How to Scrapbook

This is probably going to be my favorite blog topic. I love to scrapbook. There is nothing else that I would rather spend my time on then scrapbooking. Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of time while I am in school to do so. That is why I have an organized process I go by when I begin scrapbooking so I don't waste any time wondering where I should start. I save every little item, picture, wristband, movie ticket, concert ticket throughout the year so at the end of the year I have those items that add character to the scrapbooks.

I pretty much taught myself how to scrapbook. Although scrapbooking doesn't require a genius, it still needs to have a process for the end result to look good and appeal to over people. So I wanted to share this process with you in case you are new to scrapbooking or just need a more organized way of doing it.

Step 1- Decide what scrapbook you want to do. Is it a scrapbook from a cruise you went on, or beach trip? Is the scrapbook a continuous book of a pet or child? You can do anything! One of my favorite scrapbooks that I have done was for the whole year of 2011. Everything that happened within the year 2011 I put in that particular book. But choose this first so you have an idea of what you are going to do. Also this step would include buying your essential ideas that I have listed below.

Step 2- Is deciding what pictures you are going to use. If you’re like me, I save every picture, even some of the blurry ones, so I start by going through the pictures I want to use for the scrapbook and narrow it down to the best ones. Tip! Pictures that are taken up close and pretty much take up the entire 4x6 aren't always the best ones to choose. Choosing pictures that are taken further away from the object or people work a lot better because then you can cut and crop the picture to make shapes after you print them. So, figure out which pictures you are going to use and print them!

Step 3- Once I have printed the pictures, I decide which pictures will go together on a page. For example, if I have several days at the beach, all of day one at the beach would be on one page or pictures from a dinner would be all on one page. Once you decide which pictures will be together, decide on a theme for that particular page. Will it be a birthday theme? Will it be a holiday or beach theme? Decide on a theme you want to do for that particular page.

Step 4- The next step is to pick out a background page (12x12 card stock paper) that goes along with your theme. You can also cut two different pages in half and use two different colors. Anything you want to use for the background. I also choose at least three more 12x12 pages that match my background color and go along with my theme.

Step 5- This is where the fun starts... Next I place (NOT GLUE) the pictures onto my background page and decide a few things: where I want each picture on the page, if I want the pictures to have a title, turned a certain way or anything else. I figure out the placement of the pictures that flows best. Also, at this time, if you know what stickers and embellishments you are going to use, you can go ahead and set (but don't glue or stick!) the stickers onto the page where you want them to eventually be glued. You're basically figuring out the layout of everything that will be glued onto the page. This is also to make sure everything will fit on the page before you start gluing and it's too late. Tip: for each picture leave room for about 2-3 cm for the background color behind it to be seen.

Step 6- After I decide the layout of the page, I pick what colors I want behind each picture. I hardly ever glue a picture directly onto the background page. By doing this you are adding color and contrast in between the picture and the background page. This is where those 2 or 3 additional pages that match your theme and background page come into play. I decide which color of paper will go behind each picture and then I also decided what shape I will make the picture and the background paper to be. Whether it’s a rectangle, triangle, circle or funky shaped, I decide that now.

Step 7 - is to start cutting the pictures the shape you want them. I would recommend using stencils and tracing along the back of the picture before you cut the picture. Tip: if you use a dark colored pen and trace along the back of the picture, most of the time you can hold the picture up to a light and make sure what you’re cutting out is centered and that you aren't cutting anyone's head off :) I then cut out the paper that will go behind the picture, most of the time it’s the same shape as the picture just a little bigger so you have that 2-3 cm that shows as a ring on the outside of the picture.

Step 8- This is basically a repeat of step 5. I again, lay everything out onto the background page to make sure it fits (this time with each of those background shapes and colors behind the pictures) and looks good. I also recommend at this time to have your stickers and anything else other than your pictures that you want on the page so you can lay them out, without permanently putting them on the page, and see how everything looks.

Step 9- I then start by gluing each picture onto its specific background shape color that you chose and then glue that paper onto the background or main page. For bigger pictures and the corresponding background paper I use scrapbook double sided tape on the outer edges. This just helps keep your pictures from coming unglued. Then you can add stickers or embellishments.
And you are done! You will repeat these steps for each page!

You will eventually learn different tricks and techniques that work best for you!

Below is just a short list of some tools you will need to get started with scrapbooking. Most of these you can buy at Michael's Craft Store

The essentials:

• A scrapbook!
• Pictures
• 12x12 card stock paper. You can get individual or you can buy a whole album that has different pages. Some albums are a specific theme and some albums are just random pages. I love the theme ones!
• Scissors- a normal pair will work, you can also buy the ones that cut the crazy patterns to add some flare to your pictures
• Glue- It has to be ACID FREE AND PHOTO SAFE NON TOXC. I recommend the glue actually made for scrapbooks, you can find it at Michael's
• Double-sided SCRAPBOOK tape
• Stickers and embellishments! My favorite part!
• Stencils
• Ribbon, stamps, sticky letters, anything!

