Katie's Nesting Spot

Easy Entertaining: Hot Dog Bar

2012-05-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

My friend Margaret and I decided to get the families together for Memorial Day and while doing some planning she found a really fabulous Memorial Day Summer BBQ party complete with printables. Unfortunately, the printables were archived and no longer free.

I contemplated recreating printables based on the designs at Hostess {with the Mostess} until I found another awesome party on the site. The Colorful Summer Grilling Party was perfect! The party theme began with this cute covered grill welcome sign. I used one of the grills meant for table settings and a piece of the paper patterns to make the sign, along with some glittery foam stickers and ribbon both from the dollar section at Target.

To keep things easy, we went with the Hot Dog Bar idea from the original party, which was a little better suited for patriotic gatherings. I happen to prefer this newer set, so I wasn't too upset I couldn't download the other printables. Plus the Colorful Summer Grilling Party is great for all summer long! I could see reusing this theme over and over and not just for hot dogs.

Menu:

Beef and Turkey Hot Dogs

White and Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns

Hot Dog Toppings Bar

Spinach Salad with Fresh Fruit and Goat Cheese

Red, White, & Blue Fruit Cups

Fritos

Here are some more ways I incorporated the free printables into the dinner we hosted at our home on Monday.

Wrapped Water and Straw Signs: Wouldn't the lable with the little citrus slice also look super cute on lemonade bottles?

Red, White and Blue Fruit Cups - Blueberries for the Adults and Blue Jello for the Kids

Hot Dog Toppings Bar and Recipes

If I do this again, I'd use some Command Picture Hanging Hooks to lower the signs closer to the table. I just used the hooks I already had in the wall and don't like how big the gap is between display and table.

Here is a closer look at the recipes board. I recreated the recipe cards from the Memorial Day Summer BBQ to match our theme and attached to pieces of the Paper Patterns. Then I wrapped the canvas we usually have hanging in the space with wrapping paper and added some more letters and stars from the same package of alphabet stickers I used for the welcome sign.

The Grilled Hot Dog Sign was popped into an inexpensive frame from Target.

Table Signs: Used on the Toppings Bar and as a Centerpiece on the Kid's Table, both in frames from Tolsby frames from Ikea. I love these frames and use them all the time!

Our colorful meal complete with napkin rings and plastic baskets also from, you guessed it...the dollar section at Target. Those were a lucky find by Margaret, a couple days before the dinner. (And yep, that napkin ring is upside down...that's what happens when you assemble everything in a hurry!)

You can get all the printables I used at The Hostess {with the Mostess} Thank you to talented team at that site for sharing their ideas, talents, and printables so we could throw such a colorful party!

Colorful Summer Grilling Party

Colorful Summer Printables

I'll be back on Friday, after A Crafty Soiree tomorrow, to share Part 2 of our dinner party...here's a hint it continues our theme of building your dish but in a sweet way!

Project Life Week 20

2012-05-29T15:30:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day kicked off Week 20 and takes up the first half of my spread. Here is the entire week, minus the insert that I customized for holding a couple of Mother's Day cards. More on that later :)

We had both sides of the family over on Sunday for a barbeque and family pictures took up all of this side. The title card is Doodlebug Design Inc with some foam thickers from American Crafts. Love card is one of Bazzil Basic's Avalon Lickety Slip Journaling Cards.

The rest of the week is on the otherside. There's a picture of my sorority sister Jill from dinner on Tuesday, ER home sick :( with the stomach flu, and LB fast asleep in his high chair after eating. I saw Jill again on Friday for crop night at Archiver's but didnt' bring my camera, since I had too much other stuff to lug over there. The name tag happened to fit perfectly into one of the journaling slots. In the last space I put pictures of my sticker and paper neatly organized. Now it's so much easier to find what I need!

Here is the week with the insert added. It holds the cards I got from both of my guys, Brad and LB. Brad didn't take ER to buy a card for me, because she made one at school and wanted to draw lots of pictures for me instead. She gave it to me the day before, so it's part of last week's Project Life spread.

To make a space to keep the cards I put in the one from Brad and then stitched across to hold it in place. Then I measured the card from LB and eye balled how much extra space I had left. I used a paper scrap and chipboard letters to make a title to fit that fit the space, inserted, and then stitched it in place. Then I just added the second card on top. This type of page protector happens to have a little flap you can fold over at the top to help secure the contents within.

Before slipping in the cards, I cut them in half and used sticky tape to attach them backside to backside. Now you can see the front and inside message without removing. Cutting them in half helps them lay better.

Even though I shouldn't need to take out the cards again, because you can read them inside of the insert, I used my paper trimmer to cut open the side. Now you can pull them in and out. I tend to be a card horder, so it's great to have some place to put them for safe keeping and I love that Project Life helps me hold on to them along with the photos for the event.

Linking Up with The Mom Creative.

A Crafty Soiree #91

2012-05-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

My features are all over the place this week, lots of projects caught my eye! You are all so amazing! It's so much fun going around and visiting you.

School's almost out, have you thought about how you'll thank your child's teacher for a great year? Love the fun pencil covered vase idea from Thrifty Crafty Girl!

There are finger puppets and then there are finger puppets!!! Dona's Five Little Monkey's set at Sewing Miles of Smiles even come with their own little tree to tease Mr. Croccodile in!

Heather Leopard's Girly Frame is a lovely way to showcase all that yummy paper goodness in your stash, she's even got a video in her post.

Hoot Design's take on a Mason Jar Planter is one of my favorite garden projects, just so cool!

I think most blog readers are printable crazy, here's a sweet summer one with a vintage free from Printabella.

Party Guidelines

1. Link up to four of your creative projects (No Etsy stores or other linky parties pretty please).

2. Add your link to the specific posts not the main URL.

3. Add a "Crafty Soiree" button to your blog or posts.

4. Please comment on the post linked up in front of you. All partygoers love meeting new friends... don't just stop there...if you see something that catches your fancy-- stop by and say hi!

5. Your hostesses would love it if you'd follow us. You can find Malia here.

Let's Party!

Project Life Week 19

2012-05-22T12:15:00.000-04:00

It's been one of those weeks. I had my spread completed, photographed, and ready to blog. Then last minute I decided to rework and reorganize 75% of it. Why oh why must I complicate things for myself? Anyway, I am much happier with it now. It must have been worth it.

