I love getting organized and when it comes to planners, day timers, agendas… whatever you call them, I’m a sucker for a great system that will keep me motivated through the week.   Inventing my own system is the most fun for me, and while I’ve posted a DIY planner tutorial that I used to make my 2011 planner, the problem with making a planner for yourself that will last you a year is that you have to bind it yourself, and make it durable enough to last a long time. That’s a big stumbling block for many people, so when I made my 2012 planner I wanted to come up with an approach that more of you could try for yourselves :)

This tutorial will show you how to take a Moleskine Notebook and turn it into a weekly & monthly view planner that you can start at any time of the year, and need almost no supplies to make! It’s completely customizable and uses every last page of the notebook, but each week is infinitely flexible so you can naturally change how you use it over time, and let your planner evolve as your year unfolds.

Supplies

• A Classic Extra Large Moleskine Notebook (I used the squared, soft cover version)
• A Pen
• A Ruler
• Optional: determination & a distraction, tracing the template takes a while!

What’s Inside

Weekly Pages for the Day To Day

The weekly view pages are what makes up most of the planner. They have a large space for every day To Do lists, appointments and projects that need to get done. Then above and below the weekly notes there’s lots of space for checklists, notes and anything that you’d like to add in! This extra space means that I can adapt how I use my planner as the year goes by so I’ll never grow out of it or be locked into one system. I love how flexible it is!

A Monthly Calendar View Page & Blank Pages for Dreaming and Planning 

At the end of every month I have three double wide pages. One is a monthly view page with a calendar layout for planning my projects, client plans, appointments and being able to see things in a slightly different layout. Then I have two more: one for brainstorming & dreaming (I call it dreamstorming for myself), and one for planning how I’m going to approach work with my design clients in the coming weeks.

How I Use Mine

I use my weekly pages differently every week! Right now I’m using check marks for the things I need to get done everyday, and I’ve added an extra line under the main section for what I’ll be blogging about every day. I write my husband’s travel in on washi tape for a pretty reminder of when I’ll be a solo-puppy mama.

Above the weekdays I’ve made notes on fun projects I can work on in the evenings, and below the weeks sometimes I have the steps that I’m working on with my current clients (like above)…

Sometimes I add in cue cards for special projects- like here when I was working on the launch of Indie Business, or I’ll add sticky notes that I can move forward from week to week.

Then sometimes I’ll make time lines or check boxes to keep track of clients I need to invoice or pieces of work I need to get done. This whole bottom section can be whatever I like it to be, and change as much as I need it to from week to week.

And of course, with the Month View I can still plan with a big picture view of how each month will go, and I can stay on track of my goals and dreams throughout the year.

Steps To Make Your Own

1. Take your ruler & pen, and open your Classic Extra Large Moleskine Notebook to the second page, so you can see two pages opened up at the same time like in the photo under the “Weekly View” heading at the start of the post.

2. Consider where you would like your week days positioned vertically on the page- you can put them right at the top, so there’s no space to write above them or place them in the middle of the page, whatever feels the most natural to you. When you’ve decided, draw a horizontal line all the way across both pages.

3. Consider how much vertical space you would like the week days to take up, and how much space you will need for each day. I strongly recommend leaving 2-3″ of space at the bottom of the page, so you can make a flexible system that will adapt as your year progresses. When you feel decided, add a second line that will form the bottom of the weekly area, across both open pages.

4. Create the divisions between the days of the week! My measurements make weekends more narrow than the week days:

Saturday & Sunday are 1 and 7/16ths of an inch wide

The weekdays are 2 and 3/8ths of an inch wide

5. Add the labels for the month and days of the week, and then move forward to repeat steps 1 – 5 again until the end of the month.

6. At the end of each month, leave some pages blank for tracking your goals and plans. I recommend leaving six individual sheets, or three pairs of pages that open up facing you together, and then starting the weekly view pages again. These blank pages can be used for anything you like (or you can skip them and leave extra space for writing at the end of the year) but adding them in will allow for a perfect 13 month weekly calendar that has room for monthly brainstorming and tracking.

