Handmade Craft - (Already Made) Scrapbook for Mom

2 great things: already made scrapbooks and technology!

A few months ago I got a free already made scrapbook at JC Penny as a promotional. It's your typical 12"x12" scrapbook and really nice looking, but it wasn't practical for me to use it for my pictures as I would then need to start a collection of 12"x12" scrapbooks, which we do not have room for. Therefore, as I thought about what to do with the scrapbook, I decided to give it to my mom for Christmas. I talked to my sister and we decided that it would be a scrapbook for my mom with all the grandchildren's pictures in it.

I am not a scrapbooker and with 2 little ones, coming up with page ideas would have taken soooo much time. The already made scrapbook comes with pages already made up and all I had to do was add the pictures!!! It was perfect... I just needed to decide what sort of pictures would go on each page, crop the pictures, and stick them on.

Well, there were enough pages to have a picture of my mom and dad, a picture of my mom, dad, sister, and I, and a page of both our families, in addition to 2 pages for each grandchild, 4 miscellaneous picture pages, and a page for a picture with my mom and dad with all their grandchildren.

My sister lives in California and I live in New Jersey...Right, cross country...Yet, through technology, we were able to coordinate things and get this memory book made for my mom, in time for Christmas.

It only took me several hours to print, crop, and stick all the pictures in the book. The already made scrapbook also came with stickers and other accessories, so I didn't even have to think about fillers. So, without worrying about captions on the pictures and just sticking the pictures in the book, the memory book was completed by the end of the day!

I would never have had the time to do something like this from scratch. I am thankful for conveniences like the already made scrapbook and technology. Amazing!!!

Feather Art

I wonder how long it takes to paint a feather?

Holiday Homemade Ideas

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Although it's about a month past Christmas, I wanted to share some homemade holiday ideas that I used this past holiday season.

First, homemade holiday pillow cases. I really wanted to make pillow cases for my couch pillows, but I ran out of time. At the last minute, I came up with a brilliant idea! I took a regular sized queen sized white pillow case and put my couch pillow in it. I then folded the extra material over the pillow and took a 1 1/2" wide red ribbon, purchased in the craft area, and tied a bow around the pillow, like one would when tying a bow around a present. The idea was cheap and very festive and did the job!

Second, homemade holiday bibs. I really wanted to have holiday bibs for the girls for our Christmas dinner. However, when I searched for holiday bibs, all I could find were sayings like "I've been good this year Santa!" or other Santa sayings. I really wasn't interested in those bibs so as I shopped around, I ran into very festive wash cloths, like 6 for $5. Each wash cloth had a cute winter picture on the corner and I decided that they were big enough for a bib. I took the same ribbon that I used for the pillow cases and just sewed a couple of bib straps at 2 of the wash cloth corners. The bibs turned out to be better than a regular bib because they were big enough to cover the whole front of the girls and we didn't have to worry about any food getting on the girls' Christmas clothes.

Kids Activity - Playdough Party Goody Bag

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A few weeks ago I hosted a play dough party for DearDaughter1's 2nd birthday party. For her party favor/goody bag I printed out the recipe on colored card stock and attached 2 cookie cutters with ribbon. Along with the recipe and cookie cutters I also added a dough ball of each color play dough I made. Each recipe made five 1/2 cup balls. It was enough for 2 goody bags and a play dough party for 3 little ones.

Hang in There

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When suspended by chains above the center island of your kitchen and given a coat of whitewash, part of a weathered old flea-market ladder is transformed into a one-of-a kind cottage-style pot rack. Anchor the chains with bolts screwed into joists; if you can't locate joists in the ceiling, be sure to use the pot rack for lightweight objects only.

Idea courtesy of Country Home

It's a Frame-Up

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Have a large rescued frame that you'd like to showcase? How about creating a shadow box to show off your plates and other collectibles. Build a backless box, approximately 4 inches deep, to fit the frame. Add desired shelves. Attach the box to the frame using metal L-brackets, one in each corner. Attach one side of each bracket to the box, the other to the fame - this allows the box to hang from the wall without stressing the frame.

Idea courtesy of Country Home

Preparing for Little One #2's Arrival: Baby Announcements

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Well, it's unbelievable, but I completed 60 birth announcements last week! It's a very simple card.

All my supplies were from Michael's...

The Card Stock is the generic brand 8x11.5 card stock sold at Michael's called All Girl. It has a variety of pink hues in it. I basically cut each sheet in half and each sheet gave me 2 cards. There was a stack of purple too, but I didn't use it. I think I used 1 pack at $3.99/pack.

The ribbon was also the generic brand sold at Michael's. I don't remember the exact color, but it's like chocolate brown and it's a satin ribbon that's 1/8" wide. I used 3 rolls at $0.50/roll. I actually found the 3rd roll at Wal-Mart for $0.44/roll.

The stamp was my best buy at $1 per set. I found that on the $1 stand, also at Michael's.

It's a really simple card and simple design. Pictured above is the front. The inside left has our Little One's name and its meaning and how we chose it. The inside right will have our Little One's picture and her birth statistics.

In addition, I was able to label all 59 of my envelopes (I'm keeping one announcement for Little One's scrapbook). OK, I have 3 families that I need new addresses for, but 99% of my envelopes are addressed.

