Thrifting For My Birthday!

Hey everyone!

Today is my birthday but I have to go to class for the biggest part of the day. Since I can't do anything really fun for most of the day, I thought I would just share a video of something I love to do...go thrifting! I recently hauled a bunch of awesome items for next to nothing at St. Vincent's thrift stores. I got something from Tastefully Simple, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Ikea, and a sweet little milk glass dish just to name a few. Feel free to watch my playlist of Budget Friendly Hauls!

Be sure to leave a comment. Hit the subscribe button on my channel if you haven't already done so, because I have a special giveaway coming up very soon! You won't want to miss it!

Thanks for watching and for hanging out with me today! Enjoy your holiday weekend. Most people get a three day weekend away from work, but I won't be one of them! Boohoo!!! Such is life! Check back in with me tomorrow when I share a special project I am enjoying to help me stay connected with my teenage daughter and nine year old son!

Hugs,

What's In My Bible Study Tote?

Hey everyone!

I love watching videos that show what people carry around in their purses and their bags. I know it might sound crazy to some people, but it's just fun for me to watch them! When I was younger, I remember my mom keeping me quiet at church by showing me things in her purse. I loved looking in there with her because that was the ONLY time any of us ever got into my mother's purse. I also just love seeing how people arrange things in their purse or bag, and it gives me new ideas of things I might want to start carrying with me!

I purchased this little tote at Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon. It was very inexpensive, but it was the perfect place to store all of my Bible study pens, paper, and miscellaneous items. I grab this to take to church with me and it's also close to my bed for studying God's Word in my room. If you are curious to what all I have inside, please watch my video below:



Do you have a way to store your Bible study materials? I would love to know what you use to keep things organized. Thanks for hanging out with me today!

Hugs,

How To Organize Washi Tape

Hey everyone!

I absolutely love washi tape! I have a wide array of colors, shapes, sizes, and designs. I believe I have washi in every color you can think of. I use washi tape for my planners, handmade cards, my smash book, and even in my prayer journal. Here is a look at my washi collection:

As you can see from the picture above, it isn't organized right now. I have tried so many different ways to organize my washi tape that I had just about given up on finding a solution that would work for me. I wanted something portable, something easy to access, and something that I could quickly find what I want. Mason jars didn't work because they were too tall and I had to dump everything out to get to the washi at the bottom of the jar. Decorative boxes didn't work because it was too hard to see what all I had. Containers with drawers weren't the right size and it seemed like I could never really keep it organized. So I was at a loss for what to do.

A quick trip to Walmart and the Dollar Tree and $10 (or less) later, I was able to come up with a solution to my washi tape disorganization dilemma. Watch this quick video to see how I was able to get this pile of washi tape under control and organized beautifully! Now I can easily find any washi tape I want quickly and it's portable!


How do you all store your washi tape? What is your favorite washi tape? I'd love to see your storage solutions! Hope this gives you ideas and inspiration for finding ways to organize your washi tape collection! Thanks for hanging out with me today!

Hugs,

Prayer Journal Journey

Hey, everyone!

My friend, Christina, and I made our very own prayer journals! We had been looking online for tutorials, how-to videos, or whatever we could find to give us some ideas and inspiration but we found very few. So, I thought maybe we should share our prayer journals with our viewers on YouTube, because there surely must be others out there who would like to create similar projects, right?

Christina and I are really great friends and have been for many years now! She and I share so many fun crafting ideas and projects. If I can think it up, I will drag her along for the journey! It is so much fun to have a crafting partner, especially one that is so creative and talented. She created TWO beautiful prayer journals and they are both so very different than the one I made! I will leave a link to her YouTube video so you can see how she created them.

Here is a look at my prayer journal!

I found the quote on Gina Duke's website. She has this beautiful printable available for free. The inside of my prayer journal looks like this:

I just took a composition notebook and added some washi, scrapbook paper, alphabet stickers, and some free printables from my Pinterest board called Prayer Journal. This first section is for all the prayers I want to pray for my husband, Paul, and for our marriage.

