DIY Vision Board: Eco Style

Last night I made my first vision board!

My creation doesn’t look like the average examples on Pinterest (oops), so we’re gonna call it the Discover with Deanna version.

When making my own vision board I had three priorities:

• Don’t be wasteful
• Only make it for monthly goals
• Use your bullet journal

Don’t be wasteful

I am trying to be eco-friendly in all areas of my life, so I had to apply that aspiration to my vision board. Being environmentally friendly when creating can be challenging for me because I like to physically handle what I am creating. Many vision board creators have started using online platforms like Canva to save paper and allow more room for creativity. However, they still typically print them out so it still uses a good amount of paper and ink.

My environmental-ish (I say ish because it’s not perfect) solution was to use items I already had in the house and re-purpose them for my board. For all of the images and color on my vision board, I used old National Geographic magazines. Their vibrant images translated my written goals into pictures. I was also able to cut out quotes and certain words that helped give it some more substance. I then created a little collage to symbolize my goals for September and glued it all down in my bullet journal.

By using my old National Geographics, I am re-purposing all of those gorgeous images to create something meaningful to me, rather than just letting them pile up in my closet. Moreover, I am not printing out anything to reduce paper and ink waste.

Because I am pasting everything into my bullet journal, I will be able to flip through my vision boards to see how they change and progress. Moreover, I don’t have a pile of old vision boards just sitting in my closet next to my National Geographics because they will be collected in a small notebook. Using what you already have in the house for crafts is not only great for the environment, it also prevents you from spending more money and going out into public (during a pandemic) just to get vision board supplies.

If you weren’t obsessed with Nat Geo like me as a kid, some alternatives are:

• Any magazine with photos, color or not
• Old books you have no intention of reading again
• Using your own creative skills and drawing on old book pages
• Newspapers
• Maps
• If you don’t have any of these in your home, head to a local thrift or secondhand shop because they typically carry old books and maps

Monthly Goals

When I was doing some Pinterest research on vision boards, I noticed that many of them were very general and focused on long-term goals. The COVID-19 pandemic quickly taught me how the future is unpredictable. I decided it made more sense for my personal goals and current lifestyle to go monthly for my board.

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I even found a cool “On September” line from a National Geographic to label what month my board is for…not gonna lie, I was super excited.

When choosing my goals I simply broke down my life into sections (work, fun, and learning).

I chose photos to show:

• Blog growth and work
• Challenging myself to do work that is complex but helps others
• Get outside more and reconnect with nature
• Be strong and stick to my goals
• Embrace the current moment I am living
• Breathe

When making your own vision board, I recommend doing whatever makes the most sense for your life. If you’re in a stable position, yearly goals may be more helpful. If you’re like me and you’re not really sure where your other sock is, let alone what you’re doing tomorrow, maybe stick with a month.

Bullet Journal

l don’t know about y’all but I wanted a bullet journal sooo badly. My wonderful boyfriend bought me a beautiful bamboo bound bullet journal (say that 10x fast) for my birthday this year. I was so happy but I had no idea what to put in it!

I was constantly saving ideas on Pinterest and I did a few monthly covers and mood charts but they weren’t lighting me up. Making my vision board was uber relaxing because I got all the joy of doing a quick small scale craft without all the pressure of “dang that succulent drawing doesn’t look right…welp just ruined my whole journal”.

I used my bullet journal but, you can re-purpose any type of book for your vision board!

End Result

If you have any advice on what I could add or how you go about environmentally friendly crafts, drop it in the comments below.

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I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend filled with rainbows, love, and maybe some eco-friendly crafting!

D