Happy Halloween!

Hello all.  I hope everyone had a great Halloween.  We just survived Hurricane Sandy.  We were very lucky here in central MD to not get much (we had worse back in July with the Derocho storm).  We actually did not lose power which is amazing for us, we usually lose it for 4 days at a time.  I think we were better prepared this time.  Unfortunately, folks to the east and north were not so lucky.  We are praying for a quick recover for them all.

This year for Halloween I made two crafts (I still need to do something for my 3 year olds preschool class but have until next week :)).  First, I made cute little bats with a fun size Hershey bar in them for my 4 year olds pre-k class because she dressed as a bat :)  I used the Artiste cartridge for the bat, a circle punch for the face and some papers I had left over from last year.  For the face, I used a Peachy Keen set called Monster Mash (I combined a mouth and eyes from different stamps in the set because I did not want my bat to look mean:)  I had my daughter write her name on the inside and I used a ribbon that can easily be slid off to keep them closed.

Here are my bats and my cute little bat (I hand cut her mask because we could not find a bat costume):

 

For my boys (9 and 11) I used this post from My Creative Time for inspiration and did some cute little cuts from Art Philosophy (I could cut 9 at a time versus using a die to cut one at a time) and put some pixie sticks through added a cute little Halloween sentiment from My Creative Times All Around Halloween set.

Here are those cute treats:

 

Lastly, for Halloween I made some costumers or parts of costumes.  For my 3 year old she wanted to be a bat and I am not a sewer so I decided to do hers out of paper.  I used the Art Philosophy for the tear drops which I then turned upside down.  I used Create a Critter for the owl which I had cut down to make into a mask and added some circles and small feathers and an elastic band to make into a mask.  She loved it and luckily it survived.  Of course she has to wear it next week to preschool because her class Halloween event was cancelled this week due to the Hurricane so I hope it makes it until then!  I also made my 9 year old sons Jayson Werth beard using a picture, some cardstock and some elastic.   Here is a picture of the two cuties:

My oldest wanted to go as the Sun Drop guy (have you seen those soda commercials, he walks around dancing which cracks my son up).  All I had to do for him was make an iron on since we did not have a Sun Drop t-shirt.  It worked ok but I did not have the iron on for dark colored shirts so it is not that visible via picture.  Here is my handsome guy:

WOW! That was a lot in a few days of work!  I guess now it is onto Thanksgiving and Christmas!  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a crafty day.

PS:  I am linking up over at Sarah Hamer Designs, stop by and link up too!  http://www.pinkcricut.com/2012/10/link-tuesday-25/

End of the Year Teacher Gifts from my Preschooler

Wow, has it been a long time!  Things have been very busy around my way and I just have not had time to craft.  They have also been tough.  We found out last week that my husband has Colon Cancer, which has spread to his abdomen and liver (he is only 37, can you believe it).  We are gearing up for the fight of our lives but I know in my heart he can and WILL beat it.  We have so many people praying for us that I know it is impossible for him not to make it through.  He started chemo this week and has had so many appointments so I decided to get my craft supplies together so I am able to craft while I wait (crafting while waiting is what I call it).  I am working use one of those One Sheet Wonder (OSW) templates to make some thank you cards to have them on hand since people are being SO generous with gifts and food to try to make things easier for us (we are so blessed with such caring friend and family).

Although this is all going on I did not want to neglect my daughters teachers and her last day of preschool was today.  I bought some cute little summery tote bags at Target in the $1 section and filled them with a beach towel, a water sprayer, some sunglasses, word find and soduku books, a pen and a pencil.  I used a card from the OSW set I am making to write a note for each teacher to put in their bag also and then I made a cute little tag for the bag.  I find a similar tag online for the inspiration but I changed the words a little.  I wish I could remember where to share but that was months ago.  If I find it I will post the link.  Anyway, here are the final products.  I hope the teachers enjoy them this summer!

 


I used my Pink by Design Our Teachers set to do the Thank you teacher stamp and then used an old creative memories punch to punch out the star.  It worked perfectly!  The I love school paper was from a cute 81/2 X 11 paper pack I got at Michaels a couple of weeks ago on sale.  It has school buses, apples and a chalkboard with letters type paper in it.  I plan to do some with the apples to have on hand or give to the teachers as gift set too.  The one sheet wonders are amazing.  

I also included my baby on her last day of school (not really my baby because I have an almost 3 year old but they are all my babies :)

Well, I will be back (soon?) with some pictures of my baby girl Mady's 3rd birthday invitations (Mickey Mouse) and I will need to do the other teachers for my boys in June so hopefully I will be back sooner than later.

If you don't mind, say a prayer or two for my husband.  We could use all we can get these days :)

Thanks and have a crafty day.

PS:  I am linking up to Sarah Hamer Designs, so stop by and link up too!  http://www.pinkcricut.com/2012/05/link-tuesday-7/

Disney Autograph Book

Hello.  As you may remember last year I made two autograph books for my girls for our Disney trip (here is that post).  This year my niece is going for her first time (she is 7) so my mom asked me to make her one.  I used my Cinch for the first time to make the holes but I decided to use ribbon to "bind" it together.  I just used some pink and purple paper to cover some cardboard to make the cover and I used some stickers my old Creative Memories stash.  I used the Mickey Font cartridge for her name and the authograph (I welded it in Cricut Craft Room) and I used Art Philosophy for the inside cover nameplate.

Sorry the lighting is bad in the pics, I need a new light in the craftroom/office.  I hope she likes it and gets it filled with lots of authographs!

Thanks for stopping by, have a craft day!

