Coming Soon...

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the ladies over at How Does She?  Their blog has given me LOTS of inspiration for projects.  I am in love with all the 2x4 crafts they create and have been wanting to try some of my own.

I have an idea up my sleeve for an adorable 4th of July decoration, so check back soon!  I am hoping to get a bit of crafting in this afternoon.  I will try to take some pics.  Waiting on vinyl from Expressions Vinyl to arrive so I can do lots of cute projects!

My Hubby - The New Cake Boss!

Nope, this cake did not come from a magazine (ok, well the idea did). It came from my kitchen and my hubby! B has gotten VERY into cake making lately - we TIVO all the cake shows like Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss. It all started with our second born, CJ's, birthday cake. Then he made a cake for our friends 2 & 4 yr olds birthday party. And finally THIS creation, no this masterpiece!!! I am so proud of him and can't wait to see what he does next!!!

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!

My 1st Giveaway!!!

Become a follower of my blog! I want to know that people are reading so become a follower of my blog, start making comments on things you like, and tell me what you think! Once I get 25 followers, I will post a giveaway of something I will make just for the lucky winner.

So click on follow (over on the right, scroll down some) and tell your friends!

Beautiful Bows

So you might be asking yourself, "What is a mom of 3 boys doing making bows?" I too, for quite sometime was NOT interested in making bows. Call me bitter for not having a sweet little girl with beautiful hair to put them in, but I just didn't want to start making bows when I had no use for them. Then suddenly, just before a friend's baby shower, I realized that I KNOW a lot of little girls so I could just make bows for them!

Off to Michael's I went in search of the perfect ribbon! I was going to make a bow board and a few bows for my friend Chelsey who was due to have her first sweet baby girl in March. Well, I succeeded in finding ribbon (I confess, I have a bit of a ribbon obsession) and about $60 later I set about making bows.

I started with some simple "Classic bows" that I found directions for making. On that site I also found directions for making korker bows (the super cute curly ones!!!) and made a few of those as well. So long story short (too late), my passion for bow making was ignited!

Here are a few of my creations:

Red, White and Blue Korker Bows

Daisy Clip, perfect for attaching to a headband

Tri-Loop Bow with Button Accent

Butterfly Clippies (I can't make the antenna, they just catch on fire!!!)

Classic Bows, LOVE this ribbon!!!

Double Layered, Tails Down Bow

Disney Tails Down Bow with Bottle Cap Accent

3-in-1 Pink Polka Dot bow, Minnie Clip can be removed

Minnie Clip (from the above bow)

Bow boards I made for my dear little Emma, my friend Tracey's daughter

Mother's Day Gift with Tutorial!

For my mom and mother-in-law I decided to create these adorable linked hanging frames that I saw on HowDoesShe? I LOVE this blog! The ideas are so cute and I am storing a bunch of them for future use! So here is what I did to make this project my own :)

While we were in San Diego on our anniversary trip, my hubby took me to IKEA! He sure knows the way to his woman's heart. Anyway... I saw these frames and knew they would be perfect for some kind of craft project, so we grabbed 3 packs (that is 9 frames). At the time I just wasn't sure what. Fast forward a few weeks and now it is time for Mother's Day crafting. These frames turned out to be just the perfect project. I had exactly the amount I needed since my mom has 4 grandbabies and my mother-in-law has 5.

I began by having my sweet hubby drill small holes in each of the corners. This is where the eye screws would be placed to link the frames. His drill was already out since he was hanging all my shelves and rods in the SCOR.

I painted the frames with a cream colored paint to go with the papers I had selected for use.
I traced the frames onto the back of my paper (I had taken the plastic from the center where the picture would sit).
My paper choices. My boys have "colors" that I have assigned to them so I used those. The purple was for my niece and the yellow was for my nephew (because that is his favorite color!).
Here are the cut out frames for my mother-in-law's gift.
Using Mod Podge (which I LOVE) I glued the paper to the frame. I also cut out each grandchild's name on white paper using my Cricut. Those were then applied to the corresponding frame. This one was for my newest nephew!
Next, I screwed the eye screws into the predrilled holes. I did that on all four corners.

Using cream colored ribbon, I tied the eye hooks together to link the frames. Lowe's didn't have any eye hooks or I would have used those (although the ribbon junkie in me LOVES how the ribbon looks).
To hang the frames, I just tied another long ribbon. Wish I had a nice metal handle like the one on HowDoesShe? but no biggie!
There you have it! You can totally add to these as well (although 5 was pretty heavy so I might would just start another one!). Since only 2 of the 6 kiddos on my hubby's side have had kids, I am sure I will be making another one of these somewhere down the road!

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*