End of the Year Gifts

My oldest son just finished his second and final year of preschool. It is both exciting and sad at the same time. Exciting because that mean we are heading into school years and I will be embarking on the roller coaster that is homeschooling. Will it be challenging, yes. But will the rewards outweigh the challenges, definitely. I can do all things in Christ. He has led us to the decision to homeschool our children, and He will equip me (yes, a credentialed teacher needs to be equipped! Teaching YOUR OWN kid is VERY different from teaching a room of 35 sixth graders).

Above is the adorable card I made using my Cricut (have I told you lately how much I LOVE that little machine!). CB (my oldest son) was certainly blessed with TWO #1 teachers this year! What a blessing they were.

For the gift, I had saved this one for just this occasion! As some of you know I have a large list of blogs that I read on a regular basis. When I see an idea that I love I save it in my Delicious list (an online bookmarking list, so your bookmarks are available anywhere that has Internet.) Anyway, a few months ago while I was peeking at Nap Time Crafts I saw this beautiful idea! You can't get much more simple than that: crayons, some Tacky glue, and a shadow box frame.
I cut out each teacher's first initial in a very large font so I would have a guide for where to place the crayons. I backed that paper with black so the letters would stand out. I love the All Mixed Up font cartridge! Such a cute font!!!
They loved them!!! I was so happy with how they turned out and even the wrapping was super cute. I had found bags that were covered in apples in the Dollar Spot at Target a LONG time ago and had put them away for teacher gifts. When I started planning on making these, I thought the bags would be too small since I was going to get 12x12 shadow boxes. However, when I was at Michael's I didn't see any I liked so I grabbed these 8x10 frames. They fit just right in the bags!!! With the addition of a bit of yellow and green tissue paper and a cute bow, they were the perfect way to say thank you for all CB's teachers had done this year!

Washer Necklace For Teacher Appreciation Week

I saw this idea a while ago and have been saving this project for teacher appreciation week. These washer necklaces were SUPER easy to make (and fast - only took about 10 minutes). To finish them off I sewed each end of the ribbon through an extra washer. I didn't like the idea of tying a knot since I felt that would be irritating against the wearers neck. I used all ONE size washer but the tutorial called for various sizes. Either way, it is super cute!
My Cricut was chirping as it cut out these school building and letter for the teacher's card. Not my favorite card creation, but it was pretty cute.
*Sorry for the bad photography. Eventually I will figure out where to take pics of my creations so the pictures come out better! I had forgotten to take a pic of the necklaces so I was doing this at a light on the way to my son's school! LOL*

Recent Card Creations

My Cricut machine has paid for itself several times over already! I have owned a Cricut for about a year and a half and I don't think I have bought a card since then. I make my own now!!!

As soon as I saw the Everyday Paper Dolls and Paper Doll Dress-Up cartridges, I knew I needed them and would use them for so many different things! In my mind I envisioned cute birthday cards for the little ones in my life, birthday card invitations, and scrapbook embellishments.

This is a card I made for two sweet friends that have little girls that are turning 2 in the next few months. There are so many cute outfits and backgrounds I can't wait to make more!
I was looking through the book that comes with the cartridge and I discovered a Mom-To-Be outfit for the paper doll! So cute. I have a few pregnant friends with showers coming up, so I made two of these and have them stashed away for the right mom.

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.

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!

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.

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!

Wedding Card

Some friends of ours got married at the end of March.  Here is the card I made for them.  I used the Opposites Attract Cricut cartridge.  

Top: envelope 

Bottom: card

Girlie Birthday Cards

One of my dear friends has twin girls that turned one at the end of December.  It was wonderful to get to make some very girlie cards.  There are lots of pinks and purples in my paper collection, since they don't get used in the boys' scrapbooks.  I used the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge to make the tags on the envelopes and to cut out the flowers.