Relaxing...

Today the husband and I are going to be relaxing and getting ready for a crazy week tomorrow. A lot of life changing events are taking place in our household and it can be very stressful at times!

I am quite notorious for getting overly stressed out and my husband is very laid back. We compliment each other in that respect...er...maybe he just compliments me and helps me chill out!

When I get stressed out, this is what helps me relax:
1. Light a candle and put on Madeleine Peyroux or Norah Jones (the Norah Jones channel on pandora is amazing!)

2. I go running...I find this helps a lot especially if I have a great mix on my ipod.

3. Paint/draw...anything...mix colors, collage things, anything that is fun!

4. Read something mindless....like fashion magazines and home decorating magazines...oh and those chick lit books make me smile as well!

5. Chocolate...yep...no way around it. I prefer my chocolate with a big mug of coffee...this usually leads to numerous amounts of chocolate but oh well...it is only to help with the destressing process!

6. Writing letters to friends and family...something therapeutic about letter writing (not email...actual letters!) I have such a thing for pretty stationary also!

7. Shop...this is one I am going to need to stop! I adore shopping...online or in person!

8. Calling my mom. She totally helps me chill out and put things into perspective!

9. Hanging out with Mr. Jack Henry. He is my little dog and sidekick. He follows me wherever I go:)

10.Blogging! Yes, I love to blog! It helps me relax and I love reading other blogs...so fun...and addicting!

So what helps you relax?

Meaningful Christmas Present

I teach at a pretty large high school and have a great group of about six teachers that I hang out with regularly. Last year for Christmas we each picked a name out of a hat and bought a $20 present for that person. This year with money being tight for everyone we decided to do something different. My friend Karen got this idea from Oprah and I just had so much fun doing it and also felt like I was making meaningful presents for my friends! This is what we did...it is so simple!

Karen put six colorful index cards (the large ones) into each of our mailboxes at school. We were to write meaningful letters to each of our friends and decorate the cards (if we wanted to!) and then return them to Karen on a specific day. We were then to bring in a box and Karen would deliver our letters to us...kind of Valentine's Dayish also!

Well I have been working on mine and I just finished tonight! Here is what I did:

First I painted each of the cards with acrylic paint:





Then using some paper that I had previously hand-painted, I cut out flower shapes and glued them on using matte medium and a paint brush. I then went over the flowers with some more acrylic paint and added decorative details in the background. Next I layered the collage with gloss medium to make it shine! Here are some of my final products! I wrote the letter to each friend on the back of the collage-so fun:)











I am so excited to give them to my friends on Friday! That is our last day of school and then we get Winter Break! Yay:)

Have a great evening!