Pregnancy Journal Scrapbook :: In Progress

The moment I got pregnant, I started imagining this amazing pregnancy journal scrapbook.

This is just the beginning. It's been a great place to make a spot for each ultrasound picture. (My doctor's office is cool and I get an ultrasound with every visit!) Then I can journal about different details of the pregnancy that I don't want to forget. I'm already a little behind. I blame that on getting baby's room ready. The craft room has become a complete sty since we're temporarily storing things in there that need to be organized and moved.

I originally thought I was going to do a mini Project Life album. I've been following Laura Rahel for a little while, and she's got me a tiny bit excited about Project Life. It all seems so simple to do. However, I have so much craft stuff already that I refuse to add more to it at this point. I just got the Project Life album cover and the Project Life journaling cards. I'm hoping to do a purge/reorganization project soon in the craft room. We'll see if and when that happens.

Here is the album cover I chose. We had already picked the teal color for baby's room, so I continued that theme with the scrapbook.

Then I raided my paper stash for all of my favorite girly papers. Does anyone else save certain paper for some amazing project you have planned? Well, I do. That's probably why I'm a paper-hoarder. This was the time to bust out that beautiful paper! And I think I'll also make a goal to just use the paper I want to use, instead of saving it for years. ;)

Here is just one little spread in the book so far. I'm planning to print out all the progress pictures I've been posting on the blog, plus some that I haven't posted, and include them in the book where they belong chronologically. So far I'm loving that the papers aren't all exactly the same and that there are hidden treasures throughout the pages.

There ya have it! My pregnancy journal scrapbook thus far. I'm loving creating it. I think about it much more than I probably should. I can't wait to show you the finished product!

Do you have any suggestions for remembering details of pregnancy or when you had little children?

DIY Paper Autumn Crafts

Earlier this month I showed you my super easy and simple autumn mantel for the coming fall season. Hopefully it gave you a little bit of fall crafting inspiration that you can do yourself on the cheap. In fact, it was so cheap it was FREE!! I love when that happens.

Now I'm going to share the whole process for the crafts I made for the mantel. If you saw my DIY paper Christmas trees from last year's Christmas (super great quality pictures, you're welcome) then you'll see the process for the pumpkins is very similar exactly the same. That's why I didn't include any progress pictures for them. Just kidding. It's because I forgot to take any pictures. You're welcome, again.

In a nutshell, I picked out autumn-y paper from my scrap stash. Then I made a stencil out of one of the cardstock papers of a pumpkin shape. I would imagine just using a circle could work as well. I just thought the butterfly-type shape would sit more straight.

After cutting a million pieces of paper, I folded them in half, used some tape and taped the pieces together. I tried to line up the sides as much as I could, but I just had to trim some of the edges to make them look even.

Then I remembered that pumpkins have stems. I grabbed my twine, opened up one of the sides of each pumpkin, and made loops with the twine. Glue those in, hold them together for a bit. Then you're good to go. I think it would have been cute to add some vines or something with ribbons, but I wasn't that ambitious in the moment. Maybe I'll add them later on a day when I'm feeling particularly crafty again.

Now, on to the little leaf art thingy I made. I'm really not sure what this is called. Again, cut out strips of my autumn-y paper. Sketched and cut out the shape of a leaf. I wanted to do a maple leaf, but I knew my drawing skills weren't that advanced. I figured I'd stick with the tear drop shape.

Then I put that cut-out on top of the glued-down strips, and glued that down. I trimmed the whole thing a little bit because it was originally 12 by 12 paper. But I thought there was too much white space on the sides.

After trimming, I remembered I had some fun fall stickers and embellishments. I added those and here we are!

I love my pumpkins. They gave my living room just the right amount of autumn coziness. Even though it's been in the 80s and 90s this week. Boo. I hear this weekend is supposed to have more of a fall feeling weather-wise. Hooray!

What cool crafts have you been making? Or have you been decorating for fall? It's all so exciting and I can't wait to do some more in the coming weeks!

Autumn Mantel 2014

YAY! It's getting chillier outside, so I can finally justify starting some autumn crafting! And in just a week or two, I'll start some Harry Potter Halloween crafting! Anyone else as excited as I am for that?

