Scrapbook Saturday: Pregnant Belly & Meeting Little Brother

May 5, 2012 By 2 Comments

Happy National Scrapbook Day! This isn’t really a post about that, but I thought I’d wish you all a good one on our national holiday :)

I’m slowly making progress on Tobin’s first year book. Here are a couple of layouts I’ve finished that I wanted to share because of some details.

The Expanding layout I like for a couple of reasons: (1) The extra spacing between the letters of the title make me laugh. They serve as title and journalling in one. Especially to any woman who has ever been pregnant. I mean, isn’t “expanding” exactly how you felt? and (2) I really like how the numbers of the weeks turned out. I painted a bit of yellow acrylic paint straight on the picture and then used black acrylic paint to stamp the number of weeks I was in the photo. The layout is a lift from the May/June issue of Scrapbooks, Etc. and is by Jen Lessinger.

 

 

The second layout I’m sharing is one of my favorite photos from Tobin’s birth. This is the day that Nicholas came to the hospital and met Tobin. I just loved seeing my boys together, Finally.

It’s a simple layout with a painted chipboard frame with some white rub-on letters. I think that the look of happiness on William’s face was all the journalling I needed on this one!

So what crafts have you done lately? I’d love to see your layouts or projects!

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Making Spring Wreaths

April 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It’s Spring, ya’ll! Or practically Summer if you go by the temperatures we’ve already had here. And the mosquitos. They are going to be epic this year. But that’s not my point! My point is, it’s Spring and I wanted some color on my doors.

So, I whipped up a couple of wreaths, one for the front door of the apartment and one for the hall closet (if you can call the space between the refrigerator and Nicholas’ bathroom a hall).

Outdoor Wreath

I bought a grapevine wreath from Hobby Lobby, some bright yellow spray paint, and some coordinating fabric and went to town. I have been wanting to do some bunting to decorate, and thought this would be a good place to do it. I cut out some diamond shapes from the fabric, folded them in half, and used some orange embroidery thread to stitch the edges. I kept a section at the top of each diamond to thread some orange cord through to hang on the wreath. I spray painted the wreath, strung the bunting, tied it to the wreath and I was done! I love it, but wish my front door wasn’t hunter green.

 

Hall Door Wreath

I’ve been wanting to do a yarn wreath and Hobby Lobby had some great paper flowers on sale, so I took this chance to do it! I grabbed a Styrofoam wreath form, some grass-green yarn, three big ol’ paper flowers, and some coordinating ribbon to hang it. This wreath is super simple, just wrap the yarn around the form (fairly tightly), poke some holes in the wreath where you want to stick the flowers, squeeze some hot glue in the holes to secure the flowers, and then wrap a bit of the ribbon on the top to hang. Done! I love the pop of color I see when I come in the front door of my apartment.

Have you done any crafts for Spring? What’s your favorite way to bring Spring in to your home?

Tip Junkie handmade projects

 

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What’s In It For Me? Or Why I Have A Blog

April 17, 2012 By 8 Comments

When I was getting ready for BlissDom ’12, one of the many questions that came up was what my blog was about. There are people who write on blogs who have very specific niches, and some, like me, who don’t (although I have more of a niche than a lot of people). I have a little blog, I don’t have advertising, I haven’t done any sponsored writing, and the giveaways I’ve done have been wonderful things from friends. I think all of those things are fine, I just haven’t done them.

The other version of “what is your blog about” is what my goal is for my blog. Perhaps because I’m not selling anything or supporting my family with revenue from my blog, I answer, “to have a place to write.” That’s what I want from my blog. If the stories or posts touch someone, then I’m good. If they don’t? And only my mom has seen the post? Then I’m good there too. I feel better in my mind and my spirit when I’ve gotten some words down on paper or screen. One of the things I loved about BlissDom was finding other writers who still use their blogs as a place to write (whether they made money from their blogs or not). I was glad to find that I wasn’t the only one without a big ol’ goal for my blog.

