Reboot

Hi there, it has been awhile...I figured it was time to freshen up the look and return to this. For me it is relaxation and I miss getting these posts up.  I've done a few things over the last year and have taken pictures, so I'll be adding and posting those items over the next few weeks.

We have moved and are back living on our own now. More time for me to craft in the evenings and on the weekends, or at least attempt to!

We gained a few family members over the last year. One new son-in-law and two new grandkids and a new daughter-in-law. We are now up to 9 grandkids. We also have a wedding coming up in the next year...it will be fun to participate in that event.

Looking forward to sharing some of my projects from the last year!  Take Care!

Make 'n' Take Card Class

I spent some time a week ago on Saturday at a Make 'n' Take class put together by my friend Tina Dowty, a Stampin Up demonstrator and Cathy Trumbo, who is also a Stampin Up demonstrator.  They do a once a month card class in Rocklin.  It is about a 3 hour class and for a small fee we get the opportunity to make 8 cards during this time frame.

All of the paper pieces, ribbon, string, are pre-cut and there are examples for us to use as a guide for putting together our cards.  We do get to do some of our own crafting, such as stamping the sentiments for the cards, inking the cards if it is a stamped card, and punching out flowers or cutting out butterfly's, whatever the card design calls for.  We are free to use our own artistic license in putting the cards together, and we are not required to do them exactly as the examples show.

These are the cards we did this month.

 

These two were fun.  The background paper we stamped on was printed with stars and dots.  We inked the sunburst and then sponged over it.  When we were done, we wiped off the ink so the stars and dots came through.  It was a cool technique.  A die-cut of the word happy and stamping the word birthday and we got a cute little birthday card.

These two were our first stamping project for the afternoon. We stamped the butterfly and then used a framelit die to cut out the butterfly.  On the background white we inked some scattered dots and a couple of opaque small butterflies.  We put some pearls down the center of the butterfly and used some pop dots to raise it off the background.  We stamped Happy Birthday along the bottom and then mounted this on some pink card stock and then on craft paper cards.  A beautiful little card.

These two cards were our 2nd inking project of the day.  It was a layered flower stamp set using pinks, corals, greens, and yellows.  It also uses a yellow ribbon to tie everything together.

The final project was a paper piecing project using some reversible paper.  That nice thing about them is you can use both sides of the papers to complete your card.  This one included a couple different sizes of punched flowers and as a background to the printed papers we had an embossed background in white that was mounted on a black card stock.  All of the cards had pearls or jewels/gems of some sort to give them some sparkle.

See you next time!  Until then, Imagine, Create, and Enjoy!

Christmas Cards

There are many, many pins on Pinterest on how to use paper scraps, so this could be a compilation of different posts I've seen.  I chose to make my Christmas cards this last year using scraps. I used Christmas papers, plain white and a soft beige pre-made cards picked up at Michael's packaged with envelopes.  I chose to punch 1 inch squares two in patterned paper and two in a coordinating solid card stock and then arranged them in groupings of four both diagonally and horizontally on the card stock.  I punched snowflakes (using a Martha Stewart snowflake punch) out of a sparkly white paper to act as accents.  I assembled the grouping of four using pop dots to pop the squares off the card stock and also popped the snowflakes off of the grouping and added a jewel to the center of the snowflake.

After the squares and snowflakes were placed on the card stock I stamped two different holiday sentiments underneath the above arrangement and then added a different stamped sentiment on the inside of the cards.  Finally, I used a variety of narrow ribbon I had in my stash in colors that matched the scrapbook papers and tied it around the fold line of the cards.  This was a quick and easy little project and I was pleased with the end result.

Imagine, Create, and Enjoy. 

Christmas Wreath -- Cowboy's Colors

I have been trying to complete this wreath for some time...that is all I will confess to as it has been a project in the works and it has moved with us more than once in the last few years.  Anyway, I digress.  I decided this was the year to complete it.  I had a number of floral picks in blue and silver and had originally planned to make the theme a blue and silver looking theme.  It is appropriate that the daughter is a Cowboy's fan.  A long time, die-hard fan, just like her Dad and older brother.  I had the blue and silver theme decided so I finished picking up a few additions to finish off the wreath.