Left Side:

Super fun and delightful title card using one of my favorite new papers from Doodlebug, my all time favorite scrapbook company. You can see the reverse side of it in last week's PL, it's the yellow floral. The little purple text box came from a cut apart sheet. Even the sweet little alpha is by them...all picked up on a recent splurge at Archivers...I ♥ Archivers :)

What I love about Project Life as opposed to a 365 photo album is how you fill up your pockets by the week, skipping a day or two if you want. That is the real reason PL is soooo working for me this year. Most of this half is taken up with Sunday and some sweet pictures of a lazy day around the house.

LB's 9 month well baby appointment was on Tuesday and I fully intended to take a picture of him with the doctor. I even packed my camera, it's just the memory card I forgot. Oops. I like recording his growth stats in PL so a bit of journaling on a Simple Stories card, stamping, and punched stars - one for each month, make up for the lack of photo.

Speaking of missing photos, the empty spot is for a picture of the iron on tote bags we worked on that week. I didn't have time to run up and get the photos I developed before blogging this. I'll have to add it in a day or two. In the meantime, you can see the bags in this post.

Inserts:

Part 1 of Mother's Day was on Saturday, lunch out and some fun just the four of us. ER wanted to give me the card she made at school and gifts and not wait until the next day when the Grandmas were over. Which worked for me, or we'd have had way too many inserts. I like how they're broken up into two weeks.

The "card" was on a giant piece of folded construction paper. Luckily for me, for once ER went easy on the glue stick. I was able to peel each piece off the base and put them into inserts. It was so sweet reading how each kindergartner finished the sentence Mothers....mine said, "Cuddle with me in bed," awe ♥ {Shown in top photo}

Inside she finished a graphic organizer with all the things her Mommy does. Her pictures are labeled... putting me to bed, watering the garden, empties the dishwasher, and crafts with me. I agree with most of them, but had a laugh over the watering...watering?! Ah, I think that should be forgets to water the garden, there's a reason why every summer the plants all end up shriveled up and brown!

The last part of the card is a picture of me, can't you tell? See the black hair? Totally me ☺ Wonder what's up with my feet? Maybe she's remembering how swollen they were last summer when I was big and still pregnant, LOL!

Behind that is a fish picture from art class she is extremely proud of. It was specifically drawn for a school fund raiser for which you could order your picture printed onto various things. She was so excited she kept telling me about it for weeks before the forms actually came home. We got her an overpriced magnet and key chain, both worth it to see her face light up when they came. I also ordered a tile trivet. I collect them from the various places we've lived at. I didn't have one from MI yet and told her it will always remind me how we lived in MI when she entered school. I have to say, I do love seeing it over my stove.

If you're still with me, the last insert is of some more drawings of fish with mermaids and stars. It took her a long time to figure out how to make stars and now that she finally has, they are everywhere! In a burst of genius, I got the idea to use some Ariel rub-ons directly on the page protector. Worked great and ER loves it, since she drew Ariel and her daughter Melody on the other side of the paper. I used some Martha Stewart labels cut down to fit over less important parts of the picture, to add my thoughts on top of the protector too.

Right Side:

Quite photo heavy, I was probably feeling some guilt for missing the photo op at the doctor's office and carried it everywhere for the rest of the week. We had Daisies, which I planned and wanted to make sure I documented. Then LB started "real" finger foods, at doctor's suggestion we began with bananas and cheese. He seemed to like them but had a hard time picking up the smaller bits. Thursday we watched a neighbor before school. The kids played so nicely and must have worked up an appetite. ER ate TWO hot dogs for lunch!!! That was a shock to me, normally I'm forcing food down her throat so she's not starving all afternoon.

The entire bottom half of the page is devoted to my Mother's Day outing...hey it's my PL and if I want to, I'm gonna ☺ Love that picture with my little nuggets ♥ So cool to see the same nose on all three faces. If you don't know, I'm adopted. Until I had my own kiddos I had never seen bits and pieces of my own features reflected in anyone else. It makes my heart so happy to see glimpses of myself in them. The other photos are all of our meal at PF Changs. I'm a creature of habit. I usually end up getting the exact same meal each time we go, it was worth of commemorating. It's a delicious meal every time.

Linking up at The Mom Creative.

Sew Fierce's Ruffled Peasant Dress, Love It!

2012-05-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

My friend Steph over at Sew Fierce has done it again, made the perfect dress! We got this in the mail and ER squealed with delight. She had to put it on immediately and wear it the rest of the day, mind you...it was NOT dress weather at all. But that's how excited she was.

After the sun decided to come on back to MI we headed outside to snap a few pictures so everyone could see how super cute it is. It's an A-line and has a lovely clean classic silhouette with a funky ruffle to add some personality! I love how the ruffles flitter a bit in the breeze.

Steph's got another one listed, in different fabric but equally fabulous :) So hurry on over and pick it up before it's gone!

A Crafty Soiree #90

2012-05-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

Last week was Sew Fabulous! {I know, I can be super cheesy like that!} I just had to share some sweet little project for the littles and one to help out their mommy stay organized too. Happy linking and I'm looking forward to visiting your crafty nooks to see what you've been up to!

This lace pillowcase dress at Sew Fantastic is just darling from the big ribbon ties to the snap on fabric belt with big flower. I love the look of the dainty lace!

Bethany at Our 3 Sons Plus...1 Super Girly Girl made a beautiful twirly summer nightgown for her daughter. The muted palatte of colors gives it a lovely vintage feel.

Boy fabric is getting cuter and cuter and Heather at Sew Easy Being Green has a great way to use all those fun patterns. They are reversible so you can get double the use and the big cuff means you kiddo can grow and still fit in them. Fantastic!

Bronwyn is the Queen B and she's got a super fun gift idea to share, isn't this fabric ball just so bright and colorful? I love the idea of a fabric ball, perfect for baby's first toy.

As promised here's one for Mommy or anyone else who's alway putting their lens cap down and then having to hunt for it. Check out the great lens cap pouch tutorial at Adventures of Our Fami-ly, which is great because you can attach it to the strap you already have.

Party Guidelines

1. Link up to four of your creative projects (No Etsy stores or other linky parties pretty please).

2. Add your link to the specific posts not the main URL.

3. Add a "Crafty Soiree" button to your blog or posts.

4. Please comment on the post linked up in front of you. All partygoers love meeting new friends... don't just stop there...if you see something that catches your fancy-- stop by and say hi!

