How to Make a Vision Board to Manifest Your Dream Life

The days between Christmas and New Years always feel full of extra MAGIC to me. It’s this time of peace and quiet {hopefully}, reflection, possibility, never being sure what day of the week it is and lots and lots of cheese. Really my ideal state of being, tbh.

I love using this time to look back at the last year, take note of accomplishments and growth and get organized and inspired for the year ahead. My fav way to do this? VISION BOARDING.

I am a HUGE believer in vision boards. Maybe because I legit manifested working for Oprah with one? More on that later…

When I shared on Instagram that Mark and I had a vision board evening planned I got so many questions about how to make a vision board and tips on manifesting them into reality. It such an easy and fun process I think everyone should do it as a way to get clearer on your intentions for the coming year. PLUS there’s wine! So first things first:

What is a Vision Board?

A vision board is basically a collage you put together of things that appeal to you and that you want to manifest into your life. It can be any combination that speaks to you of images, words, art and more. It’s an opportunity to get creative! You basically get to be crafty and build out your dream life as a beautiful visual, let your imagination go and don’t hold yourself back. For me it’s literally magazine cutouts glued onto poster board, but I’ve seen people do them on bulletin boards, paint their own on canvases etc. The possibilities are endless.

Vision Board 101

Before we get into the step by step on this, you’ll need the following if you’re doing it my way.

Vision Board Supplies

+ Poster board

I completely cover mine but be mindful of color if you’re planning on leaving spaces.

+ Glue Sticks or Tape

I used glue sticks this go round but I’ve used folded over tape or double sided tape in the past. Personal Preference.

+ Old Magazines

This is what you’ll cut up for your inspo! Again- you can totally paint or draw too but I love a mag moment- great excuse to get rid of the stack you have sitting in a corner anyway YOU KNOW YOU HAVE IT. I even use ones I haven’t read yet- you can stop and read a bit as you go along.

+ MUSIC

This is not optional IMO and totally sets the mood for your manifestation and vibes. I always lean Rat Pack- Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Billie Holiday etc.

+ Wine

Optional, but recommended. Bonus points for cheese, but have napkins because you need clean fingers.

+ Sage

If you aren’t familiar with sage it’s said to clear energies and ward off evil spirits. Basically you light it on fire and sprinkle the smoke around whatever you want to clear. I love sage and use it regularly in life but have never used it before when making a vision board even though it totally fits the vibe. We decided to add it in this year because some of the words we cut out were from articles about Trump and I can’t have that kind of negativity fucking up my vision boards, you know? So Mark and I saged each board after completing them lol. NECESSARY.

How to Make A Vision Board

Step 1: Go Through Your Magazines and Make an Inspiration Pile

Pull out anything and everything that speaks to you in any way. Colors, textures, images, words. Just pull them out and pile it up. Don’t overthink it- this is the preliminary pull and we will narrow down later. If it speaks to you in any way for any reason just grab it and pile it!

I am insane and have to legit go through every. single. magazine. to be sure I didn’t miss some possible jolt of inspo. Mark was much more chill and pulled until he was over it then moved the eff on. To each their own.

Step 2: Go through Your Pile and Cut out Your Favs

When I’m doing my initial pull I usually rip out entire pages. When I go through and cut out the words, images etc that really hit my soul. Things that speak to me, inspire me, and light me up. Again, don’t really worry about editing down, some things you will naturally be over at this point, some will stand out as MUST HAVES. I don’t worry about having too many things or what they all mean, I just snip away and sort of start loosely placing on my poster board without much thought.

Step 3: Start Looking Through Your Favs for Themes

I find that once I get all my favorites laid out they often have similar themes happening. This year there were a lot of gardens and nature, inspiring words, lots of business/blog related vibes, beautiful dream homes and European travel. I legit could’ve had a vision board that was just European inspired gardens so for things like that I go though and try to pull my absolute must-haves from my favorites. Same with words- what is REALLY speaking to your soul and what do you want more of in the coming year? Which home has the most elements of your dream home?

Step 4: Arrange Items on Your Board

Like I said I kind of start arranging on my board as I pull my favorites but definitely don’t stick anything down. When arranging I always start with the biggest pieces in the background. I’ll often pull colors or large images that become the base of my board. From their I loosely layer the smaller words and images and just trust my gut on the flow and placement.

Step 5: Stick It Down

If you’re Mark you use tape ON TOP of your images (the horror) and stick it all down in the span of like 5 minutes. If you’re me, you carefully glue each piece starting with the largest in the back and sort of shuffle the top pieces to the side as you do that so everything fits the flow you envisioned. There are always words or images I kind of leave off to the side until the end to see how they fit in. I keep them right next to the board so I remember I have them and continuously cull things that end up not speaking to me as much as they did at first. Again, don’t overthink it, trust your gut and have FUN. Once you’re all done you can sage it and send some positive energy out at it for an extra boost.

Tips For Successfully Manifesting from your Vision Board

+Pull pieces that really speak to you, don’t question them, let them flow through you. These are speaking to you for a reason and are most aligned with your authentic self

+ As you are sticking down your final pieces really think about what they mean to you and why you are bringing them into your life. Picture yourself with them as already a part of your life and really FEEL what it will be like to have them as part of your world. Feel gratitude for the joy/ peace of mind / confidence they bring you.

+Once completed, place your board somewhere you will see it regularly, bonus points if it is somewhere you see it first thing when you wake up and start your day. This will keep everything at the forefront of your thoughts and remind you of all the goodness coming your way.

Yes, I Manifested Working for Oprah from a Vision Board

It’s true. I have been vision boarding for a long time and YEARS ago right around the new year I made a board with all I wanted to bring into my life that coming year.

Oprah is a huge inspiration to me (REALLY ORIGINAL, CAITLIN, BUT COME ON). I had several quotes of hers on the board. I think I even had her book club on there because I wanted to read more… And most notably, without even knowing it, I used the logo for her TV network: OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network), several times as part of spelling out phrases like “own your life” or something.

Well, by June of that year I found myself working for Oprah via- HER TV NETWORK, OWN. A completely different industry than I had worked in previously. A miraculous series of events unfolded that led me straight to OWN and I worked there for several years. True story.

I think I still have the board in my closet. It’s always fun to look back at old boards and see what you manifested without even realizing it!

So what are you waiting for?! Get on it and make a vision board of your dream life! Let me know if you try it <3

Xx,