January 3, 2018 by Krista

Calendar Journal

This post was originally posted in 2014. It was last updated Jan 2018 to maintain accuracy and pertinence. Full 2018 calendar journal templates are available in my Etsy shop.

Do you keep a journal? I am the worst journal-keeper ever.

I used to be pretty good at it when I was younger – okay, I used to do it when I was younger. Being good at it might be a little too generous. But, then… Life. Marriage. Motherhood.

I was so busy living (sometimes surviving) day-to-day that I was sure I wouldn’t forget the important stuff and the daily stuff was monotonous. Did I really need another journal entry about dishes and laundry and baby snot on my clothes?

WHY WE NEED TO JOURNAL THE LITTLE THINGS

But, I realized that I WAS forgetting the important stuff. Wait, what day was it when my beautiful little niece was born again?! And how much did the doctor say my youngest weighed at his well-baby check up last week? If only I’d written it down!

And, you know what, the dishes, laundry and baby snot DOES matter. It might seem like small, inconsequential chores and a boring daily grind – but it’s my life! It’s not always glamorous and fancy, but it’s mine.

When I’m feeling unaccomplished and like I spent my day just spinning my wheels, some times I need to account for the little things like laundry and dishes. Because keeping my family fed and clothed IS important. Having a physical list of my accomplishments helps me have the motivation to do it all again the next day.

EVEN YOU HAVE TIME TO JOURNAL WITH A CALENDAR JOURNAL

Part of my struggle was time. I felt like I didn’t have time to sit down and write for 20 minutes! And filling only three lines in my journal was kind of depressing.

However, I seemed to have stumbled on something that works! A Calendar Journal. I first saw a similar idea on a Flickr feed. The one I originally saw, I can’t seem to locate, but the link is quite similar. I totally fell in love with the idea. THIS I can do! AND I DID!

Eleven months down and I only missed a week plus a couple days. It looks so neat and only takes a couple minutes a day (usually right before I go to bed). The good news: I think I’m hooked!

WHY THE CALENDAR JOURNAL WORKS SO WELL

The limited space is just what I need. It’s small enough that I don’t feel like I need to spend large chunks of time on writing. I just jot down a few quick notes and I’m done. Some times, I write in it while I brush my teeth at night. Super quick, super easy.

It’s also a creative outlet for me and that’s just what I need to wind down and relax at the end of my day.

And, if I do miss a couple days, I can go back pretty easily and fill it in. (Confession: I may or may not have spent some time filling in about a month and a half in November and December… whoops. But I was able to get it all filled in before I forgot everything and my calendar still looks awesome.)

February 2013 Calendar

A couple of close-ups of my Calendar Journal. Nothing super detailed or incredibly personal… unless you want it to be. Sometimes, my entries were just a check list of things I’d done that day – dishes, laundry, wiping up baby snot – and sometimes they were more personal – like we’re having another baby!

As you can see, I am no artist and the little sketches are just simple little drawings.

Click the image to view a larger version of my Calendar Journal.

WANT TO CREATE YOUR OWN CALENDAR JOURNAL?

I have the 2018 calendars available for purchase in my Etsy shop. It is a one-time, single instant download with all 12 months. The PDF file has all 24 calendar pages and is ready for printing right at home. Another nice thing about the PDF packet is that you will be able to print the pages back-to-back all at one time. Each month also has extra space to write down additional notes. I used it for things my kids said, anything exciting that didn’t fit in the box for that day and little extras (like when my husband surprised me with a new cell phone upgrade).

I never got around to binding my pages, they are all still just loose papers, as you can see in the photos above. Some binding ideas are: You could put them in a three-ring binder, bind them with tape and glue or sew them together.

UPDATE 2018: I now do my calendar journal in my planner. I used the Mom on the Go Planner from leafytreetops.com last year. I love the weekly spread where each day is split into three columns. I use the bottom box to do my calendar journal and the top boxes are my appointments and to-dos. Any blank calendar or planner would work though. I also really like the Erin Condren Life Planner – it has the three column layout as well.

Enjoy and happy journaling!

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.