5. Your hostesses would love it if you'd follow us. You can find Malia here.

Let's Party!

PF Chang's for Mother's Day

2012-05-16T01:30:00.000-04:00

Hot & Sour Soup

Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chang's Spicy Chicken

Mongolian Beef and...

These two little faces...made it a good Mother's Day indeed :)

I hope you were feted this Mother's Day! Because no mom should have cook for Mother's Day, Brad took us all out for a delicious meal at PF Changs, one of my favorite restaurants. We always get the Chang's for Two meal for us and fried rice for ER. Everything was so yummy! I wish we lived near enough to eat there everyday!

What did you do with your family?

Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Go Graham Go, Mom Spotted, Mama to 4 Blessings, Five Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday at Seven Clown Circus.

Project Life Week 18

2012-05-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

I have always loved the look of the big 6X12 photo enlargements Jessica shares in her Project Life and finally tried it with one of LB's 9 month photos. Love it! By happy accident, the colors I picked to use on the photo even match the month divider. Isn't it nice when things just work out?

For the longest time I just could not figure out how I was going to make Design E work at the beginning of the week. I finally resorted to a quick page for the weekly title "card". The two photo spots were already there but there was a lot of planned "white" space in the original design. I filled those in with a journaling spot element and like the end result a lot more than I did initially. The 6X6 digital pages for the start of the week, look great but add a lot of time to the assembly process. I think next time I will try using this type of page protector with traditional paper supplies for a completely different look.

I had two 6X12 inserts this week. On the page protector I sewed to customize, with the 9 month photo shown at top, is a bulleted list of all the things our busy boy is doing. I got a lot of the developmental ideas from a questionaire at his well baby doctor check up and it was interesting to see all the things they are looking for the babies to be doing already.

The other insert is made out of one of my kit page protectors, the ones I use a majority of the time. It's simply cut in half and gives me room to tell two longer stories from the week. The side shown are pictures from the field trip I chaperoned. The otherside are more pictures from the birthday party we went to on Saturday. There are lots of faces that I don't normally share on the blog so I opted to keep that private.

Here's the second half of the week...my baby girl looking so grown up in her new shirt picked out from the "big girl" section at Target...sniff, sniff no more T on her clothing tags! The next picture is of her kindergarten teacher along with some of the other girls in class. I stopped by to take some pictures of all the kids on the playground for the teacher and got this great group shot. On the tag I am going to write each person's name. Since I would have to smudge them out for sharing, I decided to wait until after photographing the layout and saving myself the step.

The weekend started off with a pizza and play date after school on Friday. I dragged my good friend into the new local scrapbook store, where I got the coupon card, and thought it was fitting to use it with some photos with her. The have a great day tag has been in my stash forever and I added it after thinking that 4X6 section was just missing something.

The last photo is of my Godbrother, his wife, and their baby boy - who shares the same first name as ours. They threw a great party, one that will be hard to live up to and top in a few months! This is the party that is also featured in my second page insert that I kept private.
Selected Credits:

Quick Page (used for weekly title card): Dirt Can't Hurt Mega by the ScrapOrchard designers
Celebrate 6X6 Mini Page: Celebrate word art Birthday Bash by the DigiChick designers, scalloped mat mask by DeCrow Designs, other elements from Park Play by Jady Day Studio and Kay Miller Designs
"Happy Days" Tag: Spring Menagerie by the Design House Digital designers
Here Comes Trouble 6X6 Mini Page: Template Unknown, Paper, Splat, Star Splatter - Retired Kit: Whimpychomper Creations, String & Flower: Dirt Can't Hurt
Orange Journal Card: Color Combo #4 3X4 Journaling Cards by Crystal Wilkerson
Check It Journaling Cards by Gennifer Bursett
Pocketfull of Posies Paper and Cut Out: Colorwheel Collection by Doodlebug Design Inc
Coupon Journaling Card: Homespun Journaling Cards by Jenni Bowlin Studio
Have a Great Day tag: Making Memories

Linking Up at The Mom Creative

Iron-On Tote Bag Kid's Craft

2012-05-14T13:30:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all my readers! I hope you had a wonderful day or even Mother's Day weekend if you were lucky enough to celebrate both days, like I did! Brad, the kids, and I all went to lunch on Saturday followed by a couple "errands" like going to Archivers :) Yesterday the Grandmas came over and we presented their gifts in these sweetly colored in bags.

They were inspired by this project. A clip art is provided with the original project but ER wanted something different. I found a pretty flower bouquet coloring page on education.com for ours. You have to sign up for a free membership to download, but otherwise the printable is free.

I framed each iron on bouquet with ribbon. The top one was sewed and the bottom two were hot glued on. I tried two different methods for corners and by far the fold over, shown below was the easiest. We hid any messy ribbon ends with a big button.

ER liked coloring with the permanent markers so much, she didn't want to stop. So our gift bags are especially colorful with freehand drawings on the otherside. She also included her name, age, and a hand tracing.

These were so fun to make; they'd make great gift bags for any occassion by switching up the coloring page you use as your iron-on decoration. It would also be a cool gift for kid's birthdays. Iron on an image suitable for the recipient but leave blank for a do it yourself activity they can do after the party ends.

Linked Up At: Skip to My Lou, Mad in Crafts, Craftomanic, Sew Can Do, Sumo's Sweet Stuff.

A Crafty Soiree #89

2012-05-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

Hi Craftsters! Are you busy whipping up your one of a kind gifts for Mother's Day? Can't wait to see what you've got for us this week! Thanks for joining us, I love visiting you :)

I have a huge button fetish and I just adore this necklace and earring set from The Scrap Shoppe Blog.

Isn't this picket fence sign for your potted plants just so cute! Really lovin' Heather from Creative Preschool Resources take on this project.

I am super impressed by the potting table Alese from 2 Crafty 4 My Skirt made for her mother in law.

Love the bunting look but can't sew? Then you need to see the no sew fabric bunting tutorial at The Evas of Bellabini!

I'll admit, I totally didn't get the washi-tape...it probably didn't help that for a long time I thought it was "wasabi" as in Japanese horseradish, you know the green stuff eaten with sushi? Please tell me I'm not alone in this or I will be super embarrased for admiting that! But now that I see what cute stuff can be made with it, it's growning on me. I think the jars Maria from Sweet Yarns made are just so, well sweet :) I'm a sucker for aqua and red.

