Let The Countdown Begin...

I have come across lots of fun advent calendars made with cookie sheets. I have saved them in my favorites file and hoped to make on someday. A friend posted a picture of one and it got me motivated to throw one together. The great thing about this...I had all the supplies and had to buy nothing!! I used magnet sheets cut into 2x2 squares...covered them with scrapbook paper and embellishments and then typed up the numbers on the computer and printed them on white card stock. So simple!! I am going to have Mr. Bizzy Bee drill holes in the top so I can hang it. So excited to start this fun advent!

Yee-Haw

Bakerella, one of my fav places to visit,
had a recipe for Cowboy Cookies.

I was in the middle of planning our

MOPS craft night when I found these.

I knew they would be perfect for our

moms to make for themselves or

to give as gifts.

Layer all the ingredients and tie it

up with a piece of material and string.

There you have it...it is that simple!

There are three extra ingredients you will have to

add when you make these..
one egg, butter and vanilla
It will look like this when it is all mixed up

YUMMY!!

Not only do these look good in the jar
but they are soooo good!!!
I cannot wait to make more of these
with my kiddos. Great gifts for the teachers,
neighbors....

Cute!

I am loving these messy flower headbands.
So easy and quick to make.
I am thinking tomorrow I will be making a
Halloween and Christmas one.

Boo!

Not Crafty...

...but I guess there is no more debating over who

the remote belongs to now.
My husband staked his claim.

My To Do List...

...is getting longer and longer. My days are getting shorter and shorter! Sorry for the lack of posts. Here are some fun and cute ideas until I can pull myself together! Hugs!

*Self Fringe Pillow

from la*T*da

Then check out this from la*T*da

and this pumpkin pillow tutorial...

yes, I am lovin' this blog!

*Pumpkin Pie Bites from Bakerella

*FUN Topiary from Polka Dot Birthday Party.

This would be so cute do make for

each holiday or season and use it

as a centerpiece on your dining room table

or decoration for your mantle!

*BOO Sanitizer from

Just a Girl

*CUTE Pumpkin Rice Krispy Treats

from Thinking Inking

Have fun...see you soon (I hope!)

Sweet!

Here is another fun MOPS craft. Our theme for the year is "The Sweet Life" (yes fellow MOPS moms...we chose a different theme). When I saw this craft I not only thought it was CUTE but perfect to go along with our Sweet Life theme!

I found the pot holders at Ikea...one of my favorite stores! They come in a 2 pack for 99 cents. I chose a bunch of material with fun shapes and designs and lots of Heat n Bond iron on adhesive. I then had the cupcake shapes cut out by a Stampin Up! demonstrator. She used the Big Shot Die-Cut Machine. You could also cut out your own shapes by hand or use another cutting machine. Be sure to add the iron on adhesive before you cut out your shape.

Beaded Serving Spoons

I have been uber busy working on MOPS creative
activities stuff and I am trying to make a
sample of each craft that we will be doing this year.
I LOVE these and I think I will be
making some to give out as gifts.

Here is what you need:
*Serving spoon or fork...I found mine
at Wal-Mart for $1.50 each
*Wire...everything I have read
says to use 20 gauge.
In my personal craft box I have 6 types of wire...
none of which are 20 gauge.
So, I used 24 and I was happy with it.
I am going to try the 20 gauge just to
see if it is easier to use.
*Beads...check out Fire Mountain Gems
great selection and prices!
*you will also need wire cutters
and pliers.
Happy Beading!

Friendship Soup

OMGoodness...this is the yummiest soup! It makes quite a bit and would be a fun hostess gift or something for the neighbors for the holidays. Click HERE for the recipe.
Delicious!!

Much Better

My extra ribbon container went from this...

To this!!

And then to this....

Ahh...much better!

Click here for a great tutorial from

Lu Bird Baby blog!

Painting With Balloons

This is a fun activity but messy! We did our painting on the grass and even then, there was paint everywhere! My two year old liked shaking the balloon which splattered everything with paint!

Shaving Cream

...is so much fun and so easy to clean up!!

Benched

That's right...I have been benched due to injury. I am nursing a very sore pinched nerve in my shoulder. I start physical therapy Thursday and am on pain meds and muscle relaxers. Needless to say, I am not doing much of anything. Then, next week we leave for a 10 day vacation. The point of this post is to tell you not to give up on my blog :) There will probably be a lack of posts in the next few weeks but I will be back. I have ideas bursting at the seams!!

Happy Crafting!

XOXO

Want To Win This???

Ya Buggin' Me

is giving away some blog candy!!
Check it out!

Crafter in Training

Instead of sharing clothes when she gets older...
I have a feeling we will be sharing craft stuff!

I Heart Baby Showers

I love, love, love babies and everything that goes along with them! Here is a tag for a baby shower that I am going to this weekend. The nursery has a monkey theme...so cute!

Memory Game

While browsing some of my favorite blogs I came across a tutorial to make a memory game using fabric. Check out Inchmark for another tutorial. I cut a piece of 12x12 white card stock into 3x6 rectangles. You should get 8 per page which will give you four matching pairs.
Next, I scored each card at the 3" mark. If you don't have one of Martha Stewart's bone folders...get one!! You will love it!

I chose to use a wavy square punch to cut out my shapes.

