India Circus Home Decor

HAPPY FRIDAY, Y'ALL! I am so, so, SOOO excited about this glorious Fall weather! For whatever reason, it has really inspired me to do a ton of revamping to this little home of ours. I've been cleaning out closets, organizing drawers, sprucing up home decor... and even purging my classroom supplies (a very, very hard thing to do for teachers. You really never know when you could use... oh, I don't know... everything you've ever owned). 

When we first moved into this loft, we only brought about 1/3 of the things we had in our old house. We made trip after trip to Goodwill to drop off trash bags full of items that we didn't want/need or that didn't fit our style. For the loft, we tried to keep our color scheme pretty simple and earthy: lots of browns and greens. And even though I loved the relaxing-ness of our new decor, it made me realize that I really need ALL THE BRIGHT COLORS! 

Over the past couple of months, I've shared a couple of posts about how I've been adding a little cheer and whimsy to our super earthy space. Today, I'm going to share another brand that I just have to let y'all know about: India Circus! The name sounds totally amazing, right? Well, the decor goes right along with the amazing-ness of the name! Think along the lines of some items that you would find at Pier One... except a little more authentic! 

I ordered two of these gorgeous peacock pillow covers and I have just been so absolutely pleased with how beautiful and vibrant they are! In addition to beautiful home decor, India Circus also has gorgeous dishes, bags, and even iPad and phone cases! 

Affordable, cheerful, and exotic? 

Oh, you can definitely count me in for that! :) 

Could your apartment/dorm/house use a little splash of color like mine needed? Did you check out the website? If so, what were some of your favorite things?! 

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Fall Break Painting Projects

Whew! Y'all... remember that month called "October"? Where the heck did it go? Seriously. I don't know if you noticed, but someone totally stole some days out of it because it could not have been that short! Thank you so much to all of you who read the series that I worked on in October! There are still more upcoming posts for it but I think I hit on all of the most frequently requested ones! Another thing crossed off of my to-do list! YAY! 

What you didn't see (because I was focused on studying posts) was that we did a TON of decorating, organizing, and projects around our home in October, too! 

Now it's no secret that I'm a little obsessed with Scotch Expressions tape (AKA "washi" tape). I use it in my planner, on my calendar, and for project, after project, after project around our loft! 

But over the month of October, I had a chance to try out a different kind of tape from Scotch, the ScotchBlue TM Painter�s Tape Delicate Surface with Advanced Edge-Lock TM Paint Line Protector (AKA "painter's" tape). 

 

Yes, that's right... I worked on some painting projects over the past month and I forgot how much fun that is! Every time I see amazing-looking living spaces on Pinterest, I'm so tempted to go out and buy a bunch of new home decor. And the only problem with that is that... well, you know... it costs money. So, during my Fall Break lull in schoolwork, I used my time to revamp the things that I already around the house! 

In order to make this vase ombre, I taped the middle, then spray painted the top white and the bottom turquoise.

Once the paint dried, I removed the tape and blended the two in the middle until it looked ombre-ish enough for me!

Here's the final result!

This little step-stool used to be a burgundy color... but obviously, pink is better!

This one still needs a second coat of paint, but you get the picture :) 

 

When I finished my projects, I gave the rest to my mom, who is in the process of decorating the "guest cottage" (AKA the fancy name she gave the mother-in-law suite) at my parents' house. I kind of feel like my husband and I have become expert painters over the past year... while staging our house, we ended up painting almost every single room. Okay, because he reads this blog, let me rephrase that... HE repainted almost every single room while I stood by the ladder ready to call 911 if he fell. 

(My efforts to save his life from a hypothetical-potentially-life-threatening accident were not as appreciated as one would expect them to be.)

No paint where it's not supposed to be! Perfect!! 

Did you work on any projects over Fall Break? Do you have anything that could use some "revamping" in your home? 

BTW, the paint I used was spray paint from Lowe's and it was $3 a can! 

So these were all SUPER inexpensive projects!! :) 

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3 Ways to Form Study Habits

Sometimes it�s easy to make yourself sit down and do some schoolwork (like when your assignment is due tomorrow) and other times, you kind of need a little boost of motivation to sit down and get started on it. That doesn�t mean that you�re a slacker, or lazy, or a bad student. It�s hard for everyone to force themselves to work on things that don�t necessarily have a sense of urgency. Schoolwork and studying really rely on discipline and habit. It takes work and organization� and even planning (YAY!).

We often hear that it takes 21 (or is it 28?) days to form a new habit.  And, with that already in the back of my mind, I heard something pretty interesting earlier this year when I was researching for the 4 Rules for Effective Studying post. In that post, there is a video of a lecture from a professor (Dr. Marty Lobdell), and he suggests a really cool idea: having a �study lamp�. I kind of blended those two ideas together and came up with a couple of other ways to create a study habit/routine in my everyday life.

So, here are 3 tricks that you can use to get into the habit of studying daily, too! 

