Build a Bear mini album

My daughter made a Build A Bear for her 3rd birthday thanks to her Aunt Krista.  Even though she was as quiet as a mouse during the experience, she was thrilled when we got home and told everyone the story for months.  I recorded her telling the story to document this special event in her life.  I later made her this mini album of her retelling the story in her own words.

The album is from bind-it-all and has a chipboard cover.  I made the bear, from the Bears On Parade cartridge, to look like our very own Sparkle Bear.  The design of the album is a little simplistic to mirror the language of a 3 year old.

We sat on a chair and waited for Sara, Emma, Emma's friend, and Aunt Krista.  I want the purple bear.  I put her on the bear machine and step on the button.

I pushed the heart buttons with my fingers.  Step on the button with my feet.  It made noise.  I put a lt of hearts in her.  I kissed the heart.

I give her a bath and brush her.  I step on the button the bathtub and make bubble sounds.  The paw brush was yellow. 

Next is Hello Kitty panties, get blue clothes, Hello Kitty purse.  I get the bow.

 Then go on the computer and name her Sparkle.  Then get a house.  A gingerbread one.

 Take pictures on the bench.  Then go to Grandma's house and show Daddy and Grandma.  I love Sparkle.  I love my friends.

The pages of the album are bound with wire from bind it all and the last page which is a thick plastic is also included in the binding.  The page slips into the back pocket of the chipboard cover.  This makes a really nice mini album.  It also makes a little girl feel really special to have her own book.  

MOPS Crafts

Name Tag

I became involved in MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) last year and this year I have the honor of coming up with the crafts for the group.  I think that it will be challenging to come up with things that everyone will be interested in, that all crafting abilities can complete, and within a very small budget.  It is so important for moms to feel like they have accomplished something and have fun doing it.

The first craft of the year is going to be name tags for everyone to use throughout the year.  The theme for MOPS this year is "be you bravely" and has a feather in the logo.  So I came up with this for a name tag and even incorporated the feather.

I used the CTMH artiste cartridge to cut out 2 shapes from page 50 (the rectangular shapes that look strange).  Then attached them together and did an accordion fold along the dashed lines and then attach the other ends.  You will then have a cylinder and here is the tricky part.  Set it upright and then squish the top down into the middle until it forms the circle.  You will then need to immediately hot glue a piece of paper to keep it in this shape.  I also glued a cut out on the back for a pin to attach to.  Then just decorate as you like.  These are very sturdy and I think that they will hold up all year.

Necklace

The second craft that I have planned for the year is a necklace with our logo on it.

I've seen metal stamped necklaces around lately and decided to look into it.  Like I need another hobby!  But I came up with this simple and inexpensive necklace for the group.  I am going to hand stamp the logo onto washers from the hardware store.  Then everyone will color black sharpie marker onto the words to darken them and then clean them up.  Next, everyone can pick out ribbon and a bead and assemble the necklace.  I'm hoping that it will be a hit.  

Horse Swing

Woodworking project

I haven't been able to post any projects lately because I've been exploring my other hobbies.  I love woodworking but haven't had the time with 2 little kids.  I needed a birthday gift for my niece so I thought that this was a great excuse to get my tools out once again.

My niece just turned 2 and I thought that she would love a new swing.  My son also loved it (above) so I need to make another one.  I found the plans from The Windfield Collection and they were so easy to follow.  I used my bandsaw to cut out the seat and body.  Then rounded over the edges with a router.  The handle and foot rest were dowel rods.  Then I assembled it and added the mane and tail.  All of the kids loved it and someone was on it at all times during the birthday party.

I am also in the middle of building a swingset for my kids.  Here is my son helping me out.

Dads and Grads Blog Hop

Thank you for joining us on My Cricut Craft Room's Father's Day Blog Hop.  I made a decorated cup to share with you today.

Vinyl decorated cup

Here I go again with the cups.  But when I saw this image on the CTMH Artiste cartridge, I knew it would be perfect on a cup.  Perfect gift for any Dad.

For those new to my blog, I made a lot of these cups for Christmas gifts.  I found these double insulated tumblers at the Dollar Tree and went crazy.  It is the perfect canvas for vinyl.  You need to use the glossy vinyl because it is more permanent.  It also needs to be hand washed.  I tried a cup in the dishwasher and it did great for a while but once I had the heat setting on the dishwasher and the vinyl bubbled.  It's still stuck on there but doesn't look as pretty.