One thing I needed was the ribbon to give the wreath a finished look.  I found some silver, sparkly ribbon with beautiful snowflakes on it.  I wrapped the ribbon strategically around the wreath and placed the picks alternating them with silver-blue ornament balls.  Here is a close up of the ribbon I picked.

One more project complete!

Go on Imagine, Create and Enjoy!

Christmas Chalkboards

Once again, Pinterest is a wonderful source of ideas for so many things.  I nabbed an idea previously seen here.  Come to find out it was a pin from an Etsy site.  I took the basic idea and ran with it as my Christmas gifts for 2014.  I used a variety of stickers for the lettering on the plates, different kinds, textures, and sizes, but I wanted the finished look of the letters.  I bought a quart of chalkboard paint from Michael's and plate chargers from both Michael's and Hobby Lobby.  I asked those individuals I was gifting this item too what their favorite Christmas colors were and I purchased ribbon from the various craft stores to color match what their favorites were.  Some were into the blue and silver colors so I used a silver charger, for most of the remaining ones I used a red charger with a rope edge around the outside of the charger, and finally I picked up a few shaped like a hexagon with pretty script details on the edges of the plates.

I painted the inside of the inner circle with about 6 to 7 layers of chalkboard paint.  I found out it needed at least this many layers to create a chalkboard surface that would not be scratched clean through the paint if someone pressed to hard on the chalk.  I did not tape around the edges, which might have created a more perfect circle, but I decided the unevenness added to the uniqueness of each plate.  Some of the plates look a little more playful and those were intended for gifts to individuals with children.  The candy cane ribbon at the left is one of those examples.

For some more elegant ones, I used combinations of burgundy, green and gold like the ribbon in the upper right and others I used the beautiful elegant gold edged and printed ribbons as shown on the plate to the right.  That particular ribbon choice had beautiful gold angels on it.  With the shape of the charger it also had the added bonus of being a little easier to paint with the chalkboard paint.  Inside the inner section of the charger was a ridge denoting the bottom of the charger from the sides and it was easier to make a pretty, clean edge for the chalkboard paint.


Additionally, I used some ribbons that had a burlap look. The one shown below has some pretty snowflakes in red and sparkles.  Most all of the ribbons had some kind of glitter or sparkle to them. One of things I did after all of the layers of chalkboard paint were on the chargers, I seasoned them by rubbing a piece of chalk over the chalkboard section so they were a little easier to write on the first few times.  Since the letters were all stickers they were easy to affix.  They just need some weight on them initially to cement them on to the plate.  I affixed the ribbons with hot glue.  I had to hold the ribbons in place until the hot glue set.

With each gift of the chalkboard I included 2 pieces of chalk in tiny ziplock jewelry size bags and easels that I picked up from the dollar store.  I think they turned out really well and were well received as gifts by everyone who received them.

I'm thinking that I could make some that would work year round for all holidays!  The chargers would be in a more neutral color and then have ribbons that would attach with a velcro tab under each ribbon.  Maybe ribbons for Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays?  Hmmmmm...

Until the next time, Imagine, Create and Enjoy!

Thanks Signage

While I really should have done this post awhile ago in keeping with the current holiday's or events, I seem to be a little behind.  I previously posted about these Thanks letters I had done up based on another Pinterest idea.  I brought them out for this past Thanksgiving and didn't really like the way I had hung them up for display the previous year so I decided to modify them just a bit.  I had previously just wrapped the ends of the ribbon the letters were suspended from around a 1/4 inch by 15 inch piece of thin balsa wood from the craft store.

