My longtime readers know that I have had a tradition since 2013 of doing a different themed Christmas tree each year. We started this tradition when we moved into our new house and had room for a really big 12 foot Christmas tree! It ended up being a really big project each year, but also a fun one. We would have neighbors stop by just to see our tree. Of course, it’s something I’ve been thinking about all year since we moved into our new home in February. I got rid of the 12 foot tree since I don’t have a spot for it in our new place. I’ve been excited to downsize the tree project! …

I’m going to spotlight a few more printables and share a few crafts today since so many will be holiday decorating this weekend. Remember that I have all my Thanksgiving and Christmas designs on sale this week!

Printables are great for easy and very inexpensive festive touches.This Happy Little Trees Printables is one of my very favorites. I think it looks so cute next to these little bottle brush trees.

How will you be celebrating Halloween this year? It’s an unusual time with the Covid-19 pandemic in full swing, especially here in the United States. Unfortunately, Utah is doing a terrible job of getting the virus under control and our numbers keep rising. We have a lot of kids here in Utah and I understand why they will still want to go trick-or-treating. There are precautions people can take to make this holiday safe and the CDC put out this list of Halloween activities with their associated risk + some ideas. It’s actually a great guide for several holidays so be sure to bookmark or pin it!

I started this blog back in October of 2005 so I’ve now reached my 15th blog-i-versary! I started on blogger and mostly posted about digital scrapbooking products I liked and shared some of my layouts. As I built a following, I shared more of our life and expanded my blogging focus. I moved to typepad and stayed there for many years. I moved to squarespace about 5 years ago and hope to stay on this platform as I really love how easy it is to use.

My longtime followers will probably remember my linen photo board from our last home. I put it together about 7 years ago and loved looking at it every single day. When we moved to our new home in February, I knew that I would want to continue on the tradition, but also make it a little easier to update as time went on and I wanted to swap out for some newer photos. I’m so excited to show you how it all turned out!

I love collage boards and have used them in several different places in the homes we’ve lived in. I started this practice long ago when I put a giant bulletin board up in our kitchen when my kids were preschool age (circa 1999). I need to dig through my photos and find that!

Now that we are in a new home, it was time to reinvent the postcard board that used to hang above Alex’s desk in our last house. Now this board showcases our Disney postcard collection and it will live in our Disney themed guest bedroom.

I’m always pleasantly surprised when I play around with digital mixed media and scrapbooking supplies. I end up with a wonderful piece of art, and I always feel better as well! Seriously, it’s like a meditation for me or something. I don’t worry about capturing an event, or documenting an exact moment. I have fun with the supplies and then that helps me tell a story. I was drawn to this collection by Red Ivy Design at Sweet Shoppe because of the word “Brave” and I thought that would be a good subject to focus on right now. I love how it all turned out!

Over the past couple of years, there has been a running trend of an organizational hack called bullet journaling. People have found success in various areas of their life by mastering this style of journaling. I’ve seen a lot of pins and hacks online for using this type of journal to help you through hard times as well so this is a great time to give it a try!

Since my blog is named “Katie the Creative Lady” I’m sure you are aware that I’m a believer in making time and energy for creativity. There are different seasons in life and we all have times where we can’t (or don’t) squeeze in creative activities. I’ve been in that space for a few months now with sickness, holidays, moving, and setting up a new house. I kept telling myself that I would get back to it when life slowed down. Well, boy has that happened! Suddenly, our calendars are empty and we are doing our part by practicing social distancing to keep ourselves and everyone else healthy. While I still have responsibilities (and some minor unfinished house constructions details), I’m grateful for my love of creativity as I know it will be a helpful coping mechanism in this uncertain time.