Thankfulness 2013: Day Fifteen

I am so lucky to have my own little space in our house besides my side of the bed.  I am thankful for my craft area!  It is my get-away when I need a little creative outlet that doesn't involve infant and toddler toys.

My Home (within my home)...

Thankfulness 2013: Day Six

Hobbies are great.  Mine (you may or may not have noticed) is card making.  I've had a lot of fun doing it this past year.  Tonight I'm headed in to my local Archiver's to use their craft room for an evening of working on our Christmas cards.  It was going to be a girls' crafting night but schedules aren't aligning.  It very likely will be just myself there this evening so I guess I'll be thankful for Me Time.  I'm looking forward to my crafting time no matter the company that joins me tonight.  I'm especially happy to have this adult night considering the week I'm expecting coming up.  Drill has been extended for this family from two days to six days.  No Papa in the house for that stretch plus a party on that Saturday (day 5)...EEP!  Did I only say I was thankful?  I meant exceptionally thankful for Me Time tonight!

Bachelor and Wedding Cards

Mid-October we had a blast with my buddy the night before he got married.  We all went to the pool hall (very nice place called Billiards that has about a hundred tables and also a minor-friendly area so that your teens can have a game going while the party is swinging along.

I've been having fun with ribbons and that is a near-3-D glass.

We had so much fun and honestly I couldn't be happier for the couple.  I've watched my buddy go from happy, to domestically happy since meeting his other half.  I also had fun making the card for his bachelor party and their wedding card.

Tri-Folding needs some practice still...and more math.

I love this card! It was such a PITA to get the trifold to line up where I wanted it to but eventually my 'adjustments', which were total guesses after a while, began to come together.

My buddy (the groom) was impressed as he totally knows my lack of a creative ability in all prior arts.  I didn't get the bride's take as she was busy doing the important hostess work.  (We were invited to the gift opening the next day.)

It is hard to see but the suit's details are drawn on.

I'm not going to lie though, I was awfully excited that my buddy drew attention to his card at his bachelor party.  He overheard me telling another person that I had made it when they were asking me about it.  It made me feel pretty damn awesome.

On another note...we got to do all this celebrating over a child-free weekend.  Score another big point for the event!

Simple Birthday Card

We all know grandparents (and those of other relationships) that have handmade scribble cards from us at the age of three.  I hopefully have improved upon my card-making skills past the scribble stage with this birthday card for my grandma.

A simple card with a little depth by making a single heart stand out with an extra punch-out shape plus some foam tape to push it away from the paper.

Meal Planning 101...201...ummmm

It just isn't easy flipping through the recipe book every week trying to figure out what we should eat and when.  Using my marker board on the fridge was a great first step to getting us out of the last minute 'what do we have in the pantry' crunch.  What I really disliked about my otherwise enjoyable process of planning out meals that didn't feel like they were too repeated, was the constant erasing and reworking for about 40 minutes when I'd find a different meal to plug in.  This doesn't include when plans during the week change and a meal needs to be rescheduled or cancelled completely.

So in walks Pinterest and a random pin that caught my eye with its post-it abundance....

Here is a sample week in the planning.  Can you see how this might make that revamping worthwhile already?  Too many beef meals in the week?  Pull and replace!  Have too many things on your schedule one day to cook something longer than 20 minutes?  Pull and swap until you've got everything looking just how you want it!  The laminated sheets make it simple and the post-its stay reusable this way also!  If you still prefer markers, they'll erase off of this easier than my cheap marker board on the fridge after the couple years I've had it.

Rather than the categories on the side, I chose to change it from Lunch/Dinner to Meal Ideas, along with Breakfast, Salads/Appetizers, Drinks, Desserts, and Snacks pages.  On the Meal Ideas pages (4 of them) I changed the interior categories to various categories that suited my family.  I am sure this will change over time as this is a new system to me still and I'll refine it as I go.

I've printed and laminated the calendar pages as well and will include it into my own binder Command Center.  I'll figure out what else needs to go into it as I go along but I am already LOVING this system so much more than where I was previously!  Thank you Ursula at Home Made by Carmona!

The Wedding Card

I am so excited about the wedding card that I made to go with those coasters!  I just had to share it...sadly the pictures don't show all the fun of this card.

