Category: DIY & Crafting
How to Create a Vision Statement and Change Your Life
One goal setting technique that WORKS.
One goal setting technique that WORKS.Today I’m sharing how you can try the technique that helped one woman manifest the partner, children and job of her dreams in four years. Curious? I was too! You have to hear her story!
My friend Faith introduced me to her vision statement and powerful vision board techniques that can help you make changes in life and reach your goals, and I want to share them with you so you can make this the best year ever. It works by setting your sights on what’s possible. It’s all about intention.
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How to create a vision statement
Faith discovered this technique during a time of hopelessness. “At the time, I was working in a dysfunctional workplace, was in a painful and unfulfilling relationship and was 35 with no hope of creating the family/children I barely dared to hope were possible,” she says.
Here’s the technique she used: write a statement about how your life is in the future, and date it with a future date. Make it as specific as possible with a focus on the feeling of gratitude you have for meeting your goals.
“It should be written in present tense, as if you have already achieved your goals and created your vision with an example of the specifics. It should also be reviewed and altered on a regular basis as your vision evolves, continuing to add details and change things as needed.”
This could be in addition to a vision board collage with images, or by itself.
Does this sound crazy? Read the rest of Faith’s story before you decide.
How a vision statement can help you change your life
Four years later, her life is completely different. She attributes it in part to this create a vision statement exercise which helped her focus on what was important to her. She’s moved across the country, found a life partner with whom she has two beautiful children, has a fulfilling career in an emergency room and is pursuing a medical degree. That’s a dramatic transformation for sure!
It was Faith and her story that encouraged me to try creating a vision board collage and vision statements at the start of every year. I started in 2016, and it helped me reach my professional goal of adding three new publications to my writing portfolio, as well as some personal life goals. You still need to put in the work, but putting the vision in a written or visual format can keep you focused. As Faith said, “Life still has its challenges but I feel better equipped to handle them.” I’m so grateful to her for sharing her story in hopes of inspiring others!
What do you think about this goal setting technique? Read more about how to transform you life with vision board exercises.
Make Your Vision Board Work for You in 2017
Vision board techniques to make THIS the year you’ve been dreaming of!
Vision board techniques to make THIS the year you’ve been dreaming of!What is your dream for this year? Maybe it’s financial stability, your dream career, a fairy tale love, or jet setting on the adventure of a lifetime around the globe. Whether your dreams are wild or mild, they can seem attainable at times. That’s where a vision board comes in to serve as a visual representation that helps you keep your eye on the prize. Here’s one of several I made this year. I chose the colors for a common aesthetic and mood:
What is a vision board and how do I make one?
A vision board is a collage made using images that represent goals that you want to manifest. It serves as a reminder throughout the year to put the work into making these dreams a reality. To make one, you’ll need a 12×12 paper or larger and magazine pictures. Take it from someone who always has leftover pictures that didn’t fit, 12×12 inches is the minimum you’ll want to use. It can include a mix of cutout pictures, cutout words, and written words.
5 Effective Vision Board Techniques to Try this Year
Make your vision board more fun and effective with these ideas. Setting goals should be fun! Don’t feel like you have to do all of these, just consider the ones that resonate with you.
1. Make it a party. It’s so much easier to get your vision board done when you have someone providing you the place, time and materials. And they will hold you accountable for finishing your board. This is vision board time!
2. Use unexpected materials. Mix it up by asking your friends for magazines that you don’t read yourself. This expands your boundaries and gives you more to work with. Incorporate colored pens, stickers and colored card stock for vibrant, creative, no-limits vision boarding. You could even end up with a picture of a Corgi, who knows!
3. Notice what’s NOT on the board. When I finished my board this year, what was most surprising was what I hadn’t made goals about. These represented activities and commitments in my life that my heart isn’t in-and are sucking energy away from what I really do want to accomplish this year. These things might need to be eliminated or downsized in 2017.
4. Bring in spirituality. If you follow a faith, consider how you want that to fit into your goals in the coming year. Including a quote from your faith can serve as a powerful reminder of what’s truly important to you. If you’re not into religion, any inspirational quote that you connect with works. I find that the poetry of Rumi resonates with many people.
5. Display it in a prominent place. Mine is over my desk right now. Refer back to it throughout the year. You can’t do that if it’s in your closet or under your bed, so make sure you can see it regularly.
Now I have questions for you! Do you create vision boards? What goals did you set for 2017?
Make a Felt Heart Envelope
I read something so inspiring yesterday on social media, a message urging people to consider Valentine’s Day as a way to spread love to people who might need it whether it’s a note, a flower or a kind word. It sounds simple, but it’s easy to get caught up in your own plans (or lack of plans) and forget that small gestures can mean so much to someone else! Today’s post is a craft tutorial that makes a perfect small gift for Valentine’s Day or any day.
After experimenting with a variety of fun ways to decorate envelopes, I made this handmade felt envelope craft to send to friends and my top blogging supporters to say Thank You. It was a little Valentine’s Day gift. Here’s how you can make your own, step by step.
