Fourth of July on a Budget

I am so excited that it's officially summer! The hot weather, longer days, and endless BBQ's are making me a happy gal! Now that we (finally) have a yard, I have been doing a lot of hosting. This can get super expensive, especially when you factor in all the decorations and food. I decided to do 4th of July on a budget so I could avoid a red white and boohoo, if you know what I mean!

You can still have a lot of style without spending big bucks! Almost everything here came from the Dollar Tree and Target's dollar section.

This table runner is actually a scarf from the dollar section! I added a sequin table runner underneath for a little extra sparkle.

I purchased the chevron jar from Target as well ($3) and filled it with paper straws (8 for $1). The glittery star picks are from A.C. Moore.

I purchased my striped plates and star napkins from Target's dollar section, and the blue foil star napkins are from the Christmas Tree Shop. I gave each place setting a fun pen, which was only a dollar each!

These foil star plates came 8 for $1- a great deal! And how cute are those octopus beer mugs?! They're from the Christmas Tree Shop and only cost a couple of dollars.

For snacks, I got Mike and Ike candies in red, white and blue for only $1. I added nautical cupcake picks I got from the Christmas tree shop ($3 for 24) and put them in these cute shooter glasses (4 for $1)

These red, white and blue cupcakes from Target are so cute and tasty! They're perfectly patriotic.

These pail votive holders from the Dollar Tree made adorable vases.  Just put a small cup of water inside so your flowers don't wilt in the heat.

I got these paper fans from the dollar tree as well, 2 for $1! 

All in all, this July 4th tablescape cost about $50. Not too shabby!

Breakdown:
Sweets & Treats: $15
Flowers/Decor: $20
Tableware: $15

Want more ideas? Check out my Fourth of July Pinterest board!

Starting a Blog- How to Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed by Blogging Advice

When I was starting my blog, I was blown away by all the free advice out there on how to be successful as a blogger. I read the articles on my commute and I was so excited to get to the next one. There was so so much to learn, but in a good way. I wished I could read faster as I read article after article, completely engrossed in the content. After reading a lot, I felt confident that I could start this blogging thing. It was always something I wanted to try, but now I felt ready to make it something I did professionally. 3 months later, I don't feel the same way about all that information out there for bloggers. Instead of feeling empowered by it, I feel discouraged. Seeing those headlines makes me feel like they're shouting at me. All those "What you're doing wrong on Pinterest" or "Mistakes Bloggers Make" type articles make me want to shut off my phone and hide! I've decided I WILL be successful at this, so I won't allow myself to hide from it. Here's my advice for staying sane in the sea of advice out there when starting a blog. 

Be conscious of what you pin and who you follow. A lot of the content I was seeing was based off my pins and the people I was following. To prevent becoming completely overwhelmed with content, only follow the boards and users you want to be inspired by, not pressured into. This will whittle down the content you see and shield you from the flurry of articles that might make you feel like you're not doing enough. 

Find a tribe leader. There's tons of articles out there about finding a tribe, but I think the most important thing you can do at first is find the right tribe leader(s). Find one or two people whose writing style you like and whose content is informative, and focus on learning from them. You can always search for advice on specific topics from others, but for general guidance, I recommend finding a leader and following their advice until you're comfortable branching out. 

Focus on creating great content. Yes, other things are definitely important. But your #1 priority should always be cranking out great content. If you start to feel overwhelmed by all the articles and advice out there, close your social media, ignore your inbox, and just write. Whether it's a blog post, a list of ideas, or your newsletter, doing these things will be useful for the success of your blog and leave you feeling empowered. 

Create a to do list, an editorial calendar, etc., and stick to it. I find that feeling overwhelmed leads to not knowing where to start, which leads to giving up. Don't let that happen! Write a short daily to-do list, weekly goals, an editorial calendar, or whatever you prefer that lets you know exactly what needs to get accomplished. This will silence all those other tasks nagging at you and allow you to get something done. If you find yourself obsessing over another task, schedule it in somewhere and let go of that nagging feeling. 

