Christmas Creations, completed

I was busy all throughout December working on Christmas presents for my family and friends. I didn't get pictures of the sugar scrubs I created, but they were a huge hit. Not to mention they were super easy and inexpensive!

Sugar Scrub

16 oz plastic jar container (ordered from here)

1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar

3/4 cup olive oil (EVOO was used since it had less of a color than regular)

1 mL Essential Oil - I used grapefruit scent! (ordered from here)

For the brother in laws, we made movie night coupons complete with $1.10 taped inside for a Redbox movie! They also received a popcorn container from Target, 2 packages of microwave popcorn, and a king size pack of Red Vines!

For my new nephew, Joshua who was born on November 22nd, I made a picture frame. I got the idea from this blog, but since I never got over to Lowe's to get the wooden blocks cut, I used this MDF picture frame instead. I got the frame at Michael's, covered it with Mod Podge and some paper from a paper pad I already had. I then used my Cutting Up Cricut cartridge and cut out his name, birthdate, time and weight for the frame. To make his name stick out I cut a shadow of the letters about 1/2 an inch larger than the name.

For my mother in law, I wanted to make a family tree. With Bryan having 5 sisters, he has a large family that will only continue to grow. Only 2 of the 6 siblings have children so our number will significantly grow from the 18 people we have now. I had just gotten the Stretch Your Imagination Cricut cartridge for my birthday and it had an adorable tree on it with leaves that could be cut in a layer (a different color). I knew it would be perfect for making a family tree! I cut out the tree to be 11 inches and mounted it on a tan piece of 12x12 cardstock. I then dressed it up some with a bit of patterned paper. Using my Gypsy and the Opposites Attract Cricut cartridge I designed the word family and welded it together (made it cut out as one piece instead of individual letters).
To finish it off, I placed each of the leaves on the branches adhering them with glue dots. On the leave with names, I used foam mounting square to make them "pop" off the page a bit more. I wrote on each of the names of the family members, clustering the leaves by the families. I put Bryan's parents in the center and from there, you will find 6 other clusters of leaves (our cluster of leaves was the biggest with 5 family members).

For my mom, I made another set of seasonal word blocks like I had made for my mother in law for Mother's Day (seen here). Here is a link to the post where I got the idea. Unfortunately, I didn't take pics - they got finished literally hours before I had to give them to her on Christmas Eve - so I will have to try to sneak a pic of them on day while I am at her house. Hers are a burgandy wine color with patterned paper behind the letters. She like them a lot and immediately displayed them on her table as you walk into her house. They currently say "blessed" since she said that is how she feels!

Still working on a set of paper dolls for some precious little girls (we haven't yet done our Christmas celebration with their family yet). I will take photos of those when I am done. The Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut cartridge is stinkin' adorable!

Christmas Creations

I have made some really cute things for Christmas presents. The bad news... I can't post pictures because they are gifts and I can't ruin the surprise (should a recipient read the blog). You will have to wait until after Christmas to see what I have been up to.

Happy Birthday Jesus Banner

One of my friends had a great idea and I stole it to use with my children this Christmas. Last year, she decorated her house for Christmas with balloons like a birthday party for Jesus's birthday! I love this because it is yet another reminder of the TRUE meaning of Christmas.

My friend wanted to come over and use my Cricut to cut lettering to make a banner this year to add to the party decorations. I got "bored" on day (well kinda, how bored can a mom of 3 boys really get!) so I started on my own banner while the boys napped. Within 24 hours, mine was done.

I wanted to use bright and fun colors for my banner. Once the basic banner was done, I decided it needed a bit of embellishment so I put my Cricut to work and cut out some party hats, ballons, cupcakes, and presents to add to it. Instead of stringing the banner on one long string, I tied each letter to the next with colorful ribbons. I LOVE the final product!

This has got to be my favorite letter! The J for Jesus is embellished with a crown! I think that is fitting, don't you???

Finished Turkey Cards

With a bit of ribbon and some rub on lettering, the handprint turkey cards for Thanksgiving were complete. Two were given to my son's teachers, two were for each set of grandparents and the final two (which were a bit different) will be used in my older boys' scrapbooks for Thanksgiving pages.

