Easy DIY Christmas Gift You can Make with Kids

DIY gifts can be the cutest, most thoughtful gifts to give. Something made by someone you love is special on so many levels. But what about those of us who aren’t especially gifted in the talent of DIY?  Hi, my name is Candice and my hands won’t do what my brain wants them to when it comes to crafting.  It’s not that I don’t want to craft. I do.  It’s just that, well, my creations usually end up looking like those Pinterest memes – “How it looks on Pinterest [perfect] / How it looks IRL [barely recognizable].”  It’s also difficult to get time alone to focus on a DIY activity with a little one running around.  So, my DIY activities must have the following criteria; be easy-peasy and be something I can make with my son. If you’re in the same boat as I am or if you’re looking for a fun holiday craft to do with your kids, check out the DIY gift below.

No-Bake Cinnamon Clay Ornament

Do you remember these?  I made these as a kid and they STILL smell deliciously warm.  There is something so inviting about the scent of cinnamon during this time of year.  These ornaments are easy to make, hard to terribly mess up, and edible (for those little ones who seem to put everything in their mouths).  

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of salt
• 1 cup of flour
• 3/4 cup of warm water
• 1/2 cup of cinnamon

Directions

Mix all ingredients together

With dry, clean hands knead the dough until it is completely mixed.  Dust your hands with flour if the dough is sticky

Place the dough on wax paper and roll out using a rolling pin

Use cookie cutters to cut out the ornaments

Poke a hole at the top of each ornament (large enough to string ribbon through)

It takes about 24 hours for the ornaments to dry.  Once that is done you can string the ribbon through, hang on the tree, or give to a friend, family member, or neighbor as a gift.  Easy-Peasy!

Featured Product: Happy Holidays Planner

We are so proud to announce the new Limelife Media & Creative Team for winter 2016/2017! Back in August, we put out a call for applications, and let me tell you, it was tough to choose!

Ultimately we chose a group of talented ladies that are sure to inspire you. Our team uses a variety of planning styles and products so you can get an idea how our line of customized planners, notebooks, and accessories will fit in with your busy lifestyle.

So without further adieu, please allow me to introduce our new Media & Creative Team members!

Candice

Candice is a wife, mom, and freelance writer living in the beautiful Sunshine State - Florida. She loves all things beauty related and is forever grateful for her crockpot. She also runs a mom/lifestyle blog called Mommy Diaries (Of a Florida Mom) where she covers everything from parenting to beauty to travel.

Follow Candice:

Blog
Instagram @floridamommydiaries
Facebook

Jamie

Jamie is a momma of three, photographer, wife and business owner in chicago, IL. She designs handmade shirts and printables available in her Etsy shop. She also documents her photography and other mommy things on her blog. She enjoys walking, designing, writing, Netflix and wine. She's obsessed with coffee (Starbucks), lists and the color pink.

Follow Jamie:

Blog
Instagram @revealphotogbyjme
Shop

Lindsay

Lindsay is a wife, stay at home mom to two wonderful boys and former therapist who has a passion for all things planner related and creative. Lindsay is also the vice president of the PTA at her children’s school and the Watch DOGS coordinator for the school as well. She was born and raised and continues to live in beautiful, rainy Oregon and loves the overcast skies and that Oregonians have about 100 different ways to describe rain. Lindsay has been part of the planner community for about 2 years now, and started planning with paper when life got so busy that managing it on the phone calendar became impossible.She loves combining functional planning with decorative planning. She a firm believer that it’s not so overwhelming to see the craziness of life when it is stamped out and written down in a beautiful planner!

Follow Lindsay:

Instagram @Glam2Plan_pnw
Pinterest

Debbie

Debbie is a retired business woman, a wife, and mother of one grown daughter. She is very ambitious, creative and a person who loves to help others. She is an avid crafter and makes lots of planner related items and runs an Etsy shop. She loves to travel with her husband and two furbabies. She loves Diet Mountain Dew and anything humorous because she loves to laugh.

Follow Debbie:

Blog
Instagram @craftinchaos
Facebook
Shop

Be sure to follow Candice, Jamie, Lindsay, and Debbie because you don’t want to miss all the amazing things they have in store for you. Plus, they all have referral links that will give new customers $10 off their first purchase at limelifeplanners.com.

The leaves are changing colors and the days are getting shorter! There's a crisp cool breeze that's cooling off the hotness of summer and that means one thing: pumpkin spice lattes, comfy sweaters, football, and boots! (Okay, so that was more than one thing!)

Fall Bucket List

Fall is quickly approaching, lucky for me it's my favorite season! Fall weather brings fall activities and lots of fall festivities to write in my planner!