Do you have a creative outlet? Write, craft, sing, dance? Why do you do it? What’s in it for you?

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Scrapbook Saturday: Pregnancy Test & Boy Announcement Pages

March 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I’m finally making some progress on Tobin’s first book (conception through one year), and these are two of my favorite layouts so far.

The first is the page that tells the story of finding out we were pregnant with Tobin. My favorite part of this layout is the white crayon I used for the journalling and to doodle on the edges of the scalloped paper and around the photos.

Supplies: Die Cut With A View (green background paper), Paper Studios (scalloped brown paper), Crayola Crayon (white journalling and doodling), plastic letters are so old I have no idea who made them (but yay for using my stash!)

 

The second layout tells the story of finding out that Tobin was a boy (we were completely convinced he was a girl for absolutely no scientific reason). We didn’t get as many good ultrasound pictures with Tobin as we did with Nicholas, but we did get one really good one, so I used it here. I saw a card in Scrapbooks, Etc. with the “It’s A Boy” title and mustache and was glad I thought to use it here.

Supplies: GenZ Little Yellow Bicycle (zig-zag background paper), chipboard letters Heidi Swapp in Glossy Jet Newsprint, white paper is from the inserts that came in some older books

What crafts or scrapbooking are you working on?

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Easter Tradition: Making An Easter Egg Tree

March 25, 2012 By 4 Comments

My Mom did Easter decorating right. On Easter morning we woke to find our big dining table turned into a spring wonderland. Our baskets were full of goodies and maybe a couple of toys, the table was covered with a pretty white table cloth, crotchet bunnies made by my Grandmother dotted the table, and in the center of the table was the Easter Egg Tree.

I loved the Easter Egg Tree. Mom would let me help to empty raw eggs so we could dye the eggs and put ribbon on one end. The tree was simple, just a branch in a pretty container with our eggs on it. But the tree, surrounded by all the other Easter stuff? Magic. I loved it.

Even though we don’t really have a place to put it in our small apartment, I thought I’d make an Easter Egg Tree. It was really simple and doesn’t take too many supplies.

Supply list:

  • 1 Smallish Tree Branch (with as many little branches as you need/want to hang eggs),
  • 1 squirt of acrylic paint (if you want to paint your branch),
  • a sponge paintbrush
  • 1 small block of florist foam (big enough to stick the branch into without it falling over),
  • a container for the foam and branch (I used a small silver bucket I already had),
  • Easter eggs for hanging (mine are styrofoam eggs I bought at the hospital gift shop, but you could make real ones if you’re ambitious),
  • enough Easter grass to hide the foam around the tree.

My friend, Linda, brought me the branch and after de-thorning it (it was mesquite), I dabbed yellow paint on it. I wanted it to look rustic, so I didn’t coat the branch too thickly. If you want it to be a more solid color let the paint dry between coats and keep painting until you’re happy with the color.

Before the paint:

After the paint:

Foam in the bucket, branch in the foam, magazine pages wedged between bucket & foam for stability.

Hang the eggs on the tree, put extra on the grass, add a little bird friend and you’re done!

I hadn’t thought about my Mom’s Easter Egg Tree in years. Then, last month at BlissDom, some fabulous folks from Hershey’s had a fantastic booth. Attendees got to choose an Easter basket and some awesome goodies and then it was shipped to our homes. Y’all, this was a seriously fun booth. We got our basket the other day and meant to keep all the goodies for Easter. That didn’t happen, but we enjoyed them while they lasted! You can check out some cool tips and read about other family’s Easter traditions on the Hershey site’s Easter section.

Fabulous Easter Basket from Hershey’s

 

What is your favorite Easter tradition?

*This is not a sponsored post, but the lovely Easter basket was sent to BlissDom attendees at no cost to us. Because Hershey’s is sweet. Get it? Sweet. Heh.

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Birthday Party Fun: Dr. Seuss Style!