Thanksgiving Banners

As a little thank you for my son's preschool teachers, I made banners that say "Give Thanks". Using my Opposites Attract Cricut cartridge to cut out the letters. From one set of lettering I was able to make both banners. I cut the other shapes with my Creative Memories cutting system. With a few pieces of grosgrain ribbon, the banners were complete! The teachers loved them and they cost me virtually nothing since I already had all the materials.

Craft Room Makeover

For Mother's Day, Bryan gave me a very thoughtful present. On top of my standard gift of scrapbooking supplies, Bryan also decided to turn his office into my craft room. He put a sign on his office door and told me that after he cleaned all his things out, I would have a craft room. Part of his motivation for this was the fact that when I would scrapbook or craft, I typically haul all my supplies from the office to the dining room table. When I would leave things out the boys would get into my supplies and would even routine my crafts sometimes.

So here is the problem with what my sweet husband did.... I could NOT work in that office! It was so disorganized and dysfunctional that my OCD brain couldn't focus! Recently I have felt the need to purge and reorganize the ENTIRE house. This started with the craft room (I am hoping to get buy making crafts for Christmas). With just a bit of money and a lot of organizing and purging, I would be able to have a space I could work in.

Here is what the office looked like about 2 weeks ago:

It was sort of a dumping ground for all sorts of things: Bryan's work stuff, old college textbooks, my teaching junk, kid art supplies, scrapbooking supplies - you get the picture!
Bryan's old desk that he cleared out completely for me. So loving - but this is NOT a desk that is conducive to crafting since there really isn't much actual desk space. So instead, it became where I dumped all the stuff I needed to file, work on, etc. Walking in the room and seeing this made me nuts!
My workspace. A table where I could spread out and really scrapbook since I like to have lots of space to work. This became where Bryan would set up and work when he needed to keep the boys from bothering him.

Here is what the office / craft room was transformed into:
I cleared off the desk for Bryan so he could still have a workspace in the office (at least for now, this time next year this area will have a desk for homeschooling).
My new Closetmaid cabinets and shelves! This makes my heart skip a beat! So many places to put things and so many ways to organize my supplies.
These shelves are for paper storage and scrapbooks in progress. Each of the boys has a clear 12x12 box where I keep the pages I am working on.
A rolling cart for scrapbooking supplies to stay organized in. Each drawer houses different supplies: embellishments, adhesives, cutting system parts, scraps, etc.
The finally product (for now). I would still like to paint to make the room a bit more serene, but that will have to wait!
Lots of shelves for scrapbooks, paper, accordion files, pictures ready to be scrapbooked, and supplies for gifts.
The boys even have a space that has been reorganized for all their craft supplies. The drawers are now complete with labels too!

Autumn Banner

I saw the idea for a cute holiday decoration on Nannygoat and I have been wanting to make one for quite some time. Since the ladies at Nannygoat used chipboard letters I was waiting to use those. However, since I was never really able to find large chipboard letters at Michaels and it was suggested on the blog, I just pulled out my handy dandy Cricut machine and cut out my own letters.

Using my Creative Memories cutting system, I cut out the backing circles and wavy edge circles. I also cut out some fall shapes on the Cricut (leaves, apples, acorns). It was all put together with Mod Podge. With the banner being entirely made of paper, I wanted to add some stiffness to the banner and seal all the layers together well. To string the banner I used some thick twine that I had on hand and then to add some finishing touches to it I tied on some grosgrain ribbons in two different widths.

World Card Making Day! UPDATED

As a mom of three, I have learned I have to get things done well in advance. So I used World Card Making Day to get ahead. I made 5 cards for our pastors for Pastor Appreciation Day the following Sunday. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of those. The boys and I also made Thanksgiving cards for Chris's teachers and a few others. Out came the box of paints, foam brushes, cardstock, and of course, the little hands! The end result... well, honestly they aren't completely finished, but I just need to add a few embellishments (ribbons, brads, rub-on transfers, etc.).

I started by cutting some dark brown cardstock to make a 6x6 inch card. Then over that the tan cardstock would be placed with the handprint turkeys. Next, I used CB's hand (the biggest one) and did two layers of "feathers" using his handprints. Notice I only used the fingers and not the thumb for the feathers.

