What do I love about it? So many things. How artsy and colorful it feels. How it makes me feel like a 90s kid again, sitting on a bedroom floor with my sisters or BFFs, cutting pictures out of magazines and gluing them to notebooks, binders, and shoeboxes.

Instead of recreating the wheel, I suggest heading over the Savana’s blog post, where she provides detailed steps on her process. This is the main resource that I used to create my own scrapbook. 

Consider what your goals are for the scrapbook. For me, I wanted it to be something that documented where we are in our lives right now and something that will hopefully last throughout the years. A book that my kids can pull off the shelves and thumb through later when they’re bored. 

Like Savana, I used a Blurb book. I chose an 8×10 standard portrait photo book. I added pages for a total of 30, which honestly felt like a bit too much as a first go. Next time, I’ll do less. In my inspiration/ideas notebook, I wrote down a general outline of what I wanted to put on the scrapbook pages. 

I took some free images from sites like Pexels and Unsplash. Some photos I used were ones I took myself on digital or film cameras.  I have tons of crafty stuff around the house that I used. I did buy some Posca markers and glue that Savana recommended.

And I basically went to town after that. Here are examples of a few of my final pages. I didn’t include all of them since some have personal info on them.

Takeaways:

• I would love to try to do a book like this twice a year if I can commit to it
• I started out really strong, but taking it across the finish line was a bit of a challenge
• It’s an endeavor. I think I definitely spent more time on it than Savana does with hers but I tried not to overthink it and push through
• It’s fun to buy stuff for scrapbooks and crafting so I’m sure random, extra things added up making it also a more costly project
• This was a fun activity for all of us. My spouse did his own favorite page and the kids also helped design theirs and I let one of my kiddos pick out the sparkly, blue fabric for the cover

Overall, we had a blast! 

I hope you enjoy my scrapbook pages! I’m pretty proud of this project and how it turned out. This definitely isn’t your typical scrapbook. It’s scrapbooking for millennials. Massive thanks to Savana for the inspiration and for putting her process out there for all of us to benefit from. 

For more posts like this, click here. 

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Tyana Arviso – Surprise Print

Artist, Tyana Arviso, ran a special for a surprise print. I love Tyana’s beautiful photography of the southwest so I treated myself and bought a print. We have a horse print of theirs too in my kiddo’s room from a previous purchase. I highly recommend following Tyana for beautiful photos!

Sweet Sukar Betty Boop Halloween Tees

Have I mentioned before how I find so many amazing artists on IG?! I’m sure that I have. I love it, and it’s also a breeding ground of temptation to spend because there are so many tchotchkes that I see that I simply can’t pass up.

Sweet Sukar released two Halloween-themed Betty Boop designs. I bought the Spider Lady Tee and the Vampira Betty Crop. I wore the Spider Lady tee to a recent Halloween event (keep reading for more). Love them and love Betty artists and merch. 

Juliette Lewis Kids Tee

I didn’t know Juliette Lewish had a shop! I follow her on IG and saw it shared and picked up this adorable Bliss Out Kid’s Tee for only $10. Juliette Lewis is the best. I’ve loved her from What’s Eating Gilbert Grape all the way to YellowJackets. The coolest.

Abercrombie Jeans

I’m a big jeans lover. It’s my go-to and my favorite thing to wear. I’m really not that into skirts, dresses, business casual, etc. But it’s hard to find a pair of jeans that fits in all the ways that are flattering and comfortable. I’ve also struggled with the denim trends changing, being a millennial, and trying to keep up. 

I remember awhile back, stylist, KiarraLooks recommended Abercrombie jeans and I thought I’d give them a try. I ordered a few different pairs. So far, my favorite is the Ultra High Rise 90s Slim Straight Jean which I ordered in black denim. I also liked the Ultra High Rise 90s Straight Jean (no “slim” in this one, lol), but I’m in to process of online ordering/returning as I try to find the correct size for my body. But so far, I feel really great about the pair I decided to keep. 

Kewpie Figurine

I found this lil’ cutie on eBay after my kiddo and her friend broke my previous one. I love this lil’ kewp so I had to replace it and $30 on eBay made it a no-brainer.