1: Use a "Study Lamp"

This is the idea from Dr. Lobdell. He especially suggests it for students who study and sleep in the same room (aka bedrooms and dorms). A �study lamp� is a lamp (obviously) in your study area that you only turn on when you sit down and actually start on your schoolwork. When you get up to take a break, turn the lamp off. And don�t use this lamp for any other reason! The reasoning behind this is that your mind eventually gets into the habit of going into �study mode� when the lamp is turned on.

2: Designate a "Study Chair"

That idea kind of inspired me to think of some other things that could trigger that kind of conditioned response. Consider designating a �study chair�. A place where you always sit when you�re working, but that you don�t use for anything else. Since we moved into our loft, I�ve been using one specific chair at our dining table as my �work station�. Even though I sit at that table for dinner and other things, I never use that particular chair unless I�m working. When I�m there, I know it�s time to get stuff done!

3: Buy a "Study Candle"

Along those same lines, I also recently did some research on Aromatherapy, which I am just fascinated by. Did you know that smell is our biggest link to memory? I can still spray the body spray I wore in high school (Love Spell!) and immediately be brought back to those memories. And the smell of dew-covered grass in the morning reminds me of all the soccer and softball games I played as a little girl. The same with the smell of the beach of course! So, I thought, why not do the same with studying?

I have a �study candle� that I light when it�s time to get some schoolwork done, and a �relaxing candle� that I light when I�m ready to calm down my mind, turn off my electronics at night, and just be present in the moment. When I looked into the scents that would be most effective for working, the things that I found were just SO interesting! Different scents have different effects on our brains, such as boosting confidence, creativity, and focus. There are some links below to take you to some of these articles!

Here are some scents that may help boost your productivity:

Cinnamon: Concentration and Focus
Jasmine: Calmness, Confidence, Energy, and Optimism
Lavender: Calmness
Lemon: Calmness, Clarity, and Concentration
Peppermint: Clarity, Concentration, and Creativity
Rosemary: Energy & Memory

And here are the different scents that I use at different parts of the day:

Morning: Jasmine, Peppermint, or Rosemary
Night: Jasmine, Lavender, or Lemon
Studying: Cinnamon, Lemon, Peppermint, or Rosemary
Writing: Jasmine or Peppermint

This, this, and this are some interesting articles to check out if you want to read more about aromatherapy or the Olfactory Bulb (the reason smell and memory are closely linked)! There are even more scent suggestions in the articles, the ones listed above are just my personal favorites. Just a few helpful things to keep in mind while you�re walking down that oh-so-alluring candle aisle at Target! 

� it gets me every time! :) 

Do you use any of these kinds of tricks to get yourself into the habit of studying? Have you tried using aromatherapy ever? Do you have a special routine or space designated to �study time�? 

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Inspiration Board Cheat Sheet

Inspiration Boards are one of my favorite things to check out on Pinterest! They are just one of those things that you don�t really notice� until you do. I�m always like �ooh, I love this workspace!� and then when I go back through my �Office.� board, I notice that they all have this one thing in common: inspiration/motivation/vision boards. Does this sound like something that Chris from Parks & Rec would do? Yes. But also, they can be the perfect reflection of your personality and your future goals! 

Not only that� remember the Feng Shui post from a couple of days ago? The ideal position for your desk is somewhere where it faces the door but, if that just isn�t possible (like in a small apartment, bedroom, or dorm), the next best thing is to make the wall �disappear�. Inspiration Boards are the perfect way to do that! They can be a source of inspiration, motivation, encouragement, pride in past accomplishments, and just something that is nice to look at after hours of reading or writing or crying because math is hard. 

There are literally TONS (okay, fine� there are figuratively tons) of examples out there! But what makes the perfect �recipe� for an inspiration board? Here is my oh-so-humble opinion:

Here�s a perfect one from Lauren Conrad (of course)!

Choose a color scheme

Your space should reflect you! Some workspaces are really dreamy looking with whites and subdued colors. You�ll want that to carry over into your inspiration board. Others are full of bold colors, or maybe bright pinks and turquoises! Whatever your design-style is, make sure that your board goes along with it and isn't distracting or out of place. Also, add a little depth with tickets, ribbons, cards, etc! 

Can we please talk about the absolute genius-ness of this clipboard inspiration board from Trendenser?! 

Gather things that make you happy

This is pretty simple. Think of things that make you smile when you see them! Do you love the color pink? Penguins? Pretty dresses? Traveling? When you find or take photos of things that you just absolutely love, stick these up here! They will provide a safe haven for your mind when you�re feeling all depleted from reading a textbook that is likely droning on about something that bores you. 

This one from Megan at Honey, We�re Home is super girly and stylish. LOVE!

Give yourself something to look forward to

There is also the �vision board� part of inspiration boards. The part that reminds you why you do whatever it is that you do! Where do you want to be 10 years from now? What field of work do you hope to be in? Where do you want to travel? Choose photos or quotes or headlines or pictures of people who inspire you! And don�t forget to include your long and short term goals! Create a �big picture�! 

I love how this one found on Flickr. just blends in with the rest of the space!

