Keep Calm and Birthday On

If I am being honest I was planning Tatum's first birthday party before I was wrapping presents for Christmas.  I knew all of the things I wanted, but I couldn't decide on a theme, so I opted for NO theme.  Instead I just wanted color...TONS of color.

And I think I accomplished just that...

I used my Cameo for everything.  And except for the boa on the party hats, I had all of the supplies in my craft room.  The party hats were a huge hit with the four little girls.  Note to self though...when you make party hats...make them all the same to avoid three sad little girls who did not get the "pink" one.

And because I was shooting for mom of the year...I decided that I would make Tatum her birthday outfit.  I bought a plain white T-shirt at Hobby Lobby and sewed a fabric #1 and some flowers on the front.  I wanted a super cute diaper cover to go with and my mom was nice enough to help me fumble through the pattern and sew one myself.  Not going to lie...I was pretty proud of my work!!

 

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Dark and Dusty TO Light and Clean

Project PURGE had me rethinking almost everything in my house.  If you know my mom you will know that I come by it naturally.  After she insisted I watch a show on HGTV called Clean Freaks I went home hating strongly disliking almost every space in my house.  Not everything needs to go, but certain things could definitely use a re-do.

Enter these drab pieces in my kitchen...

To be fair...my wonderful mom gave me these canisters a very long time ago when she was getting new and I was moving out on my own.  You can't go wrong with black?  Right?!  Maybe these days that only applies to clothes.

I decided that they needed to go and what better time than right before the big garage sale?

And here is their replacement...

I bought all four of the canisters at Hobby Lobby for less than $10.  I used my Camer to cut vinyl lettering. 

Did a little cleaning of my countertops...

And here are my NEW and much prettier canisters...

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My Take On The Chart

For some reason I have had the hardest time committing to a "Chore" chart for the kids.  Please do not ask me why because I have no answer.  I didn't LOVE anything that I tried.

I bought this Melissa and Doug Chore Chart at a garage sale for only $5 (good deal) and guess what...It will be in my garage sale on Saturday.  I decided that it was too...kiddish!  I know, I know...they are kids, but remember...I have to look at it and I wanted something more esthetically pleasing.  This was not doing it for me!!

I found this over at A Spotted Pony.  I loved it!!  I went to the Goodwill...found two matching baking sheets...spray painted them...and then decided I wasn't a fan.  I just didn't have the perfect spot I guess.

So after I hemmed and hawed...pushed the project to the back burner...I finally made a decision.

This is what I came up with.

I used my most favorite thing these days...My Cameo...and cut vinyl for my refrigerator.  I made bottle cap magnets (also with my silhouette) and Voila!!  Can you believe the kids were super excited to see what their chores would be this morning?

Although the chores are not meant to be a choice...I added $$ amount to each chore as an incentive.  My kids love getting money!!  Most of the chores are pretty simple as my munchkins are only 7 and 4.  I plan to put at least one bottle cap chore under their name each day.  We shall see how it goes!!  It turned out to be a pretty simple little project and if at any point I change my mind all I have to do is rip the vinyl off.

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Crafting to Save Money

One of my goals for 2013 and just the future in general is to spend more time crafting and therefor posting more to this blog I created for said crafts.

In early January I started what I call Project PURGE.  You can check it out, but basically a simple DE-clutter my life project one space at a time.  My craft room always seems to land in the top 3 for cluttered spaces.  I think it is only natural, but there seems to be a fine line between clutter and chaos in this particular space.  A mess means I am actually crafting, but that mess can quickly turn into chaos which keeps me at bay. 

I am not sure what it is about people who craft and their ability to justify keeping every little scrap of crap.  You just never know when you might need that 4" piece of ribbon!  Anyway, I am NO different and it is those scraps that have started to take up space.

Enter my money saving/crafting project all in one.

If there is one thing I always seem to need, but rarely want to go spend money on it is cards.  Birthdays, Thank You's...you name it and a card is needed for it.  I started making cards after my mom started and then for some unknown reason...probably hair bows...I stopped.

Last night I took a break from my little purging project and made a card and before I knew it I had made 7.  The best part....I used only stuff in my "scrap" pile!!!

I won't be entering my cards in any contest, but they will serve the needs of any occasion.  Crafting and saving money all at the same time.  And thanks to my moms bestie Karolyn I have cute new Stampin' Up Sentiments to play with.

Honestly...I forgot how much I love to paper craft!!

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Simple Projects Are The Best

I thought I would share two little projects I did a while back.  Of course it should be stated that Pinterest once again was my inspiration.  Pinterest is the worst kind of addiction.  I am either pinning things I can't afford and can only dream of OR I am pinning things that I have every intention of trying, but rarely ACTUALLY do!!

Except these two projects!!

I am always looking for ways to make life with three kids easier and this little basket project was one of those ways.  I will say it took me a little longer than I had thought it would to find 3 matching baskets that were the perfect size for my stairs.  Once I did though, it was easy peezy to finish.  I used scrap paper I had and some rub-ons to create the name tags and I borrowed my moms laminating machine to keep them nice and pretty!!  When the kids pick up around the house downstairs they can put their things in the basket and when the basket is full...it is easy to carry everything up and put away!!

And the frame...

Well thanks again to Pinterest and Photoshop I now have this fun piece with all the important dates in our family!!  Sometimes words and numbers are much more fun than an actual picture!  It's a talking piece when people see it and then see that Thomas' birthday falls before our wedding date!!

Yep...

He came first!!!

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Cameo

Just because I have not posted to this blog in like forever...

Does not mean I have not been crafty lately!!  Actually quite the opposite!!