Focus on your own goals and not the ones everyone else throws at you. If you listened to every piece of advice, you'd be making daily blog posts, a weekly newsletter, growing your subscriber list, offering tons of freebies, have an active social media presence (and more) every day. That's a lot of work for one person to do, and it doesn't even include your other daily tasks! Are all these things great to have? Yes. In an ideal world you'd be Super Blogger, getting it all done, and more, all in time for dinner. But in the real world, you might be too busy for all that. Focus on a few things at a time and I guarantee that eventually you'll have it all down. A little bit of progress is better than getting burned out and stopping altogether. Starting a blog is a marathon, not a race.  Doing too much too quickly could leave you abandoning the idea altogether.

Stop comparing yourself to others. A lot of bloggers have been doing this stuff for years. They've perfected their systems and are reaping the benefits of their hard work. If you're just starting out, it can be really easy to burn out. Don't let someone's else's "end" sabotage your middle. Learn from people, read their advice, and be inspired, but don't let their success discourage you. 

Be a dreamer. If all else fails, just think about your dreams and what you want to achieve. Write down those goals and see if you can find the steps to achieve them. Sometimes just reminding ourselves why we are doing something is enough to get us out of our funk!

Phew! I know it's a lot to handle, but I thought it was important to let people know that you don't have to do everything all at once. I feel better now that I'm not overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy, and I hope you do too.

What's the part of blogging that leaves you the most overwhelmed? How do you overcome it?

Related: 10 Easy Ways to Get Motivated

Wedding Wednesday- Wedding Planning Update

Hey everyone! As I plan my wedding, I've decided to do an update each month of where I stand. Hopefully this will be helpful to you guys as you plan your own weddings. I'll say this- wedding planning is hard! There are so many variables and opinions and just when you think you know what you want or other people want, a wrench gets thrown in and you get all confused again. The advice I've been getting so far is to do only what you want and not listen to what anyone else says. So that's my focus for right now! 

Accomplishments:

Engagement party has been planned and is now complete! It was so much fun to plan and do. You can see the post here and how I planned it here.

Engagement photo shoot- complete! I didn't really plan to do one of these, but a few people on Facebook did one and they looked like fun. Plus we hired a photographer for the engagement party so we wrapped it up in that. Hopefully we'll get the photos back soon!

Wedding dress shopping was attempted. I found some really great ones and I thought I found "the one", but I was afraid it might be a little much. Seeing my MIL and sister's faces kinda cemented that fear for me, so that was a HUGE bummer. Like, I could cry tears of stress bummer. I've bounced back though and I'm so excited to try on more pretty dresses and find the real "one"! (Update: it was this one, and I loved the one I chose in the end SO much better!)

Needs to get done:

Wedding venue needs to be booked! This is priority #1 for me. Picking a venue has been really, really hard! Between budget restrictions and differing opinions, finding a venue has been an uphill battle. They say that if you can have a short engagement, you should and I'm starting to understand why! Now that we are seemingly running out of time, I think that we will be more motivated to make the tough decisions. Even just narrowing down a geographical location would help! My wedding is about a year away and I have no idea exactly where or when it'll be. This is a huge stress factor but I plan to at least have solid options, if not a decision, at the end of this month.

To bridesmaid or not to bridesmaid? I'm currently conflicted between having bridesmaids or only having my sister up there with me. Several people have suggested just keeping my sister, which is probably the route I will take to avoid added stress, but it seems so odd not to have my girls with me. 

Save the dates and wedding invitations need to be planned out. I'm thinking of having my sister create these for me, so I need to get her some inspiration so she can start working on it. I want them to be ready to go for when we finally pick a venue!

Such a long list of things to do, and although it feels like I have loads of time, I know it'll creep up on me! What's on your wedding to-do list?

Be sure to follow my colorful wedding ideas Pinterest board for gorgeous bouquets, amazing centerpieces, and more!

How to Stay Organized During a Move

This year, my fiancé and I moved out of our one-bedroom apartment into our three-bedroom house.  Despite doing as much research as possible beforehand to ensure the process went smoothly, we still hit a few snags. Here's my advice for getting through a move the most organized way possible while keeping your sanity. 

