Train Tickets for "The Polar Express"

Next Saturday will be our church's Christmas Party. I am so excited! First, I have to admit that the first time I watched "The Polar Express," Adam was just 3 months old, Carly was 2.5 years old, and I was 24 years old. I cried through most of the movie just because I thought it was soooo magical! Anyway, it just so happens that the hostess for our church Christmas party picked the "Polar Express" theme, and I immediately "jumped on board" to see how I could help! She asked me to make the train tickets!! :) :) :) I really wanted to make these train tickets special, so I went browsing the web, the local scrapbook stores, and so on. I found this awesome shiny gold paper at Hobby Lobby. However, the price was 1.99 per sheet. :( Quite expensive...especially when you know you have to make 50-75 of them...you want them big enough to be "punched" by the conductor...and you have other parts that need to be purchased to make the tickets. So I settled on making the trains themselves gold instead of the whole ticket. :) Then I had some baker's twine in red and green. I had this idea that the "stamp" on the ticket should say the date of the event, along with "One Round Trip Ticket." I worked for a few days trying to figure out how to make text in the shape of a circle (I know you could probably do it,...I'm just not tech saavy). Finally, I gave up and asked for help from others. I found another lady from church who asked me what I wanted and she had the computer file to me the very next day! Yay! All set to begin my production. :) So here they are! I used my Cricut machine, Gypsy, and various Cricut cartridges to produce the tickets and circles and train cuts. I know they are not fancy...but it was all I could do with a million other things I have going on right now during the holiday season...and my friend who is the hostess of our church party liked them, so that is what counts! Thanks for looking!

A Gift for Her Baptism

Yesterday we had the privilege of attending a baptism of an 8 year old little girl that used to be in my Primary group. But her family moved close to an hour away, and we no longer see them much...other than through Facebook. ;) I was so excited to be invited to her baptism! She is sweet and her family is the best. So we went,...but I had to take a gift to just let her know how special I think she and her family really are. So I crafted this scrapbook album. It's a big step for a child to be baptized and take on the name of the Lord, so I wanted her to remember this special day with details, pictures, and a book to hold the memories for the rest of her life. Thanks for looking!

Pirate Party!

Here are just a couple of things I took pictures of that I made for the party. I made up more stuff/decor, but I forgot to capture it....The bones are from Cricut's Gypsy Wanderings cartridge...and the font is Gypsy Font. It was fun to make this stuff up. They also ate "Skeleton Bones" (fries) and "Crumbed Fish" (my kids hate fish sticks, so we opted for chicken nuggets). Thanks for looking!

"Smile" Handmade Card

Here is a card I whipped up today (looks it, right?!) for a friend. I just used what I had on hand as I have not bought scrapbooking supplies for over a year now! I've been busy sewing and crocheting, you know. ;) Anyway, I think the papers are Bo Bunny, My Mind's Eye, and some yellow vellum. I used my Cricut George cartridge to cut the balloon, and I used red Baker's twine for the balloon string. Other ribbons I have bought at Hobby Lobby from time-to-time. The lettering are just random stickers, and so are the corner stickers. Thanks for looking!

Pirate Party!

Adam's 7th birthday is coming up, and the boy has never had a big birthday celebration, other than his 1st Birthday. So this year, after a long, traumatic summer of a tonsillectomy!, I've decided we're going to do a little more for my little man. We (Adam and I) decided together on a pirate-themed party, and we're getting really excited for it! And I lucked out and have found pirate-y things at the Target dollar spot, as well as the Dollar Tree here in town. Here is the cover of the invitation I made for him, using my Cricut "Gypsy Wanderings" cartridge and some scrapbook paper and stickers already on hand. I also crumpled up old world looking paper and printed out the details inside of the card to look like a map. The inside of his card reads: "Ahoy there, matey! Ye be invited for some birthday spirits at Captain Adam's 7th birthday bash. He needs some shipmates to swab the deck and hunt for long lost treasure. Chart yer course for (time) on (day) at (our address). Wave yer flag if ye be attendin; if not, ye'll have to walk the plank! Yo ho ho, let us know! Call deck hand at (phone #) by (date)." I have to admit, I googled for some ideas and used most of it. :)