Cut out two scrap fabric squares. Make sure they look
alike as far as pattern and colors.

You can use any adhesive you want. I used a glue stick and it worked well. Glue the piece of fabric onto one side of the card.

Then apply glue to the whole thing and
press the two sides together.

and...you are done!

My daughter helped me pick out the fabric squares and she came across some Christmas material. I think a set of Christmas memory cards will be on my to do list! I am also going to try one with scrapbook paper.

Simple Calendar

I found this idea on my MOPS forum board from a very crafty lady! She did something similar but used an online company for the printing and spiral binding. I LOVED her idea but needed to figure out how to make it on a smaller budget. Instead of spiral binding, I used book rings. In my sample the rings are 1". I am going to use smaller ones for MOPS so the pages are not so far apart. I printed 2010 calendars from Word Perfect and I am going to copy them on white card stock. The front and back cover will be colored card stock. The great thing about this calendar is once the month is done, you just open the book rings and remove that page. The next month is waiting underneath.


Another option...you can decorate the back of each page for the theme of the following month. As you can see in this picture, the back of January is blank. You can either remove it and have the same cover as above or decorate it and add other pictures for February. I think I just confused myself :) Hopefully you can picture what I am talking about!!

This would make a cute grandparents gift!!

Post-It

Last night was my first stamp club meeting. I learned new techniques, ordered some new stamp sets & stamp pads and we made the cutest post it note holder. It was super simple and would make cute gifts! We used plastic magnetic photo holders and stamped a piece of paper for the background. The pen has a rolled up piece of paper that is stamped with the same background stamps. Add the post-its and a binder clip and you are done!
If you are not a stamper, you could do the same project with scrapbooking paper.

Washer Size

I had a question about the size of the washers I used for the stamped jewelry. Here it is next to a quarter. Hope that helps!

Card Swap

I joined a stamp club that my Stampin Up consultant is putting together. I am very excited to learn some new stamping techniques, be part of a card swap, take part in some adult conversation, and spend some money! Here is my first card for the swap.

Idea from Split Coast Stampers

Halloween in July

I am trying to think ahead and do a few holiday projects. I always save them for that month and then run out of time to do them. Halloween is just around the corner (kind of) and I have heard that some stores already have Halloween decorations out (what?!?!). I also am trying to use up 95 craft coasters :) I really had fun making this BOO sign. I keep looking at it thinking it needs something more but I am not sure what. Maybe you crafty ladies can give me your opinion. Mr Bizzy Bee said the manly thing "It's nice" What does that mean?? *Sigh* However if he had answered "I really think it could use some embellishments and maybe distress it a little more" things would really be awkward :)

I used my Cricut machine to cut out the letters. I set it at 3" and it fits well on the 4" coasters. The wire is floral wire ~ 22 gauge and I used a wooden skewer to twist and turn it. In one of my drawers I had this little stapler that came with colored staples...I think I bought it a few years ago. I pulled it out and used it on the ribbon. Amazing what you find when you clean!

~Happy Crafting~

Crafting With Coasters

A while back I came across some really cute crafts made from coasters. So, every restaurant we went to I was saving coasters and asking the waiter for more. Then I found out you could buy new ones made for crafting. Of course....they seem to have everything for crafting :) I found a seller on EBay and bought a bulk of them and there they sat...in a box. I finally pulled them out and made something. It was pretty easy to make and you could use it for so much!

I made a pencil, pen, other stuff holder.
Here is what you need:
5 coasters

scrapbook paper

adhesive

hole punch

ribbon

Measure coaster and cut 4 squares from
the scrapbook paper. If you have a
corner rounder, round the edges.
If not, you can cut the corners
once the paper is glued on the coaster.

This step I will do different next time.
I should have glued the paper to the coaster and then punched the holes. It would have made it much easier to line everything up.
I measured and marked at the 1" and 3" point and then punched holes on 3 of the sides. On the bottom coaster I punched holes in all 4 sides.

Attach paper to coasters. I used photo sticker squares on the first one and then switched to a spray adhesive. Once you have all 4 coasters covered you can start tying them to the bottom coaster. Don't tie the sides yet...that will be the last thing you do.

It should look like this. Now you can tie up the sides.

I am going to use this one
on my craft desk to hold "things"

I found these cute little
calendars at Stamp On This.

I stuck some post-its on the back

Had I known crafting with coasters was so easy...I would have started a long time ago :) I am going to make my mother-in-law one for her desk at work with the calendar and pictures of the grand kids on it. These would also make really cute teacher gifts, gift boxes, photo cubes (use a 6th coaster to close the top). More to come!

New Blog...Cute Idea...And A Giveaway!

How cute is this?!?!?I recently found a new blog and am loving it! This candy bucket is definitely on my to-do-list and since we are a sweet tooth family...saving wrappers should not be a problem! The best news is...she is giving one away!!
So pop on over to [Re]Beautify and check it out!

I Heart Ikea & Great Tutorials!

Ikea is one of my favorite stores!
It also happens to be my husbands
least favorite store.
I cannot leave that place without a basket full of stuff. Usually things that I have no idea what to do with but need to have. Ashlee over at Pretty Partridge found a simple wood 9 drawer chest from Ikea and posted a GREAT tutorial on how to give it a crafty, shabby, chic look!