Before I had kids, Valentine’s Day was a holiday for the hubby and I to casually spend time together. To be honest, we didn’t pay much attention to the holiday until my son was born. Yes, I would get my husband a card and a little gift and he would get me flowers, but we never really made a big deal out of the holiday. Then we had our son. And the holiday took on new meaning. It became a day for us to show love as a family. To reach out to loved ones in hopes of making them smile.

It also took on a whole new component that had never been there before. Crafts. When you have kids, holidays are all about crafts. The build-up to the holiday is, at least. Whether it’s drawing a holiday themed picture or creating gifts for others, crafts are a way for kids to participate in, prep for, and learn about the day they are celebrating.

I’ve already come clean about my Pinterest fail rap sheet. So, you know I’m not one to guide anyone (never mind a child) through an elaborate craft. But I do have this super simple Valentine’s Day craft that kids of any age can do. And, it doubles as a special Valentine’s Day card for family and friends; two birds, one stone.

You can buy the supplies at any craft store. They are even available at some dollar and big box stores. All you need are blank cards and decorative, Valentine’s Day themed stickers. If your kids are a little older you can throw in glitter glue, ribbon, paint, and other craft supplies. Then, simply give your kids the supplies and let them go to town creating their masterpieces. Not only do they get to have a fun, creative way to get ready for Valentine’s Day, they also can give their creations to loved ones as one-of-a-kind gifts. It’s a way to show kids that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on exotic flowers or fancy chocolates to show someone you appreciate and care about them.

Tip: If you’re using any kind of glue or paint, make sure to do this craft at least a few days before gifting (or mailing) to be sure that work of art is fully dry. I also use my planner to mark holidays, not just because it looks pretty, but also as a big reminder of how much time I have left to prepare. The days seem to fly by over here! I lose track without my planner sometimes, anyone else?

Is it me or are you over the chocolate candies and roses? I get it ... Hallmark Holiday blah blah but secretly WE ALL WISH our boyfriends, spouses, husbands, wives, whoever saw this list I created! (HINT HINT ... forward and share). I am the type to get my man a shirt and maybe cologne. I think of this day as snow your man you love him, not only by gifts but words, and well a heartfelt gift. I ordered dark chocolate dipped strawberries for him on year (they are his FAVORITES). I made a heart with post it notes stating the reasons I love him ... cue the awwwww ....

For real though, if you're looking for something that your lover can keep and won't die after 1 week for $50... look no further!

1. Limelife planner : I KNOW ... who would have thunk ... but come on LLP has something for everyone. Shop here and save $10 (new customers only).
2. Birchbox - For Women OR Men: this gift is great for multiple reasons, their selections of products are fabulous, each month you get a box of 5 goodies based on the quiz you take. It's so nice to get to try new products (I have not bought eyeliner in 2 years!) It's $10 a month, buy one or buy 3 months or A YEAR!!! Here's the link.
3. NothingBundtCakes.com - yes I said it ... bundt cake... these are the most AMAZING cakes you will ever imagine! The red velvet A++! Double chocolate ohhh my! You can personalize or make a tower of three mini bundt cakes (this is what I do!) either way ... this will win anyone over!!!! Skip the chocolates ... grab a Bundt Cake!
4. Jewelry! Not just any jewelry... personalized. Who doesn't love something you personalize to make it their own! My favorite shops right now would be these : E & E Project, great jewelry! This is one of my favorites.  Or Lisa Leonard Designs, love her stackables and really everything! I'll take the whole shop, one of each. 
5. FitFabFun Box Subscription - talking about a great box to receive as a gift. These are full size items and is a variety of accessories, makeup, etc. It's an amazing box and she will love you more if you get her this subscription. Here's the link.
6. The Blowout Bar (or a salon) gift card - that's right, treat her right, get her an appointment on Valentine's Day to go have someone wash and shampoo her hair and style it. She will feel amazing ( and look it amazing ). Any girl or guy LOVES to be pampered.
7. SPA DAY - Manicures/ Pedicures - GO TOGETHER! Guys could use one just as bad as us women! Use Groupon for finding the best deal! Couple massages with mud bath sounds amazing! A couple who relaxes together, stays together!
8. Gift Card - honestly who doesn't love a gift card? Grab a gift card to his or her favorite coffee place, or where they get their cologne or perfume. Attach the GC to some flowers or a candle and I'm sure anyone will adore you for it!

Happy Valentine's Day you lovebirds! Get out there and show that lover how much you love them!