I used some washi to create a little flap so I can journal behind this section with the quote: What if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday? Sure does make you think, doesn't it?

The second section is for my children. I have a title page with both Kadesia and Javan's names on it. There is a prayer to the right for each child that I found online. I loved it and wanted to use it in this section. 

The last section is for any prayers that I want to pray specifically for myself. These prayers include ministries that I feel God calling me into; things I am struggling with; things that I need help with; issues I am looking to God for guidance; healing for my body; and that sort of thing.

I firmly believe you have to have a willing heart to go where ever God may lead you. I know I cannot do the things God has called me to do within my own strength, so that is why I included the scripture found in Philippians 4:13. It is one of my favorite verses and I say it aloud often!

The back of the prayer journal is shown below. I love the rainbow heart, rainbow washi, and the rainbow Names of God printable. God created the rainbow as a PROMISE and I love knowing that He will always see me through!

 The back cover had a bar code on it, but I wanted to cover it up so I just grabbed some sparkly washi, a label from a set I got at the Dollar Tree, and a stained-glass cross sticker I bought from the Christian bookstore.

If you created a Prayer Journal, I would absolutely love to see it. Please share a link in the comment section below. I have already started a second prayer journal in a different format that I will share soon! I have a video tutorial on how I put this prayer journal together. I will include my video and Christina's video below.

If you are new to my YouTube channel, please be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified when new videos are uploaded. God bless you and thanks for watching!


Hugs,

Debt Busting Notebook

Hey everyone!

I have been trying so many different methods through the years to organize our bills and debts. Some ideas have worked and others have failed miserably. I know this idea I'm going to share today isn't for everyone, but I have created a notebook to help me with this debt-busting journey I'm on. Watch today's video so you can see how I set up my Debt Busting notebook.


Thanks for watching! Please go to my channel and subscribe so you never miss a video! I'm going to be offering another giveaway on my channel very soon! Don't miss out!

Hugs,

Rest In Jesus Bible Study lesson

Hey everyone!

Have you ever looked at the scriptures like a party invitation? I know it might sound like a silly question, but Jesus gives us an invitation to rest in Matthew 11:28-30. I broke down each of those verses to find out who Jesus is talking to, why He would invite us to rest, and how we can do that. Grab your Bible and follow along as we explore God's Word today!

If the video does not show up on your screen, please follow this link to watch the Rest In Jesus Bible Study lesson. Thanks for watching! Please let me know if this has been a blessing to you!

Hugs,

Washi Tape Collection & Storage

Hey everyone!

A few years ago was the first time I ever heard of Washi tape. I heard the term and thought, "What is Washi?" I had never heard of it.

Now I love all things paper crafting as many of you know! I could spend HOURS shopping for office supplies, sorting through pens and sticky notes, updating my planner, etc. So I was fascinated by the concept of a decorative tape that was re-positionable without damaging the item it was adhered to.

Nearly any store I walk into, it seems, carries some version of Washi tape. Even my favorite store ever: The Dollar Tree, carries a version of this tape. It varies from $1 to several dollars, depending on where you shop.

You may have a lot more Washi tape than I do. If so, please leave me a comment and let me know how you store your Washi. I decided to store mine in a makeup bag, but soon outgrew it. Watch this video to see my Washi tape collection and my new storage solution at the end. I absolutely love it!!

Thanks for watching!!!

Hugs,

Much Is Required

Hey everyone!

Many of you have asked me to start sharing a Bible Study/Devotion type video on my YouTube channel. I have prayed about it a lot and felt God leading me in that direction. So today I have completed my first one.

Please let me know what you think. I hope it blesses you. I hope you will be encouraged. If you have any requests for a Bible Study topic, please let me know. I will do my best to get to each request. I have several topics that many have asked me for.