I used the main color that the couple has selected for their wedding (and their home decor items) plus some textured specialty papers.

The paper beneath the card is their invite which I compared with some of their registry items to get as close as I could to the color I wanted.

The striped paper is very slightly textured.  The black paper is a fabric paper straight off of a Michael's specialty paper rack (I used it for the graduation cap in these cards).

I added the buttons and used my scoring envelope folding tool to add the texture to the 'vest' (teal part) myself.

Lastly I added the stamp from the coasters to the inside of the card just for an extra punch of detail.  This card is 5 1/2" x 8", folded.  

I really hope that y'all like the image of a suit as the background for a card!  It could be used so many ways.  Obviously I added a cutout image of a wedding dress for this particular occasion!

So what do you think?  Does it look suit-like?  What would you use this card for (with what different accessories)?

Custom Stone Coasters DIY

Custom Stone Coasters

As most new crafters, I find the vast majority of ideas pouring from the Pinterest screen that is almost always open on my computer.

I've had this particular project hanging out just waiting for someone to send me a wedding invite.  This weekend was my first wedding of this year so I finally got to break out this gift idea!

Photo is my first attempt and I like them!
I got the instructions HERE.

I hope that it lasts as well as the original crafter makes it sound.  I adore the idea of custom coasters for a wedding gift.  I've got the supplies, I'll be making a set for ourselves soon enough but I've got some card crafting to finish up first!

(The link to the instructions doesn't lead to a single post but a long line of crafts on that blog.  Just scroll a ways down until you see either that can of wax or tiles that look similar to mine.)

One final tip:  The people at the home improvement store told me that the wax is meant only for wood so it may not work.  I'll let you know but the original crafter hasn't come back to say that it hasn't worked anyways.  I'll likely try a stone tile sealer down the road and I'll come back to update when I do.

Have you made these?  How did the process go for you?  Do you have a lifespan of well-used coasters yet?  Give us your best tips!

Sports Cards

For the athletic people in your life, you should at least know some basic terminology and of course the shapes of basic equipment for the standard sports.  I've got golfing and football crazed family members so these were the two I have started with and are very simple to whip together with the right textures.

Yes, the football is a little kittywhompus but I needed a flat edge to be able to prop it up (it is rounded off much better now).  My grass on the golfball was not especially great but I didn't want it to look like it was in the rough so I had to settle for a basic zigzag scissor cut and my attempts at making a few alterations weren't amazing as you can see.  However, I am pretty pleased with the paint (glass paint pen since it was what I had) on the football, and the inside of the golfball card turned out awesome IMO!

Yes, I put the age on the flag rather than a realistic hole number.  My dad will get a kick out of it because I told him to golf one hole for every year this weekend to celebrate in the message.

The same texture I used for the golfball will work inverted as a soccer ball with some paint or cut out black pieces too.  The football texture could easily be worked onto orange paper for a basketball.  So have some fun with the sports themes!  I've seen some really neat ideas online with sports themed cards and will probably be working a football goal idea into my brother-in-law's graduation card in a few years (especially if he is recruited like he hopes to be)!

Cards for Kids

Last year (before I got into the craft of card making), I had decided that cards were rather pointless for kids.  Mostly it is just a delay between being handed a gift and getting to open it.  I made tags to attach to the gift rather than buying a card (unless it was a gift card via mail type).  Simple.  Quick.  Right to the point (To ___ From Us).  Basically the tags were exactly what a kid would want typically.

This year, I've been enjoying making cards though.  So I made cards for kids too.  The downside for the kids, they have to read cards before getting to their gifts again.  The plus side, no super-long 'Hallmark' poem on the inside!  I still keep it simple (message at least).  The cards are fun for me to make, and hopefully a little more unique for the kid to look at before tossing it aside to get to the wrapping paper.





I don't suppose this looks like a Ninja Turtle to all of you?  I hope so because it is going in the mail with a Shredder action figure this week!

