Another late Valentine's Post

As I was searching for things to make to decorate for Valentine's Day I came across these darling wreaths below. My baby was napping and I was anxious to get started right away. I found whatever I could use that was in my house (this included diaper boxes for a cardboard outline, and scraps of fabric that aren't necessarily my favorite) and got to work to create something similar to the beauties below.

I am going to show mine off first for the sake of not embarrassing myself. My finished product is not something I would hang on my front door, but I think it turned out great for my coat closet. :) Take a look...

The ones following are Beautiful! Someday I will go out and actually purchase the fabric and required supplies so mine can turn out a little more classy like the ones below. :)

This first one is from Little Birdie Secrets. One of my favorite sites!

Isn't this wreath perfect!!!

This next wreath is from The Idea Room .

Another beautiful wreath! She has other great ideas using the same felt technique go check out her site - it's another great one!

And as I was posting the wreaths above I just happened upon Smashed Peas and Carrots, another incredible site. And look what she came up with...Beautiful!

A late Valentine's Post :)

I realize that Valentine's Day has past, but I've been wanting to post these pictures for sometime. I just didn't have them available until now (computer issues) :). Anyway, here they are...

This first picture is a Valentine Stacker that we made at church in Relief Society. I love them! They were so much fun to make and I love having them sit on my mantle since I don't have very much Valentine Decor. So Cute!


I also wanted to show what I finally came up with for my heart garland I was trying to create. It's nothing special, very simple, but I like how it turned out.

I remembered that I had some wooden hearts in a craft box and I used some of my extra paint from the Valentine Stackers above. I punched holes with my crop-a-dile and strung some twine with knots to keep the hearts in place, and Ta-da...I had created a simple and sweet valentine garland! Just what I needed to add some more color and fun to my mantle for the holiday. :)

A few of my things...

I am constantly collecting so many great crafty ideas , but I am beginning to realize I collect a whole lot more than I create - and I love to create! :) So I decided to see what things I have completed recently. Here are a few of my things...

This is my most recent project. I blogged not long ago about menu planners and this was what I came up with. The plaque came from Dollar Tree complete with the ribbon I just added the paper and Velcro. I really like this because I am such a visual person and this way I know exactly what meals we will be eating each week. It helps me be more organized. :)

I made this pillow for my Mom for Christmas.

I made these bags for my kids to take to church. I put some church coloring pages and other items to keep them occupied during church.

Here are the Crayon rolls that I made to go in their church bags with their coloring pages.

Finished Sacrament Books

Earlier I posted that I wanted to use all my nice programs to make a quiet book for church. I finally finished. I decided I better make it very simple or I never would. They have actually been a big hit - especially with my Aubrey. She loves to look at the pictures and we try to use them to get Jacob to think about the Savior during the Sacrament. These are the finished books...

I simply pasted the cover of the program to a colored sheet of card stock then used self laminate and punched holes and tied with ribbon. Super easy and simple. (I probably could of used some fun ribbon, but I just used what I had on hand and it worked. :) )

Halloween Haunts

Last year we got a little creative and made these ghostly friends for our front door. I found the idea on http://www.familyfun.com/ I love their creative ideas for the holidays. Jacob really got into it. He wanted a milk carton for every family member including grandparents. They were a hit at our house. But it takes some preparation. You have to start a few weeks in advance so you can save a bunch of cartons. Then you just cut holes in the bottom to string Christmas lights. Very fun - and spooky! :)

Homemade Cards for Christmas

I made these cards for my family for Christmas. They are nothing special, but I thought they turned out OK. Unfortunately I took these pictures before digital camera time in our family - thus the fact they are cut off on top.

Chore Charts

I needed very simple chore charts to motivate my children to get ready in the morning and clean up and get ready for bed in the evening. So this is what I came up with... I made them super-duper simple and they seem to be motivating my son just like I'd hoped. I made stars with velcro on back for him to place on the chores he's completed and I also included a bonus spot for a job he can do to earn a dime when it's completed. It's been a great way to teach responsibility and to help my son earn some money for the things he wants. It's also been a great way for us to teach him about tithing.
Here's a close up of Jacob's chart. He really likes it and I really like that he uses it. I think they turned out pretty good. :)

Greeting Card Holder

Another Idea I got from Enrichment. I think it is so cute...now let's just hope I use it. :) It was so easy to make. You just need 12x12 Scrapbook Cardstock. They had some available at Enrichment that had designs on both sides. I loved this becuase it saved time, but it does mean you have to like the design on each side, because it shows up on the other side.