It seems that Sunday mornings have kind of become my crafting days. And I'm fine with that at the moment. I find it relaxing and somewhat meditative. I loved this message someone shared on their facebook this morning.

Create

A message from Dieter F. Uchtdorf

from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Since I'm all kinds of excited about fall, I wanted to change up my mantel in the living room. I'm not nearly as cool as those women that change every single thing on their mantel and surrounding area for every season. One day I'll be that cool...and I'll have stuff to even do that. For now, I just change a little bit to make it feel more fall-ish in my home. It isn't a huge change, but my home feels cozier already!

As you can see, I literally only changed what is sitting on the mantel. I did take one picture off the wall so I could put that little leaf craft I made this morning in that space. I really enjoy how the bricks of the fireplace are also an orange/red (painted by someone that previously lived here), and it just matches the fall-ness so well.

Did you see the two crafts I made that are now gracing my living room? I already told you one a second ago. I'm sure you all know exactly what I'm talking about since you look at my mantel every single day, right? Oh. Ok, then I'll show you.

I love how these turned out! I really wanted to put a big bunch/pile of fake pumpkins on the mantel because I could use them all autumn long. However, we're always trying to save up for something, am I right? Right now, it's the little baby dinosaur in my belly. So I decided not to spend any money...and really I don't need to! I think these turned out great. However, I might go see what the dollar stores around here have in stock sometime soon to add to the pile. We'll see how much motivation I have later on.

I'll share how I made the pumpkins and leaf picture in a later post. (Although they weren't that hard and you could probably figure it out just by looking at them.)

What have been some of your favorite fall crafts or decor that you're going to add to your home this year?

Happy autumn crafting!

Painted Plank Wall Decor DIY

I consider this project only partially DIY. The cool thing these days is to find pallets, take them apart, and make amazing and cute things from the boards. Well, that intimidates me. So when I found this unpainted plank thing, I totally got it because I knew it would be lovely in my home. And it would be easy to paint and make awesome.

I went out to the garage and found all the paint sample jars I had purchased over the past year or two. I crossed my fingers and hoped they were still paint and not blobs of gross. After some vigorous shaking, I had four different paint colors.

I started by doing every other plank, let those dry, then did the other planks. I did tape off the planks I wasn't painting just because I didn't want the hassle of other colors showing through. This was the easy part. I thought it would be difficult because I had to do some paint color mixing to get the shades light enough to match what I wanted.

I'll have you know that, no, I did not mean to have that streak of lighter color on that second plank down. But if you saw this in person, you'd see that a couple other planks are kind of streaky because of the mixing of colors. I didn't mix well, and I didn't wash my brush between a few colors because I was hoping it would become a teensy bit streaky. In my experience, I like things best when I just go with the flow instead of trying to plan out every tiny detail. Plus, that turns out to be a lot more work.

The next part was the difficult part. I wanted a word on this, something different than "home" or "love." I enjoy things that say that, but I have other objects like that in my home already. Plus, if I'm making this myself, I might as well make it personalized to us. After making a list of nearly 20 words/phrases, I decided to go with something a little bit silly. But it's still something I love.

As you can see, I went with "be amazing." I was having a real dilemma choosing between "be happy", "be brave", or "be amazing." And then I was having a dilemma about whether this would sound like it was an order instead of something inspirational. I'm hoping people see it as uplifting. I guess I'm in my house most of the time, and I get to decide. I mean, I live here, right?

The writing is not even close to being beautiful and perfect, and I don't care much. As it hangs there, I might do some touch ups if something keeps bugging me over and over. But sometimes the most imperfect things in my home are my favorite.

I love how it's pretty understated. My walls are a light gray color, and the colors in the living room are shades of gray and blue and brown. I already have other things that are extra colorful that stand out. So I just wanted this to fill that spot by my stairs with something sweet. I think it turned out perfect!

Hooray for nesting! Am I right? If it hadn't been for my sudden urge to want to craft something while Steve was out with the scouts, I don't think this project would've been finished for many moons. Let's be honest, I originally bought that plank thing last summer. He he.

Did I mention that baby's room is getting the last coat of paint this weekend? Then I get to share our progress and ideas for the fun stuff with you!


I linked up this project over at DIY Show Off. This is the link to That DIY Party. I'm still never sure I did the link correctly. Hopefully it all works for you! But please check out the other cool things people made over there.