Here is my link to my Pinterest page so anyone can look at my board of Scrapbooking and get some ideas: Megan's Pinterest Page

Thanks for reading! See ya next time!

Organization

One of my greatest talents, I believe, is organization. This is probably because my father was obsessive compulsive and an extreme neat freak and my mom had some amazing organization skills as well. When I was younger, my brother and I had to clean the house and we had to use a six page cleaning checklist that my mother created to go by. It was insane. I guess I got it from both of them, but being organized in every aspect of my life has really helped me throughout my life. Especially in college, you HAVE to be organized to survive college. It has also helped me in each of the jobs that I have worked at. I am currently known as the organization queen at my job. At least once a month I clean out my desk, throw away stuff and organize everything. My co-workers walk by my desk and say, "Is it that time again, Megan?" Or they will say, "Come to my house and organize," which I have highly considered pursuing. I still might, if I ever need the extra cash. But I think I enjoy organizing for myself better than I would for other people. And each time I re-organize something I try out a new method or way or even a different placement. It really refreshes me! Maybe I'm crazy!

One of my favorite blogs that I found through Pinterest is DIY Home Sweet Home and she has this amazing article called, "50 Insanely Clever Organizing Ideas." I love each one! You can click on the link and look at each one. I currently use a couple of these but others I hope to one day do. Another article she has is called, "Ultimate Life Planning System." This one has all sorts of printables that you can use to get every area of your life organized. I really recommend charts and checklist, they really help you stay on task, get the job done, and help you remember what you need to do next time around.

If I were to try and help someone get organized, I would tell them to start with this list: First pull out everything that needs to be organized from that closet or junk drawer, etc. Second, throw away anything that you do not need or is to old to have any use. Third, start categorizing each item and make separate piles for each category. Figure out where and how you are going to store each category. Can these items be put away in an attic because they aren't used a lot? Or do they need to stay close by? Or do they need to be out in the open so you can see them? Next, think about the best way to condense and save as much space as possible. Often times I will look on Pinterest or even Google ways to get organized. If there is something specific you want to organize you can just Google it. For example, I wanted a better way to organize my sock so I searched on Pinterest, "Sock organization" and tons of ideas came up. Most of the time there will be a way to organize anything! Once you figure out what works best for you, do it! In no time you will feel better because you are organized! And then you can stay organized by putting away into the right category each new item that you get or find.

Also here is a link to my Pinterest page where you can look at my board called "Organization" that way you can get some ideas. Also, my For the Home board has several ideas for organizations. Megan's Pinterest

Hope you enjoyed my tips on getting organized!

Recipes for a College Student

One of the many struggles that I have is figuring out what to cook for dinner each night. Thankfully right now my boyfriend and I live with my cousin and her husband so we split the nights to figure out what we are doing for dinner. Coming from a small family my mom didn't have tons of recipes that she cooked from. I would say she probably had about 5 main things she could cook and that was about it. Although I know how to cook, when I first moved out of my parent's house, I didn't know how to cook an enormous amount of dinners. And I don't know about you but I get sick of the same things every week. So, I began searching recipes on Pinterest and have had a lot of success with the recipes I found. If you are like me I don't have a lot of knowledge about adding seasons and spices so I normally chose recipes that don't have a lot of ingredients and needs for spices.

I recommend writing down on little pieces of paper every meal that you know how to cook or want to attempt to cook and throw them in a bucket of some sort. That way when you have no idea what to cook you can just grab one of the pieces of paper out of the bucket and it will jog your memory of what choices you have for dinner. I started this project but haven't yet finished it. I absolutely hate waiting till the last minute to figure out what we are going to cook but it is also hard to figure out what we are going to cook and buy all of it at once, at the beginning of the week. Our lives right now are very hectic and a lot of times things come up at the last minute or friends will call us the day of and ask us to join them for dinner.

Although I still do not have an abundance of recipes for dinner, (I'll get there one day) I have come across a couple of recipes in the last couple of years that have been really good. I want to share these with you so that maybe you can add to your dinner menu. So here they are and I will provide the links to the recipes (they aren't my recipes, I got them off of Pinterest, so I want to give credit to the people that own these recipes):

Dinners:
1. Chicken Casserole- One of my mom's recipes, see below
2. Chicken with Green Beans and potatoes
3. Enchilada Pasta - my favorite!
4. Lasagna - I don't have a link for this, normally I just get Stouffers
5. Taco Soup
6. Steamed Shrimp- my secret for this one is that you can go to Publix or Kroger and go to the seafood section and ask them to steam some shrimp for you! You can pick a seasoning and it takes about 15 minutes and then I just get two sides to go with it. It's so quick and easy! Normally I get about 1 pound for two people
7. Grilled Chicken - I pair this one with two sides, such as green beans and mac & cheese and cook the chicken on the George Foreman Grill. I use Mrs. Dash seasoning.
8. Tilapia- We found this amazing seasoning from Whole Foods