There are many tutorials on you tube on how to cut vinyl but basically I set everything on my cricut to 3 and let it go.  Then you will need to pull off the unwanted vinyl from the backing so that you are left with only the image.  Then cut a piece of transfer tape (I've heard that painters tape works too) and lay it on top of the image.  Press down on it then peel off the backing.  Now you can place your image on the cup and peel off the transfer tape.  It's really easy!  Have fun.

Next you will go to Connie's Blog.

Whole Dads and Grads blog hop.

1. Start- http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com 

2. Amanda- http://salnclts76.blogspot.com 

3. Vicki - http://vickiscraftroom.blogspot.com 

4. Connie- http://papercraftingfromanotherviewpoint.blogspot.com

5. Erica- http://EricasProject.blogspot.com 

6. ShanAnn- http://kraftinmama.blogspot.com

7. Trish- http://ifieverdoit.blogspot.com

8. Eileen- http://www.craftykards.blogspot.com

9. Crafting Blog Events http://craftingblogevents.blogspot.com 

sunny day and rainy day activity

Summer Activity #3 - Rainy day activity

Inside Sand Box

I found recipes for moon dough on pinterest and decided to give it a try.  Turned out great and has become our favorite rainy day activity.  We call it our inside sand box.

Recipe: Mix 6 to 8 cups of flour with 1 cup of baby oil (see note below).  That's it.  You can adjust the amounts a little to get a texture that you like.  My daughter plays with her kitchen toys in it and makes "dessert".  Sometimes we bury dinosaurs.  Now my son is old enough to play with it and we add cars.  

I recommend laying down an old tablecloth and keeping the moon dough in a plastic bin.  I just put the lid on the bin when we are done and shake off the table cloth.  I've had the mixture for over a year now and it still works... Although we've lost a lot over the year due to playing outside of the box so we need to make more.  

Note:  I use aloe or cocoa butter baby oil for this mixture.  The regular scented baby oil smelled too strong and gave me a headache.  If you are sensitive to smells, I recommend looking for these different oils.  Or even just mineral oil.

SUMMER ACTIVITY #4

Sidewalk Paint

I bought my kids sidewalk paint and they had a blast.  But it was used up quickly and a bit expensive.  I found recipes on pinterest to make your own and tired it out.  Here is my take on home made sidewalk paint:

3 Tablespoons of corn starch

3 Tablespoons of water

a spoonful of washable kids paint

Mix the corn starch and water in a small resealable bowl.  Add enough paint to turn it the color you would like.  The mixture should be a little runny.  Use paint brushes, foam brushes, old paint rollers, or anything you can think of to paint on the sidewalk.  This creates a very vibrant picture, unlike chalk. 

 Many recipes out there call for food coloring but I wasn't going to risk ruining clothes.  My 20 month old loves painting and he gets it all over him.  He even knocked over the bowl and his shoe turned green.  But since I used the washable paint to dye my paint, it all came out in the wash.  

I don't have a picture right now because it rained before I was able to get out with the camera.  Maybe next time.

DIY Water Table

Summer project #2...
Water Table

And not just any old water table.  One with custom parts and moving water.  Kids love water, especially running water.  My kids play with this non stop.  They collect water in containers and water flowers, play with little dolls in the water, and change the pipe fittings.  

I got my inspirations from a Pinterest pin which had excellent instructions and pictures.  Click here to see it.  But I wanted to take it one step further.  I didn't just want water to squirt through the pipes and drain to the bottom, I also wanted the water to pool on the top before draining to the bottom.  The challenge with this was finding 2 containers that fit together.

I found these 2 storage containers at Lowes.  The top one fit perfectly into the bottom while allowing a large pool of water in the bottom for the pond pump.  Time to start the plumbing...

I wanted 4 pipes coming up the top so the plumbing had to be in a sort of I shape with the main tube and pump coming off of the middle.  The pond pump that I used was a 290 GPH pump with an adjustable flow.