Include Your past accomplishments

Have you won a blue ribbon for something? Or maybe received a certificate for some type of special recognition? What about photos from graduation, or your acceptance letter or test scores? Put these up here! A big part of staying motivated is to remind yourself of your past achievements! When things get hard, just look back and think, �This was challenging, but I did it. If I could do it then, I can do it now.�

Here�s another clever alternative to a �board� from Warm Home Decors!

Throw in some personal photos

Did you know that you can print out Instagram photos? Of course you did because I am the last person on Earth to find this out. I like Instas better than regular photos! Why? Because they really force you to choose one thing to represent an entire event and to focus on finding the beauty in everyday life. Print out a few of your favorites! Remind yourself that, even though your life is crazy, it is also beautiful!  

Inspiration boards are a great idea for a study space because they can just keep you motivated and on the right track by reminding you of what you�ve already done, what you�re doing now, and what you will do in the future! 

They can help you turn your dreams into goals, your goals into plans, and your plans into real life! :) 

Do you have a bulletin board or �inspiration board� in your study space? What kinds of things are on it? Has it helped you stay motivated when your schoolwork gets frustrating? 

More about → Inspiration Board Cheat Sheet

How to Feng Shui Your Study Space

About a year ago, I started to become really interested in Feng Shui. Our house was for sale, trying to accomplish a TON of work for school, and I just wanted an all around better �flow� to our living space. The more I read about staging homes to sell, and creating the best office space for productivity, the more I saw that everything seemed to align with the basic Feng Shui principles. And whether or not you believe in Bagua Maps or Yin & Yang, the basics of Feng Shui can help make any space feel more balanced, comfortable, organized, and vibrant! I mean really, what more could we ask for?!

Now, let me also say that Feng Shui is a super in-depth practice and that I am certainly no expert (yet!) but this is kind of like the Kindergarten-level of Feng Shui rules. If you find it super intriguing like I do, I would suggest checking out this blog because it is always full of the best tips ever! Okay, here we go!

Choose an air-purifying plant, such as a fern, lily, palm, or any of the other plants from this list. Some other great choices? Bamboo or a cactus! Because they are easy to take care of and also represent good luck! Plus, you know, cacti are SO in right now!

Position your desk to face the door (if possible). The picture above from Feng Shui and Beyond gives the perfect example of how a desk should be in position to the door. You want to see everything that�s coming at you! However, try not to sit directly in front of the door (it�s considered a path of negative energy). If you can�t move your desk or there isn�t room, there are two things you can do:

First, you could put a mirror above your desk that allows you to see the door (although, mirrors can also �reflect the bad energy� of others who come into your space. The second choice is to make your wall �disappear� by creating a vision board of things that inspire you. Totally your choice! And even though it might be tempting to put your desk right in front of the window, it�s considered bad Feng Shui because it�s also tempting to LOOK OUT that window� and we�re trying to cut down on distractions!

Clear all clutter from your desk: Throw away junk/unneeded things and organize everything that is of importance to you and your goals. A good rule I read here is to clean off 50% of the items of your desk every time you are finished using it. Kind of like Clear to Neutral, right?! Check out this picture above from Feng Shui and Beyond�

What would you have to do before starting work at this desk? Seriously. Open the computer and start, right?! That�s the goal! Deal with paper at least once a week in order to keep it from getting out of hand! Kind of in the same category as clearing out clutter, make sure to hide any power cords or other wires from plain sight because they�re distracting (and ugly).

Use positive/uplifting artwork. Basically, everything around you influences you. This is why a lot of schools use the color blue in their hallways. Because it is considered a calming color. It�s also why Target uses the color red, which is linked to impulsive behavior (basket full of unnecessary items, anyone?). You want everything in your study space to be positive and encouraging to you and your goals! Do you have a small wind chime? Put it next to your window, those things always sound happy!

Choose items with rounded corners rather than sharp edges. According to Feng Shui, sharp corners can cause us stress. Well, with a semester full of crazy work assignments and deadlines, we need to eliminate all the stress we possibly can, right? Rounded vases, candles, tables, etc. can be great additions to the �flow� of a workspace! A globe is also a nice thing to have in a study space!

Try to incorporate all 5 Feng Shui elements (earth, fire, metal, water, wood) into your study space. This can be as simple as adding a jar of sand for �earth�, a small candle for �fire, a tin pencil holder for �metal�, a picture of an ocean or fish for water (or actual fish!), and a wooden chair, shelf, or desk for the �wood� element! Keeping a somewhat equal amount of these items creates �balance� in your space!

Use lots of light� preferably 3 different light sources! And yes, natural light definitely counts! Brighter spaces boost productivity and encourage us to keep our spaces cleaner! Also, it�s easier on your eyes!



Like I said, these are just some of the most basic of all Feng Shui tips� there is SO, SO much information out there that you can really get as in-depth as you want to with it! I tried to help you out a little because each of these photos is linked to a different website about Feng Shui!

And if you still aren�t a believer in �energy�, at least you�ll benefit from a bright, clutter less space! :)



Does your current work space follow any of these rules? Would you change it to try some out? If you have tried some of these tips, could you tell that they made a difference in your work? Why (or why not)? 

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