Shelly

How Do You Stick With Your NYR?

This year I wanted to do something a little different in the way of my New Years Resolution. Every year I have something that’s measurable and what I believe to be do-able! Every year I only complete maybe one of my goals.  They’re also always very similar (weight loss, new language, read ___ books, some kind of charity.) I usually accomplish the weight loss goal but gain it all back before the end of the year, I read a lot but never keep track of what I read and always wait til December to do our Charity so it always ends up being the same one. THIS YEAR, I said, THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT! It’s been two months and I’ve already been terrible at keeping track of my goals! Here they are and here’s how I will NOW start to keep on track with them:

C.A.R.E. (yes I made a short acronym for them to help me keep track of them-step one.)

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Compassionate- I’ve been reading ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff’ because I’m notorious for doing exactly that…ALL OF THE TIME! The thing that has stood out to me most is compassion. ‘It involves the willingness to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, to take the focus off yourself and to imagine what it’s like to be in someone else’s predicament, and simultaneously, to feel love for that person.’-Richard Carlson

Active-My ultimate goal is to lose 40 lbs. I’ve lost 36lbs since giving birth but I still have a long way to go. By being active for at least 20 mins/day (beyond baby wrangling and cleaning) I hope to not only burn some cals but to release some tension. I’m always happier when I exercise!

Relaxed-Breath in. Thank you. Breath out. I love you. This is my mantra for relaxing. I’ve not yet been successful at meditating but it does help when I stop and breathe and say these words. I also do my nails or color a coloring book to calm down when I notice myself getting snippy or my mind overflowing.

Encouraging- I have so many wonderful people in my life that are SO AWESOME and need to be told. I think sometimes people just need to be told how great they are because they’re not seeing it in themselves. I’m often quite honest when I think someone can’t achieve their goals and I’ll make an ‘eh’ face when I NEED to be encouraging them! There is no reason to be anything but encouraging to the ones I love.

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Photo Credits: Shelly Bergman, Unsplash

Spice Rack Organization

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I feel like I’m decent at organizing but somehow after four years of accumulation in our home cabinets, are sure to get messy. Our spice rack, for example was in shambles. I was always tipping things over and buying doubles of spices we already had. Proof of the insanity:

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I knew turn tables would probably be the best way to see all the spices so I headed over to Amazon (are there other stores out there?) I found these bad boys at a whopping $19.13 + $7 shipping b/c they aren’t Prime (best and worst thing ever.) Too much for my blood just for organizing some spices so on the Christmas wishlist they went. Do you guys ever ask for really lame household items for Christmas? Well, Santa was kind to me!

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First I sorted through all the spices into ‘like’ categories…if that’s possible in the spice world. I relocated the oils to the cabinets over the stove because they’re rarely used. Top right shelf is for baking goods like sprinkles and vanilla extract. Top left is for salts and pepper. The bottom shelf is for all of the spices arranged by usage.

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These Simply Organic spices from Meijer are my fav but they’re discontinuing them from our store. I’ll have to just keep the bottles and refill. 😉 How do you spice it up? Magnetic racks? On the counter for quick access? Turntables so you can pretend you’re a DJ while you cook? Just me…

This post was not sponsored by Amazon or Meijer. These are my own opinions.

Harry Potter Inspired: BohoHarry

I’ve recently been playing around with Polyvore where you can create home or fashion mood boards. This is the first one I created as a ‘I’d love to be able to pull outfit off’ board. It’s mainly boho/tribal with a bit of Harry Potter (BohoHarry) in the mix with Nagini and the nod to Tale of the Three Brothers. Beach wear is also on my mind b/c we’re planning a trip to Gulf Shores, AL. Have you ever used Polyvore? If so, leave your name in the comments and I’ll follow you!
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Keeping Baby Clothes Organized

Organize Baby Clothes

I love organizing. It’s super calming for me and I think there is a direct correlation between the organization of my home and my brain. I have been organizing baby clothes for 5 months now, which sounds like a ridiculously short amount of time for any other project but it has been a CONSTANT organizational nightmare. I tend to search Pinterest if I don’t have the PERFECT way of organizing a ‘situation’ (for lack of better words.) I round up a bunch of favorite ways to accomplish my project and then usually mix and match people’s ideas to fit our space/needs. With this situation I have been re-doing her clothes every few weeks! Partially because she’s been going through them so quickly, partially because when my husband helps and puts clothes away he does it his way, and partially because I can’t figure out a wonderful, fabulous, perfect way to keep everything in order.

Let’s just dive in here and you can see the layout of the room as well as how I organize her clothes. I want to preface with the fact that I did not straighten up or organize anything for better photo ops so you could see the organization in it’s natural state.