March 12, 2012 By 6 Comments

Just like every post when I talk about my sons’ ages, I want to start it saying, “I can’t believe they are [insert age here] already!” I can’t believe Tobin is two already! I feel better now. Let’s talk about his birthday party! You may remember from last year that Tobin shares a birthday with Dr. Seuss and Texas. With all the Lorax fun happening right now and our general love of Dr. Seuss, we decided to go with the good Dr. for theme inspiration this year.

I did some searching for Dr. Seuss-themed parties and came up with some great examples (which I quickly pinned). As with all the celebrations we have, I try to stick to the theme mostly in solid colors and some accents. I don’t like to have everything too matchy and I don’t like to spend money on all the theme plates, cups, etc. That stuff can get pricey (I’m talking to you  Party City). This year I used Dr. Seuss’ robin’s egg blue and red (with some orange and other primaries thrown in for good measure). I also used red and white stripes when I could.

My favorite place to find cool Dr. Seuss stuff is the Official Dr. Seuss Website. I compared prices on the official site with ones from Oriental Trading and other go-to party sites and they were similar (and in a few cases, lower). I did get a couple of the items from Oriental Trading, but the majority of the theme stuff is from the Dr. Seuss site. The beauty of sticking with so many solid colors (or the stripes in this case) is that you can reuse or buy from local stores.

Enough background, here are some of my favorite details from Tobin’s Second Birthday Party!

Tables, colors & balloons. Except for the light blue table covers and the red and white striped skirts, all the table covers, plastic ware, cups, plates and napkins were red ones from Nicholas’ party last summer. I got too many then, but didn’t have to buy those things this time, so I call it a win! I got four Green Eggs & Ham mylar balloons for dotting around the rooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The banner. I really like this year’s banner. The supplies were simple: letters from the Dr. Seuss site (they are meant for school bulletin boards), blue card stock from Hobby Lobby, white circles cut from copy paper, black ink for the edges, double-sided tape for adhering all the layers, red acrylic paint for the plain wooden dowel rods, florist foam for holding the dowel rods in place, cord left over from Tobin’s party last year, and purple Easter grass. I cut out the blue squares, rounded the corners, inked the edges of the white circles, and did all the sticking in about 10 minutes. After I adhered the letters, I traced them with a fine-point black Sharpie for some extra emphasis. I punched holes and threaded with the cord and the banner part was done. The whole project, including painting the dowel rods, took about 30 minutes. I had the pots from last year’s party, so with all the stuff I bought, the banner set up might have cost $5.00.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cat’s marshmallow hats. I found them on Babble first and really love how they turned out. They were simple to make and were a great addition to the decorations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food. Because I am trying to simplify my world and not stress so much about every detail, I decided to order the food. Nothing crazy, sandwiches (PB&J for the kids), a veggie tray, a fruit tray, chips, goldfish (One Fish, Two Fish, etc.), and drinks. The one item I had to make after seeing it on so many other sites was Green Eggs (regular deviled eggs with a few drops of bright green food coloring).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cake. Originally, the cake was going to be a top hat with red and white stripes, but the South Texas heat and humidity made it impossible. The fantastic Jennifer of Sweet Thangs by Dragon made a super tasty, really cute cake. Next year, we’ll defy gravity and humidity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture time! My awesome colleague, Linda, drew the Lorax for us and I added details with acrylic paint and orange felt. I got the big Cat In The Hat and Thing hair from the Dr. Seuss site. I had planned for the kids to play pin-the-whiskers-on-the-Lorax and to get a picture of all of them together wearing their Thing hair on next to the Cat and the Lorax. That didn’t happen because they stayed in the jump house outside almost the entire time. I’m good with that too. I also love that we’re giving the cat, the Lorax and the leftover Thing hair to T’s daycare for the library section of his classroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodie bags. The bags themselves are recycled bags with Dr. Seuss characters on the front and a quote from the corresponding story on the back. These are sturdy bags, and I felt like the bags themselves were really the goodies for the kids. There was also a Lorax bag that didn’t make the picture somehow. The set came with three per design and the kids had fun choosing which character they took home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodie bag insides. I did want the bags to have something in them since the younger kids at least would be looking for something inside! I included a blank white bookmark with red and white striped ribbon on top; Dr. Seuss stickers to decorate the bookmarks (or whatever); a couple of Dr. Seuss temporary tattoos; and a cute sucker. I was also excited to be able to add some of the fun Lorax goodies that the wonderful rep at BlissDom shared with me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodie bag tags. I used the same red and white striped ribbon for the tags that I used for the bookmark. I also used the same blue card stock for the background paper as I used for the banner. I cut and rounded the corners of the tags like I did for the banner, stamped a white circle with my favorite “Thank You” stamp, adhered and done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had such a fun time with Dr. Seuss and our friends again this year. What was your favorite detail?