Gathering of the Ghouls Event

At the end of the month, my friend and I took our kiddos to the Gathering of the Ghouls event at the Mesa Convention Center. It was truly amazing! So many local vendors, photo ops, and spooky setups. Here’s a photo of most of the tchotchkes I got there and the artists who created them:

FrankenHooker print

Women in Horror print

The Shining sticker and HIM/Powerpuff Girls print

Five Nights at Freddy’s sticker

Kewpie earrings (not pictured)

Instant Positive Portrait by Phoenix Film Revival (see above)

The Body is Not an Apology

This is one of the books I read during the month of August. It was amazing and I highly recommend it! 

Bits and Pieces

This was the other book I read for August. It’s a holocaust survivor’s memoir. I’ve shied away from reading Holocaust stories and watching movies lately because it’s so sad and I’ve already read/seen quite a few. But this one was an easy read that was also very powerful. It didn’t get too graphic and it included truly so many bits and pieces of the author’s life, not only about their time during the Holocaust. These stories are important, and I’d definitely recommend this one <3 

I think that’s about it for August tchotchkes! And that sure felt like a lot, lol! I feel pretty good about these purchases. Supporting artists, supporting local, it’s a wonderful feeling! Let’s try to do more of it when we can  

Click here for more posts like this August tchotchkes one.

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Laptop Stand

On recommendation from a physical therapist, I purchased this for my work laptop. Whether it’s for my remote day job or my photography side job, I do a lot of sitting at computers. All this sitting and my work doing photography, I’m convinced has caused me to have some pretty frustrating back and neck issues. After my first kid was born, I developed one of those lovely dowager humps/buffalo humps/text neck, whatever you want to call it. I honestly hate it and it bothers me a lot. 

After complaining about it to a friend’s physical therapist fiance, they suggested I get one of these. It’s not a lot via Amazon and I find it easy to use for the most part. Keep my head more upright and will hopefully minimize the damage to my neck.

Jewitches Items

Jewitches is quite a lovely space that I stumbled upon on IG. I purchased a Star of David necklace, a witchy tarot card (for my sibling), and some washi tape from them recently. Lots of fun tchotchke treats in their shop.

Unicorn Backpack from State Bags

In an effort to shop more local, sustainable, etc. I found State Bags and bought my kiddo this backpack. Overall, it seems like a pretty cool company. The backpack is super cute and feels like good quality. I’m working on a list of places to shop/support, if you want to check that out!

Club SAR Gym Membership

I love to show up for Club SAR, a gym in Scottsdale. For non-Scottsdale residents, a membership for a year is $150 – such a steal of a deal! 

Rest is Resistance

I purchased and read this book in July. Loved it. Amazing read and I highly recommend it for everyone. Honestly, I’ve been sleeping better since I read this book, no bullshit. I feel like the internal guilt I had around napping and sleep has definitely reduced. 

I also used Bookshop.org this time to purchase it. Again, in an effort to support smaller bookstores and divert my dollars from Amazon and big business. It will be a little more money and take a little longer to arrive, but I think it’s worth it. 

My Powerful Hair and Miles Morales: Stranger Tides Graphic Novel

Palabras is a local Phoenix bookstore and cultural and community hub. I heard about them through Wasted Ink Zine Distro via IG and decided to pay an in-person visit with the kids. We each picked out a book. It’s a really cute place with many excellent selections. 

Michael Scott / Britney Bitch Mug from Printed_Weird

I purchased this as a gift for my brother-in-law’s bday

Eat Your Heart Out – Bride of Chucky Kids’ Tee

And I bought this one for my nibling, who happens to have a thing for Chucky/Bride of Chucky, lol! Combined with the (amazing, must-see) Barbie movie out now, I couldn’t resist this purchase.

That’s a wrap for July tchotchkes. Check out previous tchotchke links here.

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Barbie Rave Tickets

In May, I bought tickets to a Barbie Rave at the Van Buren in Phoenix. I kept seeing it suggested to me on Instagram so I decided to go for it. I asked a friend and a couple women I did a photo shoot with recently if they’d be interested. We got a small group together and made that happen on June 30th. 