My goal is to share one of these videos each week. It takes a little while to record, edit, and upload each video so I think that is a reasonable goal. Feel free to share this video with others that you feel would be blessed by it. You can go to my YouTube channel and click on the subscribe button so you will be notified when new videos are uploaded. Click the thumbs up if you like the video.

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement. Please be in prayer that if this is truly where God wants to lead me that I will follow Him and stay in His Will! God bless you!!



Hugs,

Dollar Tree Bags, Tags, and Paper

Hey everyone!

I am not usually one to get excited about Christmas. I do not get into the Santa thing and I do not tell my children about that. If you want to do that, I will not tell you not to, but it's not my thing and that should be okay, too. The Christmas memories I have are mostly good. The Christmas memories with my parents and siblings only were definitely the best. I remember the dinners the most...houseful of family, lots of cousins to play with...definitely very noisy with lots of laughter and fun. The food was of course delicious because my mother made most of it and she is an outstanding cook.

Now that my dad is gone, this Christmas feels different. I know it's not even Thanksgiving, and no I am not one to rush the holiday seasons. I love Thanksgiving for the same reason I just mentioned about Christmas memories. This year will be our first Thanksgiving without my dad. This will also be our first Christmas without my dad. And it will be the first Christmas living in my mother's home after many, many years of being gone. I am with my husband and our children so it will definitely be something very different this year.

I guess in an unconscious effort today I sort of got into the Christmas Spirit. Maybe I thought that buying some pretty wrapping paper and gift bags like I do every year would sort of be in keeping with tradition. After all, many of the traditions we held fast to before will be a thing of the past this year. Some things may remain the same, but nothing will truly be the same without my Dad here to celebrate with.

I was happy to pick up a few Christmas presents today, though, and I was delighted to find some gift wrap, tags, and bags today. I decided to create a YouTube video showing some of the bags I purchased. Here are a couple of photos:

Here is the video:

Thank you for hanging out with me today! I felt inspired to share a new post on my other blog: Bridge-ing The Gap called Before and After. Hope you will go and check it out!

Hugs,

House of Aqua's Thrift Store Sweater Challenge

Hey everyone!

As many of you know I love to go shopping at thrift stores. It is something my mother and I enjoy doing from time to time and we always manage to find really nice things for next to nothing. I've been wanting some sweaters and maybe a couple flannel shirts but they are usually so expensive that I haven't wanted to spend that much money on a single piece of clothing...especially for myself. I had been looking around and found some really nice pieces at some different second hand places and I want to share those with you now.

This coat by St. John's Bay was only $3 at St. Vincent's Catholic store. It looked brand new and it is so soft. It feels like suede on the outside and the inside is so soft. I know my daughter will be super warm when she wears this coat this winter.

This short-sleeved denim jacket caught my mom's eye and she asked me if I liked it. I really do. It will be nice to have an extra layer for those fall days when it's still warm outside. The weather we have been having lately is perfect for that. It was only $2 at St. Vincent's Catholic store. I can wear a tank top or camisole underneath and one of my long skirts.

Another score for Kadesia! She loves purple so I thought she would really like this sweater. It was only $1 at St. Vincent's Catholic store. There is a cable-like weave pattern that I thought was so nice and it's light enough that she can wear this throughout the fall.

This striped shirt is bigger than I normally wear but I thought it was cute and I can always layer it. I was looking for some button-front tops since I don't own any ... until now! For only $1 at St. Vincent's I thought I would grab it!

Mom and I went to the Goodwill store in Bloomington. It's north of us about 40 miles (+/-) . It had been a while since either of us had gone up there and I just wanted to look at the sweaters. We got a lot of items for cheap and this sweater by Land's End was one of the great finds! It was $4.29. I really like the color and it still looked really good.

Mother bought this on a different thrift store trip we took to Jasper. I have a YouTube video about it that you might have watched. This was only $2 or $3 at St. Vincent's Catholic store down there. It is nice and big...super soft and oh so comfy! I love it!