Thanks for following along!

I’d love to see how you take this idea and make it your own,
so if you use this for a planner make sure to link back to this post :)

Today I’m really excited to be featured on one of my very favourite blogs- A Beautiful Mess! I’ve made a new tutorial for Elsie on transforming a thrifted dress into a camera cozy that you can customize to suit anything from tiny toy cameras to your big DSLR. It’s great to give as a gift or to make for yourself so your camera is protected inside your bag and is still at the ready for blogable moments.

You can find the tutorial here, or if you’re visiting my blog for the first time
explore other DIY & Creative Living posts in my featured post index

I learned how to knit the year I graduated from high school and ever since it’s been one of my favourite crafts. It’s practical, colourful, and is a great excuse to have a Netflix marathon! I started learning on straight needles but soon I learned a trick from a friend that made knitting way more fun- using circular needles to knit straight projects like scarves.

Knitting on regular needles can really tire out your arms, especially when you like knitting with Big Yarn like I do. As your project grows you have to hold and balance a lot of weight, and it’s hard to sit comfortably or travel with large needles. Knitting on circular needles is comfortable and compact, lets me knit for as long as I like.

Which, just to clarify, is a lot :)

This isn’t too hard for beginners & it’s a good way to feel quite fancy when you’re knitting out and about.

Ready to get fancy?

You can either start a project on circular needles or switch from straight needs to circular needles that are the same gauge, so for this tutorial I’m just going to show you how knitting a row of a straight project works when you’re using circular needles- that way you can use the method for either starting or switching.

1. Start your row by knitting normally as though your needles aren’t connected- just knit, purl and do what your project calls for.

2. Knit right to the end of the row, and prepare yourself for using this fancy new technique.

3. Stop knitting at the end of the row. Take the the needle that has no stitches on it and pass it to your other hand so both needles are together.

4. Take a moment, are you sure you’re ready for all the knitting cred you’re about to gain? Are you sure? You may have to teach this technique to people on the bus, at your place of work, and maybe even to members of your own family!

5. Okay then, brave knitter! Here you go: take the work that’s in your hand, and pass it to your other hand.

6. That’s it- you can start knitting your new row! I said it was fancy, not that it was complicated :)

This is one of the reasons I love knitting- it’s not hard to do neat things! I’ve been working on lots of projects lately and I’m going to be sharing my results soon, along with a really cool little accessory invention that I came up last week.

Do you knit, crochet, or make your stitches however the mood strikes you?

I do both- I love making small things with crochet and giant things by knitting. I can’t choose a favourite!

Soft pretzels are one of my favourite “once in a while” treats- as a carb addict having them is a delicious and dangerous road to venture down.  However, I’m a firm believer that if I put in the work and make something indulgent in my kitchen then I can enjoy the results- and these soft pretzels are so worth the effort!

Pretzels are a three part process that isn’t hard but takes a bit of time time- first I made the dough & let it rise, then I shaped the pretzels and give them a hot bath before going on to bake them. It was a really fun process to follow! The steps aren’t complicated and the pauses between them let you clean up and change gears- but there’s enough steps to feel like you’re really an accomplished baker.

In my life, striking that delicate balance between challenging yourself and having in tact self esteem (along with tasty baking!) after all that work is an important principle in recipe selection.

The best part of these is that I could enjoy them without worrying about eating too many- they were snapped up by everyone who stopped by my house and were all gone in 24 hours. They were especially a hit with Jesse, who doesn’t have a sweet tooth like me, which makes baking that he can get really excited about a special occasion.

Soft Pretzles

Recipe from Alton Brown, altered for toppings

Get…

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt & a little butter

Okay!

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap (I used a damp towel) and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture (Don’t add too much of the mixture!). Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

While pretzels are still warm, rub with butter & sprinkle with desired toppings such as pretzel salt or cinnamon and sugar mixture. Enjoy!