Revamped Logo

I reached out to the artist who designed the graphic on the home page of my blog to see if they could make a few edits I’d been wanting to have done. I was glad they were open and available to do it and I love how it turned out! We added a few more items around it (the book, camera, kewpie, beer, and cactus) and made a few other small changes. And I just have to say, Brainfkr is awesome. 

Beyond these two fun splurges, we started planning for Micky’s Chuck E. Cheese birthday party in June. The kids and I also took a trip to visit family at the end of May. It was certainly an eventful month! 

Click here to read more blog posts about my fave monthly tchotchkes  

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It makes me think of the money and materials wasted. Gift-giving can be such a true delight for the giver and receiver when done right. 

When you know a person well, it’s obviously easier to come up with a good gift. But it can still be a challenge. People have such a wide range of tastes and preferences. 

So one of my go-to tchotchkes lately for people who I know well (or don’t), have been notebooks from Redbubble. There are tons of unique designs made by real artists. And a portion of the sale goes to the artist who made it, which is cool. 

So if you know of a character, show, artist, or something like that that the person you’re buying for likes, type it into the search and pick a great cover choice. 

What I like about this option too is that a notebook is almost always useful. Who doesn’t use them? They’re fun for keeping your to-do lists, ideas, journaling, etc. And if the person doesn’t LOVE the design you picked, it’s small and practical enough that they can still tuck it away and pull it out when they need a bit of note paper. 

I love that the Redbubble custom notebooks even have a little pocket in the back where you can store papers, receipts, etc. 

So there you have it! A quick, easy gift idea that surely the receiver can use and it won’t go to waste. 

Below are a few examples of custom notebooks I’ve bought in the past:

This Absolutely Fabulous one I purchased for my Mom as a gift:

This random, weird Grinch notebook I got for a friend (we have matching Grinch babies and it’s a bit of an inside joke):

And a couple horror ones I’ve purchased, Idle Hands and Jason/Friday the 13th.

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Luda

I bought this book in February and it’s taking me forever to get through! I think I’ll be done with it soon though so I’m including it in the April tchotchkes list. It’s good, but it’s hard to finish. Not sure I’d recommend it at this point… But the cover art alone is what drew me in.

Sony Cyber-shot point-and-shoot camera

In the early 2000s, I had a black Sony cyber-shot. I’ve heard all the cool Gen Z’ers are bringin’ em back so obviously I need to get on that bandwagon and see what it’s all about. I bought mine used off of eBay.

VCT Tile

We’re redoing the flooring in our kitchen and dining area so we bought some Armstrong VCT tile for that project. It’s going in later this week so I’ll keep you posted on the outcome! 

Bad Guys Club beehive print

Instagram is constantly tempting me to buy things! I bought this print from another artist who I follow, Craig Gleason. I’ll be hanging this in the spare bedroom/office. 

Personal Finance Club: Investing in Index Funds course

This is a personal finance account that I follow on IG. I attended the free webinar on estate planning and they offered a discount code for their courses. I’m hoping to make more focused efforts on retirement soon so I bought this one for us to listen to.

Hampers/Dresser for bedroom

At the end of March we had a designer come over, Tchotchkes Design Studio. And yes, the second I saw that name when I searched for designers on google I couldn’t believe my eyes! We did the 3-hour consultation and Tasha took a look around and made recommendations. As a result of that, we got this new dresser and these hampers. 

Ghostface Pillow

This gem came from the onemanriet IG account by artist, Marty McEwen. You know I love horror and the original Scream movie so I swooped this up for a decorative pillow for the spare room/my office. I rarely pass up a good tchotchke. 

What were some of your favorite purchases in April? Let me know in the comments and be sure to check out other posts featuring my previous faves! 

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October is hands down my favorite month because. Halloween. It’s the best and a top favorite all-time holiday. I definitely felt like I spent a lot of money this month on things like candy, costumes, facepaint and other random nonsense, but as far as the most memorable October tchotchkes, here we go:

Photo backdrop from @lilcroissant 

Couldn’t resist picking up this awesome backdrop from the @lilcroissant shop. I’ve purchased their amazing Betty Boop art in the past and they’re one of my fave art accounts to follow. We did some photos with this backdrop before we went out for Halloween.