November 16, 2016 by Krista

22 things that will make Christmas easier this year!

ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS DIGITAL BUNDLE

Are you getting ready for the holidays yet?

Do you wish there was a way to make your holiday preparation easier?

Do you just love the most wonderful time of the year?

If the holidays have you in a stressed out craze already or if the mention of mistletoe, sipping hot cocoa, and winter wonderlands make you a little giddy inside, listen up! Christmastime is my favorite time of the year! But, it’s busy and crazy and sometimes even stressful! Well, you can just call me Santa; because, I have a holly jolly surprise just for you that will help you calm the stress so you can enjoy the season!

Pay attention because… This. Is. Amazing! {And it’s only for a limited time so you gotta hurry!}

Okay, ready…

Remember the fall bundle that I and some other great digital designers put together a couple months ago? It was a complete and total HIT; and, as soon as it was over we had tons of you asking us if we could do this again for Christmas!

Well… You asked. We listened!

That’s right! We’ve done it again! I teamed up with 20+ other extremely talented designers. Some of them are big names you already know and love, and some of them are up-and-comers; but, they are all spectacular at what they do. This time, we created the ULTIMATE All Things Christmas bundle!

ANNND – of course – we’re totally hooking you up with a crazy, killer not-gonna-believe-this deal!!

Yes, this one is EVEN better than the last! Not even kidding. There’s tons of value in this bundle. If you’re like me, you’re on a strict budget for the holidays and don’t have a lot of extra cash to throw around. This is gonna help you out and be totally worth the cost. I cross my heart, pinky promise it’ll be worth every penny.

Let’s take a look!

There’s over 500 pages of printables that will bring out the best kind of cheer for your holidays.

22 helpful Christmas printables— all for a CRAZY LOW price!

You can get over $200 worth of ADORABLE items

for only $15!

No. That’s not a typo. You really will save over 90% when you grab this holly jolly bundle!

Get gorgeous wall art, gift ideas, stocking stuffers, service ideas, holiday organizers, holiday recipes, and MORE all from your favorite bloggers!

Order from me, and you’ll get a mini bundle of some of my most popular holiday printables as a FREE bonus! My bonuses alone are valued at more than you’ll pay for the whole bundle+bonuses!

How’s that for a KILLER steal?!

You’re waiting for the catch, right? Well, there is a teeny, tiny one…

You’ll have to ACT FAST- this is for THREE DAYS ONLY!

If you miss it, you’re out of luck and it will cost you hundreds to piece it together yourself.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

This is a 3-Day sale, but the price goes up a little each day. So, you can snag the whole All Things Christmas bundle for ONLY $15 today! BUT the price is going up tomorrow! Here’s the breakdown…

Buy on the 16th for only $15
Buy on the 17th for only $18
Buy on the 18th for only $20
After that – this deal is GONE FOREVER!

You definitely want to act fast to lock-in the best price!

Okay, are you ready to see what’s included?! I think you’ve waited long enough…

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

Beautiful Christmas Prints to Decorate Your Home for the Holiday Season
Fun and Creative Christmas Gift Ideas and Stocking Stuffers
Meaningful Family Countdowns and Advents for Making Memories
Delicious Holiday Recipes and Party Printables
AND SO MUCH MORE! {See EVERYTHING in detail below!}

All together – it’s a collection of OVER 500 PAGES of darling printables… only available for a limited time!

Yeah, {Santa} BABY!

Get Yours Now for just $15!

WANT TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT EVERYTHING INCLUDED? WHAT EXACTLY IS IN THIS KILLER ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS BUNDLE? CHECK IT OUT!

1. Christmas Memories Printables by A Girl and a Glue Gun – Keep track of all those fun Christmas memories with this printable pack! These printables to help you remember the food you ate, movies you watched, songs you sang, how your Christmas tree was decorated, people who visited, and presents you gave and received! There is even a calendar to give a day-by-day of fun events and spots to glue on pictures and your Christmas card! AND BONUS kids printables! Kids can draw their presents, what the Christmas tree looks like and their favorite Christmas activity! Print it year after year and your kids will have a blast reading about all the fun things they have done over the years! (I wish I had this growing up! Don’t you wish you could remember what you got for Christmas when you were 10?!)