When I saw this shirt hanging on the rack at Kara's Kloset I really liked the colors in it. It just looks so fallish to me and I really loved that it was short-sleeved. I have worn this a lot since getting it. My mom had taken some of my kids' clothing in and was given in-store credit for the items. So this shirt was totally FREE!

This is the last item I am sharing today. I really like how this has just the one big button and two small pockets on the front. The sleeves come about to my elbows and it's another great layering piece. I got this at Kara's Kloset also for FREE!

What do you guys like to find at the thrift stores? I usually like to get home decor items, storage solutions, strawberries, and clothing. I created a video featuring these clothes for the House of Aqua's Thrift Store Sweater Challenge. You can watch the video below.

Be sure you check out my contest video where I am giving away $100 in gift cards to 10 stores! You can see that video here.

Thanks for watching! Have a great day!

Hugs,

$100 GIVEAWAY!

Hey everyone!

I have over 100 subscribers to my YouTube channel. I think that is so exciting and I wanted to do something fun to celebrate! I am giving away $100 to one of my subscribers! I am going to pick up a $10 gift card from each of the following stores:

*Rue 21*
*Walmart*
*Target*
*Lowe's*
*Joann Fabric*
*Maurice's*
*JC Penney's*
*Victoria's Secret*
*Bath and Body Works*
*Dollar Tree*

The rules are very simple:
You must be 18 years of age or older.
You must live in the United States.
You must be a public subscriber.
You must leave a comment below the video on my YouTube channel.

Hugs,

Mail Call: Erin Condren, Walmart Beauty Box and The Greeting Farm

Hey, everyone!

Let's face it when you become an adult, getting the mail is just not always fun. Usually there is a handful of bills to pay, maybe a few magazines or junk mail, but rarely is there anything exciting sitting in the mailbox waiting for you.

Recently though I have had a lot of FUN mail! Let me show you what all I got!

Mail Call #1

I received $10 from Erin Condren's website. I could hardly wait to get some customized stickers for my planner. The colors are vibrant and I love how I can create stickers that say exactly what I want for the events that my family enjoy the most.

You can personalize your stickers here. To get your $10 coupon click here.

Mail Call #2

Here is a look inside the beauty box I received from Walmart:

For $5 I was able to get all of these products to sample. There will be four beauty boxes per year mailed out and the $5 includes shipping and handling. If you enjoy getting samples of beauty products to try before you buy, you may want to sign up for this offer.

Mail Call #3

The third and final package I am sharing with you all is from The Greeting Farm. My sweet friend Christina Wernstrum from Christina's Creative Expressions sent me a gift card for my birthday to TGF. I absolutely love their stamps and these are the ones I purchased. Thank you, Christina!

You can watch the video I created that shows you all the items I received in the mail. Be sure to watch all the way to the end to find out about an upcoming giveaway I will be doing! More details to come very soon!

Thanks for hanging out with me today. Check back soon for more ideas and inspiration!

Hugs,

Mother Daughter Tag

Hey everyone!

My daughter and I did a YouTube video recently and I thought I would share it with you all here. Kadesia wanted to create a video with me for my channel and I always enjoy that! We weren't sure what questions to ask each other and we didn't want the video to be very long. I did a Google search and came across a blog by Aimee Lane called It's Overflowing. She did a post on a Mother Daughter Tea Party activity she came up with. It is a really neat way to get to know your mom or daughter better and we enjoyed ourselves. The blog post is Mother-Daughter: How Well Do You Know Me Questions. Definitely go over to her blog and check it out if you haven't already. The post is from 2012 I believe but it is timeless and a lot of fun!

I will include the YouTube video here with our Mother Daughter Tag. I hope you will enjoy watching us as we learn how much we really know/don't know about one another! I was a little surprised!

Thank you all for watching. As always, if you have not subscribed to my YouTube channel, I encourage you to do so. You will be notified each time I upload a new video. I have a lot of fun creating these videos and definitely enjoy hearing from each one of you. Please leave me a comment below if you enjoyed it. You can also give the video a thumbs up on my YouTube channel and leave a comment there as well. Hope you'll join me for another blog post soon!