I had to drill 4 holes in the shallow bin for the plumbing to come through to the top.  Don't worry about making the holes slightly too big because you will want a way for the water to slowly drip back to the bottom bin.  Now I was able to attach the top pipes and figure out how I wanted the water to spray out. I made a variety of attachments and drilled holes into the pipes for the water.  I have about 8 configurations so that my kids can change things once in a while.

I hope that this serves as an inspiration for your own creation.  The final outcome will depend on how you want it to work and the type of plumbing parts you have access to.  I spent a lot of time in the plumbing isle trying to figure out which pipes and fittings would work.  But it was worth it.

One final thing to note:  this will be heavy to move around once it is filled with water.  I ended up building a box with casters to set the water table on.  Then I was able to wheel it into the garage and it was at a better height for my 4 year old.

Teacher Gift

Summertime fun!  It's been a long, long winter here in Pennsylvania.  But this past weekend we finally had a taste of summer and the weather forecast looks like it is going to stay.  So I am going to have some summer time fun projects this week.  Starting with...

End of the School year Teacher Gift.

My daughter finished her first year of preschool this week.  I can't believe that it's over already!  But looking forward to spending more family time this summer.  I had her paint flower pots for her teachers as gifts.  She painted her name on one side and flowers on the other.  The flowers were painted with her fingertips and then she added stems and leaves with a brush.  She did a great job and couldn't wait to give them to her teachers.

I planted Forget Me Not flowers in the pots and painted "Forget Me Not" under her name.  I had a ton of these flowers growing in my garden and thought the name of them were appropriate.

Happy Birthday Pop Up Card

I"m at it again!  I just love these pop up box cards.  I'm not going to explain how to make the boxes because there are so many tutorials out there that would be much more helpful than what I could do.  splitcoaststamper.com has directions or you can do a search on you tube for tutorials.

The box/card base was made from the Skylark paper packet.  I used the Artiste Cricut cartridge to cut out the cupcake and stamped the cupcake from the stamp set that is included with the cartridge.  The sentiment is from my favorite stamp set, Holiday Tags.  This set really has something for every occasion and it coordinates with the Artiste cartridge.

 Here is the card laying flat and ready to mail.  I cut off the zip strip from the edge of the paper and used it to decorate the outside of the card.  I also made a few girly ones with ribbon and bows on the outside.

Hope you like it.  I've had a lot of people tell me how complicated it looks but it is soooo easy.  Give it a try.

Happy Mother's Day

Thank you for joining us on My Cricut Craft Room's May Blog Hop.  Today I made a card to share with you.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!  This card is a box card or pop up card.  To get the directions on how to make it, do a search on you tube or pinterest.  There are many great tutorials out there.  This card has flowers from the Walk in my garden cartridge.  The sentiment is Holiday Tags from CTMH and coordinates with the Artiste Cricut cartridge.  This is my favorite stamp set lately.  It has something for every occasion.

This card folds flat to mail and has an area on the back for a sentiment and personalization.

Thanks for visiting!  Next you will go to Craft Lover's Blog.

Start

1. http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

2. http://www.creationsbymommy.blogspot.com/

3. http://salnclts76.blogspot.com/

4. http://vickiscraftroom.blogspot.com

5. Craft Lovers Come Here http://CraftLoversComeHere.blogspot.com

6. Eileen http://www.craftykards.blogspot.com/

7. Crafting Blog Events http://craftingblogevents.blogspot.com

Birthday Blog Hop

Thank you for joining us on My Cricut Craft Room's Birthday Blog Hop.  

Today I made a gift bag and card to share with you. 

My daughter is obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake right now.  So she was my inspiration for today's project.  I made her a paper doll to play with and now she says that Strawberry needs her friends.  So off to the cricut again to make Blueberry, Orange, Raspberry, and Lemon.  What we don't do for our kids!

For the gift bag, I used Create a Friend to make Strawberry Shortcake.  It took a little of this and a little of that to come up with her but I love how she came out.  Pupcake and the sentiment is made from Create a Critter.   Leave a comment with your email address if you want the CCR file for the doll.  I would be more than happy to share.  The strawberry hanging from the handle can be used to add an extra goodie or a to/from tag.  It was made using Close To My Heart Artiste cartridge.

The coordinating card is made from the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge and coordinating stamp set that comes with the set.  The strawberry was from the Celebrate with Flourish cartridge (I just didn't use the flourish part).

I hope that you enjoyed my berryific projects and come back to visit again.