What’s your favourite savory indulgence?

Looking for a simple way to light up your home up as the nights grow longer? This is a quick way to create an early winter centrepiece or a reading lamp for your favourite corner.

Supplies

10 inch branch ball (look by wreath making supplies in a craft store)
2-3 Pussy Willow branch stems (decorative, not real)
Small Mason Jar
Thin Wire (any kind)
Yarn
Scissors
A Candle or LED tea light

1. Using scissors or wire cutters, clip the pussy willow branches off the main branch into individual pieces.

2. Look over the 10″ ball- there’s a stiff wire structure that keeps its shape. Locate the center line of the ball where the wires inside the ball leave the widest gap, then rotate the ball on that center line, examining it for the section that has the fewest branches crossing through. This will be the base where your mason jar will slip inside the ball- mark it by tying a piece of yarn to keep your place.

3. Weave the pussy willow branches into the ball by gently tucking them under and over the branches. Try to create arcs or spirals that wrap around from one side of the ball over to the other to ensure you have an even distribution of the branches.

4. Head back to the section that you marked with yarn, where we’ll create an opening for the mason jar. First slide over any of the branches over that are flexible and nearest to the wire structure inside the ball- the idea is to create a gap the mason jar can fit through as naturally as possible. When you’ve slid the movable branches, secure them to the wire or other sturdy branches by wrapping them with wire. Make sure you start and finish with the end of the wire on the inside of the ball so it won’t scratch your furniture.

5. For any branches that you can’t move, snip the branch and secure it to another branch or the wire inner structure of the ball with a couple wraps of wire.

6. Test to make sure your mason jar will fit through the gap.

7. For a decorative look, wrap your mason jar in a complementary colour of yarn and securely tie it above the lip of the jar to keep it from falling down. You could also paint the jar for a frosted glass glow!

8. Place a candle in your mason jar & enjoy! I used three LED tea lights to get a bigger glow without having to worry about heat.

Best enjoyed while reading blogs or sipping tea!

Have you visited my featured posts page?

It has all my posts on creative living, tutorials & recipes all in one place - check it out!

Last week I bought some really cute autumn coloured yarn- the mustard yellow is my favourite right now. I’ve been wanting a new headband, so I grabbed my crochet hook and started working on a simple bow design for my first crochet project of the fall.

I really love knitting, but I started playing with crochet last year and since then I’ve had more fun with it every time!  I love how easy it is to make small pieces and to make colourful patterns. I love knitting for large pieces, but crochet is quickly becoming my second love. I’m even thinking about making myself a granny square blanket this winter and I’ve been finding some really beautiful patterns that are super tempting…

What do you think? It was fun for a first attempt- and a great excuse to catch up on my favourite podcasts while sitting in a sunbeam :)

One of the best things about my transition job when I was moving from being full time working for someone else to being full time self employed was that being at a florist’s shop let me work with my hands in a creative way and learn a little about floral design while having some more financial security. Putting bouquets and boutonnieres together for weddings was so much fun, and lately I’ve been seeing a really beautiful trend when I log into Pinterest.

{1. Paige Stenrud 2. The Knot via Alaa Ellaboudy 3. superjunk via Michelle DuPuis}

I’ve been noticing a wave of wedding photos where succulents are being used in bouquets for their unique textures and shapes, and I can’t get enough of it! If I was planning a wedding I would definitely incorporate this into my flowers- but since I’m not planning a wedding I thought a little home succulent garden would be a perfect way to add it into my day to day life.

Making the Garden

When I had the idea to make an indoor garden, I immediately knew what I had on my hands: the perfect excuse to go thrifting! I’ve been falling more in love with vivid colours over the spring, and since most of what I own are neutrals I visited my favourite local stops and gathered up small, bright vintage bowls for my planters.

