You might have read my post about books I want to read in 2012, which, don’t be too surprised, but I’m almost done with my first book! Not to be too, totally cheesy, but I really love having goals!

If you’re jaded on the whole goal thing, here is a quick pick-me-up on the subject from one of my favorite leaders, Dave Ramsey!

so here they are, 18 things I want to make in 2012! also, pinned here. (on paper, on purpose!)

1. make homemade face wash

2. make homemade myers soap

3. make homemade bagels

4. make a winter wreath

5. make a spring & summer wreath (still looking for inspiration on this one)

6. make a fall wreath (this one too)

7. make homemade chicken stock

8. make homemade apple butter

9. make a headboard for the king or art for above (still looking for inspiration!)

10. have friends over for a meal at least once a month

11. make babyfood for baby L

12. make a bunting for the house

13. make homemade laundry detergent

14. make custom onesies (as baby shower gifts!)

15. start making homemade gifts (this has begun, but will be a year long attempt!)

16. make homemade bread (my momma’s recipe is simply the best!)

17. make cloth envelopes

18. make a whiteboard and/or bulletin board for office (supplies are purchased, more forthcoming!)

It has long plagued pinners everywhere that they there are so many good ideas and so little time to actually execute them. But, I do believe that a good idea encourages other good ideas. And even if my laundry room never looks like any of these, at least I have an idea of what it would be nice for it to look like.

And even if I never make a single one of these crafts, at least its encouraging me to think outside of the box.

But today, in a flash, I made something that I’ve been thinking about for awhile now. Our packing list for when we go out of town, a very long list now that we’re a family of three. And since we’ve been out of town quite a bit with our little one (5 times in less than 4 months) we make up our packing list. So today, I printed it out, and framed it, with check boxes beside each item. Why I’ve never done this before is beyond me. It was so easy, and will be so helpful to have (and really easy to update as our family grows).

You can download a blank packing list here for your purposes. Customize it with your very own list!

Can’t wait for the week after Christmas (Jer has the week off) I’m going to be making many more pinterest items!

I’m pinning this right now! See you on pinterest.

ps Coming soon, a tutorial on how to pin on iphone & ipad using pin it! get excited.

I decided that it was quite time for a new look here at kellycain.com.

It’s the most fun to be able to change it around, and I’ve decided that with this look, it will update with the seasons, when it’s fall it will look like fall here, winter, spring, and summer will follow suit.

Did you know that I would love to do a blog header for your blog too? If you’re interested, you should let me know, because I’ll do it for FREE if you write a post about it on your blog and post it to facebook. That’s right, FREE.

Here’s one I did recently for my friend Kristin, and gave her a bit of an updated look on her blog:

So what are you waiting for? Email me, and let’s chat!

I saw this video on Mike Paschal’s blog and really loved it…

What did I love about it?

1. It’s so simple

2. Some of the things cost NO money at all

3. #25 Stop trying to be someone elses perfect.

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

And you? What do you like/love about it?

I know, I know, it’s not even Halloween yet! What am I doing even mentioning Christmas. To my friend Aaron, who hates it when people do this, I’m sorry.

And I love Thanksgiving, and in no way trying to by pass it, just trying to plan ahead, especially this year.

But the truth is, Christmas is upon us, every year it seems to do it, just sneaks right in.

The past few years, I’ve had the best intentions of designing our Christmas cards, and I think last year I did, but this year, my time is much more limited, so I’ve been checking out my options. Truly there is nothing like receiving a personalized card in the mail. It never gets old. So, I try to be intentional about sending cards, year after year. And now, that our family has grown, it is an absolute must!

This year, I’ve started looking into different photo cards, so that we can feature our favorite Liam and his adorableness. I just checked out shutterfly’s christmas photo card collection, so many stylish ones to choose from. It will be hard to pick just one.

like this one… it’s so cute!

(No, that’s not my family, just an example of a photo card I love!)

A few years ago, after Jer and I got married, all mom wanted was a photo album with at least 20 pictures from our wedding. I made her a photobook instead, and it was a big hit. I’m thinking of making a photobook for our the grandparents this year for Christmas, too (shhhh, it’s a secret, if you’re reading this and you know them, don’t tell!). I don’t know about you, but don’t you think they’ve gotten so much cuter than they used to be?

In the way of Christmas besides looking at photocards, and making my wish list (Liam’s too), and gift ideas for family and friends list (in evernote), I’ve also been checking out ideas for decorating, and diy crafts to make, and starting new traditions with my family. After all, it is the most wonderful time of the year (or should be… that’s why I thought finding this free e-book on how to live simply during the holidays, would be helpful to all of us)

I also really want to host a make-your-own ornament party this year! What fun it would be, especially with the onset of pinterest! Whew! So many good ideas, so litte time!

Oh, and, Jer and I have started thinking about our black friday shopping too, we’ve done it the past 2 years (yes we were those crazy 4am shoppers!) it’s so much fun, and you can really get some major deals!

What are you doing to get ready for the holidays? Have any cool sites/resources to share? Please pass them along!

I have long loved unlined journals, unlined paper, for note taking, people think I’m crazy – I think I’m onto something. The stores think I’m crazy too, because it is rare, RARE that you can find a classy unlined journal, and graph paper – holy moly, keep me away. Clearly this guy, Mike Rhode of roh design is ahead of the game on unlined note-taking. Oh so talented.

Here are the totally awesome sketch notes from my fave speakers at the leadercast:

John Maxwell

John Maxwell/Seth Godin

Seth Godin

Suzy Welch (right side)

Dave Ramsey (right side)

I love these. If only I could take notes in such a snazzy way!

For the past 2 days I’ve been tweaking, adding plugins, and trying to get my site where I’d like it.

Here are a few things that have changed.

1. The background color, probably the most obvious. Not sure that I’ll keep it this color, but for now, I’m liking it and how it makes the other colors pop!

2. The title fonts (posts & widgets) – I wanted something a little more girly, but not over the top. So Desyrel it was.

3. The picture – I added my personal picture and updated my mini bio on the about page.

4. Disqus for commenting, I wanted something a bit more interactive, so I stepped it up in this area and went with Disqus.

5. The header – I wanted something more robust and identifiable. I’ve wavered too long in this category.

6. The tag line – After reading John 10:10 – it seems like life to the full, is more correct than to the fullest, so I’ve updated this bit.

7. The header and footer are now grey, instead of black. Softens the page a bit.

8. Networked blogs – I added a little widget to the side, that connects with facebook. This will also help promote the blog via facebook.

What do you think? Anything you would add or take away?

You must, you just must download this wallpaper. It’s lovely, and flowery, but it won’t overwhelm you with hearts and all of the hallmarkyness of Valentines, it just says lovely, and it makes me smile.

Here it is:

or you can download it here.

The lovebird joy logo at the bottom can be explained completely here. Much, much more to come on that!

it’s been beautiful here. snowy. rare for this little coastal town. i snapped a few pictures before the beautiful whiteness melted away.

and a project that took me a few weeks to round up supplies for, but i truly love the outcome. plus that little birdie is just what those feathers needed!

how are you celebrating this snowy & cold season?

I have long -loved desktop wallpaper designs! Smashing Magazine has a great collection of them every month!

I decided that this year for 2011, I would give it a shot as well!

So here are my two (one with the calendar & one without) January desktop wallpapers for your downloading pleasure!

January wallpaper with calendar

January calendarless