Party Guidelines

1. Link up to four of your creative projects (No Etsy stores or other linky parties pretty please).

2. Add your link to the specific posts not the main URL.

3. Add a "Crafty Soiree" button to your blog or posts.

4. Please comment on the post linked up in front of you. All partygoers love meeting new friends... don't just stop there...if you see something that catches your fancy-- stop by and say hi!

5. Your hostesses would love it if you'd follow us. You can find Malia here.

Let's Party!

Giveaway! 2 Winners! New 2 Box Cheerios Packaging‏

2012-05-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Like Cheerios? If you can't get enough of them, then you are going to be thrilled to find out that now when you purchase them at a buyers club like Costco, Sam's Club, or BJ's, they come in new 2 box packaging!

Here's why is this such a good thing -

New 2 box Cheerios contains two individual boxes, making them easier to store and easier to pour!
By reducing the amount of air in each individual bag, these enhanced containers fit 10% more cereal than before and use less packaging
While each box contains more cereal, packaging material has been reduced by over 200,000 lbs, saving 1,000 trees and taking 130 Cheerios trucks of the road, decreasing CO2 emissions

New and improved 2 box Cheerios are now available on the shelves of Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s nationwide. Watch the video below to learn more!

Please use Raffllecopter to enter, there are TWO winners who will each receive 2 of the New 2 Box Cheerios. That's plenty of cereal to keep your bowl filled for a long time! Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Cheerios® cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Project Life: Week 17

2012-05-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

I used to take a lot of vertical portraits; a majority of my pictures were that orientation. Since starting Project Life, I've found that now, most seem to be horizontal. All the better to fit in the page protector style I have the most of. But I was still surprised when I went to fill the backside of Design D for the first half of the week, by the shortage of vertical photos. I ended up using the little spaces for photos and making collages to fill in the rest.

It ended up being the first week that I didn't use any of the kit components to make my pages, which felt very weird but oddly liberating. Instead, I threw some Live Free: Love Life freebies from Miss Tina into the mix for my Weekly Title Card and Week in Review Journaling Card.

That odd looking close up of a mouth is our nine month old, the little baby teeth we've felt for awhile just below the gums finally pushed up. They are so small you can't see them in photos, believe me I tried, but a milestone like that had to be in PL don't you think? I ended up laying him on his back and trying to pry back his lip while he squirmed. Ah, the things we'll do for a photo!

The biggest news was that Brad and I became an Uncle and Aunt; the kids now have a cousin! Very exciting! They're out of state so we haven't met her yet :( and the only picture I had was from a grainy text message. So I used Erica Zane's First Time Ever to make a sweet little annoucement. The white frame is from another kit but I'll be darned, I can't recall which one!

We had Daisies on Tuesday and the girls played Musical Chairs and Simon Says to practice being honest and fair. Those girls played so nicely we didn't really have much to discuss, no one made a fuss or fought over the last seat. You Make Me So Happy by Wild Dandelion Designs by Meghan Mullens was used for the collage.

Since I've been branching out and trying new things with PL, it seemed time to finally crack out Design E. With such a busy second half of the week, it was the perfect time to do so. 6"X6" digi layouts helped me get a lot of pictures into my spread. I'll give you a closer look at each one below.

My daughter's kindergarten class went bowling for a science field trip. It was also her first time going bowling ever, exciting stuff! My parents were able to come over and watch the baby so I could go and help coordinate the volunteers for the teacher.

I decided to be really wild and crazy ☺ and do a 6"X12" for the day so I could photos from the trip and back home with my parents. I used a Double Up No. 1 template from Karen Funk Designs and have to say, it looks awesome! I used the same kit as the Daisy collage from the other side in an attempt to give the two halves of the week a more cohesive look.

I do product reviews on my blog from time to time; we especially like seeing all the new kid's products. I got some especially good pictures of E playing with Nickelodeon's Gak & Floam that deserved a layout all to themselves. My Best Friend from Amy Stoffel was used for this one along with a page template I got through my Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper.

For the last day of the week I used a free Scrapbook Etc. photo collage, slightly altered, to save some time scrapping the visit we made to see my Great Aunts. It was B's first time meeting them and I think they really enjoyed the company, even if they were a bit confused as to who I was. I think everyone just likes seeing a baby and it made them happy that they had visitors. Kit used is Cloud Watching by Ellie Lash.

Linking up to The Mom Creative ☺

Creating with Oh My Crafts: Photo Block Picture Holder

2012-05-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

I have a new decoration on my fireplace mantle! Isn't this photo block picture holder cute? It was easy to make and makes a great last minute handmade gift for Mother's Day!

I started out with a set of four 3"X3"X3" wooden blocks from Oh My Crafts. Begin by drilling a hole in the center of one of the blocks. It should be big enough to easily slip whatever size jewelry wire you have into.

I'm using 16 gauge copper wire with silver coating. Make curly photo holders by bending and twisting your wire in a free form manner.

Paint the edges of each side and decoupage on paper cut to size, approximately 2.75X2.75 inches. Isn't this paper from Echo Park's This & That Charming, just darling? I'm using a This & That 6X6 inch pad so the patterns are sized perfectly for the smaller scale of the blocks. You may also wish to ink the edges of your paper, I chose not too but think this extra step would also look great!

Don't forget to keep track of which side is the top and to carefully repoke your holes through the paper as you layer. I added some paper circles to the top side along a button for some added interest. Slide in your wire photo holders when dry.

Then have fun embellishing with your favorite pictures and bits and pieces from your stash. I used stickers, little leather frames, chipboard heart, and a metal flower from a variety of manufacturers. Slide your photos into the wire holders and you've got a one of a kind display for your home or a unique gift.

Oh My Crafts has lot of really cute unfinished wood designs just waiting for your crafty touches! I am currently in love with their selection of frames that come in all the ultra trendy shaped designs. These are the kind that you see for $$$ when they are painted. You can get three unfinished frames for the price of one of the finished kinds I've seen online. Several grouped on the wall would look fabulous! Can you tell what I've got on my wish list?

Like all the projects I've been doing with supplies from Oh My Crafts? Be on the look out for my giveaway for a gift card, next week and win yourself some crafty goodness!