Card Making and Resolutions

Do you adore cards?  I love searching through the card aisles for hilarious or heartfelt messages.  My favorites are usually found among the Papyrus brand.  I simply love the handmade look and the oftentimes simple designs.  This is probably one of the reasons I decided I wanted to make cards instead of purchase them.  At typically $3 per card, and 4 Mother's Day or 5 Father's Day cards each year (that would be 9 total for me to buy--I buy for my grandmas and grandpas) just those holidays alone made it worth a try.

We are approaching Father's Day and I have not purchased a single card this year.  We've had birthdays, the Valentines, Mother's, and Father's holidays, and graduations, and even one bridal shower.  I have been LOVING the time spent card making.  Shapes and colors are what it comes down to artistically.  This is perfect for me as my siblings got the physical talents of music and art, I simply have the 'ear' or the 'eye' respectively for those talents.  When it comes to colors, that is my area of art.  I love to work with colors and textures but I can't draw a stick figure to play hangman.

I'm progressing in techniques and embellishments but I'm still very much a beginner.  Catch a recent glimpse at where I've been in this adventure:

Metalic Markers!

Love the lined paper (it is a heavyweight and dry embossed with alphabet).

Later I added "Grandpa" vertically...gotta work on my spacing that direction.

Love my gears dry embossing folder.

I love the texture this embossed frame gives when it is cut out!

Ribbon flower and traditional paper pattern!

Matched up the black paper with the green after embossing and added some ribbon accent threaded through.  (Added the age later because my Mom wouldn't appreciate if I posted that online for all to see!)

I am loving the progress I've made (if I had pictures of my work from the beginning of the year, I'd show you, I swear).  This is exactly what I wanted to accomplish as my "New Year Resolution"!  Progress in a skill, something tangible but not with pressure behind it.

I'm proud of these even if they still have visible flaws.  Trust me, I can see them, but I put a lot more effort into these than I did picking out the perfect card from the store before.

Craft Room Overhaul

In our seemingly endless unpacking adventures, rooms get put together rather slowly.  So the original setup of rooms gets changed over and over again.  They also get cleaned from top to bottom multiple times this way (about the only time I'll get to say that).

I just wanted to show off what happens when shelving is finally unpacked and utilized in a craft room!

Garage durability shelving (Rubbermaid @ Home Depot)

My husband gave me some of his shelving when he got a new, large tool box with work surface on top as his all-holiday gift (well, Father's Day and on at least).  I have an amazingly thoughtful husband (who took my concerns over the weight on the old wooden shelves seriously enough to ease my fears of broken bones when they eventually were going to fall on my legs...).  He even cut that bottom 4' shelf in half to accomodate my taller items that I didn't want shoved next to the furnace that is not in the picture.

I've been LOVING my papercrafting of cards for all of our events so far this year.  I haven't purchased a card yet in 2013 and I'm THRILLED about it.  (That table isn't clean very often because there is always a project on it.)

Here's to happy crafting everyone!

To all the graduates out there over the last couple weekends:

You have accomplished something important.  You've taken a big step.  You are capable of doing some great things!  Keep going!  Push yourself forward and achieve your next level of awesomeness.  Good luck in all the amazing things you try.

Rummaging!

I love this season!

Seriously, garage sales galore and weekends in which to sift through every offering...*bliss*  Now if only I could do it without the kids!

I was lucky last weekend to have a sale a couple houses down from us.  I got to meet those neighbors, spent some time outside, and bribed good behavior out of the toddler by offering up the park down the way after some rummaging.  I love that she is still young enough to not have figured out we would've been going to the park anyways because of the lovely weather.  HA!

Look at how perfect the condition is!  So beautiful even if I never improve my sewing skills enough to do it justice.

A few weekends ago was the ECFE hosted multi-sale at a local school.  We didn't score as big as I wanted to in the jeans department for a certain little man who is growing by leaps and bounds but we did find a treasure nonetheless.

That used to be a white and powdery blue Little Tikes table.  Now it is a purple, green, and CHALKBOARD spray painted Little Tikes table.  (Did y'all know that the amazing chalkboard paint is in spray cans now?!?)

Yup, we are having a load of fun with the rainy day chalk now and finally have a kids' table for all sorts of activities.  Now we just need another nice day with no wind to get the chairs from their powdery blue glory to updated and fun purple and green.