This is what you see as you walk into her room. The dream catcher was made by Mommy to make sure she has happy dreams. I used this as my inspiration.enter1If you turn left, you’ll see her crib wall. Her mobile was also made by me. Her Sophia bunting (suuuper cute, right?) was made by this lovely lady.

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Here is a closeup of what’s going on inside her crib. The rings hang with a little ducky high up on her crib so we can scoot her up there for play time. There is an elephant mirror for her to see herself in as well as her best friend Elmer. Her peacock is in there when she plays and wants a bit more stimulation but usually he is her traveling buddy. The bumper is bumpy so she loves waking up and feeling it.

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Next is the wall with her friends and reading chair. We put up shelves with toys from our past as well as artwork from loved ones. It also holds her monitor and above is her camera. The city print is from IKEA as are the turquoise cart and yellow side table (which has a drawer for quick access of her pacifier, toy, and tissues.) We use this glider for reading and her 5a feeding to help keep her calm.

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Turn again and you’ll see her changing table/dresser. The yellow curtains plus wood slatted blinds help with daytime naps. The art print is from Katie and is a nod to our wedding song. Her coat rack holds her jackets and carrier and underneath is her hamper (of which I do not recommend as a hamper because of the flaps. It would be better used as a storage bin for a child to learn to put away their stuffed toys.)

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Finally you’ll see her closet (which holds a ton of crap stuff ranging from kitchen platters to luggage to her extensive library.) We hang her packed diaper bag on the door to make it easy to grab and go. Both frames are from her family baby showers and my best friend made her bunting.

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The room seems quite full to me but every time I try to minimalize this space it just fills up again with new toys. Her closet only holds sets of clothes on hangers that are gifts and don’t yet fit her, otherwise all clothes are in her dresser or the pink tub by her dresser (where I throw small clothes to later organize and store or share.)

This is the top left drawer which is right under her changing pad. It holds Sophie’s swaddle sleeper, muslin blankets, burp cloths and bibs.

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The top right drawer is super easy to access when changing Soph. It contains her night and day diapers (Pampers are our favorite), socks (Circo long white with grippies are our favorite), hats, foot and arm toys, headbands and misc medical supplies.

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The middle left drawer holds her pants (rolled so I can easily see them), PJs, snugly outfits and shirts/dresses that are part of a set.

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The middle right drawer has short sleeved onesies, sweaters and long sleeved onesies that are easy to see as well as put away once folded.

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The bottom left drawer holds all of her clothes in the next size up as well as her swimsuits and cover ups. All of these clothes are borrowed or bought at a consignment store and I’ve pre-washed so they’re ready once she fits in them. It’s quite haphazard but it’s easy to just throw stuff in once it’s washed and re-organize it once I move them up a row to her current clothes.

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The bottom right drawer is her ‘fancy’ drawer. It is filled with the clothes that have been hand made for her by relatives. The majority of this drawer is clothes made for her by my Grandma June when I was 15 (and no where near wanting children.) I wish she could see Sophie in them now. She would want to bite her cheeks! This drawer is also pretty crazy because when I want to play dress up there’s limited time to rummage through and pick something out before Soph doesn’t want to play anymore.

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Sidenote: this is what the little bean was doing while I was snapping these pics before her nap. So sweet and patient.

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The top of the dresser has our essentials that are handy to have nearby during changes. Obviously her changing pad, wipes container (one of my favorite purchases), sanitizer, Aquaphor, baby powder, baby lotion, pacifier, q-tips, distracting toy, vaseline, freshner and a lamp (for the big messes.)

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That sums up the major pieces in the nursery. While looking at this I realize how much STUFF comes along with having a new baby (not that it’s all necessary but it makes life easier!) I go back and forth between feeling ok with the way it’s organized and thinking it’s a total mess. Do you have any of these products? Do you have any suggestions on how to keep things more organized? How do you do it???

This Post was not sponsored by Amazon, Target, Ikea or Ashley Furniture. All ideas and  photos are my own.

Under Construction

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Hello friends! If you’ve happened upon this blog and thought ‘Man, it’s been a long time since she’s posted. Where are more crafts and pictures of her baby?’ The answer is simple. I’m taking classes to pump up my blogging game. I switched my blog from Materialistic Minimalist which was written for my friends and family to let them see crafts I was working on around the house. When I had Sophie I wanted a place where they could follow my lack of crafts for updates on the lil one. I’ve decided to go bigger and now blog about crafts and motherhood but also throw in some life and cooking posts and gear it towards moms and the crafty folk. Thank you for being patient and I promise to return in a month. For now, I will leave you with this…because they’re just so cute!!

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Photo credits: Martin Wessely & Jonas Nilsson Lee via Unsplash

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