2015 Holiday Cards

I am so excited to share our Christmas cards with you all today.   I know what you are thinking, it's only mid-November, but getting Christmas photos and Holiday cards made early is KEY in keeping my December as stress free as possible.

This year I used Minted for my cards, and I am blown away at how easy the site was to navigate and how stunning my cards turned out.  

To see more and to hear all my tips for taking photos for Holiday cards please watch the video below.  ALSO click {HERE} to enter my giveaway for a chance to win $125 credit to Minted!  

Lastly, I will leave you with some of my unedited "real life" photos from our shoot!  

They just have to get in at least 1 silly face photo!

The big kids convincing JD that he would get ice cream if he behaved.

If you are interested in seeing our DITL from the day we took photos, you can watch that below as well!

I would love to see your holiday card creations this year!  Let's all #housewifecardexchange on IG and Twitter to have a virtual Holiday Card Exchange!

{This is NOT a sponsored video.  I was not paid to share this content.  The links above are affiliate links.  Special Thank You to Minted for providing my family with our Holiday cards this year, and for hosting a giveaway for my viewers!}

Mini Van Organization

Keeping your car clean with small children is much like keeping your house clean with small children... not impossible, but a lot of constant work.  In the video below I show some of the items I keep in my car to make life easier, to keep it organized, and feel prepared.  I try not to keep too many unnecessary items in the car, as I have found this leads to more clutter.  

Here are my top 5 tips to KEEPING your car organized.

1.  Limit Toys - we live in a pretty suburban area, so any errand we have to do it 10-20 minutes away.  The kids can entertain themselves for that long without toys or electronics.  I used to keep a basket of toys, and while that still is in my garage, I don't feel like it has to be in the car.  I do keep a few books for reading.

2. The Minute Rule - It only takes a minute to gather up any trash when getting out of the car heading into your house.  Take the time to clean up the few wrappers, cups, clutter each time you get out of the car. 

3. Change With The Seasons - Each change of season I take the time to really clean out my entire van and take things out that you will not need.  In the winter I add in a warmer change of clothes, a blanket, gloves... however I don't need those things in the summer so I change it out for a light change of clothes, extra sunglasses, and playground essentials.

5. Necessities Only! - While I think it's great to keep commonly needed items in your car, I also think you can go overboard, thus creating more unnecessary clutter.  I took a small area of our garage to keep things that I need in my car from time to time, but don't want to leave in there taking up space.  Our stroller (this may be a necessary must have in your van if your children are younger), reusable shopping bags, sports gear.  All things I commonly need, but don't need to be in the car at all times.

So watch below to see how my car is organized, and all the items I think are necessary to keep in my mini van.

I have also done organizational videos in my previous mini van which was a Honda Odyssey.  The links to those videos are below.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSqPLAANfmY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osupCfqz1oo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIzLfGmKHd4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlxAfR4GdbQ

Also to purchase some products I mentioned in the video, they are linked below.

** Affiliate Links have been used in this post, This is NOT a sponsored video and all products were purchased by me**

Boys Bedroom Organization

Since we have moved into our home, almost a year ago now, we have been slowing working through getting the kids rooms painted, decorated and organized to their liking.   All of the rooms were in great condition, the paint colors were just not what we wanted, and they each had ideas about the decor to go on the walls.

Matthew wanted a baseball room from the moment we moved in.  

We started by taking items we already had to incorporate them into the decor.  Lucky for us, he already has a jersey, bat, game ball, and a growing trophy collection.  We purchased some shadow boxes and shelves from Michaels, and the baseball theme was started.  The other wall decor we found was from Hobby Lobby, they have a great selection of sports room decor.

The bedding we chose was from Target.  (Found Here)

The paint color on the walls is  Valspar 4006-3C Blue Skylights

To see Matthew's entire room and how I keep is all organized watch below!