Your Aesthetic Style BLOG
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 Zero waste gift giving is one of my favorite things to do during the holiday season. As much as I love gift giving, I prefer gifts that will be used rather than gifts that will be sitting in a box in someone’s closet for months or even years and contributing to the mountain of waste we already have. But what is zero waste gift giving? And how can we achieve it when we barely have time to sometimes shop for ready made gifts? I define zero waste gifts as handmade, homemade, secondhand, experiences, or reusing/regifting something that you already have and never used and is just sitting in a box in your closet but you know someone else will love it. We can focus more on gifting items that are better for the environment and for the recipient rather than feeling we should spend money on gifts that may never be used again just because we have to. Some zero gifts ideas are:
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 Don't you love the warm fuzzy feelings around the holidays? We take extra time to make our home cozy, adding little details with decorations and special food. When I was thinking about what to share for the last post of 2018, it hit me - this happy holiday spirit is how we should live all the time. Of course this time of year is special because it's only once a year BUT there are certain habits we have around the holidays that we could adapt more into our everyday life. For example, that little extra effort to turn simple moments into something special. I've started trying to do this is with cooking..  Have you ever noticed how we relate to TIME kind of like a one-sided relationship? We use phrases like "I wish..", "If only.." ,"When I..." that are loaded with expectations and more often than not we're left feeling frustrated because "There's never enough". The problem is that TIME doesn't respond. There's no making amends or an "Oh I understand, here, have some more." My unhealthy relationship with time was all about imagining 'one day' in the future where I'll get all my time back and be able to do everything I want. "When my sons' start daycare, then I'll have more time..". That day came and I'd already decided to start my own business, so I changed it to "Once I get this online business up & running, then I'll have more time..." And wow did I get good at squeezing every drop of time I could get.  You know it well, the never-ending to-do list. No need to even write it down, the reminders are everywhere … the laundry piles, dishes in the sink, incomplete fixer-upper projects etc. Seeing these reminders all day, every day really wore me down my first two years as a stay-at-home mom. Mess and chaos is part of daily life with small kids. The secret is to redirect your focus by decorating your home in a way that inspires you. Here are three practical ways you can start doing this right away!  During my last year in college, I took a class called Gender and Development where we studied women's’ lives in different countries. My professor always emphasized how everywhere, in every country, women’s work in the home is undervalued because the home is a private space. Therefore it's difficult to ‘quantify’ or measure all the skills involved in managing a household in comparison with other lines of work. When I became a stay at home mom myself, I thought about this class a lot. Suddenly it wasn't someone else's life anymore, it was mine. |
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Yun-A (rhymes with 'fun' 'Ah') creator of Your Aesthetic Style. A GIFT: up level your home!
A GIFT: up level your brand!
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Family Health Tips Latest post: 3 Simple Ways to Encourage Your Children to Clean Up More to Mum Topic: Simple Home Decoration Ideas that will create more quality time Archives
November 2021
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