Previous Projects:

Celebrating Christmas with Vinyl

Make It Personal with Vinyl

Baby Gift Set

Rolled Flower Clips

Thumbprint Flower Brooch

This post has been linked up at: Skip to My Lou, Craft-o-Maniac, Sew Can Do, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Serendipity & Spice, Sugar Bee Crafts, Carolyn's Homework, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Home Stories A2Z, Tip Junkie, and Today's Creative Blog.

Disclaimer: Wood Blocks were provided by Oh My Crafts.

A Crafty Soiree #88

2012-05-03T00:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks for coming by crafters! Are you ready for a fun time, blog hopping full of inspiration? I'd love to know what projects you love to see. Last week I was really diggin' all the blue projects. Here are some that caught my eye.

Just a Little Creativity turned empty pickle jars and a thrifted box into this fabulous utensil caddy.

Sew Fantastic shows us how to turn paint chips into this beautiful calendar!

About Blogging Time has turned empty jars into lovely upcycled vases by crocheting the covers.

Tutus and Tea Parties has a free mustashe applique pattern to share with you. My kiddos thinks these are hysterical, she loves how they've been popping up all over. While she doesn't drink coffee, yet ;) I bet she'd love a sports drink bottle cover with one of these on it!

Pink Stitches turned scraps into this fun tote, the shades of blue and grey work so well together.

Party Guidelines

1. Link up to four of your creative projects (No Etsy stores or other linky parties pretty please).

2. Add your link to the specific posts not the main URL.

3. Add a "Crafty Soiree" button to your blog or posts.

4. Please comment on the post linked up in front of you. All partygoers love meeting new friends... don't just stop there...if you see something that catches your fancy-- stop by and say hi!

5. Your hostesses would love it if you'd follow us. You can find Malia here.

Let's Party!

Before you head off to go see all the amazing projects, I wanted to let you know about a fun sounding project Alanna is putting together over at The Craft Nest. Her Summer Day Camp for Kids Crafts is going to feature projects for kids to make and she's looking for participants. It sounds like a great way to find new blogs, meet new friends, and get ideas to keep your kiddo's busy. If you're interested go check out her post!

Project Life: Week 16

2012-05-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

I previously used Design F to show several pictures from one event but not for a several days. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, filling out all those little slots! I even ended up with extra bits I couldn't work in. Having so many options worked out well this week because I could use it for Sunday-Thursday and then devote the entire second page for a friend's daughter's First Communion on Saturday.

I used mini collages to show our baby proofing efforts, putting up gates and getting the five year old a real desk to contain all her supplies. Right Now image, pink paper, and yellow paper all from Crystal Wilkerson, who if you come by often you know, shows up almost weekly on my supply list! The green paper is the reverse side of the Jillibean Soup cards I used last week. It was too cute to cover up! I also used another one of those cards, Spring Memories to describe the photo and menu next to it.

The first insert is devoted to the biggest school fund raiser of the year, the Silent Auction held on Friday. I was involved with the planning, co-chairing the student's art display. Lots of time spent at the school putting up felt, stapling programs, and hanging art all before the actual event. The event pictures are collaged into a 5X7 and then right below is another 5X7 with the art wall. I journaled on vellum and attached it over the photo so you can read the printing and get a glimpse of what's below. Also included in the insert is the actual program, which as so thick I had to open it up. You can see part of it, in the picture below.

The second insert is for the memorabilia I've saved from the First Communion, the invitations and church program both are in a 5X7 insert I bought at Staples. I was bummed when the holes didn't quite line up with my binder but decided to selvage the situation by enlarging one hole with my Crop-a-Dile and then adding a hole reinforcer to make the protector fit.

For the second half, I was excited to use Design D for the first time! I liked using the little spaces for photos, it was nice to have room for detail photos from the event. I used purple because that's the color G picked for her cake.

There we go, another week of memories already done! How is your Project Life going? Linking up to The Mom Creative.

Nickelodeon Gak & Floam Review

2012-04-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

Child of the 90s? Remember Nickelodeon's Gak and Floam? Well, they're back! We've been having a blast playing with them. They're great for playtime, creative fun, and have been updated with a new formula to make them easier to use and clean up.

Gak has an unusual smooth texture and is made for squishing, twisting, squashing, rolling, flattening, twisting and all around hands-on fun! It's available in Blue It, Yakkity Yellow, Goo Green, Tickled Pink, Purple Panic, in addition to the Rebel Red version we're playing with in our pictures.

Guess what Gak also does? When you squeeze it, makes little cracking and popping noises. Twisting and poking your fingers into it, will also get it to make cool sounds. When we pushed our Gak back into it's container, ER couldn't stop giggling over the noises it made. So if you kids get a kick out of that sort of thing, let's just say, they'll love Gak!

Have I mentioned you can also stretch it? Stretch it, into really, really, long ropes? You can also hold it up in the air and let a little drip out of your fingers and watch it stretch out into a thinner and thinner line of Gak all the way down to the floor.

But the way we most liked playing with Gak was, using it to blow bubbles! All you have to do is take a little bit and stick a straw into it. Create a seal around the straw by pushing the Gak around it. Then blow. Talk about cool! Now, I'll admit I was kind of skeptical about this working. I was amazed by how well it worked. ER had fun blowing bubble after bubble.

Gak easily passed the kid test, ER thought it was just the coolest thing. So did it pass the mom test? Yes but with the warning that it's for play with parent supervision. The good news, it was pretty easy to clean up any bits of Gak left on our play mat with a damp paper towel. It washed off hands easily too.

The downside is there is no way ER would've been able to clean up by herself. Gak is sticky and slightly tacky. If all the Gak wasn't wiped up right away, I would be worried it wouldn't come off at all. I don't know what would happen in that case, and with the bright colors I don't want to find out! ER was so excited to play with the Gak, blowing bubbles til the burst, slapping it from hand to hand, etc. I could see bits flying around and getting stuck in odd places if I wasn't there to oversee the play and keep it from getting crazy.

Also, no matter how hard we tried we just couldn't get that darn Gak to bounce for us. Whenever we tried it would just hit the play mat or ground with a thud and spread out. This actually wasn't a problem for me. I could just see bits of dirt getting suck in the Gak whenever it hit the floor...and it bouncing places it shouldn't, like onto the carpet. My advice is have fun, go crazy, but wear play clothes and use a play mat like plastic place mat or a sheet of aluminum foil. And always, clean up right away!

Now onto the Floam, a reusable molding compound you can create wth over and over or let let harden overnight into a creation you can keep forever.

