Fun Friday – All About V-Day!!

Posted on 30 January, 2015 by admin

Wow, did this week fly by for anyone else but me? Today’s Fun Friday is ALL about Valentine’s Day!!

Do you miss those days when it was just the two of you? But, that just isn’t the case anymore, now that you have little people running around, who seem to be sapping your romantic flow. But, you want your guy to know that he is still #1 in your book. No matter how tired you may be.

Most men are simple. And, most men don’t really give a hoot about Valentine’s Day. Even still, you care, so make sure he knows that you do too. Keep in Mind, that this year Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday (what a treat). So, you have the whole day to make your love feel special.

Here are a few Quick & Hopefully Not Too Dirty Ideas:

Start with Breakfast — In Bed or Out (your choice)

It doesn’t have to be anything GRAND, you know your guy. Add a Sweet Card, a Love Note, or even an IOU (for later fun). Running low on time in the morning, consider prepping your guys breakfast the night before.

Babysitter or Not –

Can you get a baby sitter to stay with the kids so you can have some alone time? What works better for your family? Are you going to hit the movies with your honey during the day, or are you going to make it an official date night and don the heels and flirty dress?? Whatever you do, make sure the plan is put in place long before that weekend. Remember reservations are nearly impossible to get around this time of year.

Of course, if a Baby Sitter is not an option for you, then you have to either plan V-Day around the kiddies, or include them. When my oldest daughter was much younger, we both dressed up one year and had dinner with my hubby. It was super sweet and we all enjoyed sitting at the table together for dinner. She enjoyed being included and making a Valentine for her Daddy.

Here are some fun ideas for sharing V-day with your little ones, that I found around the web.

12 Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Your Kids

4 Sweet Ways To Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Your Kids

To Dine –

If you are lucky, maybe you are one the of the couples who manage to get time alone, reserve your table far enough in advance, and are dressed to impressed for a Night On the Town. Leave everything else on the back shelf for the night. You have pulled off a major coup!! Make tonight only about YOUR LOVE. No talk of work, daycare, or diapers. Relax and Enjoy Each Other.

Every Day is Special with the One You Love, but Valentine’s day should be even SWEETER.

V-Day Stories –

And, if you got all the way through this post, Good For You!!

So as promised, here is your Free Valentine’s Day Pencil Tag (PDF File) with instructions. Click to Download and Enjoy!!

How to Capture Memories with a Yearly Family Photo Book?

Posted on 26 January, 2015 by admin

Four years ago, I decided to start putting together a Yearly Family Photo Book. The years were going by way too fast, and I wanted to document it . The thing about digital photography in my opinion, is that the memories get stuck either on your SD Card, Your Phone or Your Camera. And, then the ones that get uploaded only seem to make it as far as Facebook.(Well at least in my case.)

The first two years, I struggled through a year’s worth of pictures, trying to decide which ones were worthy of a spot in our Photo Book. The process was tedious, and frankly more than annoying. So last year, I decided to try to stream line my process. Hopefully, it will save you some aggravation should you decide to do this for your family.

1. Cataloging – At the end of every month, I download all the pictures that are on my various devices. Then, I take my time and go through them and weed out the duds. Then I save them on my Desktop to a specific folder named for that month. As I save them, I try to give them names that would inspire captions for the book.

2. Uploading – After I have completed that, I upload them to Shutterfly and then make sure they go into the My Projects Folder, so that I can come back to it the following month.

3. The Finished Project – At the end of the year, or realistically at the beginning of the following year. I give my Saved Project the once over. For the most part, you should not have much to do at this time. But, most likely you will want to add some pics of the Holiday Season to complete your project.

Photo Credit: Colorado Senior Life

Note: I use Shutterfly for pretty much everything photo related, but there are several options out there. I love Shutterfly specifically, because several times during the year they offer a coupon for a free photo book, and in that case you will most likely only have to pay for shipping. Unless you are like me and you have so many pics that you go over the allotted page requirement. But, even still its worth it!!

Do you have pictures that you lost or wished that you had printed?

2014 – A Year in Review

Posted on 31 December, 2014 by admin

Whew — What a Year!! I am going to End this Year, by revisiting the quote that topped my Vision Board for 2014. It turned out to be self fulfilling prophecy.