I didn’t know a lot about succulents, but I knew that I wanted a cactus and some different plants with unique textures. I called a few local greenhouses and asked about the kinds of succulents they had while madly googling the words I thought they were saying! It turns out that a few common succulents that are easier to track down are Hens and Chicks, Sedum, Rosettes and Sempervivum. If you’re calling greenhouses it’s also helpful to ask for plants that are 2-3″ tall if you want to have a low, modern looking arrangement.

Along with the primary plants that I wanted to get I tried to look for some that could work to fill in the gaps in the arrangement, so I bought a mixture of solid, stocky plants as well as ones that were full, flexible and could be easily separated into smaller bunches. I also brought my bowls with me while I was shopping so I could make sure I was keeping the right scale in mind and avoid getting caught up in the  moment and buying something was beautiful but wouldn’t work.

Once  I had all my plants I took them out of their pots and carefully separated them, and got dirty!

By putting a little bit of soil into each bowl and being gentle with my cactus, I was able to try out different arrangements with the plants until I found exactly what what I wanted. Then it was just a matter of adding enough soil and a little sip of water for them, and the garden was ready!

A couple of days later and that flower is wide open, and it looks like there are more buds that will be taking it’s place soon. As the first potted plants in our home, these succulents are brave little guys- but I think they’ll survive the summer in my care :)

One of my favourite pairs of glasses is one of my oldest- case and point: check out my old bob!

I really love how these frames are light and have architectural lines but I’ve been wishing they were a little more bold and geeky. The shape of the frames is my ideal- a modern cat eye look, but because the edges are silver the look is lighter than it could be. Being me, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head once I thought about changing my frames, so I started scheming ways I could paint out the silver on the frames and make them all black and bold and I thought I’d share a DIY with you in case you have old frames with a great shape that you want to update!

a pair of glasses in need of a new look

a fine paint brush (brushes for model cars are perfect)

1 pot of coloured paint

1 pot of clear coat paint

Before You Buy Paint: I highly recommend you use a paint made for customizing Warhammer (a super geeky table game) figures. The brand I chose was called Citadel and you can get it (or a similar brand) at comic book and game stores, just call and ask if they have Warhammer paint before you go to visit. I really recommend it because it’s water soluble which means that it’s really easy to work with, you don’t need anything special to clean your brushes, and if you make mistakes you just wipe them away.

1. Set out your supplies and some paper to rest your brush on, along with a little water and paper towels or Q-Tips to wipe up any mistakes.

2. Start with either the arms or the frames around your lenses, use long strokes and a thin coat to cover the frames thoroughly and  let them dry completely before moving on to the next section so you can let them rest without wrecking your beautiful work!

3. Go slowly and use a steady hand, wipe up any paint that gets on the lenses as soon as it happens and it will come right off.

4. Once you’re finished, if the coverage is what you’d hoped for wash off your brush with soap and water and put a clear coat on top of the colour using the same method and you have a new look for old frames!

My new old glasses are my new favourite thing!

I love planning in advance. For me a good plan is cause to relax and breathe deeply, knowing everything will be taken care of. I’ve tried lots of different kinds and while I loved my old planner (a pretty little filofax), I was going to have to upgrade to something giant to meet my needs- so I wanted to try making one first. I’m glad that I tried because after a month of using my handmade planner, it’s official. It’s not a crush, I’m in love! My planner has been through the wear and tear of my bag and is holding up beautifully- and the best part is that I get to use something super functional and handmade every day.

There are basically two parts to any bookbinding process: making the signatures & securing them inside the cover. The signatures are sections of paper that have been gathered up and sewn together, and kept safe by the binding. While it’s relatively simple, your first try can be really intimidating. This should guide you through your first bookbinding experience pretty much painlessly, and I’m always here to answer questions :)

The great thing about this is that it’s 100% customizable to your needs! I’ll be showing you the methods you can use, and what will work with my templates from part one, but you can make this pocket sized or giant sized- whatever you prefer.