2. “Bust out the Ugly Sweater” Party Printables by A Pretty Little Party – Bust out your ugly sweaters for the most wonderful time of the year! Entertain your friends & family in style at the ugliest party in town. This printable pack includes everything you need to print, cut & create your own party. Including: Assembly Instructions, an 8×10 Voting Sign, 3×5 Official Voting Ballots, Award Badges for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place, Cupcake Toppers and Decorative Decals, Fold Over Menu Cards, Straw/Appetizer Flags, Wine/Sparkling Cider Bottle Labels, AND an “Ugly” Banner with two decorative pennants!

3. Gorgeous Hand Lettered Christmas Prints by Alexa Z Design – Tis the season for holiday decor! Use these darling printables to spruce up your walls or pop in a frame for an easy holiday gift. Each of the 3 prints is sized as an 8×10 and hand lettered by the crazy talented Alexa Lurcher. (Honestly, I would buy this pack for these prints alone. Not even kidding!)

4. “Oh Joy” Banner by Andrea’s Notebook – Deck your halls with this fun and festive banner! All you have to do is: cut, hole punch, thread, and hang! Doesn’t get much easier than that. And don’t you just adore this fun Christmas sweater pattern?

Ready to get yours?

5. Watercolor Holiday Printables by Bella Love Letters – What’s better than curling up in a comfy chair listening to Dean Martin croon your favorite holiday tunes? How about a collection of watercolor printables – so gorgeous they’ll make you forget how cold it actually is outside? Each and every element was hand painted with love by Bella Love Letters and is print-ready. Use the charming “Baby, it’s Cold Outside” print as cheerful holiday decor (or heck, a quick gift for a neighbor!), send the “Merry and Bright” greeting card to your grandmother (she’ll love it), attach the recipe card to a gift plate of your famous homemade cookies, and have the kiddos write their letter to Santa in style this year!

6. Christ-Like Christmas Service by Chicken Scratch n Sniff – Over 40 pages to help you fill your Christmas season with acts of love. Perfect to do as a family or for date night! From bag toppers to gift tags and candy wrappers, you and your family will discover just what you need to compliment your acts of kindness.

7. Two Christmas Countdowns AND Stocking Stuffers by The Dating Divas – TWO of our best-selling countdowns, the Spouse Christmas Countdown AND the Family Christmas Countdown to help you celebrate each day leading up to Christmas! Our adorable Stocking Stuffer Kit complete with gift card holders, coupon booklets, Santa letters, and SO much more!

8. Intentional Christmas Planner by Faith Filled Parenting – The holidays can be so chaotic. We sometimes forget the true meaning of even enjoying the holiday season. This intentional planner will walk you step by step to a less-busy holiday. We will talk decor, meals, gifts, and more. This Christmas is all about simple, and this guide is your ticket to enjoying your Christmas with your family.

Don’t miss out on this amazing deal!

9. Your Santa’s Family Initiative Kit by Frugal Confessions – Santa has issued your family an initiative this holiday season and a family reward under the Christmas tree is up for grabs upon successful completion. Are you and your kiddos up for the challenge? You will decide which of the 3 initiatives − spreading Christmas cheer, volunteering at a location, or completing a household project your family will complete together, and what the family reward will be. (Pssst: don’t worry about coming up with ideas yourself! Santa’s included a sheet of ideas to get your brain working).

10. Merry Christmas Party Pack by Happy and Blessed Home – This printable party pack includes 30 pages of Christmas Party Printables including a Merry Christmas banner, Santa and his sleigh cupcake toppers, napkin rings, straw toppers, labels, invitations, and Christmas party decorations.

11. The Christmas Story- A 12-day Advent Banner by How Does She – A simple way to focus on the real meaning of Christmas: Christ! This darling 12-day advent banner features the story of the birth of Christ, as found in the Bible. Simply print the double-sided banner and flip over each day to reveal the full Christmas story by Christmas Eve. Perfect for stringing across the mantle or hanging on the tree.