Next you will go to Erica's Blog 

Here is the whole lineup in case you want to start from the beginning.  Enjoy!

Start http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

Amanda http://salnclts76.blogspot.com

Shana ... http://craftingblogevents.blogspot.com/2014/03/birthday-blog-hop-shanas-project.html

Vivi J http://vivijdesigns.blogspot.com

Julie http://cricutchirp.blogspot.com

Nikki http://creationsbymommy.blogspot.com

ShanAnn http://kraftinmama.blogspot.com

Vicki www.vickiscraftroom.blogspot.com

Erica http://ericasprojects.blogspot.com

Robin- http://MorphManiaCreations.blogspot.com

Eileen http://www.craftykards.blogspot.com/

Trish http://ifieverdoit.blogspot.com/

Patty http://Pattyscreations.blogspot.com

Connie http://papercraftingfromanotherviewpoint.blogspot.com/2014/03/cricut-birthday-card.html  

Craft Lovers Come Here http://CraftLoversComeHere.blogspot.com

Box Card

I found a tutorial on how to make a box card on cardz TV.  Mary made a great video on how to make this type of adorable card.  What I like about her directions is that the card fits in an A2 envelope.  There are many videos on Youtube on how to make these cards at all different sizes.  Check out Mary's video here.

This is a card that I made for a friend graduating soon.

This card looks complicated but it is sooo easy.  And I was able to use scraps to make it.

The front is decorated simply and the back has a blank piece of cardstock to write your sentiment.



Then once you squeeze the sides and open it up....

Here is a view looking down once it is opened all the way up.

I have a ton of ideas on what kind of cards I can make this way.  Stay tuned for more. :)

Happy Birthday card

I can't remember which how to book I found this layout in but I love it.  Pretty but simple. It's probably from the CTMH Originals book.  That is my go to book when I am stuck for a design.  The cards sketches are awesome and can be adapted to any set of papers or embellishments.  

Have a happy day everyone!

Don't forget, the CTMH special this month is for digital scrapbooking.  Take advantage of the savings and get caught up on those scrapbooks.  Studio J makes it so easy to import photos and design a layout.  The 2 page layout is only $5 this month.  Check it out today.

Simple birthday card and digital scrapbooking special

Here is a simple card that can be used for anyone.  I love this paper pack but it's an old one.  Brown and pink or blue are awesome combinations.

If you are interested in digital scrapbooking or just catching up on your photos, Close To My Heart is having a special for the month of March just for you.  (and me!)  2 page printed layouts in their Studio J software is just $5.  You can access Studio J from my website.  Create an account, upload photos, and create layouts.  It's very easy and quick to design.  I have gotten overwhelmed with the amount of photos that I have of my kids.  Even though I love working with paper, I am going to do some digital pages to help get caught up.  You can start creating the layouts now and order the prints on March 1st.

Simple Birthday Card

Have a lot of scraps and don't know what to do with them?  This is such an easy card to make.  I had a lot of small scraps left and didn't want to toss them.  So I came up with this happy Birthday card.  You could embellish it to jazz it up more or leave it plain.  I was in a hurry so I didn't have time to find matching embellishments in my stash.  This layout is also great for a masculine card.  I always have trouble with masculine cards but this would make it easy.

Kid Valentines

My daughter needed Valentines for her preschool class and what kind of a crafting mom would I be if I went out and bought them at the store?  So we made them together!  Although she probably would have loved the Doc McStuffin's ones that I saw.  But there will be other Valentine's parties.

So this year I came up with this simple design.  I cut card stock and embossed it with the heart designs. She did help for a few but lost interest in this real fast.  I cut out the shapes on the cricut and she stamped the images.  Which is why most of them aren't lined up.  But that's what mades it homemade by a 4 year old!  She even glued some of the sentiments upside down.

She needed 16 for school plus a couple for cousins so we only did a few each day.  This kept it interesting for her.  Also, she started out doing a whole step like put the adhesive on the cut out and put it on the card.  But after a few, I added the adhesive to keep her interested.

The heart stamp is an old Stamp of the month stamp and is no longer available.  However, the Happy Valentine's Day stamp came from Holiday Tags and is available and coordinates with the Artiste cartridge.  It's my go to stamp set lately.

Holiday Tags