Here comes the bride...

Ok, so not really a bride. I just made a set of bunnies that are a bride and groom. Ever since I have made these cute spring bunnies, I have envisioned a bride and groom set. Because ... marriage + bunnies? How much more adorable can you get?? Not much, friends.

Here is my little bunny that is quite gentlemanly. With his top hat rolled up and between his ears he looks like he should be on an old BBC show or something. So cute. Maybe I should add a little mustache...?

Here my is my little bride/fancy princess-looking bunny. And this gave me the idea to do princess bunnies. Good idea, right?!

And here is the happy bunny couple! I have a friend getting married this year that likes bunnies. So I told her I'd make a set for her and she can see how she likes them. We thought they'd be cute centerpieces or cake toppers.

These will definitely be appearing in my store. I've set a date on my calendar to shoot for as far as opening my store. My sister and I will both be selling items. More info on that soon!

Baby Dragon Amigurumi

Well it's not a Motivation Monday. But it kind of is because seeing my cute little finished crocheted friends motivates me to make more. :)

Here is a little dragon. The free pattern is found at All About Ami. She also created the pattern for the Spring Bunny I have been in love with making in the last couple of weeks. And he's just TOO CUTE.

I know people are going to ask - this little guy will not be in my upcoming shop. So he will be made for gifts for friends and family. This particular one is going to my friend who will be having a surgery soon. He's going to be her hospital/get well buddy.

Happy Monday!

Spring Bunny

You guys!!!! Look at the cutest thing I've ever made! Ok, I guess I'm biased because everything I make is considered the cutest thing I've ever made. Especially right after I make it for the first time.

This is a Spring Bunny from the free pattern over at All About Ami. The stuff she creates is always so cute and so small!

Here is my regular photo - so you can see that it's light blue.

 

And here is my instagram version - just because.

I see many of these being made in my near future - for new babies, for spring decor, and many other possibilities! I'm even envisioning a bride & groom version. Cute, right?!

Minion Valentine's Box

My friend asked me to make her child's Valentine's box for his class party. Of course I said YES! And I made a minion.

I was giggling with glee the whole time I was making this. Just too funny! And yes, I copied some pictures from Pinterest just to make sure I got the sizing correct.

The 12 Dates of 2014

I just realized (again) that I haven't shared our new 12 Dates of 2014 tradition!! Duh! I shared the date from January, but not the book I made.

So, now presenting: The 12 Dates of 2014!!

This year I went with a much simpler layout. This was for a couple reasons. 1) Last year I made cute little ticket invitations for each date, and I probably only used them to "invite" Steve to the fun date once. So I got rid of those. 2) I procrastinated a little bit. ;D

Also, this year I made all the dates free. We are saving up all the money we can for upcoming family trips, choir trips, new windows (and many other home projects), and to actually have a savings if/when it is needed. Because the dates are free, some of them are pretty cheesy. Oh well! We're saving money, right?! I used or adapted a lot of ideas from thedatingdivas.com again this year.

I'm hoping to remember to keep sharing our fun and free date nights with you!! I'll share each date later on. But if you need ideas, thedatingdivas.com have a million ideas! Go check out their extensive list and variety!

Crafty Cards

Because of the better organization in my craft room, I have been able to see all my things to make things! So I got to work making some more cards today (along with cleaning and shoveling snow). I like making cards to have on hand for events and for friends.

Making these cards has been a great way to use up scraps. I still have entirely too many scrap pieces of papers, so I need to get to work getting rid of those.

Happy crafting!

Printer's Tray

After a good 1 hour and 45 minutes of organizing and cleaning the craft room when I got home from work today, I decided to give myself a break and actually do some crafting. I deserve it, right? Right.

I have had this little printer's tray for quite some time. My mom gave it to me one day after she had cleaned out her craft space and thought I might enjoy making it cute. That was like a few years ago. It sat empty and blank for a long time. I had no idea what to do with it because I didn't know it was a "thing" to decorate these and stuff. I finally cut squares of paper and put them in there. That was probably a year ago.

Today was the day to start cute-ifying it! And it was just what I needed! I wanted to do something cute and quick. Something I didn't care a great deal about. This was perfect and it was just sitting on my desk waiting for me to start.

