About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am.

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am.

It's here. My favourite time of the year. Winter. I'll pause while the majority of you grunt.

Here in Toronto it snowed for about 25 minutes on Saturday. That is the ONLY sign we've had that it is anywhere near the Winter Solstice. While I'm in the minority of unhappy people, I do expect to gain some supporters once the 24th hits and people start to cry in their egg nogs that there will be no snow for Christmas. How will Santa and the reindeer manage in this heat???

The coming of Winter, the Winter Solstice, Midwinter... whatever you may choose to call it, tends to be overlooked a) because most people are cry babies about the cold and snow and b) everyone is focused on Christmas. Not here at thunderpeep headquarters. This is our second favourite day of the year (the first of coarse being the celebration of my birth) And it's done up in style. Or at least I try. I have to admit I don't have as many supporters in my Midwinter celebration, but every year I try.

The Midwinter celebration is similar to it's sister Midsummer in the sense that it is a welcoming of the light. You might find that strange as it's the longest and darkest day of the year. But because it's the longest, that means after the solstice, the days actually start to get longer. And while modern society actually recognizes the 4 seasons, these celebrations date back to Viking times, and the Vikings only celebrated the 2 Summer and Winter seasons. So to them, this was the middle of winter, it was the start of the trek back to light and summer. The Vikings Midwinter feast was actually a 12 day celebration (sound familiar?) with sacrifices to the Gods, lot's of eating and drinking, the burning of a Sunwheel, and the Yule log. Now while we are all familiar with the Yule log cake (which I'm making for the first time this year) in Viking times it was a large oak log decorated with sprigs of fir, holly or yew, that they carved Runes on to while seeking protection from any misfortunes. The Viking Yule is still celebrated in some areas of the world and who knows, maybe in the future I'll make it to one. But for this year I hosted some friends for a giant smorgasbord feast. In front of my new fake fireplace. 2 days before the actual solstice. You do what you can. There is ZERO chance of snow for the changing of the season. Don't even get me started. How are you celebrating the coming of winter, and more importantly is there snow where you are?

And speaking of celebrations, today is also a very special day because it's Carole's BIRTHDAY!!!!!! Yay! WooHoo!!!! Birthday Cake!!!!! Hopefully you're being spoiled by your family Carole and getting loads of cake and treats.

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am.

I'm not going to lie. I love my Elf on a Shelf. And I'm an adult with no kids. It's just another excuse to act like a kid, during the festive season!

Seeing all the clever elf on the shelves on instagram I decided it's time to step up my game and see how many silly ideas I can come up. You can follow my Elves' shenanigans on my instagram (here) and feel free to share any ideas or links to your Elves adventures!

Here are a couple of my fav pics from around the internet world...







clever images courtesy:
1. m&m's - Rebecca Lundin
2. the voice - picklehead soup
3. Rice Krispies - a thrifty mom

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am.

I have to admit, I have a really small family (like just me and my mom kind of small) so Christmas has never really been to bonkers for me. In fact, it's usually my quietest time of the year, everyone is too busy with their families to come out and play. I relish this time of year!

But there are other times of the year when my life teeters on insanity so I can totally understand how things can slip out of control. Good news is, I'm here to lend a helping hand. I'm

No, that does not mean I will come entertain your crazy uncle, or cook your turkey (trust me you really don't want that!) although I could be convinced to bake cookies, that's my Holiday specialty ;) That and drinking Egg Nog. Yum.

So, I've gathered some tips to help and treats to help keep you organized. As organized as possible.

1. Have a Baking Day - pick a day (I like Sundays) and do as much of your baking as possible. Cookies freeze really well and if you bake lot's, they are great for last minute gifts or treats to bring to Holiday parties (yay!) Plus how awesome will you look when unexpected guests drop by (and we all have those people in our lives) and you bring out a tray of goodies, just like that. This can even apply for meals. I'm a big fan of pre-cooking meals for the week, and this comes in super handy during the Holidays. Make it a family affair, get your kids to help out. Crank the tunes. Make it a fun time.

2. Have a plan. Keep a list on the fridge - or wherever you will see it daily - of all the things you know need to be done, list all the events you are attending, parties, school concerts and get togethers. I like those chalkboard peel-n-stick sheets you can get, they work really well on both the fridge and walls. Having your to-do list right in front of you will help keep it fresh in your mind. You can never go wrong with a Checklist! Again, get the kids involved. Give them their own, Holiday-specific chore lists. Remind them that Santa is watching ;)

3. Stay away from Malls. That might not be as easy depending on where you live, but if you can either get all your shopping done early, shop smaller local shops or even do all your shopping online, you will be that much happier. Malls are HELL during the Holidays. I know it, you know, we all know it. But for some reason we forget and throw ourselves into the pit and come out 10 years older for it.

