DIY Apothecary Jars

One of the things I enjoy doing is making pretty things from ordinary ones. This idea is certainly not new, but I thought I'd share my recent creation that I love so much:

I purchased all of the materials at a recent yard sale for next-to-nothing. A little bit of E6000 transformed them into exactly what I had hoped - perfect apothecary jars for my fall mantle this year!

In case you haven't already figured it out, the bottom is a pretty candlestick. The top is an old, empty Home Interior candle jar that reminds me very much of the shape of a pumpkin (hence the fall mantle thought).

I'll try to remember to show you these in action when I change out my mantle this fall!

And if you've been trying to access my blog through the regular address in the last few weeks, it hasn't been working because I never saw the email about renewing my domain registration. (What can I say? Yahoo Mail annoys me with notifications every 30 minutes if I allow notifications. I don't see important emails if I turn off notifications. I think it's time to switch to a new email provider that isn't intent on annoying me.) It should be fixed soon, though, because I finally found the email and made the payment.

Bullet Journals, Homeschool-Style

Bullet journals have revolutionized my life by helping me to get organized again. So it makes sense that I'd want to teach my kids the same efficiency and organizational skills. Hence, the Homeschool Bullet Journal ...

There are a few other blog posts out there about how other moms have incorporated bullet journals into their homeschool routine, but most of them are using Classical Conversations. I've never used that curriculum [we use My Father's World with Math U See], so I'm taking a few ideas from theirs that transfer to general homeschooling and making it work for us. I intend to share the journey here on my blog, as it unfolds.

Right now, we made the first step by purchasing bullet journals. I took my kids to Michaels and let them pick the color they liked from the Artist's Loft journals that I like so much and use for my own bullet journals. You can't beat them for $5 each!

My son was the one that was a hard sell for bullet journaling. "I don't want girly stuff in mine," were his exact words to me. So I was relieved to find a gorgeous brown leather-looking dot grid version for him. I'm not sure if it will show up well in the picture or on your screen, but it's not just a brown journal. It has texture worked into the color. They were definitely going for the leather look, and they did a good job!

I've always used the grid-lined versions, but he really liked this cover and it was only available in dot-grid. I promised to design the first few layouts for him until he finds his groove, so to speak. Who knows? I may end up liking the dot-grid better.

The other problem with "girly stuff" is what goes inside. I anticipated this problem and didn't plan to add much decoration to the insides. However, I gathered some of my washi tape that I thought would work nicely for a more masculine look, and he did like them.

All of these but the plaid came from Ebay. The plaid washi came from Target Dollar Spot last year.

 So hopefully I'll have some pictures of actual layouts to share in the days and weeks (and months) ahead. I'm still debating what role these will play this year. I have all kinds of ideas - record keeping, daily logs, daily math work that won't fit on the regular worksheet, book lists, and many more.

November Bullet Journal Layout

I know it's late in the month, but I thought I'd share my November bullet journal layout with you.

I'm a "cozy minimalist" (a term I found on Pinterest that fits me quite well) when it comes to bullet journaling. If I were any good at drawing and lettering, I could easily see myself doing a lot of decoration as a creative outlet. But I'm no good at drawing and only working on the basics of lettering. So, for now, I'm a minimalist.

Washi tape gives me some artistic flavor without any effort on my part. It also helps me to create a pleasing color scheme for the month.

I found this washi tape on Ebay. I'm pretty sure it took more than a month to get here from China, but I knew it would be awhile when I ordered it. The important thing is that it came in time for me to use it for the month I wanted to use it for. I was so impressed with this roll that I bought several more (different designs) from this same seller and can't wait for it to arrive.

I think there were 7 meters on the roll for right around $1, give or take ten cents (and with free shipping). I'm not only a minimalist, but a cheapskate as well, so that's the price point and length I look for when I'm buying washi tape.

I used some of my Artist Loft brush markers (store brand of Tombows) and some felt tip pens that I really like from Dollar Tree (also available at Dollar General in a multi-color pack).

I mainly used the smaller end of the brush markers for this month, although I did use the brush end of the sage green color to act as a highlighter on my mini monthly calendars in each weekly layout.

I hope Dollar Tree continues to carry these felt tip pens because I tend to go through about one a month, regardless of whether I'm buying the Staedtler Fineliners or these much cheaper ones from Dollar Tree (3/pack). I also like the slightly wider point on these (0.5 mm compared to 0.3 mm on Fineliners).


As for the layout, I'm sure I was inspired by Pinterest and Instagram. I tend to pick one thing I like from one layout, one or two things from another, and mesh them into something that works for me. And I have a really bad memory. So if you inspired me, thanks so much! I wish I could remember who to credit. If you'd see the size of my Pinterest bullet journal boards, you'd understand!

I'll be making a few changes in December, but I'm still in the pre-planning process for December pages right now. I'll share when I have the changes finalized.

