Christmas Layout #2

 For the scrapbook album I am working on (my boys' "first year"), I wanted to add several of the photos I had from our first Christmas morning together. This page is dedicated to Nehemiah's first Christmas and the theme of it ended up being a calendar page.  So on one side you have the month and year and on the other the days of the month.  Under each day is a picture!

I really wanted to include the Christmas card we sent out that year because it's so cute!!  You can see my journal here too--I never have journaled with a drawn line before.  I tried it another way and this turned out really clean-lined and went with the page really well.  I also was excited to frame the page with a light stitch that gave the layout even more of a calendar page feel.

Here's the final layout: 

Decorated Edge Flip-Book

I am always trying to think of new, cute ways to add more pictures to my scrapbook pages.  I love doing little books that open up and have pictures underneath, but I also want them to be decorated to match my page. So, I decided for a Christmas layout to add a flip book with a decorated edge.  On the edge, I also wanted to incorporate the papers I was using.  This is very easy to make when you have the directions in front of you, so I hope you find this tutorial helpful and inspirational!

Step #1: Cut the cardstock you want as the background color.  I've chosen an 8.5"X11" confetti white.  You can chose to have your flip book flip open sideways or up and down.  The picture above is a sideways flip book and if you scroll down, you will see pictures of an up/down flip book.

To do a sideways flip book you need to cut your cardstock so that we end up with four 4"X5.5" pieces.  So first cut 1/2" off the width (so you now have an 8"X11" sheet), then cut the cardstock lengthwise in half (result: two 4"X11" pieces) and then turn and cut in half again (result: four 4"X5.5" pieces).

To do an up/down flip book you will need to cut your cardstock so that we end up with four 4.25"X5" pieces.  So first cut 1" off the length (so you now have an 8.5"X10" sheet), then cut the cardstock lengthwise in half (result: two 4.25"X10" pieces) and then  turn and cut in half again (result: four 4.25"X5" pieces).

Continue this step until you have enough for all of the pictures you want to use in the flip book.  An 8.5"X11" sheet makes four squares and each square holds two pictures, so one sheet is enough for eight pictures.  (Example: you want to use 12 pictures in your flip book.  You need to make 6 squares.)

Step#2: Cut your decorative edge using a fun scissor, tool, or a machine that cuts edges.  For the sideways book, cut one of the edges that is 4" wide.  Do this for each square.  For the up/down book, cut one of the edges that is 5" wide.  Do this for each square.  Here is a picture of the up/down book edging:

Step #3: Add your pictures.

For the sideways book you can cut the pictures if you want to have more space on your decorative edge, but it's not necessary.  If you do want to cut them, cut the side that is 4" wide.  Then adhere the pictures to the cardstock.  Line the picture up with the edge of the cardstock that isn't trimmed with the decorative edging.  You will be flipping through the book when looking at the completed pictures, so you need to make sure when pasting that the pictures won't be upside down.

For the up/down book we need to cut 1/4" off the height of the picture to add more space for our decorative edge.  Your 4"X5" picture should become 3.75"X5".  You can cut off more or less depending on how big you want your edge to be.  Then adhere the pictures to the cardstock.  Line the picture up with the edge of the cardstock that isn't trimmed with the decorative edging.  You will be flipping through the book when looking at the completed pictures, so you need to make sure when pasting that the pictures won't be upside down.

Step #4: Crease your edges.

Step #5: Adhere coordinating paper to the decorative edge.  This is only done to the "front" of the flip book.  Then cut along the edge where you had your pretty trim, using the same scissors or tool you used on the cardstock.

Step#6: Connect the squares.  Punch two holes in same spot on all of your edges.  (To make them even, I stacked mine in the order I wanted, then I punched hard through all of them at once leaving a score on each edge.  Then I went back and punched each hole individually.)

Adhere each square to the next by putting adhesive on each edge. Then, tie a coordinating ribbon through the holes for extra strength and for cute factor.

Step #7: Adhere to your scrapbook layout by putting adhesive on the decorative edge.

There it is!  So fun and so many more pictures to see! Yea! Click here to see another flip book tutorial or click here to this scrapbook page completed.

Scrapbooking Technique

  While scrapbooking, I stumbled upon a cool way to add dimension to my page without having to do too much!  It was really fun and I wanted to share!  So, what I did was I simply added a very symmetrical box to the border of pieces on the page (title, picture, ...) using a ruler and a coordinating pen.  Here's a few pictures: 

To see how the whole layout turned out click here.

Fall Decor

 Here's some Fall decor we have out!  I am so excited to have my first fall wreath...had to wait for it to go on sale...

These wood pumpkins I made with my church's mom's group!  They come from old fence posts and were pretty easy to make!  

Do you have any fall decor out for the holidays?  Leave me a comment about what you are doing this year!

Floor Cushion

Originally, I wanted to get my kids some bean bag chairs, but I came across this cushion and thought that it would be really cool to make instead (and cheaper!).  These are awesome too because they have a fun handle for the kids to carry around, they make a fun chair, and they can be a little table!

I decided to make a tutorial to go along with the pictures.  You can check it out here.

I originally found this project at Living With Punks.  Her tutorial is awesome too, but I wanted to make my own to add a few details and in case I ever lose hers!

Polka Dot Cupcake Party Invitations

For my niece's first birthday, she had a polka dot party.  It was so cute with a bunch of round foods (like cheese balls, Oreo cookies, grapes, ...) and a ball pit (round balls!) and you were supposed to wear polka dots to the party and if you didn't than you got "polka dotted" with some round stickers!  For the invitation, my sister, my mom, and I made these invitations that looked just like the tableware. 

 The back read "Sweets, Treats, and Loads of FUN... Let's celebrate as Ellie turns ONE!" along with all of the party info and was printed on vellum paper.  Here was the picture from my head:

The original design:

 

And the mess we made:

Check out the awesome gift I made her as her gift here (it's a book to teach her colors).

Polka Dots Cupcakes

For my niece's first birthday party, she had a polka dot theme.  I made the cupcakes with a Funfetti cake mix, and the frosting was an awesome cream cheese frosting recipe.  Then I got Skittles and M & M candies and turned them letter side down on the top to make "polka dots".  For her own cake, I made two stacked 9X9 circle cakes and covered it with the frosting and candies.  It all matched the tableware and the invitations we made.