4. Tuesdays. These are seriously the slowest days of the week for anything. Best times to hit up Costco, Ikea or any big box store really, grocery shopping, best days to fly. It's not just me, someone, somewhere did studies and proved that Tuesdays are the slowest days in pretty any kind of retail or travel. Also if you are talking travel, they are usually the cheapest days to fly!

5. Stay active. Even small walks in the evening (or mornings, or afternoons) can help lower stress and help you to sweat off anything that's irritating you. Don't like the cold evenings, do whatever kind of exercise is your thing. If you're a yogi, I love the Gaia (formerly MyYogaOnline) site for hundreds of amazing classes, all online, available anytime of the day, and you can do your thing in your living room, without anyone watching.

and finally...

Learn to say NO.  Don't over-commit, just to please others. Do Your Holidays Your way! This is the time of year to enjoy your friends and family. And say YES to help and hugs.

And because I hate to leave you empty handed, I have another freebie download for you. A pretty little Gift list to help you keep your gift buying all organized. You can write down the gifts you want to get for your loved ones and check them off as you get them. just click the image and copy to your desktop. Print it out and keep it in your purse so it's always handy. Yay!


Happy Organizing!
Michelle

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am.

Shop the Neighbourhood is a national initiative by YellowPages, to help promote and support small businesses and communities, happening this Saturday, November 28th all across Canada. The movement was initially started in Oakville, Ontario in 2013, but last year it moved to a national platform with over 750,000 Canadians shopping their local shops that day. WHAT?  And this year it's even bigger and better than ever with over 200 business associations participating and some 6,000 deals to be had from coast to coast!

And November 28th is not just a randomly selected date. Strategically placed on the Saturday between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it's looking to keep all those Canadian who would normally be crossing the border for the massive US sales days, highlighting the impact our dollars can have locally, positively impacting your local economies.

And shopping local is all about supporting the community you live in by:
• creating local jobs
• keeping your hard earned dollars closer to home
• creating lively and thriving neighbourhoods
• reduces environmental impact
and the list could go on and on, but you get the idea.

On November 28th participating businesses are offering all sorts of deals for local shoppers. I can't list them all for you, but I thought I could highlight some of my favourite shops from across this great country.


Some cool shops across Canada to find local and Canadian goods:
1. Dots & Loops - Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
2. The FARM - North Bay, Ontario
3. LEN - Toronto, Ontario
4. Tiny Feast - Winnipeg, Manitoba
5. Salgado Fenwick - Edmonton, Alberta
6. Bird on a Wire Creations - Vancouver, British Columbia
7. Caravan Beach Shop - Tofino, British Columbia

For a list of all the participating businesses in your community and learn more about the initiative you can visit the Shop the Neighbourhood site here

Now even if you live outside of the True North, the idea behind the movement is universal. We all need to be out supporting the communities we live in. Go check out some of your towns local shops!

Feel free to share some of your favourite local shops with us!

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am.

First of all a big Thanks to Carol for giving me all the power on her blog while she brings a tiny human into the world.

Well ok, maybe I don't have ALL the power, but I'll be doing some blogging over here to help keep you all entertained for the next little bit. I think I'm pretty entertaining. I like to tell stories and create designs that inspire us to live with a little bit of magic in our everyday. I own a small business under the name thunderpeep. The past year I've been undergoing a big re-brand for both my life and business (apparently these things happen when you turn 40!) which I've been sharing over on my blog over here. My real name is Michelle and today is actually my birthday (and Carol's official due date). thunderpeep is a silly nickname I acquired years ago, that luckily makes for a really fun alter ego.

Now that we've gotten awkward introductions out of the way, I'm looking forward to hanging out and sharing some of the things I think are cool, maybe some fun tutorials, tricks and treats.

Every now and again I do this little feature on my home blog called Freebie Fridays, and since this Friday is my first post here I thought I'd share some of the freebie love with you. In honour of friendship and adventures I'm offering up this little print for you to download and print and maybe frame for one of your super cool friends. The imagery is actually from the back cover of my book and the saying is an unidentified quote from the world of Pinterest. Just click the image and it will pop up into a new window. Right click the image to download and then enjoy!



Michelle

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am.

Hello my lovelies!!

Just popping in to say.... HOLY SHMOKES I am full term this week. Can you believe it?? I am a whopping 40 weeks preggo. I am expecting to pop any day now, so will be disappearing (even more!) from blog life...