Use Floam to mold, fold, flatten, and roll into shapes or free form sculptures. ER enjoyed using her favorite cookie cutters to make a Blazin' Blue Poodle and an Electric Yellow Heart. She loved adding a little face.

The pebbly, sticky texture is fun to feel. It can be molded onto things you have around the house, like picture frames, flower pots, pencils, or toys to transform it into a Floam masterpiece.

Available in Rockin' Red, Blazin' blue, Electric Yellow, Glimmer Green, Posh Pink, and Purple Power. Each comes in an air tight container to store it in, with a mini shaper like this itty bitty star.

Bottom line, ER loved making stuff with Floam. She can't wait to shape more things! I liked it a lot too, it was definitely something different and unique from the other molding compounds we've used. I also felt more comfortable letting her play with this indpendently. I could set out the Floam and let her keep busy with molding, shaping, and sculpting while I get some cleaning done without worries.

Gak and Floam are non-toxic, non-staining, phthalete-, latex- and BPA - free and are available at Target, Toys R Us, ToysRUs.com, Bed Bath and Beyond, A.C. Moore and Walgreens. Both have a suggested retail price of $6.99.

Disclosure: Complimentary samples of both Gak and Floam were provided for review via Team Mom. The opinions and experiences expressed are personal and unbiased. No other compensation was received.

Thumbprint Flower Brooch for Mother's Day

2012-04-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

When I got the Riley Blake fabric from Oh My Crafts, one of the first things I wanted to make was a big shabby chic fabric flower. I knew it I knew it would just be beautiful and I was so right! I just finished this gorgeous flower brooch. With a very special thumbprint center, it makes an extra special Mother's Day present...for um, myself. Ya, ya, I know...but if I don't make it I won't end up with a keepsake like this. Cause you know my hubster may be a smarty pants and very sweet but I can't see him whipping out the sewing machine, not in this lifetime!

When I went to figure out how to make the flower, I didn't have to look any farther than A Crafty Soiree, the weekly linky I co host. Melissa's burlap bows and flowers caught my eye, her flower was exactly the look I wanted. I pretty much followed her directions for the basic flower so I won't recap here, not when you can go check out her very nicely done tutorial. Just a note, the circles I used are 3 inches and 3.5 inches in diameter.

I did make a couple of changes. I decided to outline the circles for my flowers with a thin tip pink Sharpie. I thought this would give the circles the look of being "inked", a look I really like in scrapbooking. I also sewed on the folded up circles to the brooch, to make them lay flatter. This allows the thumbprint heart to be attached more easily. I love seeing all the stitching, it gives it such cool artsy look.

The best part of this project is that it's a mother daughter creation and I wind up with a keepsake of my little girl ♥ To make the thumbprint heart:

Take some white Crayola Model Magic and stamp directly onto it with a pink ink pad until you like the shade.
Mixed both together, transforming the color from white to pink.
Rolled out onto wax paper.
Cut out a heart with a cookie cutter.
Ink thumb with a slightly darker shade of pink.
Press thumb into the Crayola Model Magic twice to make a heart.
Let dry overnight or several days, it will harden but still be slightly squishy.
Gently peel heart off wax paper.
Add a thin coat of clear nail polish to protect your heart.
Glue to center of fabric flower brooch.

I also added some green leaves, that I hand cut and then stitched, poorly as you can see, to felt backing. Don't worry if bad stitching happens to you too, just hide that part beneath the flower and no one need ever know. Like how the stripes alternate and are both horizontal and vertical? Yep, I actually did that on purpose, and was quite pleased by the funky look they give the brooch. I was kinda worried it would look ridiculous, isn't it nice when things work out the first time? Use some fabric glue to stick them on, hot glue if you're in a hurry, and a few stitches if you want it to look pretty. Guess which way I went.

To finish up, since you've already got the hot glue gun out, just glue a pin backing onto the back of your flower, near to top so it hangs properly when worn. Then enjoy a punch of color on your lapel, handbag, or wherever else you can think to pin it on! Now you can wear your kids over your heart ♥

Fabric used for this project include:

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack, Main

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack, Stripes

Disclaimer: Riley Blake fabric provided by Oh My Crafts.

Here is where I like to SHARE :) including Tatertots and Jello, Tidy Mom, Young & Crafty, Serenity Now, Funky Junk Interiors,

A Crafty Soiree #87

2012-04-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

Thank you for joining us! I am so excited to see what you've all been up to. You guys rock! I visit each and everyone of you each week and love getting to know you! Leave me a comment with the number of your linked up project and I'll make sure I leave a comment on your post.

Guess what?! I'm officially an AUNT!!! My brother in law and sister in law just had a baby girl and we are all so excited and happy for them. Aren't these baby shoes from Collective Creations just darling! LOVE! It was hard to pick just one pair of itty bitty baby shoes to feature, she's made a whole slew of super sweet ones, go oooh and ahhh over them right now :) And if you've got older girlies, she's got the prettiest crayon wallets e-vah, or as my daughter would say, "For reals!"

To continue on our girly theme, check out the ultimate home spa party at Sunny Sweet Life! It's the dream party for any 12 year old and Angela's step daughter is one lucky girl! Angela photographed all the table settings and details so beautifully. The guests also got to try out a slew of really fun beauty products, I bet that is one party talked about for a long time!

The Project Queen made these gorgeous chevron frames for her friend's baby nursery. Giada is going to be one lucky little girl, surrounded by a very sophisticated and girly room. These frames are the perfect touch!

Speaking of nurseries, since we have a soon to be nine month old baby boy, I couldn't leave out a more gender neutral option. This DIY Animal Silhoutte Wall Art from Mae Armstrong Designs was inpsired by the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and is very stylish, with it's fabric animals and hand stamped banners.

Emily at Naptime Creations has made a cute transportation themed alphabet and even provided a free printable! She also used Spoonflower to turn her graphics into fabric, that's a preview of it above, that would be super fun for so many little boy projects!

Party Guidelines

1. Link up to four of your creative projects (No Etsy stores or other linky parties pretty please).

2. Add your link to the specific posts not the main URL.

3. Add a "Crafty Soiree" button to your blog or posts.

4. Please comment on the post linked up in front of you. All partygoers love meeting new friends... don't just stop there...if you see something that catches your fancy-- stop by and say hi!