“The Well Rounded Adventurer is adaptable, flexible, and versatile. They know that things don’t always go as planned, so like trees, they bend with the wind, course correcting as often as necessary. Their capability to do many things competently keeps them pressing forward, staying mentally alert and undistracted in focus. Frustration has no room in their minds to sabotage their determination or to kill their confidence. Prepare, Posture, Position, Arise and Be Wise in 2014!!” – Author Unknown

This year has truly been one for the record books, or at least “My Record Books”. And, the journey has been that much more interesting for the many amazing people that took it with me. My friends and family, who were always there to encourage and support. And, yes, even the naysayers, who helped me to push myself over and beyond what I thought my limits were.

On February of this year, we launched Our Etsy Store. It was our original intention to just sell Decorative Throw Pillows. After all, we knew that we could make those and were pretty confident in our choices when it came to fabric/texture/quality. So easy enough… Stage Presents went from just a Lifestyle Blog to an actual store. As time went on, we ended up adding physical prints, digital prints, Vintage Items and other One of a Kind Home Decor Finds. And, with each change, our following and our audience seemed to grow. What an amazing feeling to have a vision and have it received by so many. We jumped on the Social Media Bandwagon and joined Instagram and Pinterest and Twitter.

We shared with you Trends in Home Decor, Asked your Opinions, Gave you some Amazing Free Printables and even offered you the Option to Subscribe to the Blog for Exclusive Materials.(We will be doing so much more with this in 2015.)

This year we also hosted Our Very First Handmade Holiday Gift Guide, and a corresponding Giveaway. We got to interact with amazing vendors, sponsors and shops. And, it was truly a fulfilling experience.

Over the course of this year, I invited you guys into my life, more than ever before. Sharing the struggles of balancing all aspects of my life, of excepting change and of “progress versus perfection.” The joy of family outings, our favorite recipes and a little bit of the pain, that comes with just living. And, the joys of decorating my home, as the seasons changed.

As always, I look back and think how quickly the year flew by. And, of all the things I wish I would have been able to pack into this year. But, all things considered this was a great year full of love, laughter, and great memories.

“Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be.” – Sonia Ricotti

I project that 2015 will be ever more epic, than 2014!! And, I’m claiming it, Hang On We Are Taking 2015 By Storm!!

For Taking this Journey, with us here is a Free 2015 Device Wallpaper. Enjoy!!

Click Here to Download the Take the World by Storm 2015 Device Wallpaper.

For Directions on How to Install Your Wallpaper – Follow this Link.

We Wish You a Happy New Year and Infinite Blessings for the New Year!!

From Your Stage Presents Family!!

What I learned about hosting the 2014 “Handmade with Love” Holiday Gift Guide?

Posted on 29 December, 2014 by admin

What I learned about hosting the 2014 “Handmade with Love” Holiday Gift Guide?

First and foremost the most crucial component of prepping a Gift Guide is TIME. Make sure to give yourself enough time on the Front End and on the Back End, FOR LIFE. Because, it is definitely going to go on regardless of what you have to do.
Be Clear. Decide up front who your target audience will be. Research and Reach Out to those who you feel will meet your criteria. Pick Your Categories and Advertise in Places that you think you will find participants best suited for each category.
Create a Detailed Marketing/Advertising Plan. Decide on the front end what is expected from each participant, and what you as the host have to offer your participants. (Provide information on how many people you reached in previous years, if applicable. And, what avenues you utilized to advertise)
Create Realistic Deadlines. Stop accepting Applications After that Time. Provide Participants with Hard Deadlines that you can stick to.
Work your Plan. Use All Available Social Media Outlets to get the word out for your Gift Guide. Create a HashTag (#stagepresentshandmadewithlove) and Encourage All Participants and Sponsors to Share Info Across the Board Using the Same Hashtag.

Things I would probably do differently.

I would probably charge a nominal fee for those wishing to be showcased in the Gift Guide. For no other reason than, time is money. I would also hope that if you put money out for advertising, you would be more likely to do your best to promote the Gift Guide.
I would probably start the Entry Process out at the end of September, beginning of October. I feel this would give applicants, more time to get their entries in.
I would publish the completed Guide Mid-November. I feel this would allow the items and shops that are showcased a greater lead time to get their items noticed.
Now, that I have Year One, under my belt. I have a template within which to work and I will request all necessary information up front, as to avoid the constant need to reach out to applicants, and wait for their responses. **I know everyone is busy during the Holiday Season.**

Things I would not change.

The completed project.
The amazing artist/shops that were showcased.
The opportunity to help share their talent with consumers.
The opportunity to promote Hand Made.