This year I decided to take some fall colored decorative foliage I had previously used as table decorations and combine with the board idea to create a permanent hanger for the letters.  I took the ends of the ribbons after wrapping them once around the balsa wood piece and stapled them on to the wood. I then took the decorative fall foliage and stapled it across the front of the board.  It effectively hid all of the ends of the ribbons on the front of the board and made a nice stable wall hanging.  I then added matching ribbon to the top to create my hanger.  Here is the finished project.

And another shot of my little decorative tableau laid out on the table in the living room.  The modification to the original design and the addition of the board to stabilize the letters and addition of the floral gives the project a finished feel!

Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Retirement Party Favors

Recently my supervisor retired.  We had a luncheon for her and decorated with a theme of the things she enjoyed doing.  She loves to golf and fish, she loves angels, and loves to cook among other things.  She also loves the color burgundy.  We decided to go with the burgundy color theme with flower vases as centerpieces with some angel figures around the base.

Instead of standard photo of the honoree with a mat that everyone could sign with their wishes, I thought it would be fun to do something a little different.  Along with the help of my trusty Cricut machine, I cut some golf ball size circles, some golf tees and a lady golfer.  I then picked up a little artsy wood piece on a stick at Michael's and painted it green for the look of a golf green. I cut the words I love Golf from the Sports Mania cartridge. I did those in a burgundy toned paper with beige overlay and then cut white golf balls with a green shadow.

So we could also incorporate her love of fishing into the decor, I took a little chalkboard on a stick (from Michael's) and cut the words Fishes Wishes from green card stock and cut an old fashioned fishing reel and fish basket from the Father's Day cartridge.  For both bowls I used clear round fish bowls and anchored the golf sign in the first bowl in a piece of white Styrofoam with real golf balls to hold it in place. For the Fishes Wishes sign I used another piece of foam and added some of the blue-green tones of flat looking marbles in the bottom to hold that sign in place and make it look like a fish bowl!  I then used an old-fashioned fish die cut plate and cut some fishes for people to write more wishes.  I actually think it turned out very well.  I think people enjoyed the different way to express their good wishes to the honoree and they could do it at their leisure throughout the lunch hour potluck.

All in all the decorations turned out quite nicely, done by a wonderful group of co-workers who pulled together to make a very memorable luncheon for the retiree!

See you soon as I catch up with some of my projects from the holidays!  Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Wedding Anniversary Gift -- Sneak Peek

Here is a little sneak peek of a gift I've made for my son and daughter-in-law...it is a late 1st anniversary gift.  I did a collage video of Dana and Kyle's lives growing up and as adults, that was shown at their wedding.  The typical kind of video shown at weddings.  I decided to take those photos used for the video and make into an album as a gift.  The cover shows them along with their son Nick with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop.  They had a beautiful ceremony overlooking the ocean in San Diego.  It was wonderful!  I hope they enjoy the gift.  We will see them soon and are looking forward to the trip!

Continue to Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Money Pizza -- Pinterest Idea

When gifting money for birthday presents for the grandkids and nieces and nephews, it is always a challenge to find creative ways to present the gift.  This year when our 2nd oldest grandson Nikeo turned 11, I wanted to try this idea I had seen on Pinterest.  I picked up a pizza box at the local Sam's Club, just walked up to the pizza counter and asked if I could buy one.  The manager happened to be there and just gave me one...a large one.  I don't think they normally do that, so I think I got lucky that day.  I picked up some cake rounds and covered one with some scrap booking paper.  I then took the money I was gifting in $1 bills and quarters and laid them out on the cake round to make it look like a pizza.  I then printed the sign on the computer and stuck it to the inside of the box.

I think it was a hit! Imagine, Create, and Enjoy.

Welcome Baby Laila!

It has occurred to me that I posted all of these craft projects related to my granddaughter's baby shower but have not shared with you the outcome.  My son Kyle and daughter-in-law Dana and big brother Nick welcomed Laila Olivia Vivian Elizabeth to the family on May 12.  She proudly shares two of her great-grandmother's names.  She is a beautiful little girl who we are anxious to meet in just a few short weeks.  The burlap wreath shown here holds a proud place on the wall of her bedroom.

