9 TED Talks Every College Grad Needs to Hear on Life, Money, and Career Success

Whether you’re graduating high school, with a bachelors, or a masters you’re set free. You’ve finally reached your biggest educational goal and are ready to take the world by storm. A gap year may be top of mind, or you may be ready to take over the corporate world. Even though you may be ready to hit the ground running, there are some hard questions you may need to ask yourself. 

Turns out, you may not have learned daily life lessons in school. You may be wondering how to find a budget that works for you, or how to start investing. Staying in your school town may not be your best interest either. Whether you’re wanting to move across the country, or settle back into your home town, it’s time to set a budget that works best for you and your future. 

There are some lessons that could get you ahead of the game. From learning how to break bad habits and create healthy good ones to putting your financial fears to rest. If you’re ready to get ahead of the game and learn what you can before you jump into life post-college, Mint created an infographic with nine of the best TED Talks life takeaways. 

DIY Gift Grads Will LOVE

With the fresh start of a new year, there are plenty of celebrations to look forward to. I'm sure they are already starting to fill the pages of your pretty new day planners. With those celebrations come gifts and with gift giving, the SEARCH...for the perfect gift!

With a bit of hot glue and a few sugary treats, this DIY candy box is as easy as one, two, three and can be filled with more sweets or other trinkets perfect for the gift receiver. 

If you'd like to use this gift as a table centerpiece for a party, add a cup or vase inside the box and fill with flowers or a balloon. You can also wrap the outside candy boxes to fit your party color scheme.

Items Needed: 

5 boxes of candy

hot glue gun/hot glue sticks

shredded paper filler

smaller candy items

a plastic cup or vase 

Directions:

1. buy your candy and anything else you'd like to add

2. match similar sized boxes together and start gluing

3. continue adding one box at a time on a flat surface

4. box is complete - stand back and smile

5. add filler and fun items for your gift receiver

Ombre Party Ideas

Parties don't have to go all out to pack a big punch

as you can see from these very simple Teal Ombre 

Party decorations. If you stick to a simple color

scheme, then your sweet touches are able to stand out

and take center stage.

 I worked with my good friend Megan, on the decor for

her daughter's Graduation party. Megan happens 

to be an AMAZING photographer and lives in Oregon.

(Look her up if you are the area and need photos, she

is seriously just so very talented!)

 At first we were going to go with blue and yellow,

high school colors...but with Megan's 

impeccable taste, we both agreed those were

a bit too harsh for the soft party look she was going for.

We instead agreed on her daughter's favorite color and

turned it into an ombre party with bits of glittery gold

for just the right amount of girly flair.

A simple white sheet cake, wildflowers in a

jar and photographs tucked under a glass top table, 

that can be viewed but protected from sticky fingers.

Megan hung a few paper puff balls from the ceiling,

which added a bit more color to the space

and created a fun whimsical effect.

I'd call this party decor a success! "YAY"

If you are looking to book a photography session for

your upcoming Senior, Megan is booking now...

Photos taken by the lovely Megan Morgan Photography

Ombre Party Decorations made by LeroyLime on Etsy

Teacher Gift & IG reCAP

The end of the year quickly snuck up on me. I have a fab Pinterest board with all sorts of fun teacher gift ideas and loved the one of a plant or flower in a chalk painted container with a note, "Thank you for helping me grow!". I bought a bucket that I had all intention of painting but the plant I found wouldn't fit, so I just fancied up the tag a bit, added some sparkle amidst the flower petals and voila, something special for my daughters 2nd grade teacher!

What did you create or gift for your end of year teacher gifts?

and although the blog has been pretty quiet for a bit and will be while I take a little break for maternity leave, I have been keeping quite busy over at my Etsy shop, LeroyLime. Here are just a few of the many orders I've tackled...more to come!