Change #1: Unprocrastination

Photo: Themetapicture.com

I was given a copy of "52 Changes" by Leo Babauta, a fellow LifeRemixer, so I did some reading over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Truth be told, I was a little skeptical and was ready to pass the book off as some new year feel good thing. After all, I was on the resolutions treadmill for years ... getting all psyched up before the year end, making an impossible list of goals ... only to forget them by the end of Jan.

That said, I do want to see some changes in my life. Making a list of lofty goals didn't work but perhaps tackling small changes on a daily, consistent basis is what I needed to see these changes established in me. 

Which is where this book comes in. It's a simple one. Leo outlines 52 changes you can make in 52 weeks. He breaks down the changes into small achievable steps that you can practise and create the change in you.

Some of the changes tackled are:
#2: Unprocrastinate
#7: Most Important Things (MITs)
#12: Pay a small debt
#22: Let go of a vice

And some fun ones like
#11: Floss
#16: Eat some veggies

You don't have to do all 52 changes - just the ones that resonate or go create your own. So I thought, why not? Let's experiment and see if I can make a simple change and more importantly, make it stick.

I didn't have to go very far into the book. Unprocrastinating was my first pick. I am so easily distracted by all sorts of "busy" yet unproductive work that I often delay doing what I need to do till late at night or the next day. I know if I don't procrastinate, the payoff will be huge. That seemed like motivation enough.

Have a merry season

Free printable from Simple as That

Just a note to wish all my friends and readers a Merry Christmas! Hope you are enjoying the holidays. I surely am.

Talk to you again, after the new year.

Cheers
Jules

All set for the invasion?

Found an old IKEA commercial on the "terror" of holiday guests descending from out of town. Nice one.

I'll be going away to be with family and much needed r&r from tomorrow till the year end. I imagine there will be loads of eating, talking, laughing and cooking. Love that! How will you be spending your Christmas holidays? 

Pretty gift box toppers that are so easy to make

It's a small miracle: I am almost done with Christmas shopping and am starting to wrap the gifts. Woot! No more mad rush and paper cuts the night before Christmas.

Seriously, it does feel good to get the shopping done and not fight with the throng of last minute shoppers. And now that I've started prettying up the gifts, I realise I don't hate gift wrapping as much as I thought I did. I must admit that it feels good to give (and receive) a pretty gift, not a "what's that mummified thing in gold paper?"

So for the 3 of the most darling women in my life, I sure hope they'll enjoy receiving these.

Sweet, aren't they?

The gift toppers are made from cupcake liners I have left over from the Christmas ornaments project. 

In the boxes are these adorable jars of hand cream from The Face Shop. Cute as pie.

I made my Christmas ornaments from cupcake liners

I have a tiny tree, about 2 feet high and it is made of wires. Not quite like the live trees in IKEA but for my small apartment, an unconventional tree works much better. I was getting rather bored with the gold ISIG ornaments I bought a few years ago and was contemplating getting some new ones. IKEA's Christmas range this year is very tempting (which is fast running out, a little bird told me) but I wanted to do something different.

Then while searching for inspiration, I came across this gorgeous wedding pom-pom garland made from cupcake liners. I thought, surely the idea will work for ornaments too. So the experiment began.    

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
- Cupcake liners: I used the JULKUL from IKEA (RM9.90 for 200 pieces in 2 different sizes. They have it in grey too) You will need about 12 - 16 liners per pom-pom, depending on how dense you want it to be.
- Ribbons or other embellishments
- Craft glue
- Nylon string (I used a thin fishing line)
- Needle
- Scissors

THE STEPS:
Flatten each cupcake liner and fold it in half, with the wrong side facing out. You should end up with fan like thingies. Then apply glue on one half of the liner and paste a second liner on top of it. Do try to get the frilly edges to match up but if they don't, it's not a big deal. It won't be too noticeable when you fluff it out.

My review of the ODDJob tool + Giveway

I do quite a bit of tinkering around the house. Nothing major. Just a nip and tuck, here and there which may not require me lugging out the big guns aka my power tools. So I was pretty happy when I was sent a set of the Odd Job tool by Crescent for review.

It's touted as 11 tools in 1. Needless to say, I was excited about this nifty little thing because ever since MacGyver and his Swiss Army knife, I've always like multi-tasking tools. Besides, I had just the "odd job" that I could apply the tool to.

After fighting with the plastic packaging for about 2 minutes, I held this baby in my hand. It felt heavy and sturdy, which is a good thing. Not flimsy or plasticky. Definitely looked more expensive than the $19.97 price tag (as found on Amazon).

Read the rest of the review and details of the giveaway after the jump.

The start of Christmas shopping at IKEA

There's no such thing as a white Christmas where I live. Brown is more likely. Most days it will be green. Scorching hot. Then a thunderstorm. Like now. That's the formula for high levels of humidity, I tell you. Heavy and sticky. It turns you into a hog. And not a cute one.

But a few days ago, I had as close to a white Christmas as I will ever get living near the Equator. At IKEA. Where else? Every year, I do make it a point to check out their Christmas ornaments and decor because they always make me feel happy. The promise of peace, joy and good tidings to all men.

On that trip, I was lucky enough to not fall for every bauble and bling, and inflict myself with lots of painful ka-ching. I escaped almost unscathed except with a poinsettia (I can't resist red, did I tell you?) and some goodies for handmade ornaments, (which I hope to share with you next week.) 

The IKEA blue bag (it is usually called FRAKTA but I don't know why the small one says BRATTBY on the label) makes a good wrapper for the poinsettia plant, if you're planning to give away a "green" gift. The blues does make the red leaves pop up so much more. Tie a ribbon round the base to tuck the excess material and there you have it.

You could add a small card with a special message for the recipient and "care instructions" for your little bloom of a gift.

December is just a bend away. I wish you days of love, good company and lots of wise shopping.