It's really cute. I might add to it a little here and there as the inspiration hits me. But it's good for now. I guess it'll just sit on my little cabinet looking cute for a while. Or maybe I'll hang it somewhere in the craft room. We'll see what happens when I finish cleaning out and organizing the craft room.

I'm really excited to finish up that organization project because I have a fun (and very cheap) idea for some decor. I'm hoping it will work out. Update on that soon!

Valentine's Crafts

I had so much fun crafting with some friends last night. We did some fun Valentine's things and some other just plain cute things. And it was fun to do with friends!

Here is some of what we made:

Paper Heart Wreath

Cards

Giant Clothespin Recipe Holder/Picture Holder

Do you like our Coca Cola/salt & pepper shaker collection?? We love it too!

Doing those cute little crafts inspired me to make a one more Valentine's craft this morning! I've loved using these candles to make some cute and temporary decorations for holidays.

And then I couldn't find if I had shared this craft I did for last year's Valentine's craft. I looove it!

DIY Paper Christmas Trees

Here is this year's first Christmas DIY project! Woohoo!!

I made these right after Thanksgiving, so I'm not sure why it took so long for me to post this.

And this is a post where you really get to witness my skills at NOT being a photographer. You are welcome.

To get started I gathered a bunch of paper. Some paper was Christmas-y, some was only somewhat Christmas-y. But putting some papers together makes it all look Christmas-y.

I made a template on Microsoft Word of a Christmas tree. It probably wasn't perfectly symmetrical, but I was just hoping for it to work out.

I traced and cut out a ton of little trees. Then I put the trees into groups of 4. I'm sure this could work in groups of 3 or even more than 4. I tried to make each grouping have something like 2 mostly-green and 2 mostly-red trees. And I didn't plan it that way, but I actually had the perfect amount. I'm obviously a genius.

I folded each tree in half. Then I got the little scrapbooking sticky square things and used those to stick the trees together. I just lined up the folds because I knew the outsides probably weren't symmetrical.

I moved some of my mantel pictures and put all the trees on my mantel around my stocking hangers. It was like a cute little colorful forest. And it was free! Can't beat that!

Again, my phone does random, cool things to my pictures.

That is our family Christmas card this year. Love us. I have the coolest family. Not exaggerating.

I love these little trees!!! This craft was so easy and I really enjoyed how they turned out. I'm excited to be able to use them year after year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thought I'd show you how colorful our Thankful Tree got. And show you a close up of some of the things we are thankful for.

I realized that a lot of the things are kind of silly. But I'm thankful for them nonetheless.

I think we'll keep this tree up for a while longer. Even though it won't match the oncoming Christmas decor, I don't care. The Christmas season still makes me feel so thankful.

I hope you have a fantastic, love-filled Thanksgiving! 

Thankful Banner

YAY! I finally got the time to make another Turkey Day/autumn craft!!

Well I've seen a bunch of different kinds of Thanksgiving banners on Pinterest lately. Banners are kind of the cool thing to do right now. I would show you some of my favorites, but I'm too lazy. Just find me on Pinterest. ;)

Since it's Friday, I finally got to workin' on my own Thankful Banner. I had a few different styles in mind, but I finally chose this one. It worked best for the supplies I already had on hand. So there ya go.

I had the big letter stencils and I traced them onto paper. The white paper actually has some small leaves and twigs on it. Then I got a bunch of different brown/dark red/green papers from my collection of scraps. Traced, measured, cut, measured, cut, traced, cut, punch holes, string with yarn. TA-DA!!

I was worried that the letters would be too big and that the banner would turn out entirely too large for the area. But after putting it up, it actually worked out great for the spot I put it in. I love when things work out better than expected.

It was super-duper easy, and free.  WIN!

Then I decided to decorate my two candles that I used for my Harry Potter Halloween. I had also seen similar (cuter) ideas on Pinterest. I just cut out leaves again like I did for my Thankful Tree. Then wrapped some paper around the candle and tied the leaf on with twine. BAM. Easy and free again. I'm not really sure where these are going yet.

My Thankful Banner is definitely quirky because it has a bunch of different paper patterns. But I actually think I like it that way. As I've been decorating the house little by little, I've realized that my decorating style is simply that: quirky. So I'm running with it and really enjoying it! As long as we like it, that's all that matters, right?

Have fun decorating for the holidays in your own style!