Hugs,

Bridgett's Favorites

Hey everyone!

I have never done a video on some of my favorite things before so I thought I would do that today! There are so many videos on favorite items on YouTube but I am not a make-up guru or fashion and beauty trend setter so I wasn't sure if I should even do one of those videos. However, I think it will be fun to share with you all some of my favorite items to use and briefly explain what I like about those items. They will be totally random, but definitely include some chocolate! So without further delay, here are a few of my favorite things:

Thanks for watching my video! I hope you enjoyed it. If you have used any of these items and want to share your thoughts on them, be sure to leave me a comment below. You can always leave me a comment on my channel and be sure to subscribe!

Hugs,

What's In My Purse?

Hey, everyone!

I have watched a lot of YouTube videos where women show all the contents of their purse or handbag and how it is all organized. I enjoy watching them because sometimes other people have different things they carry with them that I just do not ever think to bring along. Often I have found creative ways to organize items in my purse that seem to fall to the bottom of the bag and get lost, or spill out and make a mess... So I thought I would share what is in my purse and how I have found a solution that works well for me in keeping things neat and organized.

The biggest tip I can give for finding a purse/handbag to stay organized is to find one that has a lot of pockets/compartments and enough room for everything you want to carry. Another idea is to use small cosmetic bags or zippered pouches to keep similar items together and keep things organized. If you just love a purse/handbag and it doesn't have a lot of pockets, you can get a purse organizer online or in some stores. They offer additional organization and just fits down inside your purse. I happened to find a really great purse at a local store that supports persons with disabilities. Here is my purse:

This is the front with 2 pockets and 2 more pockets on each side.

This is the back with a large pocket secured with velcro. 

Closer look inside my purse! 

And a final look inside.

I purchased my purse from the First Chance Center in Paoli, Indiana. You definitely must check them out! FCC's mission is to promote abilities and provide opportunities for persons with disabilities or other barriers to fully participate in their community.

I hope you will enjoy the video.

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you like this video. You can also give it a thumbs up! I love reading every single comment you leave here and on my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching!

Hugs,

Javan's Seventh Birthday Party

Hey everyone!

My baby boy turned seven years old on August 17, 2014. We had a WONDERFUL birthday celebration and I created a fun little video to share with you. It was super fun to work with my mom on decorations and the food. Paul helped us decorate and had some great ideas. He helped so much with the party activities, too! Paul's mom did a fabulous job on the Lego cupcakes! I hope you'll enjoy this party as much as we did!


Thanks for watching! I love all your comments. Each time you like a video it really encourages me to create more videos. You all are a big part of my journey and I am grateful!

Hugs,

Spring Mill Candlelight Tour 2014

Hey, everyone!

Yesterday, Saturday, September 20, 2014, my husband and I took our daughter and her friend to the annual Spring Mill State Park Candlelight Tour in Mitchell, Indiana. We had a lot of fun for the most part but we went earlier than we normally do and it just was not the same this year. It is nice when it's getting towards dark and the village is lit up with candlelight and the park is buzzing with energy as family and friends stroll along the historic village and step back into time to see it come alive in a very different way than we know today. We will definitely go back again next year, but maybe try to time it a little differently.

We took a few photographs and I will share those with you here now:

I made a list of vlogs I wanted to record this year and so I was definitely excited to get the opportunity to vlog this trip. There are some choppy scenes as I was moving along with the camera and trying to record as much as I could without being intrusive to other visitors at the park. I think it turned out fine and all in all it was a lot of fun. I will share that video with you here:

Thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope you enjoyed the videos and the vlog. If there is anything else you would like to see, please let me know and I will do my best to record it for you. I have several more videos lined up to show you and I hope to get some of those filmed this coming week and then I can upload them soon after. Thanks for watching! If you like what you see, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Hugs,