After two layers with the larger handprints, I did two layers of CJ's hand (smaller handprint).
Here is a picture of the completed feathers.
I then used CB's hand again, this time the entire hand including the thumb to make the body of the turkey.
Stay tuned for more pictures of the finished product!

World Card Making Day!

Tomorrow (October 3rd) is World Card Making Day. I am hoping I can find some time to get to work on some cards. Pastor Appreciation week is coming up so I need to make cards for that, a little guy has a bday party this month, and I would love to just have some cards made and ready to go for the future!

We shall see if I have time to craft. As you can tell from this blog and the lack of posts, there hasn't been much crafting time lately!

Ribbon Storage

I have been trying to think of a way to organize and store my ribbon without them being in bins.  I have seen several great ideas but just never found one I thought would work for me.  So one day I was pulling into the garage and I happened to look over at my teaching "stuff" that is taking up space against the wall.  This small video organizer caught my eye.  I instantly knew it would be perfect for my ribbon.  Now I just need to get more to fill it up!  

Mother's Day Presents

I found this tutorial for a stationary box and wanted to try it out.  After about an hour, the box was done.  Next it was time to fill it up with gift tags and note cards.  It made the perfect gift for my mom for Mother's Day.  She frequently writes notes and letters to her sisters so I knew the cards would get put to good use.  

Her Mother's Day card: I added the word MOM outside.

Stationary Box

Front Flap (folded open) the pocket holds stamps and I included Post-It notes.

Small gift tag

View of the box when open, complete with 5 notecards in the back.

More Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Here are the finished magic boxes for CB's teachers at preschool.  Inside boxes are filled with apple shaped post-it notes, tacks, paper clips, and Hershey's hugs.  A simple white gift bag with a quick tag and ribbon finish it off.  On the tag, I made sure to note that the boxes should be opened carefully so the contents doesn't spill out all over!  

Mother's Day Presents

I made these blocks for my mother in law for Mother's Day.  The whole project probably took me an hour.  A few months ago, the idea was posted on Little Birdie Secrets and I saved it knowing I would one day tackle this project.  The great thing is that these 7 blocks can make a total of 16 words.  So that my mother in law would know what words can be spelled out, I wrote them on the bottom of the blocks.  The best thing is: these are very inexpensive!  Each block at Michael's cost $1.29.  I already had the antique white paint and mod podge.  Using my Cricut and a piece of patterned black paper, the letters were cut out in no time.  Now I just have to find a way to wrap them so that the blocks can say "mothers" when the package is opened!

The Wild Card Cricut Cartridge

When my friend, Jen, first showed me this Cricut cartridge, I was amazed! I currently have four cartridges (they are expensive!!!) and a couple of them make cards. My card making has just begun and I either use what I have or just make my own. Recently, with the addition of embellishments like ribbons or buttons, the products have come out pretty adorable, but nothing like what experienced card makers can create!

So Kammy, another crafty friend of mine, has the Wild Card Cartridge as well and she so graciously offered to let me borrow it anytime I desired.  That time came this week.  With so many events happening in May (Teacher Appreciation Day, Mother's Day, birthdays, weddings, etc...) I figured it would be a good time to test it out.  Kammy also told me that it is now available at Michael's so hopefully I will be getting one of my own soon!

Here are some of the cards I was busy making yesterday:

For my mom, who has been visiting her sisters for a few weeks.

Teacher Appreciation Day card and envelope

Thought this was just beautiful!  I ran out of navy 

cardstock or it would have been a bit more embellished.

This was the card I gave the secretary at Chris's preschool 

for Administrative Professionals Day.  She also got a disposable

coffee cup with coffee beans and a Starbucks giftcard!

Magic Boxes

My Google Reader gave me a pleasant surprise the other day!  One Pretty Thing is a recent addition to my blog roll and I LOVE it.  If you don't know, it is a site that many crafty and creative people send in their projects and then they are shared with the world!  This project from Skip to my Lou caught my eye.  These magic boxes seemed like another amazing gift for teacher appreciation week.  I am not yet sure what I am going to fill each compartment with but I think I might do something like this.  

Magic box: What is so magical you ask???

Remove the lid and four compartments unfold!

Lid off

Top view

Still need to add some ribbon and embellishments, but I think they turned out pretty cute!