I made my cover out of heavy duty cardboard. The pieces actually came from inside a Calendar - it worked for me, but really any method to cover the book is great. Some people purchased 8x8 3 ring binders. I wanted to go for inexpensive and actually was pleased with the outcome. This is a picture of the inside. After folding up the bottom of the 12x12 sheet of paper you place a month card (as seen below) and put the names of people with birthdays or other dates to remember listed on them.
Here is a picture of some cards placed in the July sleve that was created by folding the page up and glueing in place. So easy!
Here is another view from the top. You can see all the different colors and designs. Very Cute!

Paper Plate Flowers

In Primary the children made these Mother's Day Flowers for their Mom's. We did have a picture of the children in the center that we had taken a week previous. Somehow we didn't have a few of the children's pictures, Jacob's included. So this is Jacob's without his picture, but it was a cute idea, so I thought I would post it. We choose to use silk flowers, but construction leaves could have been cute as well. The leaf is Jacob's handprint. Cute!

Sunday Projects

Here are some pictures from a quiet book that I made to show for Enrichment. This is the site where all these cute pages are found. http://www.mormonchic.com/crafty/filefolders.asp I just put them in Sheet protectors and used the sticky velcro. Very Easy and my kids love them! I also have some other projects that I have been meaning to finish, but haven't quit got around to doing. I don't want to forget about them so I am posting them on this site. One is an Idea I thought I came up with, but later found something similar in the "Friend" magazine. A Sunday Box. On Sundays I am always trying to think of things the kids can do and play that tends to be more spiritual and not so much everydaylistic (one of my special words) :). The others are quiet books that I wanted to make for Church. One is called "A book about Me". It is filled with pictures and things about the children found on this site. http://ce.byu.edu/cw/cwwomens/booths/39.htm The other quiet book I would like to make is from a compilation of Sunday Programs. We have such nice ones with great pictures that I hate to throw them away. So I have developed quit a stash of these and the plan is to make them into a quiet book. Let's hope it works...or even happens. :) I'll post the finished product when it's completed.

Journals

I made these journals for the kids as something to do on Sundays. We pull them out and the kids can color, draw, or have Mom & Dad write down things they learned at Church or anything at all really. I saw the idea to decorate notebooks on another persons blog and thought they were cute. So here is my version. Her's were much cuter, but I didn't want to use my really cute paper and stuff. I also laminated them with duct tape :) that way the ink wouldn't smear and finger prints wouldn't be all over the covers. They turned out cute and the kids like them. :)

Our Castle

Santa Clause was kind enough to let Steve and I help with this project :) I think it turned out pretty good, especially because we made it without a pattern and all. The kids love it and it comes down and stores real nicely. (The PVC pipe just detaches and the fabric just drapes over it.) I am pleased with it!

Here are the instruction as best as I could put them together. This was all made by guess work, so obviously sizes can be changed to make it the size you'd like. :)

Picture Above: (Poles from left to right)
8 = 53" (4'5") height

4= 42" (3'6") width

3=22" (1'10") part of length

9(including the flag)=14" (1'2") part of length

The connectors:

(I don't know the real names for these pieces so bare with me - this is the best I could come up with) Top to bottom:

8= Y - corner connectors

5= T connectors

1=+ connectors

2= L - elbow connectors

Picture Above: This has the poles with the connectors attached.

Above picture: The Base

Above picture: The finished frame

These next pictures show the castle being drapped on.

Side window

These last two picutres are from the inside of the castle. I used velcro to open the door and windows.

Scripture Bag

So I was in need of a scripture bag and found this free pattern online and decided to give it a try. The pattern was intended to make a small handbag, not a scripture tote, but all in all it came out ok and works for the purpose. The fabric was just a bunch of scraps I have collected nothing fancy. But anyway, here it is...