Valentine's Gifts

So I've been crafting here and there...over the stretch of days, by doing a step each day on most of these. Like for the crocheted envelopes -- one square a day...then sewing them up one evening...then adding the button one day. It's all a process! I usually have very limited time to sit in one day and create something from start to finish all at once. Anyway, I made these Valentine envelopes that I think are super duper cute! I found the pattern on the Lion brand website. I think Jayna will be able to recycle them as "mail" for her cardboard playhouse mail slot, and for "mail" this summer in her Step 2 house outside. So it's worth the time spent for me. Also, the kids helped me design each of their Valentine's shirts on my Gypsy, then I painted them (again in steps) while they were either sleeping, napping, or at school. They wore them to their class parties today. There is a picture of Adam creating his homemade Valentine's cards...and the end result on most of them. He did a good job, and came up with the smiley face idea without my input. Then on the back he wrote, "Love, Adam Criser." Too cute! And then I took some snapshots of Carly making her daddy's Valentine...paperweights for his desk at work. We got the kit at Barnes & Noble bookstore. I think it's cool that you can see Carly's reflection in the glass weight while she was working on it! Thanks for looking!

TAKE A LOOK!

Hi, there! I have been so busy lately that I haven't been able to upload many pictures of my own projects (even though I've made a few), but here is one that I wanted to share from a web friend's blog: http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/2011/01/scrapbookpalcoms-valentines-blog-hop.html. I L-O-V-E these felt pillow covers! I am not going to find time to make them this year, but I can just imagine all of the endless possibilities with this idea! Thanks for sharing, Tomi Ann!

Easy Wooden XOXO Blocks

Grab some 2x4, acrylic paint, vinyl, and ribbon, and you've got these blocks! I had the 2x4 blocks already pre-cut into these squares for a previous project that I never got around to doing. Then I painted them with a couple of layers of acrylic paint in Primary Red and Carnival Pink each. Next I used my Gypsy, Expression, and Mini Mono, Plantin Schoolbook, and Storybook cartridges for the scalloped square and letters in white vinyl. I placed the vinyl on the blocks, tied a cute dotted pink bow around one end of one block, and done! Cute blocks adorning one of the shelves of my fish tank in the living room. :) Very easy and super cheap. And festive for February!!

Valentine heARTs

For some reason this year I am getting super excited about Valentine's Day. I normally leave out some of my snowman decor until it's time to decorate for Easter. And with all the snow recently, it has been fitting to see. However, I have all kinds of ideas running through my head for Valentine's Day decor. Including these two heART pieces! ;)
For the first heART piece, I have been seeing lots of "subway" art for different holidays, and I decided to try my hand at it. I used my Cricut Gypsy and designed some pieces together and then layed them out on an 8x8 canvas. But first I covered the recycled canvas with some patterned scrapbook paper. Anyway, after the canvas was covered, I inked the edges, and then layed out the lettering. Once I had the words and symbols arranged the way I liked, I started applying the vinyl pieces. Once that looked acceptable, I used double-sided tape and applied the ribbon around the edges of the canvas, and then attached a ribbon piece for hanging using a hot glue gun. Easy enough, and pretty cute, too, right?!?! And CHEAP!
For the second heART piece, I had bought this cute heart-shaped plate from a yard sale for super cheap a couple of years or more ago. I hadn't ever decided what to do with it,...until tonight. It's simple, but I used the Cricut again and cut in vinyl the sentiment you see, and voila! Done! I had everything on hand and didn't have to run out in the snow for any piece of these crafts. And now I have some more Valentine's decor which will help fuel the love for the upcoming holiday! ;)

Crafting Christmas Gifts - Part One

Giving Christmas gifts to friends is always exciting for me! Gifts to friends can be whatever I want to make them...and there is no pressure. For friends it's the thought that really counts because there really was no expectation in the first place...in my own opinion. So I like giving handmade Christmas gifts that are personal and not overly expensive. This year, Carly was able to get in on the crafting magic. We have been friends with a certain church family over the last five years since we moved here, and they have a daughter close in age to Carly. Though the two girls are two years apart in age, they get along well and we try to remember to include Carly's friend when we go on special trips or outings. Such as to the Littlest Pet Shop part at WalMart; snow tubing at the ski park for Carly's birthday; and we always go trick-or-treating together. So I had several pictures of the two of them together and we decided to use one of these new 7Gypsies drawers with individual frames to make her friend a gift. We just chose coordinating patterned scrapbook paper for the backgrounds. I have a mountain of stickers I have collected over the years for scrapbooking (before I got my Cricut!) and used some of those for the flowers. But then we also used the Cricut to make the 3-D flower. Carly inked the edges and adhered all of the bling to the designs. It was a lot of fun and something we could enjoy doing together. And since Carly's friend has a little sister that has a crush on Adam, I had a few pictures of them as well...so I decided to make her some hanging tags so she wouldn't feel left out. Thanks for looking!

