Instagram for Blogging & New Blog Obsessions for December

Last night I went through my Google Reader feed and updated my blog following.

I followed probably over 200 blogs and many of them were outdated, not up kept, or if you read my content rant, did not really have what I was looking for from my blogging experience.

So I've been trying a new approach- Instagram. I've had my Instagram for over a year now and you can follow me at the Instagram handle- kimberlyersk1ne.  It's the same as my blogger account, in case you lose this post and are still interested in following.  I have a private account, but send a request and we can become Instagram buddies.  I love seeing updates of different lives through views of snapshots.  Instagram is quite possibly my most favorite outlet of social media. I'm really glad that they clarified their new policies, otherwise life would be a little weird without that lovely gem.

I've chosen to follow the Instagrams of blogs that I'm interested in or people that are just really cool.  I definitely have an Instagram "type." I know, it's like dating all over again.  I love hipster mommas and people sharing fun, little-known products or crafting/design projects.  For the season, I love snapshots of Wisconsin and Madison and anything Christmas-related.  With following bloggers via Instagram, I can identify which ones really fit my personality and wham bam, thank ya ma'am- I'm a new subscriber to their blog.  

The original problem was that I subscribed to way too many blogs and many of them really weren't my style.  I love finding new blogs, regardless of how many I've subscribed to, I just often have to do some clean-up work.  If you think I would lurve to follow a specific blog- send me yours or their Instagram feed handle.  I realized that I need to find more that fit that quality of content that I discussed in that earlier post so let the search begin!

Here are some of my new favorites:

Gridiron Lipstick- Kait Sawyer

Why Should You Follow Kait- She's so adorable and fun and I love her posts.  Essentially, she fits all of my blogging criteria lol.  While being in a long distance, military relationship, she has created so many cute crafts and has so many adventures.  She talks about having extraordinary events happen to her (or better yet, she goes out and makes those opportunities happen).  This East Coast lady loves margaritas and her adorable chocolate labbie (aka labrador retriever). As a dog lover myself- this is an A+ in my book.

Crunchy Catholic Momma

I am obsessed with this family and the momma blogger is just so darn cute! She crafts up a storm and encourages folks to actually use what they have in their craft baskets.  My husband alone loves that message since it's impossible for me to walk into any craft store without spending $20. Which by the way, walked into Michael's yesterday with my 50% iPhone app coupon and bought ribbon and stitch counters all for under $5. If that's not impressive from a crafting perspective, I don't know what is.  Back to the blog, I originally found it while searching for a tutorial on how to make a cost effective Waldorf doll.  This lady is so crafty and basically someone I completely admire for the influence she has on her children. They have an itty bitty farm and a ton of kids.  Overall she has great, quality blog posts and has made me re-think what it takes to raise a family.

The Freckled Fox

Emily herself is just too cute.  I adore her hair, and fittingly so, since she includes hair tutorials on her blog.  She's another blogger who loves paying attention to the details.  Her posts and pictures feature everything sparkly, wonderful and festive in her life, including her beautiful fambam.  She loves to sew, craft, thrift and basically do everything that I love to do (I'm seeing a trend here :P)  This Southern Idaho lady has three lovely babies and of course, anytime there's an adorable momma with cute little ones- ya know there are going to be amazing ideas that I'll have to save for my future babies ;) 

Poppytalk

So many cute ideas in one spot! I found this blog via Pinterest, aka the land of all that is good and wonderful. There are a bunch of crafting ideas, cute decor items and they also feature other blogs. Consider it blogging eye candy.

 

Baby Rabies

If you're looking for another adorable mommy blog, Baby Rabies  is pretty funny and of course, super cute.  She's the momma who created the #InappropriateElf contest and they're so funny!  Although the contest is over, I'm still working on shooting a rather hilarious Elf on the Shelf moment with my elf, Blisterz.

That's What She Read
As a book lover, if your Instagram or blog feed starts featuring the covers of novels, I'm already intrigued.  Of course, this blog title had me at "hello." Jen works for a non-profit hospital in the marketing department and is an avid reader.  She provides book reviews as well as information on an online bookclub for bloggers called, "The Literary Junkies Book Club."  This is organized by By the Porchlight and Goings on in Texas, two blogs which I've just started to follow and hopefully will be just as fabulous as they seem.  I've just requested to be apart of their bookclub, so hopefully I can do a future post on how awesome it is :)

 The Kinch Life
I think Aubrey's relationship with her husband is wonderful! She talks about her faith so openly and her posts have such great content.  I also love that she's a fan of tattoos and incorporates her beliefs into many aspects of her life.  She's also a big fan of Target and Harry Potter- a winning combination in my book. This is another blogger whose Instagram feed, I simply adore.

The Dainty Squid
Last but certainly not least, I love Kaylah's blue hair.  I love self-expression and if I wasn't in the Air Force, I'm pretty sure I would have tried out several more different hairstyles than the long, jet black hair that I have now.  Kaylah is another blogger who loves little details and I constantly swoon over her pictures.  I feel like if Anthropologie was a person, combined with Urban Outfitters and Etsy- that would be Kaylah.

