Travel Diary How-to

I've recently been updating my travel diary with pictures and writings of my summer spent living in Yellowstone, and I thought it would be fun to show you guys how you can start your own travel diary! In my video I also show you how to put together a tiny travel craft kit that you can bring along with your diary. There's something so nice about having a physical book to flip through when I want to relive old memories. I hope you give this a try!

art journal #1

One of my favorite ways to spend the morning is making a big cup of coffee and working in my art journal. I broke in a new art journal recently and started it off with a floral April spread. I included all of my favorite things (flowers, blush pink, pretty words) because this is an especially happy month for me as an Aries! 

Paper Bag Book DIY

If you're a long time reader of my blog, you might remember the paper bag books I made years ago (here and here). I was in a crafty mood a few days ago and thought it would be fun to try making one again! I also filmed a video to show you guys how I did it.

PWM + Free Printable

For this week's planner spread, I knew I wanted to do a vintage rose theme but I didn't have any embellishments that matched my idea. So I put together a printable sheet of decorations using vintage clip art and some hand designed elements. It turned out so cute that I decided to offer it as a freebie!

ways to fill your notebooks

I'm a sucker for pretty notebooks, it's so hard to resist buying them when I'm shopping! And then I bring them home and they sit on my shelf because I can never figure out what to fill them with! If you have this problem too, I've put together a short video of ways I fill my notebooks, to give you a few ideas. And if you have any ideas I didn't mention, please let me know! Check out the video at the end of this post.

plan with me

I hope you've had a great first week of 2017! Yesterday I sat down with my new planner and did my first spread of the year! I've been obsessed with watching "plan with me" videos on Youtube (does anyone else find them super relaxing??), and I was inspired to make my own video! You'll also get a sneak peek of some stickers that will be coming to my shop soon. Check out the video at the end of this post :)

merry christmas

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday! I'm in Virginia visiting family, and it's a cold, rainy Christmas Eve- perfect for drinking hot cocoa and making cookies! And if you're anything like me and still have some gifts to wrap, check out the rest of this post for some simple wrapping ideas!

free gift tag printable

I've begun to wrap some Christmas gifts, and I'm in love with a blush pink palette for the holidays- rather than red and green. (And it's no secret that blush pink is one of my favorite colors!) I made some printable gift tags because I can never find the perfect ones in the store, and I'm sharing them with you! Check out the end of the post for the download link.

penpal letter guide #2

Back in January I made a post about a new series I was starting on my blog, called the "penpal letter guide". (See that post here) Well, it's already March and I realize I haven't continued the series! So that's exactly what I'm going to do today- and I will be sharing ideas of things to send in your letters! I made a video to go along with it, so watch that at the end of this post to see all of the ideas.

I include a playlist in almost every letter I send, because I'm constantly discovering new music that I want to share with my penpals! I wrote this playlist on a kraft tag, but you can get creative and write it on anything you want!

Create a little bag of "wishes" by filling a glassine envelope with gold stars. I think this a charming addition to any letter, and your penpal can use the stars as embellishments in their crafts!

Like most crafters in the blogging world, I have collected quite a few rolls of washi tape over the past few years. I love to share some of my collection with my penpals by wrapping some washi around a tag.

A little set of matchbook notebooks is super cute and a small enough gift to fit inside your letter. These are really easy to make- this is the tutorial I used if you want to try it!

I hope you enjoy!

xoJordan

valentine penpal letter

Here's your weekly mail inspiration- the last penpal letter I sent!

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here in Alabama so I'm headed out on a mini backpacking trip for the weekend. I'm looking forward to getting out in the woods and sitting around a campfire after a long day of hiking. Does anyone else love a good campfire as much as I do? That's one of my favorite things about camping, fire with late night conversations and good company. I'm bringing my camera so I'll share my adventures with you next week! I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! 

xoJordan

valentine mail

I just received a beautiful valentine letter from the lovely Abby and I had to share it with you all! I'm working on some outgoing valentine mail and her letter gave me so much inspiration! I look forward to spending the coming up weekend crafting, a very much needed break from school.

(Thanks so much Abby ♥︎)

diy mini envelopes

Hello friends, I am back from my little blogging hiatus! I just needed some time to get back into a routine, since I'm back at school for the new semester. It's hard to believe January is almost over! I hope you all have had a wonderful month! Today I just wanted to give you some inspiration with a little paper crafting I've done recently. 

I went through my old scraps of paper and made quite a few mini envelopes. I use these for penpal letters, in my planner and sketchbook, and for scrapbooking! If you google "envelope template", you'll have dozens to choose from! 

I'm working on finding a balance between school and blogging, as I have to do every semester. Luckily I've got most of my afternoons free, so it's the perfect time to get some creative work done. Do any other bloggers or creatives have tips for balancing work and play? I'd love to hear your advice. I've got lots of blog post ideas that I'm excited to start working on, so I'm hoping to have great content coming to you soon!

Happy Monday! 

xoJordan

fortune jar DIY

Last time I was in Anthropologie, I saw a jar of fortunes to open and read at a party (perfect for New Years!). I thought it would be a super easy thing to DIY, so I made my own! I started a tradition last year where at the beginning of every semester my friends and I all get together, cook dinner, and hang out the night before classes start. It's really great to have all my friends together before we get too busy with school. I thought this fortune jar would be the perfect thing for our dinner party coming up since it is also the beginning of a new year!

This DIY barely needs a tutorial because it's so simple. I recycled a jar and spray painted the lid. For the fortunes, I cut small squares of paper, wrote something nice on each one, and rolled it up with a little washi tape to secure it.

I think the jar turned out cute and I'm excited to share it with my friends! 

xoJordan

holiday wrapping guide

Christmas is less than a week away and if you're anything like me, you haven't finished all your gift wrapping yet. I've put together a little guide of all the things I use to wrap presents to give you a little inspiration as you're finishing up your holiday wrapping!


I keep my wrapping paper selection to only a few rolls, and make sure all the patterns look good together.


The scrapbooking aisle of the craft store is one of my favorite places to find pretty wrapping decorations. Tags, tiny envelopes, doilies, and embellishments are all perfect for decorating a package!


Emroidery floss, pretty ribbon, and washi tape are also handy to have when wrapping.


I like to have a variety of stickers to write names on my packages!


For smaller gifts, it's fun to use different little containers and boxes. I have a tutorial for the starry pillow box here.


I hope this gave you a few ideas for wrapping your gifts!


Behind the scenes: the kitties sleeping while I was taking photos for this post!
Happy Holidays!
xoJordan

christmas packaging

I've begun wrapping some of my Christmas gifts, so I'm sharing what I've wrapped so far to give you some packaging ideas! I love gift wrapping because it's a great chance to get creative. I like to use simple wrapping paper, so I can decorate the packages with lots of ribbon and tags and stickers. The scrapbooking section of the craft store is a great place to look for packaging decorations!
xoJordan