I love the ability to tweak my layouts each month (or week, if I want to) to something that better suits my lifestyle at the moment.

My Thrifted Bullet Journal Case

I love the looks of my new bullet journal, and I want it to stay nice for as long as possible. A friend of a friend kindly made me a vinyl monogram for the front. It gets shoved in my purse a lot because I'm one of the (apparently) few bullet journalists that actually takes her bullet journal with her when she leaves the house, so I was afraid of being too rough on the decal.

While I was on a thrifting excursion the other day, I happened upon this beauty from At A Glance ($2 at Goodwill). I have no idea if it's still available or not, but it perfectly fits my bullet journal. As an added bonus, I can close my journal again if I want to (remember the broken strap?) and even keep my pen handy without putting binder clip marks on the cover.

This was barely used before it was donated, if it was used at all. I love the extra space to store Scripture coloring cards without harming the binding of my bullet journal.

I'm still completely in love with this Artist's Loft notebook. If you get wind that they'll be discontinuing them, please drop me a line to let me know so I can stock up! (This seems to happen every time I fall in love with a frugal supply.)

$5 Artist's Loft Bullet Journal Update: Strap Issue

So, if you're interested in bullet journals, you may be interested to know that the strap broke on my Artist's Loft bullet journal after about a week or so using it cross-wise as a pen loop.

This is not a deal-breaker for me because of the price point and the fact that the strap was more in the way than it was helpful. But, in the interests of full disclosure about the journal that I've been raving about, I thought I should mention it on my blog.

I have more (positive) things to post about this journal, but they will have to wait until I get some keyboard issues resolved with my laptop. (Almost the entire left side of the keyboard doesn't want to work, so I'm using the on-screen keyboard to type most of this.)

Artist's Loft Watercolor Dual Tip Markers: Labeling by Color Name

Since finding the Artist's Loft version of the bullet journal a few weeks ago, I've been excited to try new things. One of those things is venturing into the world of hand lettering. Now, before I go any further, please note: I AM JUST A BEGINNER. I started last night. I can't even get the thick and thin lines when I want them yet. I'm still experimenting to find just the right pen position, paper position, and pen pressure for me.

Still, I wanted to give this tip (pun not intended) for anyone else who opted for the cheaper Artist's Loft markers instead of Tombow. Before I get to the tip, maybe you're wondering why I chose to go with the Artist's Loft markers.
 

 For one thing, I'm just beginning and don't know if I'll persevere long enough to get the technique down perfectly. As such, I don't need the expensive markers. A basic set that has decent reviews from people who are far better at brush lettering than I can ever hope to be is good enough for me to start with. (And yes, there are some YouTube hand letterers who use these.)

For another thing, with a coupon, these markers came out to about $0.60 each in a pack of 12. That's just slightly more than I paid for markers from Dollar Tree, so the price seems more than fair.

Now let's get to the point of this blog post: how to label these markers.

I'm a detailed person. If I'm going to use these markers in my bullet journal, I'll likely be using a set color scheme each month or so. With that in mind, I really need to be able to grab the right marker the first time. A few of these were not the color I expected by the pen cap, so labeling was a must for me.

Since they have no color names that I could discover on a quick Google search, I decided to make them up myself. To do that, I did a basic lettering page and named them, based on what the color looked like to me. (Please refer back to my previous statements: I am a beginner. I just started last night.)

Then I used some of my lifetime-supply of sticker paper that I recently picked up at a yard sale ($1.50) to create labels with these color names. I just created a table in my word processing software. My columns were 1-1/4" wide, and my rows were 1/4" tall. The Times New Roman font worked perfectly in 11-point type.

Then I simply cut them out and applied them to the pens, right between the images of the pen tips.

If these decide to start coming off in the future, I'll just add a piece of clear tape over the top of them to hold them down.

New Bullet Journal: Inside Front Cover and Contact Page

In case you didn't notice from my last post, I'm a little excited about my new bullet journal (Artist's Loft from Michaels). If I can wait, I don't plan to officially move into it until January. I have enough space in my current bullet journal to last me through the end of the year.

So, to alleviate my excitement a bit, I've been planning how to make it perfect. And I decided that some of the pages can be made a few months ahead without any harm. Two such pages are the inside front cover and the contact page.

Here is what I came up with for these pages that would normally go to waste:



I received this gorgeous card for my 40th birthday a few months ago, and I knew I wanted to use it where I could see it a lot. This was the perfect use!

I recently found this quote [shared on Facebook, but no author mentioned - I'd love to know who came up with it, if you happen to know] and I couldn't agree with it more. I also thought it was the perfect companion to the card image.

Just yesterday, I found a lifetime supply of A5-sized sticker paper at a yard sale for $1.50. I printed this onto one of those sheets.

Stay tuned for more pages to come. I have several pages on my list that can be done ahead of time.