To create a signature you’ll need a piercing tool (an awl), waxed thread or heavy hemp thread, a papercraft needle (they’re larger and easier to work with than a large sewing needle) & blank legal or letter sized pages. Bonus points for a self healing craft mat, and for being careful not to ruin your tabletop if you don’t have a craft mat :)

Step One: Make a Guide

Before I start working with the pages, I like to make a guide to help make sure that the holes in my signatures are all positioned in the same place. In bookbinding speak, this is called a jig- and it’s important because if you don’t use it when you sew the signatures together they’ll all be crooked! To make the guide, take a section of cardboard and cut it to be the same height as the pages (8 1/2″). Punch holes in it along the center line, spacing them out equally so the stitches holding in your binding will distribute tension equally.

Set aside the sheets you’ll be making into signatures, and place in small stacks. Group by group, fold the papers in half, making a strong crease. Ta da! It’s almost a signature now- it’s that simple :) Each signature can have as few or as many pages as you like, so gather a small group and you can remove or add sheets until the signatures look balanced and right to you.

Once you’ve folded & creased the signatures, take a small workable stack, place the guide on top of the crease and use the piercing tool to punch through the signature.

Now you’re ready to stitch the signatures together! This will change slightly with the binding method that you choose, but this is the method I used.

Want to get fancy? Add Tabs & Covers: If any of the signatures will be a complete section (ex. my monthly calendars all fit into one signature) you might want to add a lightweight card stock cover or tab to them. To make a tab, cut the card stock just slightly wider than two of the guide’s holes and slightly longer than half of the signature. They wiggle around a lot, so you’ll have to make the tabs separately from the signatures, but once you’ve pierced the tabs you can slide one over the outside of the signatures just before you sew them and trim them down to fit afterward. It makes the end result look super fancy.

To sew the signature, thread the waxed thread through the papercraft needle. Poke the needle through the center hole, moving from the center of the signature towards the outside (see below) while leaving a tail long enough to tie.

Pull the needle through the center hole and up through the top hole, then back through the center hole. Finally, pull the needle through the bottom hole. Pull the thread tight, and tie a secure knot. Your signature is done! Just create as many signatures as your planner needs and you’re ready to bind.

There are lots of great ways to bind your signatures together and get a clean beautiful result. It just depends on the look that you’re going for! No matter what, I recommend making sure you do a few things to make your planner lasts when it’s being beaten up in your bag:

• Use a thick chipboard as the base for your cover, the thickest you can find! It will make sure your planner’s hard enough to write on and can stand up to a year of use.
• Make sure you make your cover larger than your pages- and even bigger if you want room for a pen to be tucked inside your planner.
• Cover the chipboard in a thick vintage wallpaper to make sure that what makes the cover pretty is as durable as the cover its self. Keep an eye out at thrift stores & you’ll have lots to choose from quickly.
• If you’re trying to decide between using glue or tape, for any part of this? Use glue, it’s built to last!
• Wrap the inside and outside of the cover in wallpaper, glue it to the chipboard and then mod podge the inside of the cover and let it dry. It will make your working area that little bit more durable.

For a detailled exposed spine…

The coptic stitch is a method where you bind through the sides of the signatures. This leaves the backs of the signatures exposed- but you can make them more durable (and prettier!) if you add a patterned cardstock “cover” to them. This method lays completely flat and looks beautiful- almost like there’s a friendship bracelet running across the back (see here).

For detailled instructions I recommend you try this tutorial, it gives lots of detail & photos!

For a perfect finish…

A true hardcover look is harder to get at home, but it’s definitely achievable. A great way to do this is to add cloth and glue into the equation- and even weaving the signatures together. For this method you secure the signatures to each other, reinforce the bond with cloth, and then glue the signatures into the cover. It requires access to a small vice or some really heavy books, but the results are gorgeous!

For a step by step walkthrough check out this tutorial or this one for real photos or this guide for lots of detail and cute illustration!

For finishing touches…

To make my planner perfect for me, I added an elastic closure that loops around the front cover, and another smaller one that holds my pen. I also added a pocket in the front cover, made with cardstock and held in with strong glue- and I bought a resealable pocket with an adhesive back from an office supply store that keeps receipts and loose ends together neatly. You can add anything you like to make it work for your life!