PS: I will linking this up over at Sarah Hamer Designs for the Tuesday link up party so stop by!  It is here http://www.pinkcricut.com/2012/04/link-tuesday-3/

Valentine Treats for the Kids Classmates and Teachers

I think I went back and forth on what to make for the kids classmates and teachers for that matter a 100 time.  I find way TOO many ideas on Pinterest that I always want to try.  Then of course February 13th comes and I have nothing made yet, LOL.  So here is what we ended up with.

For the boys their classmates go a hug and a kiss (or two or three)

I just printed the sentiment on my computer, cut it out and rounded the edges.  I did the same with the red paper. I then tied the bag closed with some ribbon and the tag (the boys signed their names on their tags for theirs, this was an extra).  I came up with this idea after seeing a squeeze and a kiss on Pinterest.  I remember these little hugs juice barrels from when I was a kid and thought they would be perfect :)  Whats a little more sugar on Valentines day, right!

My daughter took some goldfish crackers:

I had seen a few versions of this on Pinterest and knew I wanted to try it.  I used Art Philosophy for the bag toppers (scored them in the middle), I bought the bags with hearts on them at the party store, I printed the sentiments on the computer and just used my Creative Memories circle punch (1.5 inches) and my Fiskars scalloped circle punch (2 inches).  She also wrote her name on the back of the bag topper but I did not get a picture of that :(

For the teachers I just did this cute idea I saw on Pinterest and that I wanted to do for my boys but my husband was not too keen on the idea of sending glass bottle so I did three 6 packs and put them in the teachers lounge at my boys school, plus made specific ones for their teachers and then I made 3 for my daughter to give to her two preschool teachers and the secretary there.

The hardest part was finding the strawberry Crush which I have to thank my friend Steph for letting me know they were at Walmart and my mom for picking me up so many that I had left overs, LOL.

The teachers loved the sodas and the kids loved the Valentine goodies.  This is probably the last year I will do these for my oldest (I will still do for his teachers) so that was bitter sweet but at least next year I will have my other daughter to make for also since she will be in preschool :)

Thanks for stopping by, have a crafty day!

School Birthday Goodie Bags

So 1 out of 2 is not bad right?  I did stay up late making goodie bags.  I really did not do much other than put the goodies Ally picked out into a bag and make some easy tags.  Since it was late I did not want to use my Cricut because it can be loud, my house is small and my girls room is above my craft room.  A few times I have used it late and one of my daughters will come down and ask me what I am doing so I know the sound carries up there, LOL.

Here is the tag:

I used my Creative Memories tag punch and circle punch and my Fiscars scalloped circle punch.  For the sentiments I used My Creative Time's All Around Birthday set.  Then (because I made girl and boy bags) I wrote each childs name on the tag and on the back I wrote From Ally.  It worked perfectly and Ally was SO excited to take them to school today.  I did not get to make any cupcakes or cake balls but we went to the store and bought some pink iced mini cupcakes which made her morning!

My older/little girls birthday invitations

Last week while frantically getting ready for Christmas I realized I needed to also make my daughters birthday invitations (her birthday is January 7 and since it actually falls on a weekend we could actually do her party on her birthday which means only one birthday celebration...when it does not fall on a weekend we usually do 2, a small one on their bday with just us and then a little party on the weekend).  I had found the idea online (I think my friend Stephannie found it and sent it to me) at http://www.supermommoments.com/2011/01/tangled-birthday-party-invitation/ a while back and knew I had to make them and had even (luckily) picked up the yarn/string already.

Here it is (the flowers are not "really" on there, they are just blocking our personal information :):

I did the details in a Word document and had some purple paper on hand so I easily printed (did a test first and needed to change the margins some so I could get 4 on a page to save paper) the invitations and punched them with my Creative Memories fancy square and fancy edge punch. The hardest part was the brading of the string.  I did long strands of 12 and then tied two purple ribbons in the middle and cut it so I could get two braids out of each one.  It worked out great.  Ally LOVED her invitations.  I got them mailed before Christmas too...maybe that was my Christmas miracle, LOL.  Now I have to get to work on the party decor.  I know I will be doing a tower cake (found an EASY one online) and a banner and maybe some other small things...we will see what time allows.  I will post those as they get done!

Thanks for stopping by, have a CRAFTY day!

Day 24-Christmas Crafting Fun with Cooking with Cricut

Welcome to Day 24 of the 25 Days of Christmas Crafting Showcase.  Today we are focusing on Three Wise Men, Little Drummer Boy, Shepherd, sheep, manger scene w animals, etc.  Make sure you stop by Cooking with Cricut to check out all of the designers wonderful projects today and each day during our showcase!  


I made some gift tags for my boys gifts using the two free digi prints, the Shepherd and drummer boy.

I thought this would be a cute and easy way to personalize their tags.  Now I just need to make sure I have enough for their gifts!

Don't forget to go back to Cooking with Cricut to see all of the great freebies and ideas shared by the other designers.  You can also enter to win some great prizes!  (Make sure you read the requirements for the giveaways completely).

Thanks for stopping by and have a craft day!

Christmas M&M Sticks

Hello everyone!  WOW, this month, this week, has been SO busy.  I have had many late nights finishing up items for the kids and teachers.  Today I wanted to share M&M sticks I made for my 3 year olds preschool classmates (and teachers, although I also made them something else I will post another day :)).  I had ordered a bunch of different sized bags a couple of months ago when a friend of mine let me jump in on her order.  These bags are long and narrow and are self adhesive!  Very simply. 

Here they are:

I used the holiday M&M's and alternated red and green into the bag.  I then used Create a Critter for my Rudolph and gave him a cute blingy red note and some white gelly roll pen accents.  I just used a Creative Memories punch for the tag, CM circle punch for the red and green circles and a scallopped circle punch (maybe Fiscars) for the scalloped circle.  They were a big hit!  I can't wait to try this for the end of the year with skittles and put a sun on the tag! 

Thanks for stopping by, have a craft day!