I fully realize that I have been missing in action for the last couple months already while I prepared (a smidgen obsessively) for baby, so my continued absence is likely no big surprise. HOWEVER. For the next little while, I have a super special guest blogger taking over while I figure out how to adult...mom-style.

The lovely and creative Michelle from Thunderpeep has offered to take care of my bloggy life while I get used to baby life! I am SO EXCITED for you to get to know her better and for all the fun things she will bring to the blog. Who knows, maybe you'll like her better and I'll be out of a blog job. :)

Some fun facts about Michelle (aka Thunderpeep):

• Michelle is a Canadian maker and shaker. She *(correction)* works with the Etsy Toronto street team and recently helped organize the Etsy Made in Canada show this fall. 
• Michelle and I met in 2011 at my first-ever craft show, Made by Hand (which I blogged about here) and became friends via the power of the interweb. Love it!
• You can shop her awesome products on Etsy here and Society6 here.
• Michelle wrote a freaking book! You can read all about that right here. 
• Her birthday is the same day as #babyclemington's due date!!  How cool is that?!
• Last but not least: I love her! This girl rocks. You are being left in incredibly creative, awesome, and sassy hands while I am distracted by tiny clothes and motherhood. <3

Follow Michelle:

Blog   |   Bloglovin'  |   Twitter   |   Facebook   |   Pinterest   |   Instagram

You may see a few posts from me later on as I learn how to balance my mom life... In the meantime, enjoy this time with Michelle! I just know you'll love her. 

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am.

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am.

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday (*new!*) at 6am.

Is anyone surprised that I am having issues balancing all my lives? My busy pre-maternity-leave work life, my messy just-moved-haven't-really-unpacked-yet home life, my tired-and-preggo-but-still-wanting-to-be-involved-in-things life, and my supposed-to-be-creative-blogging life. No? Nobody is surprised?? I guess it's just me.

I should probably stop downplaying the progress I've made on the house. I am exhausted most days, after all. Making a baby is hard work!! And I'm terrible at giving my fella any sort of helpful instruction/guidance on what I envisioned happening with the piles of crap that have yet to be unpacked, so shouldn't be so tough on myself for those things not happening. But let's face it: the house is only one small concern among a myriad of totally understandable, overwhelming concerns.

Let's pause for a moment to be happy about some of the house progress, since I feel like a whiner. Say hello to my pretty new couch and wall colour. Let's not talk about the weird suede chocolate milk coloured blinds.

It may be taking a little longer than planned, but the house is starting to feel like I live here! I think it's the pillows. #mysecretingredient #homesweethome #clemsbigmove

A photo posted by C.Lem (@creativeclementine) on Oct 24, 2015 at 1:40pm PDT

Now, back to my confessing how hard it is being me. (cue dramatic violin music)


I'm not just toughing out a pregnancy--there will be a breathing, pooping, boogering baby at the end of the pregnancy, which I haven't quite wrapped my head around (this is when most of you go--"UMM, you have like, negative five minutes left to figure that out, silly woman.").

I'm leaving a job that is split into two unequal (and 90% unrelated) parts for a little over a year, and have had trouble not getting stressed out about that. And I'm a control freak, which makes walking away from my work really hard to do without losing my cool.

I've been feeling like a slacker in the sister/auntie/daughter department, because all I can focus on is getting my work done at work, then coming home and getting home ready for life and baby, and I haven't been around much lately. There are important birthday milestones coming up in my family I am unprepared to celebrate, because of the aforementioned struggle to keep it all balanced.

Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday, and was tragically crammed into the busiest pre-baby month... so was good but not great. And runner up in the fave holidays department is Halloween, which I didn't even bother prepping a costume for. I am also all too aware that Christmas is going to be a bust this year because I will be coping with new motherhood, and have already started Christmas shopping/planning to make up for it.

I haven't tackled a creative project in what feels like a long, long time. I didn't even make a picture to go with this post.

And, I'm tired.


I don't usually like to whine without offering a solution or some sort of positive spin. So I will leave on this note: I have five work days left until my holidays/maternity kicks in. Which means soon there will be more time to breathe. More time to (maybe?) do something creative. More time to be tired and not feel bad about it.

You just might be hearing more from me after next week! Fingers crossed this lil' dude in my belly gives his mama a break before he comes out to play.

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is open from Thursday at 6am until Monday (*new!*) at 6am.

About Idea Box Link Party:
Idea Box is a weekly link party for bloggers to share all of their creative posts---recipes, home decor, DIY projects, gardening tips, good advice... Whatever your creative heart desires. The link party is now open from Thursday at 6am until Monday at 6am---plenty of time to party!