Creating my planner was definitely a bit of a production, but I’ve been fascinated by bookbinding for a long time and really wanted an excuse to learn- and having tried it once I think I’m hooked! It’s not a project for the faint of heart, and there’s lots of planning that goes into it, but it’s so much fun to enjoy it every day!

Who knows, maybe if you’re really nice to me you’ll get one for Christmas next year ;)

I’m a big time management geek, and I love looking for new ideas on ways to make my days flow better. I’m always experimenting with ways to lower my stress and get lots done, but also to build in more fun to my life. I’m married to my day planner because in my experience if it’s not written down, it doesn’t get done – and that usually includes fun things like remembering to explore new books, or get inspired by new blogs. Left to my own devices I’ll end up wasting that time (watching Intervention) or get sidetracked (by watching Intervention), or get sucked into my e-mail (while watching Intervention).

On any given day a big part of my success and feeling good about what I’ve done relies on being extremely focused- and while I love my little filofax, it hasn’t been working for me lately. So being me, I got excited and dreamed up a made from scratch day planner that would help me run my life and have lots of fun in 2011.

I’m excited to take you through my process in three posts over the next couple of weeks, and show you how to make your own custom planner if you want a daily DIY fix that’s always close at hand. I’ll be breaking it down into three parts:

Part One: Making a Plan (+ template downloads)
Part Two: Constructing the Cover & Sewing Signatures
Part Three: Bringing it all together

Before I made my planner, I thought a lot about the areas of my life that send me scrambling for a notepad most often. Off the top of my head I knew I needed to cover six big areas:

1. To Do Lists of things to be scheduled later
2. Ideas for my blog
3. Ideas for jewellery making and knitting patterns
4. Ideas for Freckled Nest
5. Monthly blog post planning
6. My plans week to week

These are the basic things I want to have with me at all times, so no matter where I am (or if I have my laptop) I can pop something into my planner and know it was scheduled or noted for later.

Most of these are simple, #1 – #4 couple be made up of blank paper, or something with a simple embellishment, for me to make a quick note on. My monthly blog post planning can be done on a simple monthly calendar, which I can make in Photoshop to suit my needs, and my week to week plans are definitely the most important part.

But as I was laying out all the things I needed to get done, a question popped into my head:

Last year I had a big revelation: when I wrote down lists of things that made me extremely happy, when I was having a hard day I had a small database of things that would turn my whole day around. I started making small inserts of things that made me happy, and paper clipping them into the middle of my planner. They would remind me to read books, take bubble baths, watch my favourite movies, and call a friend if I was feeling worn out- simple things that were guaranteed to make me happy. After a month of doing this I felt so much better about my work – life balance, and I wanted to expand on that idea for my planner.

I feel the most grounded and connected when I’m sharing and reaching out- and the main ways I can do that is in real life and on social media. I sketched out an idea of what would effect my happiness and quality of life the most- in other words, in an ideal world what would I do with my time online? What would I do with my time offline?

I listed 30+ things in both categories – Live Social for social media, and Be Playful for real life, and popped them into the centre of my weekly planner pages. That way they aren’t part of a to do list, they’re more like an ongoing scavenger hunt, and I can circle them as I complete them each week!

These are altered templates of what I used for my monthly and weekly planner pages- they’ll fit legal sized paper, which mean they give you lots of room to write without feeling cramped! You can save them by right clicking the links below:

Monthly Planner Pages – print 6 copies, double sided on legal paper
Weekly Planner Pages – print 30 copies, double sided on legal paper

I sent mine to print at a local big box office supply store-  it was super affordable and I did it all online! Want something a bit different? You could make your own pages in a word processor, using mine as a guide! You could use tables to build your pages, just leave a gap in the centre of the page where you’ll be stitching through them in the next post.

Next week we’ll build the cover, and I’ll show you how to hand sew these into signatures using the method Leigh-Ann and I demonstrated on LA-TV last month.