Breakfast:
1. Breakfast Casserole

Appetizers:
1. Jalapeno poppers- For this one I just take crescent roles and lay them out and then add a little bit of cream cheese, some chopped up bacon, and jalapenos. Then I bake them in the oven for 15 minutes at 350
2. Buffalo Chicken Dip


Chicken Casserole Recipe:

4 chicken breast

2 cans of cream of chicken

2 cans of cream of mushroom

White Rice

Wash chicken breast. Place in pot with water, salt and butter. Boil slow and low about 1 hour. Tear apart chicken in casserole dish. Heat up cream of chicken and mushroom with butter, if thick, then add some of the broth from the chicken. STIR! Will burn on bottom. Pour over chicken in dish. Place in oven on 350 degrees for about 30 mins. Cook the rice and serve as a side!

Hope you enjoyed my recipes for a college student!

Budgeting

I believe that knowing how to make a budget and stick to it is a valuable thing to know how to do as you grow up, especially through your college years. Thankfully I was an over-achiever and started budgeting about the age of 18. No one taught me, I had to teach myself. It was the summer after I graduated from high school that I began budgeting.  I had to figure out how to afford my bills and college all on my own with my $8.00 an hour job. So the budgeting began.

I begin by writing down everything I need to pay for whether it was a necessity or not. I figure out how much each item costs in a month, some items it took me a couple of months to figure out. For example, it took me a couple months to figure out how much I needed to budget for food, which I still most of the time under-budget for. I then make envelopes for each item that I need to budget for and write on the envelope what it was, how often I have to pay it (one a month, every 6 weeks etc.), how much the total needs to be to pay the bill and then divide that by how many pay checks I will receive before I have to pay it. So I basically break it down so that I am pulling a portion of money out of each paycheck for each bill. For example, I have to pay $85.00 each month on a loan. I get paid twice a month so I pull 42.50 out of the first paycheck, put the cash in the envelope, then pull 42.50 out of my second paycheck and put it in the same envelope, that way I will have a total of $85.00 to pay my loan when it is due. I do this for all of my bills. Now I know you have probably heard of the envelope system by Dave Ramsey, but believe it or not I was doing this envelope system for years before I knew about Dave Ramsey's envelope system, and mine is a little different. But his is just as effective.

One of the best books that I read on my journey to becoming independent was On My Own Two Feet by Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar. I'll put the link to the Amazon page where you can buy it at the bottom of this post. It is a great book; it taught me several things about what you need to know for personal finance; including saving, investing, credit cards, credit scores (which I knew absolutely nothing about! They should teach you this stuff in high school), budgeting, etc. One of the greatest concepts that the book talks about it that there is a "Power Trio of Budgeting." Basically budgeting your income should fall into one of these categories: Future Expense, Foundation Expenses and Fun Expenses. Future expenses should be 15% of your gross income (25% is your taxes) and future expense are your savings, like retirement, emergency fund, big-ticket items, etc. Your foundation expenses are 45% of your gross income and these are all your bills, gas, rent, and food, stuff that you have to have and pay for. Then there is fun expense which should only be 15% of your gross income and these items are things you want not need. If you really try to stick to this strategy, I promise you will be happier in the end! So for me and my nerdyness I color coordinate my envelopes with which category they fall under. And yes I still budget for my fun expenses! For example I budget to get a pedicure once a month. It is one of those fun expenses and its color is purple. This usually costs me $24 and that includes the tip. So I take $12 out of one paycheck and $12 out of the next. Now I know this can be a whole lot of cash in your hand and this may not work for you. For me it works best because as soon as my paycheck gets dropped onto my debit card I almost immediately go and withdrawal the cash I need to do my budget and fill up my envelopes. I put the envelopes away in a drawer and don't touch them until I need to refill the money or pay the bill. This keeps me from having the money on my debit card and easily available to me...because I will spend it.

Another great book is The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke, it's by Suze Orman. I have not finished it yet but it talks about credit scores, student debt, retirement saving, investing, and making big-ticket purchases. I will include a link to this book to buy at the bottom as well.

Another thing you can do to keep learning about budgeting, saving and investing is to follow Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard, Suze Orman and any other financial advisers on your social media outlets. I follow all three of these people and they are constantly giving advice and writing articles about personal finance.

There are so many things that I could keep writing about as far as saving for retirement, credit cards, credit scores, and other stuff but since this post is only suppose to be about budgeting, I will end it here!