Consider making a moving binder. I decided to make a moving binder and it was SUPER helpful! I had all my labels, packing lists, receipts, etc. all in one place. This meant that if I ever needed anything, I just had to find the binder. For me, this was so important because things got chaotic and it was much easier to find an entire binder than just one piece of paper.

Get a storage unit near your new home. Since our apartment was super crowded, we knew we wouldn't have enough room to pack and pile boxes. We decided to get a storage unit near our new house.  Even though we had to drive an hour away to store the items, we were unable to fit anything more in the moving truck at our apartment and had to make a separate trip to the storage unit after unloading it. 

Label everything well. Notice I didn't just say to label everything.  It's important to be thorough! I tried so hard to do this on my recent move, and I thought I did a great job. That is, until my movers (aka my MIL and her friend) asked for coffee, and I had no idea where the sugar was. I had to open every single kitchen box until I found it for them. Do yourself a favor, and be as detailed as possible.

Be specific. This goes along with my last point. Don't write kitchen, write "plates and bowls". Don't write cups, write "drinking glasses" or "mugs". It will be extremely helpful once you're in the new home and just really want a glass of wine out of a proper glass, or need to find a scarf on a chilly day!

Face all the labels outwards. This is pretty obvious, but if you're enlisting relatives to help, make sure they are aware of this and adhere to it. Nothing like trying to rotate a 3-box-high pile to see what's in the bottom one. 

Start early. To ensure you don't go into panic mode, start packing as early as you can. Begin with things you know you won't be needing. For us, this meant books, artwork, and rarely used appliances.  This is also a great time to go through stuff and toss out trash, so be sure to leave enough time to de-clutter instead of just tossing everything in a box and moving junk you don't need. 

But don't start too early. I was so ready for this whole moving thing and we timed everything perfectly. Unfortunately, we had a delay with our mortgage bank and were unable to close on the original date. This would have been ok except that someone (cough, fiancé, cough) decided to pack all our pots and pans, most of our dry goods and our DVD player! Be sure to leave certain items out until you're 100% sure of your moving date. 

Make a first day box. We made a first day box, and packed an overnight bag with important items, toiletries, and clothes.  This was really helpful that first night when we were exhausted from the move. You'll be so glad you had everything you needed easily accessible, and this makes the first night feel kinda like a hotel stay!

Know when to wing it. On moving day, there's always those last few items that haven't been packed. Additionally, you'll feel as though everyone needs something from you and you're being pulled in all directions. At this point, it's ok to give up on being totally organized and just toss everything left over into one big box until you get to the new house. Try to label its contents, but sometimes just writing "last minute items" will have to do! 

Be sure to follow my organization Pinterest board for tons of ways to keep your new home clean and organized!

And those are my top tips for staying organized during a move! How did you stay organized for your move?

Easy Swiffer Cleaning Hack

Morning lovelies! I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend. We have some family staying with us this week, and I wanted to clean the guest bathroom before they had to use it. I hate cleaning, especially showers, so I took one look at all the tiles and sighed. I usually use bleach wipes to clean the shower because they do a surprisingly good job at getting the grime off with minimal effort. I also had my Swiffer handy so that I could clean the floors after, and that's when I had a genius idea. Why not put the bleach wipes on the Swiffer and use it to clean the shower? I'd be able to clean the wall easily without having to climb in the shower and stand on the side of the tub. I decided to put my theory to the test.

First, I put two bleach wipes vertically onto the Swiffer and tucked them into the holders. They overlapped a bit and sometimes folded, but overall it didn't hinder their use. If the top one folded, the one underneath picked up the slack.

Whoa nelly! Check out that dirt. Yikes! I think this was from sanding the wall before we painted. We don't use this bathroom at all, so I never really noticed all the dirt. Whoopsies!

And that's all there is to it! I hope this little hack is helpful so you can get the tub cleaned and enjoy the beautiful summer weather!

Be sure to check out my organization board on Pinterest for more cleaning and organization hacks!

What are your cleaning hacks to save time?

Related: How to Organize on a Dime