Slowly Catching Up

Here are some recent layouts I did for little Jayna's scrapbook. I was able to go to a crop with a friend at Archiver's (my first time there - WHOA! Loved it!) I used my Gypsy for the first time really and I enjoyed not having to swap cartridges and just plug away...I believe I got more pages done because of it. Anyway, I got a few more pages done for Jayna's book and I now have about 10-12 pages in total...which is not many. But it was fun to hang out with my friend Lisa and catch up since we had not seen eachother in quite a while...um...and she lives two streets over. :) But we are busy mommys and doing the best we can! Thanks, Lisa! I found some time during Jayna's nap today to get some cards done and I will post later. Did I mention I need to clean house? Well, I do. But today sanity came before cleanliness. haha

Pink Piggy Girl Diaper Cake

Here are some photos of a recent diaper cake I made for my mother-in-law to give away. I used 1 package of size 1 Huggies diapers; nail trimmers; bulb syringe for baby; Desitin cream; Orajel gel; hairbrush and comb for baby; baby spoons, baby rattle; hair clip; and a crocheted piggy bib that I made in the past. I also used my Cricut Expression to make the scallops, flowers, and "It's a Girl!" signs, and some ribbon picked up at WalMart. Thanks for looking!

Burlap Pillow

I followed Tomi Ann's instructions and the video she included here: http://tomiannie.blogspot.com/2010/08/porch-rocker-pillows.html, and I made this pillow for my own porch. I added some lace along the sides when I sewed it up, and I chose a different design, which I created with my Gypsy. It was pretty easy, and I made three of them. Two I gave away as gifts to friends last week when we had our day out to a craft fair in a nearby town. It was a lot of fun! Thanks for taking me out, Tia and Stephenie! I am totally going again next year, no matter what!!! Anyway, back to the burlap pillows, these definitely add a Fall touch to home decor, but since they are rough and burlap has a small odor, I am keeping it outside on the patio. Thanks for looking! :)

Diaper Cakes for Boys - Duck and Frog

I made the tea towel cake for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day and she loved it so much she wanted me to do something similar for some co-workers who are due to have babies this Summer. (My MIL is a teacher.) She told me they are both having boys and left the rest up to me. I decided to do these diaper cakes - duck and frog. It was harder to find baby items with ducks and frogs on them than I thought it was going to be. But I made due and each cake is made up of about 50 size 1 Huggies diapers; nail trimmers; Johnson's baby wash; a spoon and fork; Desitin diaper cream; receiving blankets; medicine dropper and bulb; a toy chime with wrist strap; and a crocheted bib which I have previously posted about. The cakes weren't quite decorative enough on their own (besides the cute bib if I can say so myself!), so I pulled out my Cricut and used it to cut some ducks and frogs which I hot glued to lollipop sticks and stuck them in around the cake. Thanks for looking!

Carly's Valentine's Box

This year the teacher issued an assignment for the children to make their own Valentine's box at home. Since I have a ton of paper, glue, ribbon and such, Carly was in craft heaven! hehe This is what she came up with for her 2010 box (which is a recycled shoebox). She used some paper from the My Mind's Eye that I also used on my Valentine's wreath. The birds and nest were on some patterned paper that she decided to cut out and use as decor on the top of her box, and we used pop dots to give it extra dimension. We bought some pink, red, and purple gem stickers and also crystal heart stickers for the bling at Hobby Lobby. And then she decided she wanted the hole on top to be in the shape of a heart instead of a plain old slot. Good idea, Carly! It turned out super cute. We cut her name with the Storybook font with my Cricut. She did everything except for the heart hole on top. I handled the glue gun for her as well. Thanks for looking! And stay tuned for her cute Valentine gifts we are making for her classmates!