For The Deaf Girl Vision Board Night
How to dream plan, and host an inclusive & accessible vision board party
We kicked off our first dDeaf & Hard of Hearing Hangout event of the year with a vision board party. Dream planning is what initially inspired the idea of For The Deaf Girl, and continues to bring clarity to our team as we grow this online and in-person community. We believe in the power of visualizing a better and more inclusive future, and a tangible reminder helps us go back and focus on what our practical goals were for that season of life.
While January is the perfect time for dream planning, you can do it whenever you need creative clarity. Let’s take a look at how to set up your vision board, as well as creating an accessible setting to do it with friends.
Collect Inspiration
The first thing you need is inspiration.
As someone who collages in her free time, I personally have collected dozens of issues of Vogue, In Her Garden, and In Her Studio. Personally I find inspiration in fashion, nature, and other’s creative spaces. I am lucky to find dozens of publications that speak to me, and just happen to be accessible at my local book retailers.
However, for our most recent event I’ve found that there is a lot of diversity and a wide spectrum of interests that we had to cater to. I spent time on Pinterest and Unsplash finding images I felt best represented the women attending. I used a few different collage templates on Canva and simply replaced the images with the ones I had downloaded.
It can be difficult to find photos for an array of niche aesthetics, so it is best to start searching by topic. A few keywords I used were coquette aesthetic, girl boss aesthetic, study aesthetic.
It may be overwhelming at first, but this can be a time to explore your personal style and visual inspiration that will set the tone for your board and current season.
A Word or Phrase
Having a word or phrase that encompasses the season you are stepping into—or what you hope to achieve—helps guide your vision board.
For our party, I set up a board with handwritten words with definitions from a list made by Morgan Harper Nichols. Her list of 100 words will inspire you, and help you discover a theme to guide your dream planning.
If you’re hosting a party, you can have a similar board for guests to take what they need, or you can print off her list for guests to look through.
Once you have your visuals selected, check out this list of helpful collaging supplies:
Canvases or Paper
Magazines
Printed Collage Templates
Rubber Cement
Glue Sticks
Scissors
Washi Tape
Markers
Stickers
Stamps & Ink
Paper Scraps
Let’s Create Our Vision Board
STEP ONE: The first step to creating your vision board collage is choosing your background. Pick a few scrap pieces of paper, or larger images as a base for your creation.
STEP TWO: Begin cutting out your inspiration images from your collages or magazines. Sort them into themed piles based on your goals or desires for the year. Ex: Plants and gardening, study and school, hearing aids and self advocacy. It will help you create pockets of content for the different areas of your board.
STEP THREE: Begin playing around with how you want to arrange your images. You don’t have to commit to anything in the beginning of this stage. Just see where you like things and how you would like to layer them over your background. You can always use glue sticks if you need for something to stay, but it may need to be moved. Once you’re happy with how everything is arragnge, break out the rubber cement and washi tape for your final draft.
STEP FOUR: Once you have your imagery, it is time to add decorative elements. This can include stickers, cut outs, stamps, glitter—you name it. Sometimes it’s fun to add unnecessary washi tape to give extra dimension. Get creative, this is YOUR piece. Add doodles, or little words to remind you of goals and dreams. There is no wrong way to vision board!
STEP FIVE: Snap a picture! We want to see your beautiful creations, so tag us on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Dream big, and look back at your vision board collage as a reminder of how far you’ve come.
Accessibility Tips
Eliminate unnecessary background noises such as music, this helps especially when multiple people are talking
Have a physical copy of activity instructions
Make sure to have adequate lighting for those who rely on signing, lip reading or facial context clues
Wether you do it alone, or host a girls night in, we hope you leave this post feeling inspired to set aside time to dream plan. There are no rules, so relax and create! Happy new year friends.
