VALENTINES 2013

Princess P has been pretty sick this week and so we didn't get valentines done until the day before this year. We looked at lots of ideas on Pinterest and she liked these sour cream containers the best.

These are from the tutorial website (I didn't photograph ours).  This is the tag she helped me make.

I have LOTS of scrapbooking stuff to use, so we didn't even have to buy anything but the candy to go inside. I made a cute little tag with the saying Princess P wanted. They turned out cute and she was happy.

Big C and I went out to dinner and I have never been so disappointed in my life. We are not in the habit  of eating out much- Big C doesn't like it, and definitely not at expensive places, so last night was a super bummer! We paid $40 for a pathetic meal. Never again will I eat there. At least I had a great date!

I worked almost all day and didn't have time to make treats, so I took treat bags of Hershey's Hugs and Kisses to our family in town with this tag:

Princess P and I delivered them all. 

We are still waiting for D's mission call and were bummed it hadn't come too. Hopefully tomorrow...

CRAFTINESS

Pinterest strikes again! I pinned these covered light switches on Pinterest and thought about doing them. Then, I saw that my sister had some in her home and they looked SO cute. She bought them at a local store and my decision was set in stone.

Last night I got busy and did almost my whole upstairs. Here are some of my favorites. I am SO thrilled with them. My kids were even impressed and they aren't easily impressed by crafts.

The key is to find cute scrapbook paper. I have TONS in my stash, so that part was easy.

(Sorry about this crappy photo- I'm too lazy to take another one). The other key is to use spray glue. The website I looked at said to use mod podge or paste, but spray adhesive was SO much easier. I tried them both ways.

At the end, you Mod Podge over the top to keep them from getting too dirty too fast and VIOLA! You've covered over 18 years of cracked, stained switch covers and added a fun decorative element to your room. I even used a recipe card one for my kitchen. Will the cuteness ever end?

GIRLY CHRISTMAS POST

This night marks the start of all the holiday programs/recitals/concerts we have to attend within the next two weeks. I believe there are 6 if I am counting right. *Sigh*

Tonight was fun, however. We got to watch my youngest in her kindergarten Christmas play. She did such a great job, remembered all of her lines, and sang and danced and had a blast.

I also finished the homemade gifts I was making for my nieces. They turned out so fun I just had to share. They will each get a large initial with a journal to match. I didn't have to buy a thing. I already had the notebooks and scrapbook paper, etc. and my husband cut out wooden letters for me. Nice to have them done and out of the way. One more thing to check off my list...

JOURNAL KEEPING

I am a strong believer in keeping a journal. I have chronicled my life since I was in 6th grade. Sometimes I was better at it than others, but it has been an on-going dialogue since then. During my teen years it was a great way to vent and now that I am older it has been a great way to keep track of my feelings and emotions about being a mother. At times I was writing for me and at times for my posterity. Would I want my children to sit down and read them? Well, that is still in debate-- it hasn't happened yet, but will some day, I am sure.

This is my newest journal! I am pretty consistent at blogging, so I decided to publish it. I would like to be able to do it once a year, but we'll see how that goes. I am very happy with my book. It ended up costing me around $57 with shipping and the more expensive cover (I hate dust jackets). I figure that is a small price to pay for family history. I am very excited! Here is link if you are interested. There are a lot of different companies that will print a blog, but I had positive feedback about this one. It is very user friendly and easy to do (just takes time). Good luck!

BIRTHDAY BANNER

This is the new birthday banner I made. Normally it has been our tradition to print out a banner for each child on their birthday, but now I can just use and re-use this. I am very happy with it and especially with how easy it was to make.

I just cut two 6-inch triangles out of each 12 X 12 birthday scrapbook paper (some patterned, some plain) and used my Cricut to cut out the letters. I glued the letters to the 'flags' and then taped them to a piece of yarn. Yay! Quick and easy and reusable! I am "going green." (After all, it is St. Patrick's Day... Ha.)

PS I really LOVE my Cricut!

LOVE'S DAY

That's what my youngest calls Valentine's Day. I love it. She's so darn cute....

Anyway, I thought I would share some cute Valentine card ideas I've found. I really like making cards. It is a great creative outlet.

This is one I made my husband about 4 years ago. I wrote 50 things I love Y about him on those little cards and put them in pockets. The message says, "How do I love thee, Let me count the ways..."

This is a page from the book I made him last year. I took self-portraits of the mentioned body parts and some were a little hard to do alone, but it worked out okay. The poem goes: "Take my lips, my ears, my eyes, my 2 big feet (excuse the size), my hands, my face, just pick your part. You might as well, you've got my heart." Y

This is a card from Scrapbooks Etc. I am thinking about making him this year. Y

This is also a card idea from Scrapbook's Etc., but for mom's to kids. What a fun idea! I Y it!

These are some from Family Fun for class Valentines. Y

Hope you're Y LOVE-inspired! Now, go create!

CROP FOR THE CURE

I haven't ever been to a big "crop" before, but since I couldn't find anyone to go to the Expo with me I decided to stay home and sign up at Memories Mercantile's 12 hour crop for breast cancer. I had so much fun! We just laughed and visited and did some scrapbooking too. I got 6 full layouts done, had a yummy pasta dinner from Tin Plate Pasta, made a box (I can't remember the name of it), and made some new friends. This is a group shot from early on. More came as the day went on. I wish I could have stayed til midnight!

As far as breast cancer goes, I have had it touch my life. When I was about 15, it killed my oldest cousin. She was only 28 with three little kids and went through hell before she actually did die. It also got her mother (my aunt), and she just finished chemo, etc... last year. She caught it early, thankfully and is still here with us. I was very proud to help in such a great cause and scrapbook too!