I am currently working on re-vamping my office to better suit my needs for blogging and school.  I’m trying to do this as frugally as possible, and earlier this week I was inspired to turn my ho-hum lampshades into something a little cuter.  Because doesn’t every blogger deserve a cute space to work in?

My boring but functional lampshades went from this:

to this:

In about 15 minutes. 

For this project you will need:

• a hot glue gun
• enough ribbon to wrap around the top and bottom of your lampshade

Measure and cut your ribbon to wrap around the bottom and the top of the shade

Use your hot glue gun to run a bead of glue along the edge of the shade, and press the ribbon into the glue.  (Don’t forget, the gun and the glue are HOT so please be careful)

Allow glue to dry, and put your lamp back together.  Voila, you have a cute new lampshade for pennies (or free, if you happen to have the ribbon already). 

Little touches like this can brighten up any room, so try this in a kitchen, bedroom, or family room.  Plus, if you start to hate the ribbon, you can always pull it off, and try something else! 

I learned so much from the Healthy Living Summit 2 weeks ago.  I think the session that I took the most away from was time management, led by Sara, Morgan, and Kath.  All 3 of them had amazing tips such as:

Sara

• Time is finite, you cannot get it back
• Under-schedule yourself, because things always take longer than you think
• Decide what is worthwhile to you, and make that a priority

Kath

• Always assume you won’t have time to stop for a meal when you’re on the go – pack snacks that will keep you going. 
• If you plan ahead for a meal that may not suit your needs (eg. work lunch at a steakhouse, and you’re a vegetarian) and supplement with fruit, bars, or yogurt, you won’t go hungry.
• A one-word post is better than none at all, and the more great pictures you have, the less words you need to tell your story. 
• Use Windows Live Writer to prepare your posts ahead of time and schedule them for when you’re working/at school/can’t get to a computer

Morgan

• Decisions and priorities are about minimizing pain and maximizing pleasure. 
• Plan your meals on Sunday nights (or whatever day you have free)
• Establish a routine
• use “The Morgan Method” – write things down, check them off, and highlight them.  4

This week I made 3 lists:

My Master List: To-Do before School Starts

This week’s list of goals, including breaking down some of the large goals from above into smaller goals for the week. 

A Honey-Do list of things for Adam to do around the house

I always feel so much more organized and peaceful when I make lists!  Whether you use pen and paper, or a computer program to make your lists, they certainly help you stay organized and on top of things.  If things start to feel overwhelming or too heavy, remember:

Isn’t this a great little picture? I picked it up in Chicago!