Party Girl

Today was my daughter's 4th birthday! I was so inspired by all the "party girls" at the Martha Stewart DiD Event (These are the women who have party planning businesses) that I decided to take her party up a notch.

It was so much fun planning this party and I was shocked at how much I really enjoyed it. Normally things like this would stress me out, but I kept everything organized and just let my creative juices flow. One thing I always do for parties that helps me enjoy myself, instead of running around like a chicken with my head cut off, is to make a long list of everything I have to do when the guest arrive. I tend to have it all together until the first person arrives and then my mind just goes blank, so this helps to let me just clear my my and have fun with my friends!

Here are some party pics:

My daughter wanted a Butterfly Tea Party (she is always very specific!) so I decided to go with the whole mismatched-but-it-all-goes-together-in-the-end look. I bought one box of scrapbook paper for $6 and raided both grandma's houses for tea party-ish things. Then I made pretty much everything myself. It was so fun to put on, as my daughter would say, "such a fancy party mommy" for so very little money.

Party Favor Cones, made from scrap book paper and mismatched ribbon

Hanging Butterflys

Food labels with a scalloped punch and fun Tea party titles to make the food sound more fancy.

I took these pictures before I set all the food out, but you get the general idea...

Cupcakes with butterfly wings made from pretzels. Thanks Martha.

And Princess Emily herself :-)

OCD'ing It Just a Little Bit

One of my favorite guilty TV pleasures is the show Flipping Out on Bravo. It is about a home flipper/designer in California and the amazing before and after transformations of the homes he designs .The show is also about his OCD personality.

I feel like I connect with this guy on so many levels! For instance, this is the kitchen he designed in season one. It was my inspirational photo for the house I was building at the time. I love EVERYTHING about it (and you know you really love it when you still love it 3 years later...), but most of all, I like how everything has a clean line and it just feels peaceful and organized. What better space to cook in than one where you aren't stressed by all the craziness of clutter.

A funny OCD habit I just happened to pick up from watching Jeff every week was his need to have all of his drinks in perfect rows with the labels all facing the same direction. I have taken this habit on as my own. Something about doing this makes me feel like I live in luxury (maybe if I had a maid do it for me, I might feel even more luxurious). But, it's little things like these that just might take your home up a notch-- showing yourself that you care about the details makes a big difference in how you take care of the rest of your home.

I say "show yourself" because taking on habits like these are not to impress others with your perfect life. They are to remind yourself that you care about your home and you want to be a good steward with it. By creating organized and beautiful spaces and accents in your home, you are saying that you appreciate the gift that it is, and it makes you more excited about taking care of it.

Start with something small-- a shelf you think is pretty or a counter that you always see-- take it up a notch in design and organization and see if you take care of it better that you did before.

Work It Out!

It's the last week of January... how are your New Year's resolutions going for exercise? Help make life a bit easier with Life on Paper's first printable!

I've created a plan that will help you to organize a full week of workouts. There is also room to count calories, write down the when where and what of your exercise, go through available strength training options, plan with your workout partner, and check off the day when it's complete.

Personally, I've been exercising 5 days a week for 12 years in a row and counting. I really feel like the key to my success has been making a plan and sticking to it. I don't let my emotions get involved. If it's written down, I just do it without questioning my plan. Give this a try for a few weeks and see if it helps you get motivated. I've also made 3 different designs, so check out the website and pick your favorite!

Let's Get Down to Business

And so it begins!
This is the very first snapshot I took with my brand new SLR camera today. It’s kind of a representation of my passions put together: design + organization.

Three months ago I launched Life on Paper Co. And in the last three months so many questions have been swirling around in my head. A lot of them have to do with what I really wanted to accomplish through my business. And then, a week into launching this website, I got the opportunity to sign up for the Dreamers Into Doers conference in NYC. I did it on a whim, not really sure of my reasoning behind it.

This week the actual event took place-- and what a roller coaster of emotions it was! I met 80 amazing women who are all at different stages of their businesses. Some were just starting out (like me) and others were pros at what they do. I am not the most social of butterflies so at the beginning I felt a bit like I was wandering aimlessly through a sea of very talkative people! I remember the moment where the lightbulb finally when off, though. And for the rest of the day, I was filling my notebook with ideas to make my tiny little company, as of now, into something more tangible. It was like a mindset shift.

I have such a passion for organization and I want to help people accomplish this in their own lives. Organization, though, should not be a heavy burden we carry to make our lives perfect. It is only a tool that we are given to creatively enhance our lives. So my goal is not to show you a perfect life, with ducks all in a row and matching color schemes at every turn. It’s to help bring order and creativity to even the smallest parts of our lives-- to make everything run more smoothly and peacefully. But of course, we can still do this with style! ;-)

In one sitting I already came up with enough blog ideas to stretch through 2011. I am also going to start designing printables-- designs you can download and print off your own computer-- to help with all of your organizational needs. I’ve got a list a mile long and designs circling in my head, so be patient with me as I get them out for you. And of course, I needed a fancy camera to take pictures of all the lovely things I will be sharing with you all. Thanks to the lovely people at Deluxe for giving me a gift card to get started. I am excited for the times ahead! Make sure to RSS subscribe to this blog (above) or follow me on facebook and twitter. Life is what we make of it!