Wednesday, October 19, 2011

C is for Calvin



I am a scrapbooker & crafter & mom...so, I have a TON of photos, paper & stickers with no purpose...I also have a kindergartner, thus the "Calvin's ABC book" was born!

I made each letter a 2-page spread & kept the layout uniform. I used all my old stickers, pictures & letter sticker to my advantage, showing Cal that letters sometimes look different, but make the same words & sounds. It is now his favorite I Spy / photo album of family & friends!! :) And it was virtually free to make!!

Shower Favors

For favors to our guests at Dan & Becky's bridal shower, mom & I knitted about 25 washcloths (the EASIEST thing to knit - EVER!). We then attached a cute little thank you tag to each one....they were a BIG hit!!

WASHCLOTH PATTERN
Use size 6 to 8 US needles (we used 8)
100% cotton yarn (we used Sugar 'n' Cream) - variegated colors look the best!

cast on 4 stitches
knit 2, yarn over, knit to end of row
repeat until you have 40-50 stitches (we did 50)
Once you reach 50 stitches:
knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together
repeat until you have 4 remaining stitches, bind off
& weave beginning & ending yarn into sides of dishcloth.

And enjoy them for YEARS! They are incredibly durable, just wash & dry with any load of laundry you are doing! The cost is about 2 washcloths/$2.50, so I just toss them & make new ones when they become too tattered or holey.

MATCHY MATCHY - COMPLETED!!





With great success (& guidance from Pinterest) my sister Laurie & I completed a set of super-cute matching accessories for my brother & his wife to be. I am assuming they loved them, as soon after the shower I received a few pictures on Facebook of them hanging in his apartment!!

*Laurie made the wreath & a set of matching coasters.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Matchy-Matchy

Here is another piece of the shower gift puzzle! A giant clothespin, mod podged to match the "U", recipe card holder, coasters set & wreath...hope they like the print & colors...we went with a scheme to match their kitchen.


Halloween Treats



I made this bucket in 2009 at Scrap, Scribble & Stick, the best store ever! It was also the inspiration for the Christmas ones I made for Calvin's teachers.

MOD PODGE!!


The easiest craft supply to make....MOD PODGE!! In the store it is $5-$8, homemade it is about $1!! It is simply a mixture of 50% water + 50% glue (plain old Elmer's school glue is what I use...& Dollar Tree has it for 2/$1). Of course I had to test the first batch & pretty-up the bottle I put my mix in (I am not counting the Starucks bottle cost, I was so buying that regardless of my crafting plans :)

Reduce, Reuse, RECYCLE!



I am in LOVE with www.pinterest.com for MANY reasons....the first being all the great re-purposing ideas that are pinned. Here are a few of the items I have recently re-purposed.

Folgers can used for plastic bags...fits great under the kitchen & bathroom sink & makes a great & disposable toilet brush container!!

Creamer & powdered drink containers...a run through the dishwasher & a little mod podge touch-up & I now have a water & matching mod podge container for my craft room!

Sheet & pillowcase packaging (purchased at WalMart)...these are GREAT for a TON of things!! The small one (pillowcase size) is perfect for a skein of Sugar & Cream 100% cotton yarn (I have the notions I need in there too!) The larger one (twin sheet size) is great for a few diapers & some travel wipes! The uses are endless!!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

I LOVE fall!!





I LOVE fall!!! The colors have me in awe every year, leaves, pumpkins....I love it all! A few years ago (2009) I did my pumpkin overly girly (I am the only girl in a house of boys) and used flowers and beads instead of carving my pumpkin....here is the end result.....I am thinking that Mod Podge will be involved with my 2011 pumpkin....

CRICUT SHORTCUT!!

The last time I bought Cricut mats at JoAnn's, the cashier told me that she washes & reuses her mats to get more uses out of them. I bought the scrubber she suggested (pictured) at the dollar store (it canNOT have metal scratchies in it)...then I used water & a drop of dish-soap, scrubbed quite vigorously, wiped off the excess water & waited for them to air dry.
THEY ARE LIKE BRAND NEW NOW!!!!
I can't believe it!! This was too good a tip not to share with all of you!!! Pass it along!

More monograms!

Just a few button monograms for our house, to coordinate with the canvas frames....now to get it all on the wall...

Canvas frames!












I made the 12x12 frame in a class at Scrap, Scribble & Stick in Wyoming, MI. When I got home, I realized that I had 2 other canvases that I would like to coordinate with my class project.... 2-years later (sigh) I finally remembered to look for the paper to match at the store. They, of course, were out of it....so I found several other sheets that went with my color scheme, added some buttons, a few paper flowers & misc. embellishments & bam - wall art made. (Also, I now have a olid reason for keeping paper scraps!!) Now to decide which pictures to put on them....maybe sepia tones?

Saturday, October 8, 2011

R is for recipes....



Matching the big "U" recipe ring. We are having all of the shower guests bring a few of their favorite recipes along for Dan & Becky & I coordinated the recipe ringcovers with the big "U"....my sister & I have a few more matching items to finish....will post those soon too!!

U is for Uhl


Another monogram....for my brother & sister-in-law to be!!

I am still trying to decide if I am going to shadowbox this one, or go free-standing with it....using the scraps to make a few more presents for the SIL & my sister is too....will post all the goodies later.

K is for Mrs. Komar


This year my son has a long-term sub in his kindergarten class....and we LOVE her! Mrs. Komar is the best & in case she isn't still in his class at Christmastime, she will be getting this gift for Thanksgiving.

I took the crayon idea I did monograms in for our god-daughter & her brother (see previous post) & "updated" them for a teacher's classroom (she teaches many grades & I wanted it to be a little versatile).

*The ugly of this project is when I tried to use the Cricut to cut a chipboard "K" & then paint it red....the Cricut did not like the chipboard & the paint was a fail, due to using thin chipboard....thus, the paper K with letters on it was born!...and looks much better!

I LOVE Monograms!!

Thanks to www.pinterest.com - I have deepened my obsession with monograms....soon our house will be covered in them!! The M is for our god-dughter Morgan (18 months old) and the K is for her brother Kevin (age 5)...thank you Pinterest & back-to-school sales! The shadow boxes are from Michaels (3/$10 pack) and the paper I used is lined-school paper from my son's supplies. enjoy!

Christmas gifts, from years gone by...








Here are a few pictures of the buckets I made for Cal's teachers 2 years ago (2009). Last year, in 2010 - I made mini versions with candy & gift cards in them. The Cricut certainly helped this project along! & only a few sheets of cardstock (1-2 prints & 1-2 patterned, depending on your preference) are needed, plus ribbon & the odds 'n' ends you want to add.

The idea was taken from a Halloween one I made at Scrap, Scribble & Stick in Wyoming, MI. They are the BEST store around for scrapbooking ideas & supplies, as well as anything crafty!!

Blogging: Day 1

I have decided to post my crazy adventures in crafting. The good, the bad & the ugly (I say my sister made those-lol). Please comment & post any tips or tricks you have run into on your crafty travels as well!

I love simple & messy crafts, I tend a little toward the inexpensive side, when I can & I am not afraid of any medium or color....I LOVE COLORFUL THINGS!!