"Spooky" mantle

I love Halloween!  It's the only time I can see spiders without having a little freakout! lol! (I still don't decorate with those big hairy ones you see in the store, though!)  This year I wanted to add something to our mantle...here's what I came up with...

These letters were white and plain when I bought them.  I painted them black then applied a thin layer of mod podge and these Halloween papers.  The next day I cut around them with an exacto knife, sanded them, inked the edges, then embellished them! I really love how they turned out! Here are some close-ups:

As you can see, I used rub-ons, 3d stickers and ribbons to embellish the letters. Happy Halloween!

Clothes dividers

So, I've been in a weird cleaning, no more like organization mood lately.  Which is good, but weird for me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I LOVE the idea of being organized...I'm just not that good at it.  Well, lately, I'm getting better!! Yay for me!  So, in my effort to have things organized, I made clothes dividers for my daughter's closet. I felt like school mornings would go smoother if clothes were  already chosen. Well, I showed them to my husband and he said, "these are great...where's the other set?" When I explained that I only made 1 since we only have 1 daughter going to school every day, he replied simply, "yeah, but Kayla is harder to dress." Point taken! Another set made last weekend, so now both girls have their clothes set up for the week.

Here are some close ups:

And a veiw from in the closet:

They seem to be working out pretty well! The girls love them and we don't need to help them every morning--They can get dressed while we are in our own bathroom getting ready!



Some quick (and easy) thank you cards



So, I LOVE the Create a Critter cartridge! It is by far my fave go-to cart for so many of my creations! So when I needed several (about a dozen) quick thank you cards, I just started cutting some critters! I added some coordinating ribbon, rounded the bottom corners, inked the edges and stamped the sentiment--Easy! The hard part was writing the personal t.y. message inside, lol! My mom always insisted that my brothers and sister and I write personal t.y. cards after birthdays, holidays, graduations, etc. and I still do it today...I also am passing this basic courtesy onto my two girls. I think it really is an important value to pass on...and how cute are these cards?! lol!

My mini page for my kitchen counter

Hi again! Multiple posts in one week! What?!  I think now that the weather is cooler and my oldest is in 1st grade I have more time to get on here.  So, I thought I'd share an easy way to incorporate a scrap page into your existing decor.  I have this 8x10 white frame (bought at Kohls, fyi) and at least each season (sometimes more often) I make an 8x10 LO of the kids enjoying themselves this time the year before and place it on my kitchen counter.  Not only is it a cute decoration, but it provides a quick reference point to what a difference a year makes! I love it and it's super easy!  Then when I take it out to make a new one, I just make a quick 12x12 page out of it like this... (the 8x10 part is just the polka dot paper)

Pretty fun, huh?

More scrapbook pages

I was a busy scrapper this summer (and not much of a blogger!) trying to get Ashley's 1st year scrapbook finished before her 6th birthday...and I did it! Here are the last few pages...

These pages were all put together in the last week before her birthday except the two 1st birthday pages...those I made about a year ago when those pictures inspired me.  So, I was able to have her scrapbook out for the guests to enjoy and reminisce, and it was a hit! My cousins especially loved it since we lived in North Carolina when Ashley was a baby, so they didn't ever really see her.

Baby Girl book

So, I made this adorable word book--my 1st word book ever, and I think I might be addicted! lol!  I wanted a quick and cute way to display baby pictures of my daughter at her 3rd birthday party and this seemed like a good way...here are some inside pages...

I made this with my cricut using George and Basic Shapes and Design Studio and it was super easy! (Makes me wonder why I hadn't tried this sooner!) I used DCWV Baby Girl Nursery Stack to cover the pages.  (I love those stacks!)  I also used the New Arrival cart for the stork and baby on the cover.  This was made for my younger daughter and of course then my older daughter wanted one too! I also want to make books like these with their names! I think that would be really cute too.

Finally got some scrapbook pages done!

I finally was able to get some pages done last week.  I have a list of things to hopefully complete this summer, so I'm trying to scratch some things off!  So, these 4 pages are all for Ashley's 1st year album (would like to get that done before she turns 6 this month, lol!) I also want to make her a word book like I did for Kayla since Ashley told me she really wanted one...looks like July will be busy in the craft room!

So this was the first page, some pics from January 2005.  We were living in NC at the time and were able to get down to Myrtle Beach to visit our friends, Donna and Mel.  My mom was also able to make it down for a visit!

Some pics form February 2005. Mom and Dad were able to visit again. I was amazed at how chunky Ashley looks in these photos because she was sooooo small for her age! (She still is, actually!)

In March, we were back home in Michigan for a visit. The Great Grandmas on my husband's side of the family were able to see little Ashley too. They have both passed away since, so these pictures are even more sentimental to include in her book.

This last page is Ashley in her Easter dresses...yes, I said dresses. I had bought one and my mom had sent another one that she loved...I couldn't decide which I liked better, so she had 2 dresses! lol!  I just knew I had to make a page with these pictures!  I welded and cut the words with SCAL and the little chick and basket were cut from Create a Critter!

Ok, enough blogging...gotta get crafting! lol!