be mine

Valentines Day is not to far off so why not get started with this fun project. I saw this and just had to share. This would dress up any Valentines Dinner and have your family talking.

Thanks to the Girls at the DIY Dish for sharing this fun idea. Not only for Valentines Day but what about other holidays as well. The possibilities are endless. I can't wait to start on mine.



paper pencil

With school starting around the corner. What teacher wouldn't love to get this adorable personalized pencil. I found this idea at Creating Keepsakes Magazine. And then it just so happened that it was on Studio 5 this week. 

Supplies needed:

A roll of Rollo's candy

Hersey kiss

Yellow paper

aluminum foil

pink paper

scissors

tape or glue

and embellishments for the star and ribbon

Studio 5 has awesome instructions of how to assemble this cute pencil. While you are there check out all the other fun things they have for back to school.

paper beads

I remember making these when I was a little girl. So I thought that it would be great to teach my daughter how to make them. Better yet she loved them so much that we are making them for her American Girl Tea Party coming up this weekend. I think that the girls will fall in love with this fun craft. And they can go home and make many more.

Supplies                                

Paper (any kind)

Glue stick

toothpick

scissors

stretchy elastic

To begin you wan to cut your paper into small triangles as show in the picture. A 1/2in x 7 1/2in triangle. Keep in mind that the wider your triangle the  longer your bead and the longer your triangle the thicker your bead.  So it would be fun to have some bigger and smaller.  After you have cut your paper you begin with the fat end as you begin to roll it around the toothpick glue as you go. That will help your bead stay together. Pull it off of the toothpick and you will see that you have a nice hole to thread your bead on to your elastic.

Happy beading!

swap and shop party

A few weeks ago I let you know that I was in the party mood and I had one in the works.  Well I am so excited to show you what I did. And with it being recycle week here at Simply Home and Family what a better time to share my Swap and Shop Party. Times are tough these days and what girl doesn't love going shopping with friends?  The idea of the party was just that. I invited a few friends and had them each bring 5-7 fabulous things that they just don't love any more. They wrote a description or selling point of their item on a tag and then attached it to them. We placed all the items on long tables for everyone to see. I set it up like a boutique. We had some fun things.  A basket with movies and popcorn for a date night, ice cream maker, s-more maker with all the fixings, clothes, jewelry, books, house hold items, toys and much more. I told them to be creative with their items.

After everyone showed up and had a chance to look at all the fun stuff. We visited and ate yummy finger food.

Let the game begin!  All the ladies where given 7 clothes pins to write their name on. This was their frequency to buy the items. I then told them they have 15 min to put their clothes pins on the items that they wanted. After the time was up I held up the item and called out the name of the girl who chose that item so that everyone could see what they got. If there was more than one clothes pin on an item. I put all the clothes pins in a bowl and drew out the winner. I then gave the clothes pins back to the girls who didn't win for them to go place on another item. Everyone got fun stuff and it was all FREE!!

 

We had so much fun and the decorations were a hit as well. I got my inspiration from a roll of wrapping paper (brown and pastel poke a dot). I wanted to keep it as cheep as possible. all of the decorations cost me $20. I shopped at the thrift store and found pink and green plates the I turned up side down for a cake plate look. I used 1/2 pint Mason jars for the glassed. I made my banner, napkin rings, and table runner with the wrapping paper. The Pom poms were from a post we did earlier. I also went through my house and collected any think that was in the color scheme. Everyone had such a good time. I will definitely be doing it again. Thanks ladies for making it so much fun.

my family tree

Who doesn't love looking at pictures of your family. Well I was on a mission to find the perfect family tree for me. So I came a cross this idea at Studio 5 made by Kelly White from Heartland Paper. It is so fun! Plus I can use all of those Christmas cards with family photos on them for this project. It is also magnetic so that the pictures can be changed or added to.

I added a leaf to each picture to give it a three dimensional look, that includes their name . You can even included their birthdays too. The picture on the left better shows what the leaf looks like, and on the right the picture is on the tree.
to make this:

14 x 26 piece of sheet metal                                                    
2 pieces of scrapbook paper for background
2 pieces of scrapbook paper for border
scrapbook paper for tree
1 x 1 pieces of wood (to glue pictures on)
magnets
Mod podge
Letters for OUR FAMILY TREE (used Cricut)
glue stick
hotglue gun
Click Here for the tree pattern, and Kelly also gives a step by step instructions as well. (note: I made my tree twice as big. The pattern will fit on a 14 x 14 piece of metal so just cut the trunk on the fold and double the branches. You may need to make minor adjustments.)

