Picture Frame Calendar

The best part of a homemade calendar is that you can start it whenever you want...not just the first of the year!  I came upon this awesome FREE calendar download from Heidi Swapp.  I decided to try making a flip calendar from a regular picture frame.

I picked up a 4x6 pic frame at the Dollar Tree.  I covered the frame's chipboard backing piece with a piece of decorative paper (from Heidi's Sugar Chic line).  I removed the glass from the frame.  Next, I lined up where I wanted my holes for the rings and used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes in the frame backing and the calendar sheets. 

After labeling, stamping, and adding a few tabs and washi tape to each month, I lined the pages up and attached on the rings.  All set to start October! 

Plus, I can add pictures and journaling between the months and later form a nice little memory book for the year.  This was very easy, and you can add as many embellishments to fit your own style.

P.S. Do you like the rhinestone clip on the front page?  I'll share that with you in an upcoming post.

Halloween Crafting

It's time I started posting the craft projects that we have been/are doing.  Summer has come and gone, and now that school has started back, we are beginning to get back in a regular routine.  Thus, more crafting time! 

Halloween crafting is always so much fun.  I hope to be doing several different projects and will share with you along the way.

This is a Halloween tag that I prepared for my monthly stamp club.  We each made tags and swapped with each other.  It was fun, and I love to see everyone else's ideas!  I have been getting in the Halloween mood, so I wanted to do this Halloween tag.  My original inspiration came from Pinterest.  It was from a Stampin Up Connections post, so unless you are a SU demonstrator, you can't get to it. But, check out my Halloween Board on Pinterest if you are interested in seeing the difference in our tags.

Supplies: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, and Basic Black Cardstock, Basic Black Ink, Spooky Bingo Bits stamp set, Big Shot: Spider Web Folder and Two Tags Bigz, Basic Black 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, and Pumpkin Pie 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon
(all from SU)

Here's the first candy holder of the year for me!  This was really fun because I actually pulled out the sewing machine to complete this.  My inspiration came from the September issue of SU's Stampin Success magazine. The combinations and embellishments for this candy holder are endless!

Supplies: Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, Tangerine Tango and Very Vanilla Cardstock, Black Staz-On Ink, Scallop Punch, Googly Ghouls stamp set, Basic Black 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Googlies
(all from SU)

More projects to come!

Simple Birthday Card

It has been way too long since I have had a post, but I have been doing many craft projects.  I'll try to get them all posted soon.  I have been being inspired by Teresa Collins and Heidi Swapp lately.  They have been sharing lots of cute books and projects.

This is just a simple, but pretty card that I made for my mom's birthday.  This was inspired by Teresa Collins.  From her last MyCraftChannel.com video, she gave away some phrases on her website.  I used a piece of paper from her Carolina Breeze line.  I added a little bling to the card as well.  Very simple and quick.

One other project I have been working on the last few weeks is a bulletin board announcement for a play that my daughter will be in in May.  Pulled out a few scrapbooking items for this project.

Posting again soon...

Happy Valentine's Day

I can't believe that it is already February and Valentine's Day! We have been so busy and I am so behind in posting projects. We have been doing things though! Let me share what's been going on since my last post.

We have had a few Upward basketball games...

 We have done a few pageants...

We have gone to a few birthday parties...

We have celebrated a few birthdays...

We have cleaned up and organized a little...

We have watched MyCraftChannel.com and fallen in love with Teresa Collins and Heidi Swapp (already loved Sarah Hamer with Sarah's Stack Up and MyPinkStamper, Robyn, on her site)...

This is one of the first books I made with inspiration from Teresa Collins and using my Cinch I received for Christmas. So fun!! I have made a few other books from Heidi Swapp's inspiration, and I'll try to post those as well.

And finally, here are the Valentine's treats for my kids' classmates.

We do alot with Smarties around here as they are a safe treat with our little one's food allergies. Just retested him this last month too, and we still have to avoid milk and eggs.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Daily Tidbits Journal

Honestly, I cannot remember where I saw this idea, but I loved it when I saw it.  It is one of those things that I wish I had started when my children were first born, but that's ok.  My new motto for this year is that a year from now, I will have wished I started something today.  So, I start what I can, and just do it!

This is not just an ordinary box.  Inside are 183 note cards.  On each card, front and back, is a month and day.  No year. 

Then, throughout the year, I will use the cards to write down something that happens that day, no matter how big or small.  I will note the year along with the tidbit.  The cards are used from year to year.  So as the years go by, for example on 3/23, we have a record of things that happened on that day.  I would love to journal more, but I don't always make it everyday.  Then, I feel like I have to write alot.  With the cards, I am just going to write a little, and as I come upon something to include. 

Here's how I decided to keep our cards.  I had an extra plastic index card container that I got at Wal-Mart a while back for $1-$2.  Here are the supplies I used.

Supplies:
1 - plastic container
183 note cards
2 - 5 1/8" x 3 1/16" DSP (used SU!)
Corner punch
1/2" circle punch
Vinyl (used 3 colors)
Adhesive
1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (Chocolate Chip - SU!)

I decided to just keep it simple, and only use the vinyl dots, DSP, and ribbon.  Can't wait to start writing down some tidbits and reviewing them years from now.

That's all for this project.  Now, let me share another project from today that I am quite proud of --- organizing the medicine cabinet! 

Here's the before picture:

And now here's after:



Cleaned out alot!!  Now, we can finally see what we have.  More projects like this are on the way! Happy New Year!

Rag Wreath

After more than a year, I have finally completed my first rag wreath!  I still may add an "A", but haven't decided on that yet.  I just needed to get this displayed as we took down the Christmas decor.  

These are time consuming --- but not THAT much!  I was about 3/4 of the way finished and then ran out of houndstooth material.  I sort of put it on the back burner as I started and finished other projects.  Then, when I was ready to go back to the wreath, it was hard to find the material in stock at my local Hobby Lobby.  In the Heart of Dixie, houndstooth is quite popular, to say the least!  But, I finally got the material, and in preparation for the January 9th National Championship game, I finished my wreath!  I wish the best for my Crimson Tide and hope for a great win and our 14th National Championship!

I also wanted to share the gift card holders I made for Christmas gifts.  I got the design from www.mychicnscratch.com.  The green one is exactly like her design, using SU! dsp.  For the red (cherry cobbler), by request from Cooper, I used a Santa.  He really liked it.  I used velcro to keep them closed.  I really like this design and plan to use again for gift cards.

I'm still finishing up my Christmas scrapbook, and I got a Cinch for Christmas that I can't wait to try out!  I have another New Year project that I hope to finish tomorrow and share, and I just saw on Pinterest a cute way to keep your Christmas cards for each year.  We were so bad... we didn't send out cards this year!  We'll (I'll) do better next year!

More Elf "Artwork"

Well the elves have been at it again!  This morning when the kids went looking for the elves, they found them on the table with a note.

When they looked in the mirror, they were expecting the elves to have written on the mirror. They were surprised when they saw their reflection and the elves had given them red noses! Cooper had already tried to wipe his off before I could get a picture!

They have liked this so much, that still several hours later, they still have the red noses!

Sorry I have not posted my projects as I had mentioned in the last post.  I had a stomach bug last week, and didn't feel like doing much.  Then, we've been catching up and getting ready for Christmas.  May be able to post a few things later.  If not, we'll be looking towards to New Year!