Felt Handmade Envelope Coin Purse Tutorial
You’ll need: Two colors of felt, embroidery floss, scissors, needle, hot glue, buttons and thin elastic. Quick tip: instead of sewing you can use hot glue.
Step 1: Start with a diamond shape cut out of a piece of felt. The envelope can be made small or large depending on the size of your felt. The ones I made were the right size to hold a business card or some coins, and the flat edges of the diamond measured 5 1/2 inches long each.
Step 2: Fold the sides in and bottom up in preparation for sewing or gluing these edges together to form the envelope shape.
Step 3: If sewing, pin the edge you’re not working on down to hold it until you make your way back to it. Optional: carefully trim down the pointy edge to make it flat, as in the photo below.
Step 4: Add a fastener. I did this two ways. One was to hot glue a piece of velcro. The other was to sew on a button to the envelope body and add a loop of elastic to the flap. The button looks nice, but the Velcro is easier. Take your pick.
Step 5: Hot glue on a felt heart to the top of the flap. You can experiment with using different colors of felt for different looks.
And you’re done! Share what you think of this tutorial in the comments and let me know if you have any questions!
Definitely check out more envelope decorating ideas, and follow along for more craft ideas on Pinterest.
Valentine Envelopes To Make This Year
Homemade Happiness
They say happiness is homemade, and I am inclined to agree. Lately, I’ve been really into decorating envelopes. These were featured on Midwest Living along with more envelope decorating ideas, so you can see the full list there.
These can be used to hold homemade love notes or add an extra personal touch to your store bought cards (this card is simple and cute). You can use these techniques for any season, I just personalized these for Valentine’s Day. It’s coming up in less than a week! Don’t miss my cake banner tutorial for more Valentine’s craft inspiration.
Eco-friendly upcycled paper bag envelopes
To make this card, I unfolded a crumpled old envelope I didn’t need and then traced around it onto a grocery store paper bag like the one I used in the gift wrap tutorial. After cutting out the new envelope shape, fold the sides in, the bottom up and the top down and an envelope shape should appear! Glue the edges securely and it’s ready to decorate.
I used white acrylic paint and a brush to put a design on the front. White really pops against the unbleached paper, but you could also use a metallic sharpie or gel pen to make this job way easier. I would recommend this if you’re writing anything longer than someone’s name, since painting was a little tedious. Remember gel pens? They still sell them. I just discovered that now there’s Gelly Roll Glaze, which gives a raised design. I haven’t tried them but they look enticing.
Add a Valentine’s sticker or heart cutout to the back and you’re done!
Watercolor resist envelopes
The second technique I’m sharing with you is so easy that it’s popular with kids but way more impressive looking than a children’s craft. It’s a classic watercolor resist! Use a white envelope that’s on the thicker side. You can buy watercolor paper envelopes, make your own out of cardstock following the steps above, or just pick a fairly thick commercial envelope. Using a sharp white crayon or waxy colored pencil, write the name and/or address. The hardest part of this whole process is not really knowing what you’re writing! An alternative is to use a metallic silver colored pencil.
Then do a water color wash over it with 1-3 colors that blend well together. As you can see in the photo below these envelopes are artsy without being overly feminine, which is nice if the object of your affection isn’t into hearts and lace.
Whether you’re sending something to a special someone or every friend and loved one in your life, these card techniques add something extra. Let me know how you enjoyed these techniques and if you have any questions in the comment section below.
Products & Resources
Get started with some related tools referenced in this post:
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Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String
Eco-Friendly Wrapping Options
I love wrapping paper. Each year I love finding artistic paper options that aren’t typical Christmas designs (like the ones below!). But I definitely do not love throwing away the packaging after the gifts have been opened. For a few years now I’ve worked on my collection of pre-wrapped boxes that can be used year after year. There is a downside to those, and that’s storage space. This year, I experimented with the trend of minimalist, nature-inspired wrapping techniques. Here are my Eco-friendly gift wrap solutions to try.
Brown paper Packages, twine and greenery
They look elegant and well-designed, but these packages are covered with things you probably already have in the kitchen! All you need is brown paper, twine and greenery sprigs and you’re golden!
“But where do you get these sprigs, Abbie?” You may be asking. Mine are taken floral arrangements. Greenery usually lasts longer than the blooms themselves, so you can re-purpose it on your gifts. If you have a real Christmas tree you could also take a piece off of that in a place that’s not very noticeable…just throwing out ideas here!
For the paper, I used a brown grocery bag, but you could also try newspaper or the beige paper than comes in shipping boxes. Eco-friendly twine and re-purposed ribbon tied them off. There’s something very personal about the appearance of these packages, don’t you think, like they’re designed with the recipient in mind.
Another option I discovered this year for re-usable gift wrap is a reusable shopping tote. They’re no more expensive than paper gift bags, and the recipient can use it again and again. I found a Minnesota-themed tote at Trader Joe’s this year and it was perfect for large gifts.
Want even more ideas? Another blogger has some for you – I especially like her idea of using last year’s Christmas cards to make tags!
What are you wrapping your gifts with this year?
