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DIY Project Inspiration

The Vision Board

What is a vision board/ a dream board?

The vision board, or dream board is, as its name suggests, a picture in which you will express your wishes, desires and you dreams for the near future.

The more precisely these are expressed, the more likely you are to see them come true. In general, we make a vision board for the year that is about to begin or for the months to come. We can put absolutely anything we want in it.

The law of attraction

The vision board is a practical exercise in the law of attraction (The more positive you think, the more positive you attract. The more negative you think, the more negative you attract). It allows us to visualize our objectives in order to achieve them. This is a collage of visuals that represent our goals.

For example, my goal is to eat healthier. I’m going to put images of healthy dishes, vegetables, fruits, but why not also healthy people on my vision board… this will increase the chances of seeing this new healthy habit appear in my life. I will draw him to me.

How to achieve it?

To make a vision board it is important to be quiet, away from everyday life or noise. Do not think too much about your vision board in advance and above all do not set limits on what you want to put in it.

to start the vision board, you can either list the things you want for the coming year for example on a sheet of paper, or simply take random magazines (and of different types) and leaf through them.

You will thus gradually cut out images or words, or even just shapes, which speak to you and attract you.

It is not necessary to always see a meaning in it, sometimes it will reveal itself during the following year!

Be careful, the more specific you are in what you put on your board, the more likely you are to attract it to you, so don’t hesitate 🙂

After selecting the images and words that speak to you, you can cut them out and paste them on a large sheet. Add, if you wish, textures, paint, colors, drawings etc. Anything that seems important to you and that you want to attract to you.

Why is it important to display it at home?

Once the vision board has been created, display it in your home. It’s important to put it somewhere you’ll be looking at every day.

The more you look at it consciously, the more likely you are that these elements will come true. So it is not enough to take a look at it, but really to observe it for a few moments each day.

Coming to a Vision Board workshop

let yourself be carried away by the instructions to build your vision board step by step. During a 4-hour session, you will let your creativity and your dreams shine through.

I’ll walk you through the process, and we’ll share this sweet moment together.

You will therefore have the opportunity to create your own vision board, by making collages, drawings, writing on a large poster. You can then take it home and display it proudly in a place you come to look at every day. Throughout the following year, you will be able to see and attract these dreams to you.

During the session, you will also share this moment with the other people in the workshop. You can come and help each other if you wish, chat, eat small biscuits and drink coffee or tea. The idea is also to spend a pleasant moment of sharing that cuts you off from your daily life. It will then be easier at this time to let your desires and your dreams speak, without thinking about it too much.

VISION BOARD WORKSHOPS
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DIY Project Inspiration Sewing

A sustainable Christmas

Christmas is a time of year when we tend to consume a lot more than usual. Although it is often part of the magic of this season, I like to think that it is also possible to minimize our impact on the planet.

A big impact on the planet

Carbon impact

In a few figures, just over the 3-4 days around Christmas, the carbon footprint per person at 650 kg of carbon emissions. That’s almost half of what we should emit in 1 year to stay on course for 2050 (during the Paris COP21 agreements in 2015, an annual carbon footprint target of 2 tons per person has been set for 2050)… In addition, this figure of 650 kg per person was revealed in a study by the Stockholm Environment Institute in 2007. We can imagine that with the explosion of the consumer society in the last 10 years, we have certainly exceeded this number to reach rather 1 ton per person.

Travel

Very often you will spend Christmas with your owns, i your family and it is completely understandable and part of the spirit of these end-of-year celebrations. This is why the Christmas period has such a significant impact on our beautiful planet. Indeed, while some will take trains and other means of public transport to join their families, most households will take their personal vehicle to get around. This will ultimately represent a very significant pollution during the holiday seasons, all over the world. Some families even travel by plane to join their loved ones at the end of December. On the other hand, given the number of journeys made by car compared to the plane, it is the use of cars that pollutes the most at Christmas, contrary to what one might think.

Food waste

The impact of the Christmas holidays on the planet in terms of food is essentially reflected in a disproportionate overabundance and considerable food waste. According to a 2019 study by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), throughout the year, we throw away and waste almost 17% of what we produce as food in the world. In some areas this rises to almost a third, even 50%. Food losses and waste have an estimated impact on the climate of 3.3 giga tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.

Gifts and packaging waste

The impact of the Christmas holidays on the planet is also present at the level of our garbage cans, since, each year in France and in other European countries such as Germany, we observe a 20% increase in waste at the end-of-year holiday season. In addition to food waste, the culprits are gift wrap and all cardboard and plastic packaging for gifts. Very often, the papers used are used only once and are crumpled up and then thrown in the trash. Imagine all the paper (and therefore the resources used) that we would save if everyone wrapped their gifts with recycling or reusing paper from other years. The madness of gifts and the very strong belief that “you have to give a gift and a new one” remains rooted in our society. Unfortunately, consuming only new products forces production and therefore the consumption of resources. According to a Kantar study for Ebay, in 2020, 18% of French people planned to resell the Christmas gifts that had been offered to them. According to the same study, no less than 363 million euros are spent on unwanted or unpopular gifts each year. In short, it is 1 out of 3 gifts that will be bought new but will never be used. Another waste of resources.Pay attention to the quantities this year, or just eat the left overs for a long time if you’d like, but don’t waste ! There’s always the option of giving to your invitĂ©s the left overs of the big Christmas dinner, if you are not able to finish everything yourself before it gets too old.

The solutions available to you

A sustainable meal, but not in quantity

If you pay attention to the food you buy, you can mostly choose local products and vegetables that are suited to the season. You can also give an extra care in buying from local providers, seasonal products and organic veggies and fruits, and even cook a vegetarian Christmas dinner!

Pay attention to the quantities this year, or just eat the left overs for a long time if you’d like, but don’t waste ! There’s always the option of giving to your invités the left overs of the big Christmas dinner, if you are not able to finish everything yourself before it gets too old.

Buying eco friendly presents

Try as much as you can to buy eco friendly gift.

  • Second hand gifts: you don’t have to buy brand new things for your love ones, second hand is always an option and it’s more sustainable.
  • Do it yourself: you can also choose to make (#DIY) your own gifts, and it could even be personalized.
  • Support local businesses and handmade products: Think of how great it would be to buy a present from a local and sustainable business.

No wrapping paper : use furoshikis

Do you know about Furoshiki?

It’s a Japanese traditional wrapping cloth. It can be use to wrap a present or just transport objects. It will allow you not to use to much paper this year, and it is also part of the present. A beautiful Furoshiki is already a beautiful gift. And I will make some, only on special orders this year. You can ask me for the colors and patterns I have in stock or check out in the shop.

Avoid travelling miles

If you can, try not to travel too much for Christmas as it is part of a very big pollution. If you have to travel, prefer taking the train than the plane or the car. Think sustainability. Maybe this year you don’t need to go to see your family a cross the ocean?

What we should remember…

The impact of the Christmas holidays on the planet is huge and yet unsuspected. The most important thing is to be conscious and aware when we consume for Christmas.

It is essential to remember why we celebrate Christmas even without being religious: to rest during a break, to enjoy with family and friends, to share moments together and reunite, to create memories or to show gratitude for the past year.

These reasons are not supposed to harm the planet and the environment, they are actually opposed to it. Thus, remove all the superfluous that we added unnecessarily to Christmas, to find the pure essence of this holiday: gather with your loved ones and share a great time together.