun a was out this weekend over here in Chaos and Gloss land, and we didn't waste a single ray of it! To the delight of my hubby and kids we spring cleaned like crazy. Actually, it was more of a, "OMG! I'm having 30 women over for a bridal shower in one week, and my house looks like a crime scene and the police have dusted for fingerprints all over my walls, and I have dust bunnies that have been on the run since 2011!",
Freak. Out. Moment.
But to the rest of my family it was advertised as "Spring Cleaning"

Actually, I'm a lucky gal and I have a super helpful hubby and kids who minimally complain when having to go above and beyond their normal chores. Oh, and maybe I bribed them with dinner out...After all, it not only takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to clean a house! Get the pets in on the action, its not like they are doing anything else anyway:

I found this great schedule from Martha Stewart that easily breaks down the dreaded Spring Clean, unless you are one of those freaks who love to clean, if so, I want to be you please.

Check out the link to view or print

There's was also this great pin on Pinterest from LetsLassoTheMoon.com about challenging yourself to throw away, donate, or resell, 100 things. Think of all the extra room and extra minutes that can free up by getting rid of some stuff! 

Source: letslassothemoon.com via Nita on Pinterest

I also spent a disgusting amount of time surfing the highly addictive site called Foodgawker.com. It's basically food porn for your inner Racheal Ray! They have thousands of glorious pictures of delicious recipes - almost like a Pinterest solely for food! Their slogan is "Feed Your Eyes", but after becoming ravenous after looking at all the photos, I've come to the conclusion that it should be, "Feed Your Thighs." They also have sites called Weddinggawker, Craftgawker, and Dwellinggawker; but they looked way to dangerous to my Spring cleaning schedule, so maybe I check them out some other time when I'm free - sometime in 2015.

Have a great Manic Monday!

~Angela

I Need Minions > DIY Christmas Gift Calendar

Today we are showing you another great DIY Christmas gift idea that everyone will love: personalized calendars. I know you're thinking, why would I want to make someone a calendar when there are 1000's of cool calendars out there at a reasonable price?  This gift combines a cool calendar with a bit of you and your family and their "unique" style. (we all know what and who I'm talking about, right?!)


I'm not talking about just any calendar but a calendar that you personalize with those millions of pics just sitting around that no one ever sees or appreciates, the pics that you want someone to see.  Even better, if you are giving this to a loved one who lives in a different state, they will get to see what really goes on in your life.  Hmmmm, this could be either a good thing or bad thing.  

Let's get to the meat of the project.  Did you know that there are "holidays" for almost every day of the year - or maybe there is one for every day of the year.  I don't know how these were designated as holidays but there are plenty of sites out there that list them.  I searched around and I like Gone-ta-Pott because it has silly holidays like "Cuddle Up Day" or "Talk Like a Pirate Day" or "Holy Batman! Day" (sadly the last two fall on the same day, so you just have to pick one.)   The holidays listed in the pic above are: Step In A Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day,  Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day, International Skeptics Day, and National Hat Day.  Yes, it's true, we are a silly family and I have pictures that can be used for these holidays, and so do you!


How to make your personalized calendar:
Pick calendar - I like the desk top ones with the spiral bound edge.  TJ Maxx has a selection of calendars at a reasonable price or any bookstore or Amazon has many.  Be sure to pick a calendar that they will love!  Check these out:

Start by writing everyone's birthday and anniversary on the calendar.  Find pictures for all those events, it doesn't have to be taken on their birthday or even taken recently (use some of those old pics), just put in a flattering picture of everyone.  I can't stress the word flattering enough as I have seen people given photo gifts with unflattering pictures of them or loved ones and it was not a gift they cherished.


Start to fill in the rest of the pages with pics that fit the "Holiday."  Start with the standard holidays like 4th of July, Christmas, etc, and then start reading the list of the other obscure holidays.  There is a "Hug Day", "Best Friend's Day", "Go Fishing Day", and "Chaos Never Dies Day" to name a few.  Once you get started you will see ways to work quite a few of your pics in.  Here is some inspiration:

Measure the area that is open on your calendar for each date and crop pictures that size.   I cropped photos in Photoshop Elements (PE). Open photo and set crop size.  This will open a crop box on the picture that you can move around and resize, but will still keep it the set size ratio.  Crop, save, print, cut out and paste to calendar.

I can't tell you how much people love these.  I mean really, puppy of the month in a basket is cute, but not as adorable as your grand kids in a mud puddle! After you finish up your amazing personalized gift calendars, wrap them up, and then wait for the rush of orders next Christmas, when everyone wants another one.


-Laurie