Momster Tee

I love the Simpsons, Frankenstein, Halloween, and @losangelesgarbage, the artist behind this one-of-a-kind tee that I ordered for myself. I saw it and knew I had to get one. I’ve probably purchased a Halloween tee from the @losangelesgarbage shop for the last few years. Perfect for a nostalgic 90s kid and I highly recommend purchasing from their store.

Motherthing Book

This month I read Motherthing. I try to read one book a month and I saw this book being referred on the @belletrist IG account, run partly by actress, Emma Roberts. The cover drew me in for sure, and it turns out the content also did not disappoint. A chilling read that was perfect for the creepiest month of the year. 

Beetlejuice Pants for Kids

It’s become a somewhat yearly tradition for us to take Beetlejuice pics every year. I buy these perfect pants from this same Etsy shop for the occasion. It’s funny because my kids actually love these pants in general and end up wearing them for the whole year to follow.

That’s a wrap for my October tchotchkes of the month! What were some of your favorite purchases? Check out my favorites from previous months here.

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Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change Book

I follow a lot of social justice accounts and I get most of my book recommendations through these various accounts or from another book, etc. I’m pretty sure I found this one somewhere through those lines of connection, but can’t remember exactly. I like books about personal growth, self-help, social justice, and those topics so this one sounded perfect. It’s a great read about the underrated and unappreciated work of caretaking and parenting. This book attempts to shine a light on the true value of this work and how much it requires of all of us who are doing it.

As the author suggests, we need a collective societal shift in how we view this type of labor. It’s a great read for everyone, not just caretakers. Highly recommend.

Sharpie Gel Pens

I love these pens! I grew up in the 90s when gel pen love was at an all-time high for tweens everywhere. I’m also a Virgo and very much appreciate a good office supply. These pens are super smooth and fun to write with.

70-200mm Sigma Art lens

Many weekends you can find me second or associate shooting weddings. The 70-200mm is a super common lens for wedding photography. Wedding photographers love it. It’s not my favorite, personally. It’s a really heavy lens and I only use it during weddings, which is why I haven’t purchased one until now. But, it’s a lens most people want you to have when you’re shooting with them, which makes sense. You’re able to get much closer shots during ceremony time and it’s great for trying to capture candids without getting too close to people.

I shoot with a Canon so I bought the Sigma for Canon lens, but they also have one for Nikon camera bodies. It’s cheaper than the Canon brand 70-200mm, which I’ve rented many times in the past for weddings. It is heavier, which for me is one downside. I shot with it this last weekend though and really liked it. I didn’t notice any difference in the quality between the two lenses, Canon v. Sigma.

I JUST started using this lens, but the few times I’ve used it so far, I have liked it and think it’s a good lens. It did make shooting the last wedding easier in a few ways, so it feels good to finally just go ahead and add it to my lens collection

That’s it for August tchotchkes! What were some of your favorite purchases in August? (Click here to see previous months’ posts!)

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I’ve been following Whitney Goodman on IG for awhile. She’s a therapist with tons of quality, helpful content. If you reference my January tchotchkes post, I mention how I’m really grateful the concept of toxic positivity is being discussed more often and that there’s a societal shift to move away from it. When this book came out, I knew I wanted to read it. Right up my alley. It didn’t disappoint. Such a great read and I finished it super quick. I also recommend it to any white people who may be struggling with conversations around race, racism, bias, and discrimination but who may not want to deep dive into a book completely dedicated to that topic at the moment. This one was great because it touches on all the areas in our lives where toxic positivity shows up, including that one.

Zara semi-annual sale

Zara runs two big sales every year. One at the end of June and one at the end of December. Everything on their site gets marked down during this time. Zara is my favorite place to get kids’ clothes so I always keep it in my mind when the sale is coming up. My son goes to school where they don’t have uniforms so I used the June sale as an opportunity to do back to school shopping.

Tip: go through your kids’ clothes before you shop the sale to see what items you actually need. I find that we typically always need pants and the less exciting options like socks, etc. Even though the graphic tees are always way more fun to buy.

