5 Tips for Starting Your Own Blog

Wow. The past few weeks have been crazy! I've been travelling practically nonstop for the past month and a half! I'm not complaining, of course, but my busy schedule makes it hard to keep up with this blog! So today, I'm sharing a post I actually wrote a while ago. I had planned to post it on my blogiversary, but decided to save it for a day that I needed a post, which, as you can guess, happens to be today. So, here we are! Five tips for starting your own blog! These are just a few of the things I've learned in my first year and a half of blogging. (And I have definitely come a long way since I first started! Check out my first post here. Yikes!) If you haven't thought about creating your own blog, I encourage you to at least think about it. My blog centers around my passions (DIY, baking, photography, etc.) but you can go wherever you want with it! All you have to do is find your passion and role with it. It can be a journal of your daily life, a place to write your thoughts, a way to share your music, art, or travels... the possibilities are endless! It's a very very fun and rewarding experience. Trust me.

If any of that piqued your interest, read on so that you can start on the right foot!

DIY Wall Hanging

I'm going to be doing a lot of dorm shopping this week. (To read more about my college plans, check out this post!) But in addition to buying all the necessities, I have to remember to decorate my dorm and truly make it mine. This DIY is one thing that will definitely find a home somewhere in my dorm room. I love how it turned out! I was actually inspired by something I found on Etsy and decided to just make it myself! 

You can choose any word you want for this project, or even shrink the letters a bit and fit in a whole phrase! I added pom-pom trim to mine (leftover from this DIY), but feel free to customize it any way you want. I'm thinking of adding some tassels later!

DIY Drawstring Sunglasses Pouch

Hey hey! As you all know, I went on a trip to Mexico earlier this summer. It was so hot and sunny! Luckily, I had my sunglasses. But as I was packing them, I realized that the only sunglasses pouch that I have is an old one that my parents lent me years ago. It works fine, but, let's be honest, isn't the prettiest. So I rushed downstairs and quickly sewed up this one! Really, it's that easy. It hardly took any time at all. Fortunately, I thought to take pictures along the way so I can share the how-to here!

While I was at it, I added some glittery corners to the black frames of my sunglasses just by swiping on some gold glitter nail polish! That tutorial is also included in this post.

Hope your summer is wonderful so far and full of adventures!

(See how to make the cover-up in the picture above by clicking here!)

Tahoe Weekend

Exactly a week ago today, I took a weekend trip to a cabin up in Tahoe, which is only about 2 1/2 hours from my house. I went with my parents and sister as well as my aunt, uncle, and cousins. It was such a relaxing, slow weekend. I had a great time, and I want to go back! 

I know it's Friday, and I usually post on Sunday, but I wanted to share a few pictures from this trip and I have so much planned for the blog this summer that I don't have a Sunday slot for this post! So here are the pictures. On a Friday.

DIY Beach Cover-Up

As you know, I recently came back from a trip in Mexico! (I recapped my trip here and here.) I knew there was going to be a lot of pool and beach time, so I decided to sew up this cover-up before I left for my trip. It was as I was working on this project that I discovered my deep love for pom-pom trim! It instantly made the cover-up so much cuter! I found my pom-pom trim at Joann's. You can buy it by the yard or by the roll. I'm trying to think of more ways to use it, like on a tote bag or a scarf. We'll see what I come up with!

Anyway, if you'd like to make this cover-up for yourself, follow the steps below!

Mexico Trip Video

I hope you all had a fun and safe Fourth of July! As promised, here is my Mexico video! (And my new URL!! Yay! And FYI, it does redirect if you type in the old one.) If you missed my last post, you can find it here. I recapped my trip and shared a few pictures. But today I have for you the 2 minutes and 39 second version! 

Like the song in the video? It's "Mexico" by Tigers in the Sky, one of my favorite bands. When I found out I was going to Mexico, I immediately thought that song would be perfect for a video! Listen to more of their songs here. Thanks for watching!

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

 

Happy July Fourth weekend! I hope you're enjoying all the staples of this holiday: family and friends, swimming, fireworks... I know I will be tomorrow!

Last Tuesday, I returned from a six-day trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! It was such a fun time with my family, discovering a new country and having all sorts of adventures. I love going to different countries and I consider myself so so lucky to have been able to visit three already. It is so interesting to interact with people from different cultures and, in this case, try to use some of the Spanish I supposedly learned over the past four years of high school! In this post, I'm just going to talk about my trip and show you some pictures I took!

But first, I have a little announcement! I'm finally getting a domain name for my blog! (Yay!!) That means my blog URL will now be www.theyellowmailboxblog.com, without the "blogspot" part. (I'm not sure if it will automatically redirect you to this new URL if you type in the old one, so I just wanted to let you know before it went into effect.)

One more thing, then I'll stop rambling for sure. I created a video of this trip that will be up on the blog on Tuesday, July 5th. So look for that! It's pretty awesome if I do say so myself...