12. Christmas Cootie Catcher with Bonus Christmas Lunch Jokes by Inspiration Made Simple – Worried about having a silent night around the Christmas dinner table? Well don’t be! This Christmas Cootie Catcher is the perfect way to keep conversation light and fun. Bundle includes a pre-filled cootie catcher full of fun Christmas themed questions and jokes, as well as a blank version so you can come up with your own! BONUS! Also included is a set of 8 Christmas themed lunch jokes, sure to get the kids in the Christmas spirit.

The Holiday Cheer is waiting for you…

13. Holiday Gift Tag Variety Pack by Less Ordinary Designs – Spruce up your holiday packaging with these printable gift tags from Less Ordinary Designs. They are incredibly easy to download and print and they take your gift wrapping to the next level. With 8 unique designs included, you will surely find something to coordinate with your wrapping paper or gift bag. Print one style or print them all! Why buy tags when you can print as many of these as you’d like, year after year? These are the perfect finishing touch and will look great top your holiday gifts.

14. Christmas Printable Art Bundle by Lolly Jane – No time to decorate for the holidays? Need a festive gift tag to tie onto holiday gifts? Want to make a bunting that’s Christmas-y and cute but easy to make? Print off this 3-pack of holiday themed printable art and size it to whatever suits your fancy! Frame for easy decor, size down and punch a hole in the corner to make a gift tag, or print all 3 cute styles and string up for an easy holiday bunting! All 3 styles are perfectly coordinated in the popular buffalo check and handwritten fonts together OR print separately to break them up. Whatever you do, we know you will love these cuties!

15. Favorite Holiday Recipes by One Good Thing by Jillee – Jillee says… Holidays = Happy Times in our house! There’s no place like home for the holidays, and not just the ones that take place in November and December. No holiday celebration would be complete without some really good food thrown in the mix! Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without My Mom’s Famous Sour Cream Cookies…and the 4th of July wouldn’t be the 4th of July without my Mom’s Homemade Ice Cream and Snickerdoodles! I love sharing the recipes that have become traditions in our family and a delicious part of our “happy times!” Find a new tradition for YOUR family in this beautiful collection of recipes my family uses to make the holidays special throughout the year!

16. Printable Christmas Planner by Planning Inspired – Get organized this holiday season! This Christmas Planner includes everything you need to take the stress & chaos out of the holidays! Use these holiday planner printables to create your own Christmas Binder and have the most organized Christmas ever! Print and punch for your 8 1/2 x 11 inch binder or similar sized planner!

You’ll be oh, so organized with those printables! Get ’em now!

17. Ultimate Road Trip Bundle by Printable Crush – This Ultimate Road Trip Printable set includes everything your kids need to prep for your road trip, activities for the car, and pages to keep track of all the memories you make along the way! Set includes over 40 pages of bright, colorful and fun printables for all ages.

18. 10 of the Best Cookie Recipes for Santa by Six Sisters’ Stuff – Santa will definitely leave you the best gifts on the block with this eCookbook! From festive and cutesy, to downright delicious – these cookie recipes will be the highlight of the season. Download the simple PDF eCookbook to any device and use it all season long.

19. “Pun”ny Christmas Song Neighbor Gift Tags by Somewhat Simple – Such a clever and simple way to put a smile on your neighbors’ faces this Christmas! These tags will take the guesswork out of gift-giving this year – grab some muffin mixes, Sprite, Hershey Kisses, Joy Dish Soaps, seasonings, Jolly Ranchers, etc. and start ‘singing” your way to a less stressful holiday season!