5. Your hostesses would love it if you'd follow us. You can find Malia here.

Let's Party!

Creating with Oh My Crafts: Rolled Flower Clips

2012-04-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

After making the baby gift set for my friend, with the fabric sent me by Oh My Crafts, I had a couple of long strips of Riley Blake Dainty Blossoms striped fabric scraps. They seemed too small to do much with, but then I remembered all the rolled flowers I've seen various other bloggers do. I did a quick search to find a how to and liked the one from My Sparkle.

Her's are finished a little more nicely than mine, but no one is going to see the bottom since it's hot glued onto an extra set of barrettes we already had on hand. A blue bead hot glued to the center give them a little bling and now ER has a new set of hair pretties. I love the unfinished shabby chic look to the frayed fabric, so fabulous!

***I didn't notice that odd mark on the top barrette until I uploaded. It's glare or a weird shadow because there isn't anything actually on the bead. I checked :)

Disclaimer: Fabric used was provided by Oh My Crafts.

Project Life: Week 15

2012-04-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

Week 15 came together quickly after I decided to ignore chronology and put Easter in a Design F page protector on the right side of the spread. Yes the second half of the week is shown first but since the otherside is just Easter, I think it works.

For the first time I decorated the weekly title card, using some thumbnail pictures I got on the index print from my photo order. A Martha Stewart crafts label, vellum sticker quote, and Dear Lizzie stickers complete the cluster. I used the free photo template set from Persnickety Prints again, love how the collage of the dress we got from my friend Steph's store Sew Fierce turned out.

FYI: I posted the Crayola Outdoor Color Bubbles Review and there's a giveaway too :) Still time to enter and win a fun product for your kids or grands to play with as the weather warms up!

I got this adorable sheet of paper with little journaling cards, that fit perfectly into Design F made by Jillibean Soup. It's from their Southern Chicken Dumpling Soup line and I hope I can find more of the line, it's super cute! Most digital elements from Spring Into Easter by Jady Day Studio.

This week's insert features some of the random doodles my daughter is constantly making, everywhere and anywhere. The labels and stickers are applied directly on top of the page protector. On the other side is a worksheet she brought home from school that helps me record how much we're working on sight words with her.

Shared at The Mom Creative

Creating with Oh My Crafts: Baby Gifts with Fat Quarters

2012-04-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

My best friend from high school just had her first baby! I had to make her a little handmade goodness to celebrate and had the most beautiful fat quarters from Oh My Crafts to use for them. My little gift set includes a plush burp cloth, first initial onesie, and fabric covered brag book for all the photos sure to be taken of the first grandchild in both of their families.

Check out the Riley Blake fabric they sent me to work with, I love how they all work so well together! It was so exciting to get the package because Riley Blake is my favorite fabric designer :)

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack, Main

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack, Stripes

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack Solid

You can mix and match the smaller packs to get exactly what you need or you get the Dainty Blossoms Fat Quarter Bundle with all the patterns.

Here is a closer look at each of the items, the burp cloth shows more of the gorgeous colors. This was my favorite print and I was so excited to use lots of it! The reverse side is a thick textured dotted fabric I picked up locally to help make sure the burp cloth would be extra absorbent.

The onesie has an /e/ for their little one's first name, which I especially love since I have a great aunt with the same one. It's the first time I've tried using my machine to stitch on the monogram and let's just say that if effort equals love, then this was made with a lot of love! It's a little wonky but I know Melissa will appreciate it. I tried to give it a random crafty look by going around a couple of times, it kinda worked but you can still see the oops on it. Everything was ironed on nice and good so I had to work with what I had. Normally I hand stitch the monogram and I think I'll go back to that method.

I used an inexpensive 1Up photo album bought on clearance, it was soooo ugly before! To play it safe I used all iron on for the fabric covered brag book. This won't be sent through the wash so it should be fine, I used the heavy duty kind. I'm going to package up everything and send it off with a gift card to the new parents. I hope they love it!

We know of another baby girl coming soon and I also made a burp cloth with the green floral fabric to have ready for the birth. I paired it cute wipes container, so easy and no sew! The flowers, centers, and leaves are all ironed on.

Thank you to Oh My Crafts for sending me an awesome selection of their fabric to create with! I have some more things planned and am excited to share them with you. Look for how I used up some fabric scraps this Wednesday and get ready for another giveaway I'll be hosting for them real soon!

I am linking this project up :) I will add individual links when the baby is asleep, for now see my parties page for where!

Disclaimer: Riley Blake fabric provided by Oh My Crafts.

A Crafty Soiree #86

2012-04-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

Each week when I go through the links to visit all of you, I wind up getting very hungry and ready to craft all night! You all really get the creativity flowing! Thank you for choosing to come party with us! Here is what caught my eye last week.

Isn't he the sweetest? Oh and the tie and suspenders wedding onesie is pretty cute too! Just love this, what a fun project from Pretty Providence for little boys, which now that I have one...I realize that it's much harder to find great things for them.

Just to be fair, here's an equally sweet little outfit for the girls. I love everything about it, the cropped sleeves, darling swiss dot fabric and of course I love, love, love the little birdie. EmmylouBeeDoo swears she made it in just thirty minutes!

Now that we've prettied up your kids, here's something for your home. Daisy Mae Belle's Dream Big Pillow features pretty little details like hand stamped letters and texture from burlap and a beautiful fabric flower.

I thought this felt flowers button snake at Craft Buds was such a fun way to help your kids practice buttoning. I love clever but simple ideas!

The Disney freak in me could not pass up sharing these Mickey Mouse washer necklaces from A Creative Princess. All I could think when I saw them was !!! We just went but I so wanna run out and buy the circle punches just so I can make some of these!

Party Guidelines

1. Link up to four of your creative projects (No Etsy stores or other linky parties pretty please).

2. Add your link to the specific posts not the main URL.

3. Add a "Crafty Soiree" button to your blog or posts.

4. Please comment on the post linked up in front of you. All partygoers love meeting new friends... don't just stop there...if you see something that catches your fancy-- stop by and say hi!

5. Your hostesses would love it if you'd follow us. You can find Malia here.

Let's Party!

Review & Giveaway: Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles

2012-04-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

It's no secret that we love art time! My five year old loves getting out the paints and chalk, all of which leave her very colorful! That kind of thing has never bothered me because we just prepare and wear play clothes or a smock. Now we have a new way to have messy colorful fun. We just love Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles. The fuchsia are her personal favorite and she can go through a whole bottle in one go! There is just something so magical about blowing a bubble and seeing the sunlight reflect off the colors.