She has also been seen sporting many of the headbands that guests made at the baby shower held for her.  I know we all really enjoyed making them for her and they certainly match many of her outfits.

Thanks for sharing our excitement!  Until next time, Imagine, Create, and Enjoy!

Note Board

One of my grandsons wanted to make a present for his mom's birthday.  I looked through my supplies and found an unpainted narrow wood frame, a few jewels, a flower, some heart stickers and some cork board.  Those supplies to start, along with a trip to Michael's for ribbon and silver jewels.  I used an idea from Pinterest which I no longer have a link to; and, I have modified the project slightly from its original design and came up with this idea. 

Nikeo painted the frame a nice black matte color and while he was doing that Grandma cut the cork board to fit the frame.  I double layered the cork board to make a thick base to stick pins and tacks through.  After the painting was done I took the roll of sparkles/jewels and cut the strips down to effectively fit around the edges of the frame and still allow enough room for items to be pinned to the board.  The row of jewels you see in the middle of the cork board hides a seam where I had to piece the cork board together.  Once that was hot-glued down, I took the ribbon and hot glued it to the edge of the frame.  The ribbon design is hard to see but it is a zebra stripe with silver and red, not pink as the pictures tend to show.

The ribbon was accented perfectly with the zebra print daisy that we affixed to the lower right corner with a little heart sticker on in the middle. After that I found some swooshies in black jewels and I added them to the board.  One looks like it is flowing out of the daisy on the bottom right half of the board and the other accents the lower left corner of the top of the board above the row of jewels.  A couple of more little red hearts to match the ribbon and the board itself was finished out. 

On the top I used more of the ribbon from the edges and made a hanger which I attached to the back of the board.  All in all it turned out really cute!  Nikeo's mom liked it and it holds a prime place on the wall in her bedroom!

Until next time, Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Headbands

My daughter-in-law Dana found here an idea on Pinterest for an elastic headbands station to have at her shower.  She liked this idea because it allowed the guests to personalize something for baby Laila during the shower.  I set about figuring out how to get it done! After visits to JoAnn's, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby I found all the requisite supplies mostly on sale.  Luckily the main part, the stretchy headband materials was sold by the spool at Hobby Lobby and I caught it on a sale day.  I was able to pick up about six different colored spools and ended up getting about six headbands per roll.  I cut them in about 12-14" lengths and sewed the ends together.

In addition to the headbands I picked up matching colors of felt, fabric flowers, pre-made bows, jewels, small butterflies, and small button shapes. The flowers were different colors and patterns (polka dots), different styles (zebra print), mostly daisies, and some other flowers.  I took and pulled off or cut off the flowers from the stems and then hot glued them on the bottom to make sure the centers and the flower layers stayed together.  When I looked at putting them on to the headbands though I felt they weren't going to lay flat on the headbands and would be too heavy for the headbands.  I looked at the original idea and saw some felt circles in the example so went back and picked up some matching felt.  I took my Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and cut the felt using the largest flower on the die.  I cut about 6-8 of each color so they could be used to glue the flowers on and then glue on to the headbands.

So we set up a separate area at the shower with hot glue guns and all of the different components laid out on the table and told everyone at the beginning of the shower where everything was located and invited them to make their way into the dining room to create their own special gift for baby Laila.

To make sure Dana and Kyle knew who had created each of the headbands, I cut tags with my Cricut and cut 12" lengths of thin ribbon (1/8" wide).  On each of the tags I stamped the word From: on one side and then asked each Guest Headband Designer to sign their creation and tie the tag to the headband they made. The guests were eager participants and enjoyed creating some really pretty headbands for Laila.  We can't wait to see her wearing each and everyone of the gifts.

Here is a group shot of all of the completed headbands.  They really turned out nicely. She will be quite the styling little girl!  Keep on Imagining, Creating, and Enjoying every day!