Tip Junkie handmade projects

 

 

 

 

 

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The Post-BlissDom Swirl

February 29, 2012 By 27 Comments

There are a lot of things swirling in my brain post-BlissDom. Not comparing my beginning to someone else’s middle (@JonAccuff). The difference between popularity and likeability…and not having to choose between being likeable and being respected (@ssmirnav). The amazing connections and brilliant women I met. Being asked if I was bi-racial (@mrlady). At least I thought that was Shannon’s question. And looking for my hinge moment.

And here’s the one that I really need to get into my head: I’m a writer (@JeffGoins). I tell people I like to tell stories, but I shy away from saying I’m a writer. But Jeff seems to think I’m a writer. Maybe I just need some more practice.

I think it’s interesting that both Jeff and Jon talked about using the hours that nobody else wants to do what *I* want. So (and I can’t believe I’m saying this), I’m going to get up early to write and read and scrap. Because the time when my family is awake and I am home? That shouldn’t be the time when my face is lit up by the screen.

In the middle of the glitter and the laughing and the celebrity sightings (I’m talking about you, Lorax), these seeds of change found their way into my brain and my heart. It’s up to me now to nourish them. And, apparently, that nourishment will be happening at 5:00 a.m.

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Resolutions 2012: Organized Scrapping Area

February 7, 2012 By 2 Comments

One of my Resolutions for 2012 was to organize my scrapbooking area. My scrapbook area (also known as our apartment’s dining room) wasn’t that bad initially. A little untidy, but not horrible. The thing that really got me to organize it was that I couldn’t remember half the stuff I had. This happens to a lot of crafters, I think, but it bothered me that so many of these great supplies I had weren’t getting used (and, when I was honest with myself, weren’t going to be used by me).

Here is the “before” picture:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here is what I changed:

  • I retired the Sterilite drawers. They took up too much space on the table. I am trying very hard to keep my stuff off of the dining room table, so I need a space to put working projects, and the table is the only option. So, the drawers went for that reason. The other reason is that I ended up giving away at least half of my paper stash and that many drawers just weren’t necessary. I moved to paper holders from Studio Papers. We’ll see if that works as well as the drawers have for this long.
  • For years I’ve had some of my ribbon on a wall-mounted paper towel holder. I don’t use much ribbon, so I gave away a ton of it, so I just added one tall jar to ones I already had and color coordinated my remaining ribbon by jar.
  • I’ve stored my non-type stamps on/in a wall-mounted drawer organizer for a while. I didn’t mind it, it did its job, but I didn’t love how it looked. Also, every time Nicholas hit the wall (it shares a wall with N’s room), stamps fell off. I got a small basket that coordinates with ones I already had and am now using that for my stamps.
  • I was able to get rid of one of the big baskets on the very top shelf simply by giving away more than a basket-worth of stuff.
  • I swapped the little brown baskets for some prettier ones. Hey, I got them when baskets were half off at Hobby Lobby!
  • I was able to condense my little embellishments so I only needed one of the containers. Which means that I was able to give away two containers. I don’t use many little embellishments (mostly eyelets and themed brads), and most of them came into my stash when I first started scrapping and couldn’t say no to anything I saw in catalogs or in the store. It was a problem.
  • I gave away my Xyron Personal Cutting System I just wasn’t using it, and hadn’t in more than a year (not coincidentally, this is the main reason I’ve never gotten a Cricut. I was afraid it would just gather dust).  The cutter was just taking up shelf space and I found someone who would use it. So it went to a better home.