Wow, here I was very overwhelmed by my lack of preparation 2 weeks ago and now I feel overly prepared. I didn't get DearDaughter1's announcements out until she was 2 months. Since I'm sooooooo prepared, I should get these out promptly after Little One's birth.

February 8, 2007

Verse of the Day:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:43-45)

I had a full evening last night and a full day!

One of my DearFriend is celebrating her birthday on the 10th and I couldn't wait to get her birthday present to her. She's going away for the weekend and leaving tomorrow and our "foursome" isn't getting together for a birthday luncheon until next month, and I just couldn't wait a month to get this gift to her. It's a jarful of treats for the soul! I looked up 365 verses, printed them on cardstock, and packed them in a jar; a verse for every day of the year! Since I've been working so hard to find these verses for her before her birthday, I decided I should give this gift to her for her birthday.

Well, I was very diligent about finding verses on a daily basis, but last week my in-laws were with us and so I went 3 days without working on this project. So, last night I had to find 65 verses and it took me almost 3 hours to do that because I had to make sure that none of the verses were repeats. Then, this morning, I had to print out the cards, cut them, and pack them...

Let me say that God is a miracle worker. I had a doctor's appointment at 9am and had planned to take this gift over after my appointment. Well, by 8:15, I was still cutting the cards out. However, the irony of the situation is that I felt a peace in my heart. This morning, I had a choice to do my daily reading in the Word and my prayer or to finish this project. Normally, I would choose the project, but today I chose to do my reading and spend time in prayer. The last thing I asked the Lord was for help for this day as I knew how full it would be. When 8:15 came along and I was still cutting the first few cards, I knew I wasn't going to finish the project before going to the doctor. Well, the miracle of this whole situation is that on my way to the doctor, I was trying to think of an excuse to give my friend as to why I needed to drop off her gift later, but before I had the opportunity to call her, she called me saying that she wouldn't be home around the time I wanted to drop the gift off. She would only be available in the afternoon. Such a relief came over me because I knew that would give me enough time to finish up the project. Well, this DearFriend actually was running errands and so stopped by after running the errands and I didn't even have to leave the house!

She loved the gift!!! DearFriend has 4 children and sometimes cannot find time to read God's Word. She thought this was perfect for her because she would be able to pull out a verse while she's having her cup of coffee and meditate on it. May the Lord use these verses to bring even more light of His glory to her heart!

So, after my doctor's appointment and after finishing up my 365 verse project, I straightened out the house and prepared for Mom's' Coffee Break. 2 DearFriends showed up today.

Today's "topic" was evangelism. At least the praise of one of my DearFriends was the opportunity for her to share the gospel with the young 22 year old she has been providing room and board for. This young 22 year old has been prayed over by me and some others and God is showing himself faithful in her receptiveness of the gospel and in the courage of my friend.

DearDaughter also had fun with my other DearFriend's 12 month old.

I do praise God for He is true to His promises in His Word. He says in Proverbs 8:17, "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me." He has given me this earnest desire to serve Him with all my heart and though I still often fail, He is giving me the power and ability to do His will all the more because I want to seek Him and His will and as I am seeking Him, I am finding Him and His help. I could have just gone mad today with all that I needed to do, but because I did seek His help this morning, He provided it to me. Thank you God!

When I began this blog, one of my posts was about knowing your first and greatest priority. It is God and no other!

Crocheted Blanket

Just showing off my other hand made gift of the season. I actually made 2 blankets this year as Christmas gifts, but I forgot to photograph the first blanket. This particular blanket is special because it's probably the most intricate blanket I've made yet. It took me about 2 1/2 months to complete it, working at it about 1 to 2 hours a day. It used a J-Hook, not too small, but small enough that it was time consuming as there were lots of popcorn groups. As I worked on it, the blanket grew in such small increments that sometimes it was quite discouraging as the "deadline" approached. Towards the end, I did actually have to scramble and spend at least 2 whole days completely dedicated to it. I finally completed it the day of our Christmas gathering!!! I actually felt such a load off my shoulders when the blanket was completed. I even had time to wash and dry it!!!

Recipe Book

Here is a gift I gave to a DearFriend...I got the idea from this site, but instead of using paper bags as covers, I made my own hardback cover...It took about 45 minutes to make each cover (front and back) and another 1 to 1 1/2 hours to hand write the recipe cards. Total time for project is about 3 hours.

1. Cut cardboard (from any box) - 4.3" x 7".

2. Cut material 1" larger around perimeter of cardboard.



3. Glue cardboard to center of material and cut corners to prepare material for folding.
Note: I cut one side straight and the other side angled.



4. Glue and fold over material.







5. Cut a smaller piece of material to cover up the rest of the exposed cardboard.





6. Make 2 holes on cover.







7. 1" from the edge, using a straight edge, make a crease so that the book cover will easily open.


8. Using a marker and stencil, make a monogram at the center of the cover or decorate as desired.




9. Place your recipe cards in 4"x6" zip plastic bags.
Note: 1/4" needed to be trimmed off the top and side of a 4"x6" card.

10. Punch holes to align with cover.


11. Use ribbon to assemble book.