Ring Light

I got this ring light for my home office and while I’m on zoom calls. One of the things I hate about zoom is that we can see our own face during the entirety of a meeting. I find it distracting and also not the best confidence boost if I don’t feel like I’m looking great on the call – which is most of the time. I know that’s not the priority in a meeting – but still – it’s a thing. Angles and lighting can be weird. I also no you can use an option that makes it so you can’t see your face, but that also feels weird to me. So this light has helped me not hate the way I look completely as I’m on these calls. It plugs directly into the computer and has different settings that can be adjusted.

Kids Books

In June we bought three new kids books: Bodies are Cool, The Grumpy Fairies, and Outside Inside. I’m sure I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy buying books for my kids. I follow a few great kid’s book accounts on IG: @kidlitismagic and @bookoholicmom and get a lot of recommendations there.

Bodies are Cool was recommended by a coworker with similarly aged kiddos. I was inspired to buy it after she told me it was a great way to direct a conversation with small kids when you’re out and about and observe various types of body. She said that instead of blurting out a comment, they now look at each other and say “bodies are cool.” Loved that and since buying the book this has actually happened with us a few times and I’ve responded by saying “bodies are cool” and they seem to totally get that.

The Grumpy Fairies is a cute read about grumpy fairies! I saw this book and loved the illustrations and the idea of grumpy fairies so I made it a point to pick up a copy.

Outside, Inside is a book about the COVID-19 experience, being in quarantine, and the experience people were going through during that time. To me, I think this book will be nice to have to look back on years later as a documentation of what was happening during this time in history.

That’s a wrap! What were some of your favorite June purchases?

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I’ve been following @elwingbling on IG for a little while and I love her artwork and her posts. She recently started selling some merch on the Sunshine Shop site. I bought one of my favorite designs of hers as a t-shirt. I love this shirt/message because I think it shows how everyone has work to do. How it’s important to be self-aware and committed to learning and growing. It’s a reminder to myself to be humble and hold space for people who are also on their own journeys. There’s a lot about my past, recently to years ago, that makes me cringe. So it’s important to remember to hold space for yourself and others – even when it’s hard.

Toxic Positivity Shirt by TittyBats

When my sister tagged me in an opossum design that said “always pissed” from this artist, I immediately started following. They drop new shirts every Friday at 5pm EST. When the toxic positivity shirts started to come out, I took a look on the site and found this one. Cropped, size large.

When more people in the world / on social started talking about the concept “toxic positivity” I was sooo happy. As a person who has always been told things like, “get over it”, “let it go,” “you care too much”, “you’re so negative”, or “just think positive,” etc. It’s such a relief to see that the pressure to constantly be “positive” and “happy” is starting to die. I’ve always felt like, sometimes shit does just actually suck. And there’s not any amount of positive thinking that will change that truth or how you feel about it. I also feel like people are complex creatures with a wide range of emotions and to expect humans not to experience all of those emotions, the good and the bad ones, on a daily basis is completely unrealistic. We need our “bad” emotions just like we need to good ones. I now really value my criticism, anger, and frustration because I often feel motivated by those emotions. There’s a lot to say about this. But every emotion has a place and a value. Too much of any one emotion can cause burnout to yourself and others. Be aware and be real.

Dessert Print by Ruth Mora

Ruth Mora is currently one my all-time favorite artists. I feel like she just “gets” it. I love everything she creates. I have probably at least 8 of her prints and a couple of her tees.

Progress Flag decal for window

Honestly, I always feel performative putting stuff like this up in my yard. But we bought this because one thing we don’t want to attract while we’re back here in AZ, are bigoted white people. We put this decal up in our window because I really don’t want any neighbors approaching me who would have a problem with this type of image. I do think there is value in putting this stuff up in your yard, because it lets your neighbors and visitors know where you stand. And my thought is, please feel free to pass on inviting me to the next cookout if signs like this offend you.

Portra 400 film

This is my favorite type of film to shoot on but I definitely think there’s been a supply shortage for it these days. I used to be able to get it at $10 a roll, but the price has since gone up and it’s constantly on backorder.

Fleishman is in Trouble

On recommendation, I bought this book to read for January. Really good. It’s about a couple going through a divorce, told through the lens of a college friend of the guy. There’s a lot of sexual stuff in it, some of it that was a bit gross for me personally. But the core of the story is really good. I was hooked and finished it quickly. The ending was great. I’d recommend it.

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