Art Display

Another handmade project I did with our church's mom's group is make these art displays.  We each decorated one or two clothespins with ribbon, letters, permanent markers, and so on... and then clipped them to a piece of string.  They were then given to some missionary families who have young girls who like to color for them to hang and clip their artwork from!  (The letters are the beginning of the girls' names.)

Omelette Attempt!

Here's a look at my first omelette making attempt!  Some options inside were: green onion, ham, tomato, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, avocado, cheese, and bacon.  Here's a great video to watch to make you feel like you know a little bit about what you are doing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUqlLoOaAds&feature=related  I used butter in my pan instead of olive oil and I also folded the egg/added the inside ingredients on the plate rather than in the pan.  We had so much stuff inside that it was too hard to fold in the pan... Also, I recommend for the egg mixture doing two eggs and salt/pepper and possibly a little splash of milk depending on how runny you like it (more milk, more milky runny flavor).

Another Floor Cushion

Here's another attempt at a floor cushion!  To see the other ones I made click here and to to see my tutorial click here.

Flower Hair Clip

As a project for a mom's group I am involved in we made some really cute hair clips for girls.  These are a great gift or fun to keep!  We made one for ourselves and then we made several for an organization called Birth Choice.  They provide alternative options to abortion and provide support to moms during pregnancy and after baby comes.  We hope these fun gifts encourage some of those moms.  Here's a picture tutorial of what we did:

 Gather materials and cut out flower templates (search Google images or click here):

 Cut different fabrics for three sizes of flower (shown: jean and felt):

 Tie ribbon through button holes:

Using a hot glue gun, glue the three sizes of flowers on top of each other and then glue the button on top of the flowers:

For the clip on the back, to make it a little cuter and for more support, add a small piece of ribbon:

 Wrap it around the clip, and hot glue it shut:

Then glue the clip onto the back of your flower at the ribbon and the two ends:

  Here's a few more samples:

My first Tote/Bag/Purse

Here's my first attempt at making a handbag! I found this embroidered fabric in the remnants at the craft store half off the sale price and I got the interior fabric for free as a hand me down.  My very first thought when I saw the fabric was that it was so organic looking and would be so cute as a tote!  I made it to put some items in at a store or something, but it has turned into my official bag or purse.  I was carrying diapers around in a grocery sack wherever I went so that I would avoid overloading things into a bag, but I am trying to keep my tote to the minimal and it looks cuter than a plastic bag!  Hope you like it and hope to make more.  I know with each sewing project I learn more and more--it's definitely a hobby where you learn as you try!

My Compost Bin

 Welp, I started my own compost bin!  I am pretty excited about and have already read my first composting book.  It's a little guy (maybe one foot tall and six inches wide), but just perfect for my learning pace... :)  Some things I've already added are veggie and fruit leftovers, egg shells, lobster shells, grass, leaves, a little bit of dirt, some weeds, and coffee grounds.  It's crazy how you'll be somewhere and think--man that would be awesome for my compost... haha!!  We were driving down a main road and saw some horse manure and I told my husband I could jump out and get it...he thinks that's weird.  I don't have any source of manure and the book I read talked about how important it is to have the manure to break down elements and make it a rich fertilizer for your vegetable garden or whatever, so I am hopefully that I soon come across a source of manure that would be easy to grab and go (and not be weird...)!  

Make-My-Own ONE Picture!

 For my first son's first birthday we took him to the picture studio, got him all dressed nicely, and had him take a picture with a "1".  For my second son's birthday we decided that it's too expensive and you aren't guaranteed a good picture (let's be honest--it's pretty stressful!).  So, I made my own "1" and took pictures on a black tablecloth.  The ONE is made out of cardboard that I painted white.  Here's some pictures of the cardboard one and some from our little photo shoot...  

It took a few photo sessions throughout the day, but we saved a few bucks and got a few good pictures!  I think for Christmas we will have to do our own pictures again!

Christmas Layout #3

 

  

Here's my next layout for my first year baby scrapbook!  It's Elijah's first Christmas and it marks the end of the pages I have to do for the winter holidays.  I am planning on doing an Easter layout next and then back to the classic pages like first doctor visit and such.  Yea! 

I loved this paper, the little jewels, and the cool black chipboard so it was kinda fun figuring out how to make it all go together.  

I did all of the pictures in these booklets held down by buttons.  You don't see too many pictures on the front so it looks pretty, but as you open the pages, you can see many pictures and journaling!

I'll do a little tutorial on this booklet since the opening was a little tricky, but it's a lot like my other ones.  You can find some on the scrapbooking page or look in the label: tutorial.

  If you missed it--make sure you check out Nehemiah's first Christmas page! It turned out so cute!!

2010 Christmas Card Sketch

Here's my idea for our Christmas card this year.  I have about 100 to 150 to make so I want it to be fairly simple, but really cute.  I also want to have a picture of our family (in our Christmas jammies) somewhere on the card.  The sketch I came up with in my head looks like this:

Any ideas? I could totally switch it up or alter the idea I have a little bit.  I haven't found the designer paper I want to use, so I'm not sure of the colors.  I haven't thought much of the inside, but I was thinking of typing up something and pasting it inside.  Any input would be incredible!!

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.