Do y'all frequent rummage sales?  Got any tricks when dealing with toddlers at rummages?

Candy Crafting

We had a 30th Surprise party for a very good friend of ours towards the end of February.  We wanted to get her something special but as her passion is for her horses and we know nothing about them, I went the more crafty route and decided to satisfy her sweet tooth instead.  Get yourself some cake pop sticks or sucker sticks from your local craft or party store, hot glue the favored Fun Size chocolates onto the ends and start filling up whatever vase you love.  Accessorize in any fashion!  I used some glittery spiral sticks, spiral holographic confetti, and holographic tissue paper plus some curling ribbon as a topper.  It was a big hit as I kept overhearing people talk about it in such a positive light.  Talk about an ego boost that night!  So I present to you, my first ever, Candy Bouquet!

Simple Crafting

So here is a super quick and simple craft to bring some color to your fridge doors...or any magnetic surface.

What you need:

Large buttons

Tacky magnet circles

All you have to do now is peel the protective cover off the tacky part of those magnets and stick it to the back of the buttons you chose...Less breakable magnets for kids to hang their own artwork!  TADA!  Love this idea....Pinterest inspired of course!

Voila!  Now loose the toddlers and watch the color naming and counting commence!

**Note: The small tacky dots pictured in this post are not a super strong magnet so they will not hold multiple sheets of paper or cardstock.  Most coloring book pages will be fine if done only one sheet at a time.  The 'jumbo' coloring sheets (like pictured above) require 2-3 magnets depending on how much of a breeze may be passing your fridge on any given day.**

2013 Resolutions?

Happy New Year!!

Today being the first day of 2013 we are all on the bandwagons we have selected (whether that be weight loss/gym going, making homemade meals, getting ahead on personal debt, developing some spectacular new organizing system in your home, or even that "I resolve to make no resolution" wagon).  I wish you all luck with your personal choice of how to tackle 2013!

For myself, I have decided to take it easy.  I recently was directed (via a friend's Facebook link) to a mildly, possibly drastically, offensive but still motivating opinion article (WARNING: language content may be offensive within linked article!) that made me stop to think.  Now, please, PLEASE don't run off and get offended by this article at first read.  I could have and my gut wanted me to but I read it through, twice, and some (if not all) of the points hit home for me.  I frequently lament my lack of talent in various areas of my life--can't cook, can't sew, can't can't can't...Why?  Because I haven't bothered to learn.  Will I ever become the next Food Network Star?  Only if y'all need instruction on how to open a laptop to order Pizza Hut or using Google Maps to get to the nearest Applebee's!  This certainly doesn't mean that I shouldn't TRY to become more proficient in my cooking skills (like not getting burned every time I use a fry pan for ANY kind of meat...seriously- this goal alone should make me a star!).

No, I'm not going to make a firm resolution of X number of homemade meals or new recipes or even including boxes of mac and cheese.  I'm not going to sew a certain number or type of projects this year.  I AM going to improve a skill.  Something measurable, something that people can see if they are involved in whatever aspect of life it falls into for me...this is what a skill should be considered.  I don't need to be Suzie Homemaker, Martha Stewart, or Carol Brady.  I do need to feel better about what I am able to do.  I've picked up a new hobby this year...paper crafting.  I enjoy it!  It makes me feel good and I produce something out of my efforts.  Right now they aren't amazing but they can get better!  2013 I am aiming to improve at my hobby.  I want to make cards for events that I am proud to give.  I want to make decorations for parties that I throw that even if no one comments, I can look at and smile because of!

Yes, I plan to improve my cooking but this is continual and more about survival of my family (and my limbs) than a year's goal...I plan to do better at cleaning house, again, not a goal worthy of a resolution but more a necessity.  I hope to teach myself to eat better and exercise more.  I just think that 2013 needs to be a year where my resolution is something to boost my self-esteem without guilting myself into things to get it done.

So, 2013, no numbers, no scheduled deadlines (well, other than 2014).  Just something that I'm enjoying and putting time and effort into improving in it!