You know how there are days that you just say to yourself, UGH is this day ever going to be over? Do I have to wake up and do this? We all have BAD days, but you know that saying "A bad day does not mean a BAD life!?" Well, it's true. Life can be so much worse. Just because you have a bad day or bad report or bad anything doesn't mean it's the end of the world.

In certain moments, even certain days I catch myself thinking ugh, is it 8pm yet? (Bedtime in our house). Or why do I have to attend this event or can everybody just leave me alone for a little peace and quiet! The fact is we all need a little peace for our sanity sometimes, we all need a little one on one with ourselves, our partners and even our children. It's important to take that time out for ourselves. The truth about it is ... Some of us can't do that, some of us don't have anyone that can "fill in" for them while they take a minute or a night for themselves. The truth is some of us don't have the luxury of a night out because they are a single parent and maybe live far from family or don't have family left, maybe they can't afford a sitter or maybe they don't trust anyone because they have anxiety or have been in a situation before. The truth is the reason I'm saying all that is because sometimes I'm ungrateful for things that others clearly don't have.

Sitting here really makes me think about the little things I complain about and then how little and LUCKY I am. Even at the end of a rough day, there's always things to be grateful for! For instance ... Breathing, waking up, have a warm bed, roof over my head, food on table... the list goes on. 
Life as I know it is actually pretty great. Don't get me wrong I do not live the perfect life AT ALL, but I do feel blessed with the life I live. Every night before bed, I remind myself of this, I remind myself that even though there was a lot of tantrums, tears, no naptime and bedtime took over an hour, I have to remind myself YOU ARE LUCKY! You wake up... You have 3 HEALTHY, HAPPY (and sad at times) children, who love to play, who love you with all they have no matter how much you suck that day! You are lucky you were able to conceive three babies, carry them on your own, pay for them, afford them, give then food and a bed. You, Jamie, are so blessed.

Like I mentioned before I have days NOTHING is right and I whine about small things, that others can't whine about. EVERY November a lot of people do the 30 days of thankful - some people get annoyed by this social media posting, others join in and people like me took it all in and continue it through the year. During November while doing this 30 days of thankful I realized it reminded me of what I have and what others might not. We all can vent and no one is perfect, no family is flawless and no relationship is full of no fighting. Things like that make relationships and family stronger. By continuing what I call my Grateful posts , I have found myself going to bed smiling more and waking up more grateful - less unhappy. When I hear my babes at night lately - I don't complain ... Thank goodness she's crying, this means she's alive, thank goodness she wants me, this makes me feel alive, thank goodness she wants to be rocked - one day she will be too big.

All these things were becoming so blurry to me, until I start keeping GRATEFUL posts in my planner! I have a perfect spot on my weekly layout that I just write a word, or maybe a sentence, or a person. Really anything to remind me BE GRATEFUL BE THANKFUL! It's nice to look back and see why I'm grateful or who made me feel grateful. For instance, one of my good friends was diagnosed with cancer while she was pregnant. I didn't know her then but after diagnosed I heard her story and we talked and it was like I've known her for years. I can't tell you how many times I say I'm grateful she's in remission, I'm grateful for her perfect, healthy baby boy, I'm grateful we met, I'm grateful to call her my friend! I'm grateful for her in every way and as much as I hate CANCER, I'm grateful that it brought her me and me her. I couldn't imagine not having her around. Her strength and smile are so contagious. She's so courageous and I just I am grateful for her.

She is one example of why I keep this journal - it reminds me of who I'm grateful for and why. My soul sister - I'm so grateful for tee ball! I'm grateful I signed up my son and have met amazing families after 4 years. I'm thankful I got pregnant with my oldest when I did, I think about it every day, he made me a better person, he saved me, he was my reason to finish school and get my Bachelors. I wrote one day I was grateful for the rain, I was grateful to enjoy the gloomy day indoors with movies and all day PJs! I've been grateful for COFFEE a lot lately ... with late night editing ... coffee is a MUST.

My lists of gratefuls could go on and on. Even though I still might complain this keeps me remembering daily how much there is in this world to be grateful for! Try keeping a list - some great spots for them are in the notes page or on the side of the weekly layout. Or use the bottom of the weekly layout as I do.

Why not start today with what you are grateful for?

So you think you’re a wedding planner? Think again!

In October of 2015 my beautiful daughter got engaged to a wonderful man. I had dreamed of this magical wedding that she would one day have. She had set the date to be one year later so I kept thinking to myself "yes! We will have plenty of time to plan". Little did I know that with running a Etsy shop and commitments to this and that the time would just fly by so quickly.

I think when you have a year you better get yourself motivated to start right away because before you know it, it is here! We were hoping to try to do it on a budget and by budget that meant doing a lot of  things ourselves that we were able to do and of course not using a wedding planner because I didn't have a $40,000 budget.

