Planner & Blogger Buddies Unite!

 

Heidi Swapp Spiral Memory Planner Review

Hi Loves!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. The new year is going to be exciting, I just know it! Today I’ll be reviewing one of the Heidi Swapp Memory Planners.

The end of the year was approaching fast, and I had to make the crucial decision that every planner girl must make – What planner am I going to use for the new year?? Although I adore my A5 Kikki K, I wanted to try another planner.

I decided to purchase the new gold spiral planner kit at Michaels. They retail for $34.99, but I used a 50% off to get it down to $17.49.

The kit includes: 8 cardstock tabs, 4 paperclips, date stickers, a to-do list notepad, a sticker sheet, 12 journaling cards and a roll of washi tape.

I love the quotes that are throughout this planner. Each month is a different design.

I like that in the beginning of each month, there is a place to glance at all your monthly goals.

The monthly layout is chic and simplistic. I like the polka dots and font as well. At the bottom of the page, there is a section to write in quotes and any other things you choose to record.

The weekly layout is different from the inserts I used in my Kikki-K, but I am already getting accustomed to the style.

In my opinion, the planner is nice. I like that it is set up for the most part with pretty dividers and pops of color. I feel like I don’t need to do so much decorating. The only thing I dislike, and this is slight, is the front cover. I’m not really feeling the flowers. I would’ve liked the gold polka dots alone, but again, not a big deal. Overall I really like this planner, and would recommend it especially if you are looking for a budget-friendly one.

That’s all for now, I wish you all a Happy New Year. Let 2016 be the year of great success, love and adventures!

❤

-Ladreena-

 

 

 

 

Fall Favorites Tag!

 

Hi loves!

It has been a while since my last post, and I do apologize. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! I was tagged by Carolyn over at A Diary of a Tall Girl  to do a Fall Favorites Tag. Now, I know December is officially here. The spirit of Christmas is all around, but I had to this tag because they are so much fun.

Favorite Candle 

Pumpkin Caramel Latte candle from Bath and Body Works. It was one of the featured scents last Fall. The aroma reminds me of stepping into a Starbucks during a crisp and cozy Autumn day. It just smells amazing!

Favorite Lip Color

I love a dark violet lip, but sometimes I wear a soft pink. You can never go wrong with that.

Favorite Drink

Anything pumpkin spice. I know, so cliché right?! lol

Favorite Blush

I don’t wear blush, sorry lol

Favorite Clothing Item

I love scarves!! 

Favorite Fall Movie

I love Halloween movies for sure. If you checked out my Halloween Tag, you know that one of my favorite movies is Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Favorite TV Show

Every season, I need to watch the Halloween and Thanksgiving Charlie Brown specials. 🙂

Favorite Thanksgiving Food

Definitely macaroni and cheese!

Favorite Halloween Costume

I liked my costume this year. I was a cat.

What are your Fall favorites?  Comment below 🙂

❤

-Ladreena-

 

Halloween Tag!

Happy Halloween!

I was tagged by Terry from Lifestyle with Terry to do a Halloween Tag. I love tags, they are so fun to do, and I love reading everyone’s answers.

1. Favorite Halloween movie? I love horror movies in general, so it’s hard to narrow down. One of my favorite movies is Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
2. What age did you stop trick-or-treating? I would say around 12 years old, but who doesn’t love free candy?!  🙂
3. Favorite Halloween costume you have worn? Two years ago, I was Red Riding Hood.
4. What are you going to be this year? A cat.
5. Do you like going to haunted attractions? I’ve never been to one, but I would love to.
6. Vampires or werewolves? Werewolves
7.Favorite Halloween candy? Chocolate anything!
8.Do you decorate your house? Yes
9.Least favorite costume? I liked every costume I’ve worn.
10.Have u ever repeated a costume and what was it? No
11.Do you believe in ghosts? No
12.Scariest Halloween? All have been pretty cool, never scary.
I tag the following people!

Emily | Nicole | Doodles & Dolly Mixture

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

❤

-Ladreena-

Fall Banner DIY

Hey Everyone!

So this past weekend, I took out all of my Fall decor and decorated my apartment. I usually do this around September, but I never got around to it until just recently. I went on Pinterest to get some inspiration and found this cute Fall banner that you can print at home. Here’s how I created mine: 

First, I printed it out. If you would like this printable, go to www.dazzleexpressions.com. The full printable says Happy Fall, but I just printed out Fall.

After printing, I cut out each banner and pasted them on black cardstock paper. Then, I cut them out again leaving a small border around the banners.

This is how it came out. As you can see, it fits perfectly in the space on my bulletin board. To finish off my Fall look, I added some color leaves on top. (You can find these leaves in any dollar store.) Since Halloween is coming up, I used some stretchy spider web decoration also.

I really like how this came out. How are you decorating for Fall?

❤

-Ladreena-

Incoming Happy Mail + Reminder!

Hi There!

I wanted to share some happy mail I received about two weeks ago from a lovely pen pal of mine. Warning: Cuteness overload! 🙂

These ribbon paper clips are too cute! I am currently using them in my planner for Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Here is everything else that was in the folder. I love the journaling cards she included.

Here’s a closeup of the journaling cards.

Just a friendly reminder: If you haven’t checked out my review on The Papered Lantern shop, click here. You will find an exclusive coupon code to use. You may want to hurry because it expires Oct 31, 2015! 🙂

❤

-Ladreena-

The Papered Lantern Sticker Review!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Having an extra day off for Columbus Day is always a plus.  Today I’ll be sharing some stickers from The Papered Lantern shop. I was lucky to be one of the selected to do this review.

These are all the stickers that I got in my package. I love how colorful and vibrant they are.  All are in a matte finish.