Here are some “after” pictures:

The whole picture! I still need to finish the two magazine holders on the end of the lower shelf on the left side. I have some bright yellow spray paint I plan to work with for those. I love how much brighter everything looks and I can take photos of finished projects inside now because I get some light from the window!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I feel like I’ll use my ribbon more now that I can see it. And it’s pretty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The few little embellishments I kept fit nicely in these small jars. These are spice racks that I’ve used for paint forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got these Paper Studio paper holders at Hobby Lobby. They are pretty sturdy, are easy to pull off the shelf and came with the label holders. I organized into solid cardstock, shaped paper,    patterned paper/solid paper and T’s first book. After T’s first book is done, I’ll put my Project Life paper and accessories in that container.

 

 

When all was said and done, I took about half of my stash away and shared with friends. The great part about it, besides it looking so much neater, is that I’m energized to scrap again. I’ve got T’s first year book all organized and ready to go, including paper picked out for most layouts, and that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t gone through every single piece of paper and every embellishment. I did have the presence of mind to keep some of my stash for crafting with the kids (or for unexpected school projects).

I’m so excited to be done with one of my New Year’s Resolutions! And I did it before January was done! How are you doing on your resolutions?

 

 

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Scrapbook Saturday: N’s 5th Book Done

January 14, 2012 By 2 Comments

I’m so excited! I’ve finally finished N’s 5th book (from June 2009 to June 2010). I’m particularly glad because it brings me up-to-date to start a family Project Life for 2010. Excuse the slices of yard you see next to and above the layouts, but that’s what happens when you don’t get any natural light in your home and you have to put the layouts on your toddler’s high chair on the front stoop. I guess. Here are a few of my favorites of the bunch I finished last week!

 

I love his face in this picture. And you will notice how very short his hair is in many months’ worth of layouts.

 

Pumpkin Carving

 

Spiderman 2 (this was the second year N wanted to be Spiderman, but he wanted to be the “bad” one. I used the collage function from Walgreens to get a lot of pictures on the page).

It’s pretty rare to catch N asleep in a room with light, so I had to snap the picture. I was excited to use several “Z”s from different packages.

Game Boy. This may be one of my favorite pictures of N ever. He was so engrossed in the computer. I was happy to come across the chipboard snowflakes that went so well with the design on the paper!

 

Finally. One of my favorite hospital pictures :)

 

Big Brother.

 

Happy Mimi (W’s mom). I really like to use “girl” colors when I can. I used beads on the center of some of the flowers for a little sparkle.

 

Five.

 

Now I’m ready to work on T’s first book! Gulp.

 

 

 

 

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Let the Resolutions Begin!

January 3, 2012 By 6 Comments

I’m feeling crazy this week, so I’m making all kinds of New Year’s Resolutions for 2012. Most of them revolve around organization or being organized. I haven’t fleshed them all out, but here are the basics:

Organize:

  1. Nicholas’ closet,
  2. Our closet,
  3. My scrapbooking area,
  4. Kitchen pantry,
  5. Laundry area,
  6. Hall closet,
  7. Storage unit,
  8. Linen closet,
  9. Email (I have more than 700 unopened emails sitting in my inbox),
  10. Finances,
  11. Calendars (editorial and exercise),
  12. Chore chart, and
  13. Photos

Here’s what I want to accomplish: donating clothing items to my local hospital, donating phones to my local shelter, knowing the medicine we have in our cabinet (and getting rid of old stuff), committing to exercising, not having any overdraft charges, be move-out ready or downsize to a smaller storage unit, back-up photos for 2011, back-up photos monthly, set up kids’ doctors appointments for the year, quickly scrapbook T’s first year, and feel more relaxed.

Are you making resolutions for 2012? Feel like sharing?

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