Utilizing a planner right away was key to getting everything done. My daughter bought a wedding planner but didn't utilize it really so it was basically my job to stay on top of things. She works a very demanding full time job and I am retired so it made sense for me to become "the planner" and who better to do that than an actual planner lady!

I first mapped out what seemed to be the most critical decisions which were the venue, food, and the photographer. Those were the items I wanted to lock in quickly. We did select a venue pretty easily due to the extreme cost of some venues it was a matter of elimination because of the cost. The venue was going to serve as a place to have the ceremony and reception. We planned on a very casual setting where everyone would be seated at the table they would watch the ceremony from and eat at the same table. We had planned on leaving an open spot in the center of the room to have the ceremony at under the chandeliers.

This venue also did catering and that WOULD have made our lives much easier and later on would find out that would have been the best decision had we gone that direction but after the tasting, we had decided for the cost we were paying that we wanted to pick a caterer that could provide great food as well. So outside caterer it was. So we knew exactly who that would be and locked that in with a deposit. So venue....check.....caterer....check. My daughter had a photographer take pics of her soon to be husband and her a while back and they were excellent so the choice of photographer was an easy one too. So as you see the big decisions came quickly and easily. The rest was the hard part.

Cake tasting was next and dare I say my absolutely favorite thing to have to do! We live in a small town so choices were narrowed down to two main places. Both were equally good so it was a matter of the Benjamins. Cake was then checked off.

I would say the most time consuming and most painful part of the process was planning table decorations. We did a lot of thrift shopping because my daughter was wanting a more vintage/shabby chic style so we just bought and bought and bought and until the day came to set up the tables had no clue how it was going to look! In hindsight, if you can piece together table settings and photograph them so that the day of the wedding you can set them up easily would be a good thing to do but we lacked the space and the time to do that.

I did all the signage and fun decorations since I am also a crafter. I made anything I could which took a lot of prep. My planner was utilized to write down cute signs I had seen on Pinterest that I planned to make, mark where they were to go and also keep track of how many I needed to make. I also made notes along the way of things that needed to be done and checked off as I did them.

Here are some samples of things I made:

This was a glass block that was to be used during the sand ceremony

One of the signs that went on each table for sharing pics

Now a days the traditional guest book is very different! I made this for all the guest to sign with sharpies and it will hang on their wall.

This was going to be sitting on the table next to a vintage small suitcase that was holding vintage hand embroidered hankies and a suitcase for cards etc. It was really hard to write on these vintage books because the pages were old and no longer laid smoothly but it is a cute little way to do something different.

When it came time to create the save the dates my daughter and I sat down and designed them ourselves. Here is the real comical part....we forgot to put the date on the save the dates! Lord who would have thought that the most crucial part of the save the date would be left off! So crafter mom to the rescue. I created a cute sticker to place on them so that it looked planned! Once I created the wedding invitation myself I made sure to look that thing over a hundred times to make sure I left nothing off! So you can see it was a real DIY wedding.

Dress shopping was the best part of the entire planning procedure but the most hurtful to my purse. She picked a beautiful gown with loads of lace and a vintage feel. We found a beautiful belt with loads of pretty crystals etc. on it and it cost a pretty penny but just made the dress even more beautiful. I about fell off my chair when finding out the cost of the gown but also the cost of alterations since it had over 8 different layers of lace and stuff in the dress. A wedding is something every mother dreams of planning with their daughters. But the joy you feel you will have doing it is a myth. It’s a lot of work, it is a lot of stress. But seeing your beautiful daughter in her gown makes it all worth it.

All of the things that I did to stay on top of things I couldn't have done without using my planner. The day went so quickly and the wedding was a blur but it was beautiful. She looked beautiful. We are still waiting for all the photos from photographer but thought I would share this pic of her and her bridesmaids. I love this girl <3

Black Friday Bundle!

Get your Black Friday Bundle featuring new notebook and sticker designs! Each bundle includes a spiral bound notebook, 8x10 inch paper pad, 4 sheets of stickers and a wall calendar. The bundle is worth $65, but we will be selling them for only $50! We have a limited supply so be sure to get shopping early! Bundles will be available at 7am EST on November 25th.

Black Friday Sticker Sale!

All stickers will be $1 per sheet starting on Black Friday. Seriously. This is your last chance to purchase our current sticker designs, so grab them now.

All Interchangeable Covers: BOGO!

All Interchangeable Covers will be buy one, get one free on Black Friday! We will also be debuting 15 new Interchangeable Cover designs so you'll want to take a look and pick up some of your favorites.

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.