I can’t wait to use these stickers for my Fall bucket list.  🙂

From left to right: paw print, shopping cart and asterisk icon stickers. Each sheet has 144 stickers. Colors range from a soft pastel to bright and bold.

Here’s a closeup of the shopping cart icon stickers. These are great to use for grocery trips and Target runs. With Christmas right around the corner, I will be using these for sure!

I use arrow flag stickers a lot in my planner to mark days I’m either at work or school, so I was happy to see some in my package. Each sheet has 27 stickers and I love the assortment of colors.

These happy mail stickers are the cutest!

I also received this sampler of circles, checklist and teardrop stickers.

Overall, I think these stickers are wonderful. I love everything especially the bright colors. I’m definitely looking forward to using these in upcoming layouts. If you want to see how I use these stickers, make sure you are following me on Instagram @heartdreenie.lifestyle. If you want some stickers of your own, check out Sonya’s shop  The Papered Lantern on Etsy. She has a great selection to choose from. (You must see the Peppermint Bliss Decorative Kit!) Sonya was nice enough to provide an exclusive coupon code. Now until 10/31/15 use the code HEARTDREENIE20 to get 20% off orders $7 or more.

❤

-Ladreena

DIY: Fall Paper Clips!

Hello everyone!

Since Fall is officially upon us, I decided to share this super easy planner DIY with you all today. 🙂 The last time I did a DIY with paper clips was almost a year ago, can you believe it?! (Check that one out here) This time around, I will show you a different technique that you may have seen before.

You will need:

Some large paper clips

Ribbon of your choice, but keep it Fall festive! 🙂

Scissors

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

1. Take your ribbon and cut about 4 inches off. Make sure to cut at a slant to prevent fraying.
2. Take your cut piece of ribbon and center it on your paper clip, then bring one side of the ribbon around the clip and through to the top. Repeat on the other side.

3. Your paperclip should look similar to the one pictured. Add a drop of hot glue to make sure the ribbon stays in place.

For this clip, I did the same technique, but this time I used 3 different ribbons.

These small floral embellishments are great to use. All I did was add a little hot glue to the back to create beautiful paper clips.

Have a great weekend!

❤

-Ladreena-

My trip to South Carolina + shopping haul!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Last weekend I went on a little getaway to South Carolina to visit my aunt and uncle. It was just the right time to clear my mind and relax before the start of school. I left New York Friday evening via Greyhound and arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina Saturday morning. From there, my uncle picked me up to continue into South Carolina.

The laid back atmosphere and scenery was great. I loved that all the craft stores were all in the same area. On Sunday, my aunt, uncle and I checked out a couple of stores after church. First store was Hobby Lobby. This was the store I heard so much about. There aren’t any in NYC, so I was really happy to finally go to one down there. Turned out that the store was closed! Although I was disappointed, I fully understood the company’s church and family values. (I was able to go on Monday before my trip back home though) 🙂 Michael’s was the next stop. I did some browsing, but since I saw a lot of the same things as the NYC store, I was not impressed. Lastly was Walmart. Just being in this store made me happy because there isn’t a store in NYC. I did find some things in their craft section.

I am loving my new supplies! Hobby Lobby is so awesome! I really love everything in there. I’m glad I decided to take a trip there before I left. New York needs this store! lol

❤

-Ladreena-

Back to School 3 Part Series: How I Stay Organized

Happy Saturday!
Am I the only one wondering how is it Labor Day weekend already?! I don’t even remember September even starting, like really! Lol
Anyway, today I’m sharing some helpful tips that has helped me organize my life better. Since this is apart of my Back to School mini series, these tips can definitely be applied to students as well.

1. Use a planner

Having a planner is the number one way I stay organized. When managing life, school, work etc. it can be likely to forget something important. My planner is my life in a nutshell. Everything that I need to remember is in there.
Your planner doesn’t have to be a fancy one. You want one that works for you. Make sure it’s one that you feel comfortable writing in consistently.
As we already know, I enjoy decorating my planner with cute stickers and washi tape. However I still need to have that balance of functionality. You may also like to try color coding. It’s a cute and simple way to jazz up your planner without all the bells and whistles. When I started my planner, I tried color coding, but it never stuck. I still use colorful pens just because they’re fun!

2. Write out a master to do list and a weekly to do list

I love writing lists! I can write out lists all day if I could lol. I’ve learned from other planner girls, that having a master to do list is great. This is a list of everything that needs to get done, but with no specific deadline. Each week when I sit down and plan, I make sure I review my master to do list and check off any tasks accomplished and what still needs to be completed.
A weekly to do list is the pretty much the same concept. The only difference is that these tasks must be completed by the end of the week, but in no specific order.

3. Create a bulletin board

I have a large bulletin board that was already in my apartment. It hangs visible in my kitchen and I am able to see it daily. I keep my wall calendar as well as my vision board for this year along with other inspiration. You can create your board pretty much anywhere just as long as it is easily visible. If you want to take a look at my 2015 vision board, click here.

4. Take a photo of your to do list and use it as your phone background

I got this idea from Sarah Belle and it’s so genius! We are always looking at our phones for one reason or another. Having your daily to do list as your phone background is a great way to stay focused on the tasks at hand! 🙂

5. Keep a small notebook for your brain dumps

I mentioned having this notebook before. For those who aren’t familiar with a brain dump, it’s basically jotting down all of your ideas, thoughts, and randomness in one notebook. Mine is a notebook from the Target dollar spot. The notes are not pretty, but it’s not supposed to be. This notebook is simply to write all thoughts on paper resulting in a clearer mind. 🙂

Well I hope you guys liked my tips and are able to apply it to your daily life. Have a wonderful, long weekend!

❤

-Ladreena-