Books:
On My Own Two Feet
The Young, Fabulous and Broke

Tips and Tricks

So you're a college student and let's face it, you're pretty much broke. How I have made it this far without living on the streets is a true miracle. But thankfully I taught myself a long time ago how to budget. I will talk more about budgeting later, but today I want to let everyone in on a few secrets that I know. Some of these you may already know, some you may not.

First of all there is this AMAZING website called Chegg. Thankfully someone told me about it my first semester of college and I have used it every semester since. I thought that every college student knew about Chegg, but it occurred to me this semester that not everyone knows about it. I am taking a consumer behavior class this summer and we have to post six purchases that we have made each week. The professor encouraged us to post about the book that we were required to buy for class. As I starting reading I realized that most of the students had bought their book from the campus book store and paid well over $100 dollars for their book. I paid $26! It is so irrational to over spend on books! College students are already low on cash because of tuition, don't pay more money on overpriced books! Also there are several other websites out there that you can rent or buy books from and not spend a lot of money. I always compare the prices on Chegg to Campusbookrentals.com. On most textbook sites, if you are renting, you don't get to choose your return date, and most of the time the date is way past your final exams. Well with campus book rentals you can pick your due date and it will save you some money! It's seriously awesome! Amazon also sometimes has great low prices for books and if you have a Kindle sometimes it is cheaper to rent the e-text. So my recommendation is to start with Google, when you need to buy or rent a textbook google what is out there and find the best price. Trust me it will save you thousands of dollars once your college career is over. And what college student doesn't need to save money?

The other tip I also just discovered. It should seriously be a law of college nature that you only find out about the good stuff your college offers when you only have one or two semesters left. Anyways I just discovered that Kennesaw State University offers free training for programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop. Why did I not know about this sooner?? One day I am going to put a pamphlet out that is titled, "The stuff you really need to know" and hand it out to college students after orientation is over! But back to my point they offer so many classes where you can go and learn how to use all sorts of programs. This is extremely important, trust me, if you did not learn about some of these programs in high school or college you need to learn them! You will use them in your career! Especially if your a marketing major, trust me!

Another great tip/trick on how to save money is that most places whether it's a retail or restaurant give student discounts. All you have to do is show a current school ID. Most of the time it isn't a huge discount, but it certainty adds up over the four years...or six years.

I found this great article on BuzzFeed that has more tips and trick for a college student. Here it is: College Student Life Hacks


See ya'll next time to talk about budgeting :)

First Blog

My first blog ever. It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to blog about. We are suppose to pick something that we enjoy or are passionate about. A few things came to my mind. I enjoy crafting, scrap-booking, and learning how to do DIY projects. I also enjoy baking, reading books, watching movies, and spending time with family and friends. 
But to be honest I wouldn't put any of these at the top of my list and say "This is what I am passionate about." 

To be passionate means having an intense emotion or strong feeling about something. Maybe it is just me, or maybe I haven't really gotten a chance to dive deep into any one of these hobbies and really find a passion for it. Being a college student and having to work full time doesn't give you much time to do the things you love to do or are passionate about. Work. Homework. Sleep. School. Homework. Sleep. I think you get the picture... On top of that there's other commitments, relationships with friends, family and boyfriend to maintain. Somewhere in there I have to eat. Oh and exercise to lose the "freshmen fifteen" that I never got rid of. And let's not forget I have to have fun and enjoy my twenties. *Sigh* There just isn't enough time in the day. And before you say I sound over-dramatic, don't get me wrong I am thankful that I have a job and am able to go to college. Sometimes I just wish I had more time to do other things I enjoy.  I just do the best I can with my current situation. I do my very best with my school work and getting involved with my college. I try to be the best employee that I can be at my job. I do this because that is what I have a "strong feeling" about. Doing my best, right here, right now. 

So I guess this is what I am passionate about. Being a college student and working to make it by. I'm passionate about just being right here in this moment, on this path, where ever it may lead. Being passionate about striving to reach my goals and dreams. Being passionate about not giving up no matter how hard it gets. Knowing that one day I will reach my goals of graduating college and finding a career I love. Maybe then I will be able to immerse myself into a hobby and be truly passionate about it.  Or maybe by then I will just be passionate about being a newly wedded wife ;)

Where am I going with all of this? I have always wanted to help other people out in some way. I don't really know how I will do that with my major, Marketing. But for now, I had a thought that maybe I could help someone by telling them how I am making it through life juggling school, work, a social life, and other things. 

So I want to help my fellow college students, in any way that I possibly can. Whether it be ways to save money, or how to live on a tight budget, or how to get yourself organized. Hopefully I can help my sharing quick and easy recipes or what I like to call "life hacks." I will also be sharing different ideas and things that I learn along the way on my journey to success. 

-Megan