Again, I want to take the opportunity to thank all the participants and the Sponsors that contributed and participated in the Gift Guide, the corresponding Giveaway and its promotion. I could not have done it without you!!

“I feel like every project I work on is a dream project, so long as I am learning.”
― Simeon Kondev

Our Delayed 2014 Christmas Home Tour — Welcome In…

Posted on 27 December, 2014 by admin

This Year’s Christmas Tour was delayed, obviously. But, things got so busy leading up to Christmas that there honestly wasn’t enough time to post. This years Tour will be more pictures than words. Welcome to our Little Piece of Heaven — Enjoy!!

Decorating brings me much joy, but decorating for the holidays brings me enjoyment on another level. This time of year is still wrapped in magic for me, even now. Watching the excitement on my children’s faces as the whole house comes together, and knowing that we are creating life long memories leaves me totally blissful!! I believe that my love for decorating and this time of year, was passed on to me by my amazing mother and I only hope that it is something my kids will do with joy, for their own families years from now. Our whole family, hubby included gets wrapped up in the excitement, of the Christmas Elf, Santa, and the real reason for the season. I hope that you all had an amazing Holiday and wish you Only the Best for the Year to Come.

— Sheree

This thing called… an Advent Calendar

Posted on 4 December, 2014 by admin

Hubby and I have been contemplating purchasing an Advent Calendar for the past couple of years, but neither of us were sure exactly what purpose it served. And, the last thing we wanted to do was to add anything to Christmas that would require us to exert any more effort than we already do during the Holiday Season. So year after year, we have passed.

This year (2014) however, they seemed to be all over the DIY circuit, which of course sparked my interest again. And, some of the ones that I was coming across seemed like they would be something that I could tackle and actually be pleased with the outcome.

So I was off to do my research, little did I know that this would be much more involved than I thought. Literally, every one seemed to have their own way of doing it. Some folks gave a gift for each day, similar to Hanukkah Some folks did it for the entire month of December. Some people did it for the 12 days of Christmas. Others made sure that it corresponded with the Advent Season.

After learning about how other’s did it. I decided, which I am sure is of no surprise to you, to do it MY WAY!! I decided that we would do it for 12 days and I really didn’t think it was important when we started it, as long as we got in 12 days prior to Christmas Eve.(we started today) I decided that for the first 9 days, we would discuss the Fruits of the Spirit, in a way that a 10 year old and a 4 year old could both comprehend. And, then for the remaining days, we would discuss 3 character traits, that we thought were vital to being good people. We choose Empathy, Forgiveness, and Honor.

After being woo’d by all the great DIY Advent Calendars, I took the easy way out and created a printable version. Maybe, I will do something more complex next year.

Do you think this is something you would like to do with your little ones? Join us on our journey, here’s a free printable for you. Right Click – Save – Print and Enjoy!! (Just right click and save and you are good to go!!)

Enjoy the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year”

How to Beat the B-O-R-E-D bug over the Holiday Break?

Posted on 22 November, 2014 by admin

Holiday Breaks take on a different meaning when you are a Stay at Home Mom. When I was working full time, I treasured the days of being at home with the kids. I would get 2-3 days off at the most and those days were so jam packed with activity, it seemed like they were over before they even started.

Fast Forward to this year, when the Board of Education saw fit to make Thanksgiving Break a week long, sending this Mommy into Panic Mode. A Week off in the Cold, with little to no chance of Outdoor Activities means I have to find a way to keep these girl’s entertained to combat the B-O-R-E-D bug.

For the Free Printable Click BORED.

So my mind switches into List Mode….

What can we do?

Board Games
Arts & Crafts
Bowling
Learning Disguised as Fun
Read-a- Thon & Library Trips
$3 Movie Theater Trip
Holiday Decorations
Scrapbooking
Making Christmas Lists
Mini-Golf
Baking

I am feeling pretty proud of myself, until I realize that my entire list could probably fit into a 4-5 hour time Span, which sends me into an even bigger panic.

So it’s back to the drawing board, also known as Pinterest.

Here are some of the links that I found….

The Chirping Moms on

Here are a few Quick & Hopefully Not Too Dirty Ideas:

Start with Breakfast — In Bed or Out (your choice)

Babysitter or Not –

To Dine –

V-Day Stories –

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What I learned about hosting the 2014 “Handmade with Love” Holiday Gift Guide?

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