If I haven't mentioned it I have the best mom ever...for many reasons, but one of them being that she is great at giving me the shove gentle nudge that I need to be crafty.  Last Christmas Santa Claus my parents bought me a Silhouette Cameo.  If for some reason you are not familiar with this amazing machine...it is a cutting system that works along with you computer.  I have officially become obsessed!! 

So...

When we decided we are taking the kids to Disneyland for a big family vacation I started creating!!  I want the kids to do as little complaining as humanly possible for little kids, so I decided a game might help with that.

I have seen different versions of travel bingo, but I wasn't too enamored by anything I have seen, so I decided to create my own with my Cameo!!

And Voila...A quick zip through the laminating machine (courtesy of my mom) and we have a game!!

And because I am working towards the "Mom of the Year" award...

I continued creating!

I decided that their first trip to Disneyland would not be complete without an Autograph book!!  Again I was not impressed with the boring ones you can buy, so I created my own.  I got some inspiration via Pinterest which led me to Craft-O-Maniac.  I absolutely loved the Mickey Head, so I created my own using my Cameo.  I decided to make different ones for each of the kids and because I was having so much fun I made them each two.

So...what do you think??  My kids think I am pretty great, but I guess they might be a little bias!!

I have quite a few more projects to share, so consider my crafty blog....BACK!!!!

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Thank you PINTEREST!!

Again I come to you with something a saw on Pinterest and HAD to do myself!!

Although I live in AZ and for almost nine months out of the year boots and scarves are not a necessity...my closet says otherwise.

I love me some boots and I love me a good scarf.

Problem though...

How to store all those beautiful scarves I have??

Well this is how they usually look...

A basket full!! Which usually causes me to forget what I have or the ones that can be are super wrinkled!! Have I told you I despise the iron?? Well I do!

Anyhoo...

A quick trip to the Dollar Store for shower curtain rings and a hanger from my closet!!

And...

VOILA!!

All of my scarves hung nicely in my closet!!

This project literally cost me $1.00!!

I love the cost, but even more I love that all of my scarves are nicely organized in my closet. I gained a basket out of reorganizing as well, so that was a bonus!

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So You Think You Can Sew?

I am not sure when it happened, but it did! I have stepped up my game with regards to sewing. I blame it on Pinterest, but then again it is easy to blame a lot of things on Pinterest lately.

Anyway...

I decided a while ago that I wanted to try making some things for when the baby came. OK fine I wanted to make burp cloths. These burp cloths to be exact!! Maybe something else if that actually panned out, but for now...just the cloths.

Well as luck would have it my big BLACK FRIDAY purchase...

FLANNEL FABRIC for $1.49yd. Because it was a slight afterthought I did not get in line early and because I was among 200 other women wanting this fabric...well it was slim pickins. I some prints that I liked and a few that were not baby specific, but loved all the same. I waited in line and roughly 20yds later (I got a little carried away) I was ready to start sewing.

I honestly had no idea how little fabric it would take for the pattern I had chosen, so needless to say I will have all the burp cloths I could ever need!!

I might have gone a little overboard on pictures, but I really am proud that I have accomplished what I set out to do. I secretly hope this is only the start of my sewing ventures.

Oh and to get warmed up before I tackled the cloths I whipped up 10 pairs of leg warmers. Of course my Taylor picked the ones she wanted and the rest will go on ETSY!!

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My First Halloween Party!!

I have always wanted to throw a Halloween party, but for some reason or another every year comes and goes and...no party.

Well, not this year. I decided to have one and I did. I think my mom would agree with me that we planned and crafted for two months for a party that lasted two hours. And even though there was food that I forgot to put out and games that we didn't even play...all 18 of my little spooky kids had fun. And that is all that matters.

I thought I would share the few (and I mean these were literally the only ones I took) pictures from our hard work.

My tablescape...full of yummy, festive food.

And my "Trick or Treat" table...full of goodies for all of my guests to leave with.

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My {Attempt} at a Festive Wreath

First of all can I just say that this might have been the project where I finally realized that NOTHING is as simple as it seems in my head. My inspiration for this wreath came from where else...PINTEREST! I saw a wreath made with tulle and thought well I think can do that...and I have a lot of black tulle that I have no plans for just collecting dust in my craft room. Well, three trips to Hobby Lobby later and scraping plans A...B...and...C, I finally finished my Halloween wreath.

The most hilarious part about this project is I seriously thought it was going to be SUPER cheap. Let's just say that I greatly underestimated how much tulle it takes to cover a wreath. I stopped counting when I reached 150 yards. I wasn't liking any of the ideas I had so far. I decided tonight that come hell or high water I was finishing this wreath or it was going in the "craft gone wrong" pile.

I used $$Dollar Store cotton spider web over the tulle and used small black plastic spiders as embellishments. My wonderful mom made me the bow which ended up being the final inspiration of the theme. All things considered I am happy with the final product. Tomorrow I will find an actual home for it.

What do you think?

Oh and the other thing I realized tonight (I really didn't just realize this, but tonight it is worth mentioning)...my mom is OOBER Talented. She sees something and BAM...she recreates it. She really is all the inspiration a girl could need.

Just go check out her blog Fresh Cut Flours if you don't believe me.


I am linking up with...

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Subway Art

I have been playing around on photoshop lately, but trying my hand at little projects rather than editing photos.

I have been decorating for Halloween all week and trying to add something more each day. It is only now that I appreciate my old house that was only 1600 sq ft and all one level. Decorating 2400 is turning out to be a lot more difficult.

Anyway...

I whipped up a little subway art for a picture frame that I have and thought I would share.

I am happy with how it turned out and am thinking it will look a lot more festive than the picture I currently have on display.

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