Mesh Wreath

Mesh wreaths have become all the rage as of late.  I decide my first try would be to make one for Laila's baby shower.  I spent a couple of different trips to Michael's, JoAnn's, and Hobby Lobby to check out the supplies, costs, ideas, and colors of mesh.  I spent some time reading through one of the books while standing in the aisle at the store.  After looking at the picture directions in the book I figured I could do this without spending the $10 on the book.  I'd rather spend the money on the supplies for the wreath.

Since I had already started the diaper cake with the bright pink colors, I followed through here.  I chose burlap looking mesh and then a hot pink mesh to coordinate with it choosing to alternate the burlap and pink mesh (I used the smaller 6" rolls versus the large 12" rolls). Once I had finished fixing the mesh to the wreath base (by using pipe cleaners in hot pink), I started adding flowers.  I took pretty Gerber daisy flowers in various shades of pink and white and glued them around the wreath with some pearl accents behind them. The pearl accents were a strand picked up from the floral section at the craft store.  I separated the different strands to maximize them as I wanted some behind all of the flowers. Additionally, I added some pretty butterflies from the floral section of the hobby store and the word Love across the bottom of the wreath. It was in the wood letters section at the craft store and already painted white, so I left it exactly as it came. The letters spell out Laila's full name: Laila Olivia Vivian Elizabeth. She will share names with two of her great grandmother's.  A beautiful tribute to both sides of the family!

Once I hot glued everything together I added a small butterfly on the corner of Love.  Kyle really liked the wreath...enough so he wants to put it in Laila's nursery.  Now I've gotta figure out how to ship it to them in Indiana!

Until next time...Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

More Butterflies!

My son Kyle's baby shower was held at his in-laws home out in Courtland on a Saturday afternoon.  The weather in March in Northern California (similar to most areas of the country) can range from cold, wet, rainy and 30 degrees to warm, sunny, dry and 75 degrees.  Lucky for us we got the warm, sunny, dry, close to 75 degree weather!  We were thrilled as we had decided to have the shower outside.  The in-laws home in Courtland sits on a large piece of property and there is a long driveway with shade trees and ample space in front of the garage area so we decided to utilize that area.  We rented round tables, tablecloths and even a EZ-Up cover.

Since the other decorations were leaning in more of a pink/brown theme, we carried that through to the rest of the decorations.  Chocolate brown table cloths, pink burlap chevron runners on the tables with strips of pink mesh in differing shades running down the middle.  Since we have tons of calla lilies in our yard, I volunteered to bring vases full of the lilies for table centerpieces.  Dana's sister Taylor worked some magic with bows on the vases and adding accents to the tables.  I followed through with the butterfly theme by cutting some more of the butterflies I had previously cut for the wands but in a  pearl pink instead of a glittery pink.  I cut them out of an old file folder and then covered with the pearl looking paper.  I had some leftover paper from my large rosette's on the other project as well and used my Tim Holtz rosette die to make some smaller rosettes.  I picked up some floral wire stems and attached them to the back of the butterfly with hot glue and a small round paper circle to cover up the end of the wire.

Back to the front of the butterfly.  I took the small rosette and hot glued it to the front of the butterfly.  Then I used some more of the pretty pink jeweled brads from the last project and added that on top of the rosette. When I cut the calla lilies for the centerpieces, I popped a couple of those butterflies in each of the vases to carry the theme through.

Imagine, Create, and Enjoy!

Chalkboard Hearts

It's A Girl! We were very excited when we found out that we were having a new granddaughter!  We found out back before Christmas and have been eagerly anticipating the coming of little Laila Olivia.

When we knew we were having a baby shower here, I went looking for some unconventional ways to display the news in the decorations. Everyone of course knew it was a girl, and I wanted a unique way to display that.  While in Michael's I found these cute little chalkboard hearts.

The hearts were plain chalkboard hearts with no embellishment.  I painted the dowels with the white frosty paint used on the butterfly wands.
I decided to use some pink glittery letters I had in my stash to spell out the sentiment.  I then added some hot pink glitter all around the edges of the heart and let them dry.  Finally I sealed them with a high gloss sealer and then to finish them up I decided to wrap the sticks attached to the hearts with some pretty pink flowery ribbon from my stash.  I glued it all the way down the sticks wrapping with a nice even spacing.