There you have it, some of my favorite blogs that I've come across since my last post in November.

Now this is just a build-up of my current favorites.  To check out some of my recurring favesies, you can find the post here, which includes Southern Hospitality, Trial By Sapphire, The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart, Today, I'm Bobby, and The Daily Tay. Keep in mind that I don't have traditional blog sponsors, just new blogging friends who I love to support.  I try to keep my blog "clean" by not having too many guest posts or giveaways, but I do love to feature a great blogger so do not hesitate to visit the sponsor page and swap for free.  These featured blogs in this post are blogs that I legitimately like and I think many of my readers will be interested in as well. So curl up in front of the fire with your laptop and some great blogs to start reading!

xoxoxo,

The 4th of December

Four days in and we're watching "Arthur Christmas" to get into the holiday spirit.

Conveniently I have the Anthropologie catalog to my left and have a few browsers with fun holiday cheer.  I'm obsessing over fun holiday gifts, Christmas cards, holiday movies and music, celebrating with scripture and advent calendars and really getting into the reason for the season.

Bamboletta dolls make cloth dolls from natural materials, posted this adorable picture.

I'm a sucker for cute, original toys, decor, really anything!  This came up on my Facebook newsfeed and you just have to do a collective "ahhhh" because it's just too cute for words.

Source

Like I said, I love adorable details.  I think they can turn something from being ordinary into something unique and worth cherishing for years to come.

I've been seeing peg people nativity scenes and although I didn't want to fork over $70+, I did think that I could give it a shot.  It's still in progress but here are some of the materials I got for it:

 

Multiple large and small sizes of the wooden game piece, "peg people."

Various acrylic paints

Fine tip paint brushes and one is angled for detailing

I also got a shallow hinged box to place the pieces in and also to create a nativity scene that can be propped open.  I thought I was pretty clever ;)

 

Of course, I could walk into Anthropologie and love everything in its over-priced glory.

It's one of those stores that pays attention to the details and that's what makes everything so want-worthy.

Saw this in their holiday catalog:

Source

It's inspired by late-19th and early-20th century fortune teacups and I love it.

The details are so quaint and would be perfect home decor.

However, I think I could spend $78 on something else.

They also gave a shout-out to Penguin's cloth-covered books, which could possibly become very dangerous on my wallet.

 

It's re-vamping the classic covers with beautiful cloth-bound material and they're great for displaying or sitting in a coffee shop on a snowy afternoon.

I have so been looking forward to Christmas cards.

Definitely dedicated a Facebook status or two in warning my family and friends that I was collecting addresses. I created a little work station around my printer where I was receiving text messages with addresses and well wishes and printing off holiday letters to stuff into the cards.  Of course, I misread part of the letter and ended up sharing the good news of Holly's naming (my GSD) twice.  Wouldn't be a holiday card from me if there wasn't a mistake or two.  50 or so cards later, I've got them in envelopes, stamped and addressed, ready to spread some love around the U.S.

In the spirit of the season and its true meaning, I've been looking up a few advent programs and Ruthie, from The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart, posted on Instagram a few adorable and wonderful advent programs.  From Naptime Diaries, I got these super cute advent cards and strung them up over our breakfast bar.   Having started a little bit past December, I was able to purchase them from their shop online, printed them out on cardstock and used some of the string from my crafting supplies.

I picked up mini-clothespins from Michael's and it was perfect.

They go along with the She Reads Truth advent program.

They provide devotionals, scripture and some food for thought.

I'm really enjoying it so far.  My friend, Megan, is also posting adorable Instagram photos of her 25 Days of Christmas experiences and she's also participating in RACK-ed, which is something that Kait over at Gridiron Lipstick is promoting.  It stands for Random Acts of Kindness and it's perfect for the holiday season.

Megan has posted pictures of leaving little notes with change at vending machines, surprising co-workers with Starbucks gift cards for a free coffee or starting a food drive at her place of employment.  She is so sweet and I just love her enthusiasm for the holidays.

My enthusiasm for the holidays and understanding the reason for the season, has really encouraged me to keep up with the advent and scripture.  I also found this gorgeous side-ways cross necklace and decided that it would be a perfect gift for my mom and MIL.  I got one for each of us as a way of symbolizing the bonds between mother and daughter.  If you're interested in getting one yourself, I found mine on Etsy at GemsinVogue.  Brenda gives outstanding customer service and delivery was prompt.  A few celebrities have been seen sporting sideways cross necklaces, so it could also be a great gift idea this season.  I love mine because it's small and so subtle.

 

Of course, it is time to start wrapping a few presents and I get so excited whenever anything arrives for Ryan because we finally get to spend Christmas together!

I would love to share what gifts I got him, but that might be for another time.

I'm still unsure if he checks this or not.

:)