Christmas Card Display Gifting

Gifting a craft:

You've seen the Christmas Card Holder here previously...I thought I'd show y'all the one I made this year as a gift for my mother-in-law.  It is pretty tough to package up for delivery and unwrapping at 20" wide and wired ribbon that you don't really want to crease if you can help it prior to gifting.  We decided to not wrap it at all and deliver it loosely so that it would get there and be useful prior to Christmas this year.

Embellish

Feel free to take pictures before gifting.

Don't forget to add the necessary accessories for it to be functional!

We went with gold paper clips to hold cards (mini clothes pins or decorative clips would work also).

If you choose to gift something that hangs, consider including something to hang it from!

I hope your crafting has been fun!  What projects have you made and gifted?

Reindeer Countdown!

I mentioned previously that I have used my Cricut to make a little countdown to Christmas.  It happens to be a reindeer with a string of (not so real looking) Christmas lights hanging from him.  I do love the reindeer...but I promise to do better with the lights part (or do something different) next year.

Alyssa loves to remind us frequently that we need to cut the next piece off the string bringing us a little bit closer to that adorable reindeer at the top.  I'm not sure that she realizes what reaching the reindeer is supposed to mean but I'm just happy she likes the countdown.  Oh, and that it makes me happy to have one more little decoration for this holiday season in the apartment!

Christmas Card Display

Having been in the apartment here since the beginning of September and being assured and reassured that it was 'very likely' that we would've been in our house before/near Thanksgiving, I had all of our Christmas stuff packed up and put into storage when we moved.  This means that as we got into December, I had no decorations, no tree, no anything that was 'normal' for me at Christmastime.  Heck, I don't even have a cd player to play my music on!  (Yes, the dvd player would work....and no I don't have a disc drive on my laptop so that won't work.)

How did I go about fixing this?  Well, this year I have a Cricut...so I made a little countdown craft.  We adopted our elf friend Flower.  We set up an inexpensive tree (which will be the upstairs or Momma tree at the new house).  Lastly, I have my Christmas card holder that I made last year hanging up.  It is a little more delicate and odd shaped to store safely in a storage unit full of cupboards, totes, appliances and various outdoor tools so I had it stored on the back of our bedroom door all year long until the move...Flower landed on it the other night so you may have already spotted it in a recent Elf post but here it is again just because I love it.

Christmas Card Holder:

So obviously there aren't any cards on there yet...but it is still early December and we are at a temporary address so I suppose I shouldn't hold my breath on filling this thing up this year but I do love it anyways.

The elf is not typically included in the holder design.  This was crafted last year from (where else?) a Pinterest inspiration.  It was actually the first Pinterest project I completed that wasn't a recipe (actually it might have beaten the recipes too).  This was foam board, ribbon, scrapbook paper (original called for wrapping paper), and decorations--I have a scrapbook tree sticker and decorative red brad pins.  The original design also called for this to be over-a-door mount (two foam boards and the top ribbon would be two pieces to put over the door)--excellent if you have a front closet or another door that is easily viewed in a living space. My house was too small for that option so I adapted and made it a command hook decoration.  Just hang your cards or pictures from the three ribbons using mini clothespins or paperclips that are pretty and there you go!

The Woman with the "Man Cold"

I have entered 'man cold' territory since this morning.  I am totally that whiny sick person right now who doesn't have enough sleep and while I love that my toddler is feeling better (even though she still has her cold) I am having some serious energy issues dealing with her.

I love that my husband has so much patience for both of us.  I did send him a fair-warning text after lunch though.  One of those, 'feel free to come home early because Alyssa and I are butting heads like crazy' texts followed by a text with better advice: "Or find a place to hide from both of us".  He truly is a saint and I'm not sure how I got so lucky because the poor man never has man colds...he does the typical get up and get over it like I should.

On the plus side, after nap battle was conquered (read ignored), I got to take a decent nap as well!  Almost two hours of sleep for Momma today!!!  Yes, it did help with that energy issue for me to some extent and at the very least has given me an extra dose of patience for my toddler to get us through today.

While we are waiting for this bug to leave our home...feel free to mock my stuffed up head by making and sending these.  (Seriously...aren't these cute??)  I don't have an original source as it was pinned from a blogger's site who doesn't claim ownership of the idea either.  Simply put, it is adorable and whoever thought it up is a freaking genius.