Directions:  After you have cut all the pieces that will be needed. Mod poge on to the sheet metal.  I then glued every thing where I wanted it and mod poged the whole thing. Let it dry over night.  Cut and glue pictures on to the wood squares and hot glue magnets on to the back of each of the pictures. Cut out leaves and write names on them, then attach them on to the pictures as well. Once your magnetic family tree is dry add all of your pictures.

This is a great gift idea for all those people who seem to have everything. I made one for my grandmother and she loves it.

simple birthday party decorations

These simple and adorable paper cupcake wrappers were featured on The Lovely Paper Blog...I absolutely LOVE them and because I seem to be obsessed with cupcakes lately, I had to try them out. All you need is some scrapbook paper, scissors and adhesive. You can download the cupcake paper template here.


Birthday decorations should be quick and easy and these paper birthday banners are perfect...you could create your own or if you don't have time you can order them already assembled or in a kit from My Emmie Cakes...love them!


And who doesn't love Martha Stewart's tissue pom-poms! The possibilities are endless...just choose your tissue paper and create...so simple!


How to Make the Pom-Poms
You'll need tissue paper and 24-gauge white cloth-covered floral wire.

Hanging Pom-Poms
1. Stack eight 20-by-30-inch sheets of tissue. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.

2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded tissue; twist. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.

3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

4. Tie a length of monofilament to floral wire for hanging.

birthday pictures

OK so I have been working on teaching my kids a little more about our family history, and  since this week was birthday week. I thought that I would share what we have been doing.

This is our Birthday Board.

Every month we add the pictures of who has birthdays in the that month (past and present).  Then during that month we have a birthday night where we share some fun things about each person. We have a birthday cake in the their honor. It has been fun to learn all kinds of fun facts and learn to love our heritage.

There are all sorts of fun ideas that you can use this for. Such as filling it with pictures of just the birthday person from their past to the present. You can even put a treat in each of the holes instead of pictures. One treat for each day of the week until their birthday (like a birthday countdown). Be creative and have fun with it. I know that we have.

To Make this:

You will need 1  2x4 of your desired length. Mine was 12in.
scrapbook paper, modpoge, a foam brush, wire, nail and hammer.
Cut your 2x4, then you will cut and modpoge the paper on to your 2x4. Let it dry completely and with your hammer and nail, nail however many holes that you want. Then take your wire and make 2 loops and twist at the bottom of the loop. Leaving the desired length for the height of your picture. Glue your wire in the holes. You will slip your pictures between the two loops of wire. With the left over paper I made tags to show their name and their birthday.

pickles to petals

Yes these use to be full of PICKLES. Our family loves pickles and on a pretty regular basis we buy this huge jar of pickles from Sam's Club, which are pretty inexpensive. These jars are nice big 1 gallon glass jars that I can't just throw away. A few of them sat in my pantry for a while until I thought of this idea. I needed a container for ribbon scraps and flowers petals.

I washed them good and then tore off the label. I found of piece of scrap paper and made labels and then glued them on with Mod Podge. I didn't keep the lid but if you wanted to I found a cute way to cover it with paper here. Here is what they ended up looking like.

photo fun for simple scrapbooks

With two kids and a busy life I am very far behind on our scrapbooks but I am trying to catch up. This is a cute, simple, but creative scrapbook idea that will be fun to look back on. This is a peek into the things that they love at the moment and play with everyday.

Our littlest one loves her dollies no matter what size and her favorite book that she asks for everyday is "Go Dog Go". She knows it so well now she gathers her blankie and all of her little friends on her bed to read to them.

These are a few other things that you would step over or see being packed around by our other little girl. She loves her backpack and would put her whole room in it if it would fit. It will be filled with Fancy Nancy and Holly Hobbie books, a Hello Kitty game, her blankie, baby, dress-ups, tootsie roll pillow, and swim goggles. We always see the hoppy ball go up and down the hall at least a few times each day.

This photo idea would be fun to do for each person in your family or have your family go in on one together. If anyone has any simple ideas for scrapbooking to help ones like me stay caught up we would love you to share your thoughts. Happy scrapbooking!