20. Essential Holiday Recipe Guide Book and Holiday Printable Art by That Crazy Oil Lady – Do you LOVE essential oils? Whip up some crazy-awesome Christmas recipes in the kitchen and in your home with the Essential Holiday Recipe Guide and Holiday Printable Art set! These beautiful recipe cards are great to create family memories with, gift to a loved on this holiday season with some essential oils, or use as a gift tag along with the recipe you make yourself! You are not going to want to miss out on this beautiful bundle, that includes beautiful framable wall art as well! Simply print on paper or card stock and cut out the recipe cards! Use the outer red edge as your guide, (cut if off completely) leaving the outside edge of your Recipe cards white.You can use these recipe cards yourself, or gift them along with essential oils, a hot-cocoa ready mug with an essential oil bottle, or one of the fab brownie recipes in here, this holiday season! The recipe cards are the perfect size to put into a standard 4×6 photo album if you are looking to share this as a gift, or if you’re looking for a cute and pretty way to store the recipes in your own kitchen!

Everything you need this holiday season is waiting for you!

21. Christmas and Holiday Gift Tag AND Banner Set by Thirty Handmade Days – This adorable Christmas Gift Tag Bundle is perfect to make all of your gifts sparkle this holiday season. There are over 50 tags – from movie lines to handlettered awesomeness, for Christmas and the holidays in general. There’s also a Merry & Bright banner in there too. You will love all 7 pages included in this set!

22. Naughty or Nice Love Coupon Set for Couples by While He Was Napping – Spice up your love life when your sweetie opens up these Naughty or Nice Love Coupons this holiday season! This is one naughty list your sweetheart should definitely be on! You’ll both thank me later. Included are 66 ready-to-print coupons, 4 cover options, and blank templates so you can customize them just for you and your lover; plus, printing is a breeze and assembly is simple – just print ’em out, cut ’em apart and wrap ’em up!

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! DON’T MISS OUT ON THESE BONUSES!

If you grab your copy of the All Things Christmas Printable Bundle through one of my links, I’m going to throw in my own little mini bundle just for you! My little mini bundle is valued at $24 – that means you’ll get your money’s worth just from my bonuses!

See?! Told ya! EVERYTHING you could ever want or need this Christmas! Buy now and save BIG! This All Things Christmas bundle has a value of well over $200 but you can get it all for just $15 – $20!

Remember the price goes up tomorrow and this is only a 3-day sale!

What are you waiting for?! RUN, don’t walk!

Put a little hustle in your step and get the All Things Christmas printable bundle because the price jumps up tomorrow and it’s ONLY AVAILABLE FOR TWO MORE DAYS! Get on it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

November 15, 2016 by Krista

Sneak Peek: All Things Christmas Printable Bundle

So, tomorrow is the big day! I’m SO excited to share this awesome sneak peek with you. I can’t spill all the beans on just what is in this holly jolly All Things Christmas Bundle, but here’s a quick little peek on just now this bundle is going to get you rocking around the Christmas tree this season.

WHY IS THIS SO AMAZING?

This bundle will help you:

deck the halls with some gorgeous decor and art.
plan the perfect holiday party in a snap! You’ll have everything you need to organize your party, step by step.
plan and prepare a delicious holiday dinner with amazing recipes your whole family will love.
find great gift ideas and stocking stuffers to help with your holiday gift giving.

I can’t say too much more about exactly what is in the bundle. Sometimes, the best part is the surprise and I’m not going to ruin it. Come back tomorrow and I’ll give you all the details, pinky promise. You won’t want to miss this. Trust me.

WANT MORE HOLIDAY CHEER?

I CAN tell you about the extra fun bonus you’ll get from me if you order your bundle from one of my links, though. It’s actually a little mini bundle all on its own! Some of my most popular Christmas products will be all yours, just for getting your awesome bundle of Christmas Cheer through my link.

HOW ABOUT SOME FREEBIES?

How would you like:

an activity the kids can make themselves that will keep giving all December long?
something to spice up the holidays with your sweetie?
a super simple stocking stuffer the kids will LOVE?
a countdown for New Year’s Eve the whole family will enjoy?

You want all that? Well, you GOT IT! But, ONLY if you order your bundle through my link.

HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR FREEBIES:

How do you know if you have my link? There’s a few ways, just choose your favorite option:

Subscribe to my email list and I will send you the link right to your inbox.
Join my Facebook group and I will post the link in the group each day of the sale.
Come back to my website tomorrow and find the post all about the Christmas Bundle Sale.
Follow me on social media and follow my links on my posts about the All Things Christmas Bundle.
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Pinterest
- Twitter
- Google+

This is going to be AMAZING! Make sure you don’t miss out on this once-in-a- lifetime bundle. After Friday, this bundle will break apart and you will have to get all the pieces separately. And I definitely WON’T be giving away my mini bundle again. It’s worth more than the price of the bundle all by itself. Don’t miss out!

See you tomorrow!

January 29, 2016 by Krista

February Journal Calendar Printables

It’s that time of the month… no, not that time of the month! It’s time for a new Journal Calendar and the February Journal Calendar is here! February will be here before I turn around – which I do a lot around here with three busy boys – so now is the time to print out the February calendar! How did you do with your January calendar? I’ll admit there was a week I had to go back and fill the whole week in one Saturday night… but that’s what I love about this system. As long as you don’t get too far behind, you can play catch up pretty easily. I got so wordy a few times I didn’t have space to draw a little picture, which made my inner amateur artist a little sad. Maybe I talk too much? Hmm… So, let’s cut the yammering and just get to it.

FEBRUARY JOURNAL CALENDAR

You can download the PDF file of both pages (only one is pictured above) for the February 2016 Journal Calendar. The two pages are combined into one file, so you only have to download once. Missed out on last month’s calendar. That’s okay! It’s never too late to start! And if you want to print last month’s journal calendar and try to go back and fill some of it in, you can do that too!

Why is the Journal Calendar so amazing? Because it’s the easiest way I have found to keep a daily journal and it takes less than five minutes a day. I’m a busy momma and as much as I like to write, I don’t often have the time to sit and write a journal entry each day. With the Journal Calendar, I can capture the highlights and get a pretty complete picture of what my day, week, month and year has been like… It’s usually full of laundry… without feeling like I’m leaving other things unfinished because I was trying to write in my journal. Here is what my January Calendar looks like so far… pretty cool, right?

DOWNLOAD THE FEBRUARY 2016 JOURNAL CALENDAR!

January 4, 2016 by Krista

January Calendar Printable for Journal Calendar

It’s that time again. Time to print off your Journal Calendar for this year. At least the January calendar. I started doing a Journal Calendar in 2013 and it has been a really neat project. The photo is from my 2013 calendar. Unfortunately, I didn’t do it last year. I got in 23 days and then I lost it for a while and never went back to fill it in. I’m really sad I don’t have last year’s memories all saved as a journal calendar. But, this year, I’m gonna stick to it… and put it in my planner binder so it doesn’t get lost again.

Would you like to make one too? It’s super easy and it looks awesome. The best part is that it doesn’t take a lot of time. I have always loved to write. When I was younger, I used to write in a journal for big events. I got older and discovered blogging and did that in lieu of a pen and paper journal for a while. Then I started blogging here at While He Was Napping and my personal life wasn’t being recorded anymore. I didn’t have time to do both, it seemed. And then I saw a similar photo (on tumblr, maybe?) and knew that this was the answer to my dilemma. This only takes five minutes a day – I can handle that. Here’s a peek at the one I did in January 2014.

Below is the 2016 January calendar. You’ll want to print both pages. You can click the images and it’ll take you to download the full quality ones. Save them on your computer and then print. The pages are formatted to 8.5×11″ and print best on white paper. I printed my calendars double-sided so, when you put them all together, it is laid out just like a planner. If you want the whole year right now, no waiting, you can order the 2016 Journal Calendars from my Etsy shop in instant download format. Otherwise, I will put the new calendar up just before the beginning of each month. Just come back and print it off and you’ll be all set for free. This way, you can try it out and see if you like it before you commit to the whole calendar. Wink, wink. Good Luck!

PRINT JANUARY CALENDAR – PAGE 1

PRINT JANUARY CALENDAR – PAGE 2

This is totally worth the five minutes a day and I love being to look back. Recording a little something each day helps me remember the little things better too. Not all my days are full of amazing adventures, but writing down something has helped me realized that some times the little moments are actually big ones. And even if they are just little moments, life is made up of lots of little moments. And that can be pretty amazing. Happy 2016!