I have 3 kids and we love doing outdoor activities in fall. Some as simple as walking or going and visiting new parks. Others include October festivals for Halloween and, of course, the apple orchard and the zoo. Here's my list of things that are a must for fall:

20 Things To Do in the Fall

1. Apple Orchard
2. Pumpkin Farm (we like to check out two different ones, we do the big one and find usually a small town one to support as well.)
3. Farmers Market
4. You Pick Farmers Market is always fun as well - make sure to wear boots (gets muddy) and nothing too fancy! You will definitely be getting a little dirt under your nails.
5. Make crockpot applesauce with the apples you picked at the apple orchard. Here's a great, easy recipe to follow.
6. Make apple cider. Here's one of my favorite recipes.
7. Make caramel apples, my personal favorite! We like to use Reese's pieces, M&M's, crushed candy bars and sprinkles. The  toppings list can go on, there are endless possibilities!
8. Attend a fall festival - one of our favorites is at a local amusement park. They have a dress up for Halloween and go trick or treating the whole month of October.
9. Family Photos!! If you want the most beautiful shots you can dream of, the October sun and backdrop is unimaginably perfect! Book now most photographers fill up early.
10. Go hiking! Some of the most amazing things you can do in fall are free and beautiful! We have a beautiful state park that is a couple of hours away from us in Illinois! Starved Rock State Park is beautiful, full of waterfalls and in the fall, the colors of all the trees are just perfect!
11. Make a scarecrow! I'm all about DIY! Go to the thrift store, get a flannel, some overalls, a hat, and grab some hay (most craft stores, Home Depot and Menards have this in stock during the fall). Get to stuffing! Put him (or her) on the porch or in the yard!
12. Make it a night in of SCARY MOVIES (or kid-friendly scary movies!) Some of our favorites are : Hotel Transylvania, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, Coraline, The Legends of Sleepy Hallow, Beetle Juice, Corpse Bride and Harry Potter to name a few! For the adults, definitely Halloween movies and Saw, throw in some Freddy with that too! FREAKY!!
13. Rake leaves and jump in them! Collect some different colorful ones for an art project!

14. Make a colorful art project and frame it! For kids, something simple as a leaf wreath or a hand tree with leaves is an adorable keepsake. Here are some great ideas. 
15. Go to a haunted house!!!
16. Make an apple pie or pumpkin pie! (YUMMM) Here's a classic recipe for an apple pie.
17. Go to a football game! Whether it be a high school team, college game or NFL! Go out for a fun day of tailgating with some family or friends! GO TEAM GO! 🏉
18. Roast s'mores, grab some blankets and sit out and enjoy the chill of the fall with a good roasting.
19. My personal favorite is to carve or decorate pumpkins! I like to decorate the whole house in pumpkins - real and fake!
20. Go trick or treating. If your kids are grown, go with grandkids, neighbor kids, whoever! Whether it's cold, soggy, wet or even snowing. Bundle up, grab a Pumpkin Spice Latte and get to walking! Have fun!

Happy Fall Y'all!

This guest blog post was written by Jamie Lee, mother, entrepreneur and photographer at Reveal Photography. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

It is that time again! We are looking for new members for our Media and Creative Team! We are really excited at the interest we have seen from people wanting to apply to the team. It's great to see such passion and excitement for Limelife products!

Who We Want

We want passionate planners. We want the people that keep it simple in their planners, and the people that get creative. We want anyone who is passionate about productivity, goals, and the power of writing it down.

Stand out applicants will have:

Beautiful Photography

A lot of what we ask from you is pretty images. We love sharing your pictures of Limelife products on Instagram and we want to see your planning in all it's HD glory. Here's an example of an excellent picture from a recent blog post from Kristan Kremer.

Creativity

By creativity we don't mean you have to be the next Michelangelo. What we really want is for you to have a creative mind so you can write about topics that you would want to read about. A big part of the M&CT job is writing blog posts. We want you to come to the team full of ideas on what you want to write and what images you want to share with our readers. Here's an example of a great post from Katie Clark.

10 Dollar Tree Planner Supplies

Passion

We want folks who are passionate about Limelife Planners. We are proud of being a small business. We are proud to create products that help people achieve their goals. We want our Media & Creative Team members to feel the same way. Emilee Adams has been a member of the M&CT twice now. She has always showed a passion for a products through her posts on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. We love that she loves Limelife and shares that passion in her Youtube videos!

How It Works

In exchange for us sending you Limelife Planners goodies, you will write blog posts and share Instagram images of your Limelife "stuff."

Responsibilities

• Write three planner/organization/crafty related blog posts per month. Dates will vary and can be set up to accommodate your schedule. We will also work with you to come up with blog topics if needed. Or, new this time, in lieu of blog posts you can create 2 high quality Youtube videos per month featuring Limelife Planners Products.
• Share at least 4 of your own images per month on your personal Instagram account, and tag #lovemylimelife, #limelifeplanners, #limelifeplanner. Most of the time we will be "re-gramming" these images on our Instagram (@limelifeplanners).
• Email Katie with a headshot of yourself that will be used for our website and the footer of your blog posts (media@limelifeplanners.com). 

In return, you'll get a FREE Limelife Planner of you choice as well as an advance sample of new products that we release during your time on our Media and Creative Team.

Media and Creative Team members are hired for 5 month contracts.

How to Apply

Email your application to media@limelifeplanners.com.

Include the following:

• Name
• Email Address
• Social Links (Instagram, Pinterest, Blog, Youtube, etc.)
• Attach 3 of your best product images to the email.
• Statement of Interest (tell us why you want to be on our team)

We will be choosing members by September 5th, and we are asking that you apply no later than September 2nd at midnight. Good luck!