We got some last year when Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles first came out, and now there is a new version that makes blowing bubbles even more fun for everyone. The clean up is easier for parents! Now ER can have fun in our yard making a rainbow of bubbles to dance around in and I don't have to worry about things getting stained. Any colorful marks left on her from bubbles popping on contact will rub off the skin and a quick wash will get rid of color left behind on cotton and cotton blend clothing. It's also easier to hose any stray marks off many outdoor surfaces.

Along with a Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles 3-pack we got a cool Bubble Launcher to review. It's very neat, you screw on a bottle of bubbles and then get cranking the handle. Soon you have colorful bubbles with minimal work! It's a great way to play without having to dip a blower in and out of the bottle, which always means more drips and drops of solution all of the place and all over my kiddo. It helps keep the area a little cleaner too. We also make sure we play with Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles on our lawn and I have ER wear darker clothing so that should any marks not come out in the wash, they are less noticeable. With the new formula, staining hasn't been an issue

Here is a great video with some tips for making play time with Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles and cleaning up, even more awesome and enjoyable for both kids and moms. The highlights are summarized below:

Dress for Mess. Wear washable play clothes and shoes. It's best to not wear suede, leather or any other material that can't be washed.
Play Outside. An open grassy area is best away from new concrete, decks and porous surfaces like marble. Don't use at formal events like weddings.
Rub skin to remove color.
Launder clothes promptly with water and detergent. Repeat washing may be needed.
Hose off outdoor surfaces like sidewalks and driveways to wash away color.

Giveaway!

One reader will win an awesome Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles Gift Pack just like the one I received for review, as shown above! Please use Rafflecopter to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Connect with Crayola

Disclosure: The Crayola Outdoor Colored Bubbles product information and gift packs have been provided by Crayola through MyBlogSpark.

Project Life: Weeks 13 &14

2012-04-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Weeks 13 & 14 include our Spring Break trip to see Great Grandma in Missouri over a long weekend. My pages go from Sunday to Saturday so the trip fell over two PL weeks, which works out because I used both sides of a Design F to fit lots of pictures. Both are photo heavy with the longer stories kept to the inserts.

Week 13

I just noticed I never finished the journaling, whoops! I'll have to do that tonight, before I forget what I wanted to write. Left side is Design A, with some photo collages of a busy day ER had with the neighbors and the first time we gave LB baby biscuits. I also took a bird's eye view of ER working on a card to give her teacher on the last day before Spring Break.

Our visit to see Great Grandma was LB's first road trip and I included our route, really love that! Besides being the first time he met her, it was also his first time in a pool. He is getting more used to being in water, you'll see him splashing with wild abandonment below in week 14, but he wasn't too sure about the pool.

The second half uses a Design F page protector so I could show a lot of photos from our visit to the Indianapolis Children's Museum on the drive down. It was a fun museum, good for several hours. It's got a lot of great stuff there and lots of good hands on learing opportunities. If ever in the area I highly recommend you visit. Just try not to go when it's Spring Break and everyone else is there too!

The 4X6 slot shows Great Grandma holding LB, the trip is summarized on it too. Didn't it turn out cute? Love that picture of the two of them, both just beaming with happiness. Most of the digital elements used are from Crystal Wilkerson, assorted kits.

I also created a little title card for the Museum, so fun breaking out the digi supplies for a 3X4 mini project! I used the same background paper for this week's insert. Kit used is Three Six Five by Secret Stash, it's still available as a freebie for liking her Facebook page. The Museum's brochure and map, is in a page protector I stitched up to make it just the right size. On the other side I wrote out the story of our visit and added a strip of patterned paper to tie it into the Museum title page.

Week 14

After our visit we stopped at the Indianapolis Zoo on our way home for a few hours. It's a small zoo but with lots of variety from dolphins to elephants and even a dessert exhibit, none of which we can see at our local zoo.

I used the Days of the Week freebies from A Vegas Girl at Heart for the photos with journaling. They helped me take horizontal photos and make them more usable in vertical photo slots.

This is the mini title card for our zoo pictures, using a now retired kit Animal Crackers. I also made an insert for the map of the zoo, similar to the one for the Children's Museum. Journaling is also slipped into the page protector behind the map.

After the trip we had a pajama day on Tuesday before getting into the swing of Spring Break. I broke out some different photo collages for the first time, these are a freebie set from Persnickety Prints. The Enjoying Life tab is another freebie, this time from Miss Tina.

My favorite little bit on the page is this card telling a story Brad's Great Grandma told us during our visit. The card is a freebie using an older Crystal Wilkerson kit, but found on another blog. I can't figure out which one because I've had it saved for so long, it was before I kept better track of my sources. The one right next to it on the page, of LB is a close second. Just love my new camera and how I could get that photo of him with the big splash he made! It's one of the first times he's actually played and not looked like he's being tortured while getting a bath.

I've been having so much fun digitally making little inserts for my 3X4 slots! I also made an insert for our cupcake making efforts, slipping it into a cut down page protector. It's sized to match the photo print out from a photo booth like activity ER got at Chuck E Cheese with a neighbor.

I summarized the week on this card, using stamps for the days of the week. Then I saw this cool freebie from A Vegas Girl at Heart. I will skip dragging out the inks and use one of them next time, they even match PL kits! A bit of a Martha Stewart file folder label was used for the "Spring Break" tab.

So fellow PL'ers, which new products are you most excited about? I'm looking forward to the 5X7 page protectors because they are the right size for most of the greeting cards we get. I tried getting some at office supply stores but the holes aren't in the right spot for my binder. Have any of you found a good source for 5X7? I could just sew up some but it would be nice to save the step. The various pockets also interest me but the only other thing I want right away are the Design J page protectors, for 4X4 photos with spaces for journaling cards too.

Shared at The Mom Creative and One Happa Mama.

Fresh Strawberry Topped Cheesecake

2012-04-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

Brad made this scrumptious cheesecake for Easter. It was everything a cheesecake should be, very rich and creamy with a yummy Nilla Wafter crust. We had a bunch of strawberries in the fridge and they were perfect on top. He followed this recipe, but omitted the glaze. It was so sweet and decadent, no one missed it. For a special occassion, it's the perfect dessert.