I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to use them at the shower but when we decided to put the diaper cake on the gift table, it was natural to just pop them into the top of the diaper cake!  See you soon!  Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Butterfly Fairy Wands!

My late friend Jayne was a wonderfully creative person who was inspired by the most unusual things and made some really beautiful and unique paper pieces. One of the things she had made was a decorative item for her niece's baby shower, shown here.  It is a butterfly fairy wand!  She had a butterfly die she used to create the base for the wand using some chipboard which she then covered in scrapbook paper on both sides.  Once she did that she cut some rosettes with the Tim Holtz rosette die. This die has two sizes of rosettes, pre-scored so all you do is cut with your Sizzix or Vagabond and then crease and glue together.  The die even has a circle to cover your glued spot in the middle of the rosette.  She put one rosette on each side of the butterfly.  Before she affixed the larger of the rosettes, she painted the stick a silver color and then wrapped it in some ribbon we found in the dollar bin on one of our craft shopping lunches.  She also backed the larger rosette with some of the ribbon and added some ribbon tendrils.

I loved the idea and have used it as inspiration to create my own set of fairy wands for Laila Olivia's baby shower.  The butterfly die I have is a little different in that it is more solid with only a couple of cut outs on each wing.  I decided to go with a (what else) heavy, pink glitter card stock for my butterflies. Liking Jayne's original idea of rosettes I did a reverse to her design and made the rosettes larger than the butterfly by using my Cricut and the Ribbons and Rosettes cartridge and cut these large rosettes with a small heart border. I then cut the smaller rosettes with the Tim Holtz die and used the smaller one on the front of the butterfly.

For the wand portion I used pre-cut dowels in 12 inch lengths you can purchase at any craft store.  I then painted them in a pearly white paint I had leftover from my "Grandkids" project.  I then grabbed a number of different rolls of ribbon from my stash...mostly pinks and browns, some I had also picked up to match the polka dot theme we had going on the cake ribbon and started cutting different lengths.  I hot glued 5 of these differing lengths to a small 3" strip of ribbon and set aside.  Once the paint on the wands was dry I wrapped each wand from top to bottom in a variety of ribbon allowing some of the pearly paint to show through.  


Next I hot glued the ribbon band to the back of the butterfly and then hot glued the wand on the back as well.  Once dry, I hot glued this piece to the large rosette and let them set.  I had picked up some brads, a variety pack of approximately 3/4" size in two shades of pink.  I took the brads and snipped off the prongs on the back with my wire cutters and then hot glued the brad to the top of the small finished rosette.  The brad became the center of each rosette.  Finally I hot glued the rosettes on to the front of the butterflies.


Here is a close up of my finished "Fairy Wands."  I made enough to use as part of the decorations at the shower and once the shower was over my daughter-in-law kept some for Laila's nursery and the rest were given to their nieces who attended the shower.  I'm very proud of my little creation!  They were fun to make and share at the shower.

Go on, Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Diaper Cake -- Round Two!

When I made my first diaper cake last year, an order was placed for the future from my then daughter-in-law to be, for a diaper cake whenever they decided to have a baby!  In fact she asked how I was going to be able to ship it out to them in Indiana!  Well, we didn't have to ship one out to them because they came to California to visit us before little Laila Olivia is born.  Dana, like many of us, loves to peruse Pinterest for ideas.  She had found this idea for a diaper cake and I set about trying my best to recreate it.

Here is a shot of the finished cake.  I changed the idea shown above in the following ways.  I chose to use some hot pink sparkly mesh ribbon as the base on each of the layers and then added the corresponding leopard print or brown and white polka dots ribbons.  I hot glued them on to the mesh and then wrapped that around each layer hot gluing it in the back to give it a finished look.  For the layers I used different sizes of diapers. For the top layer I used newborn diapers, for the middle layer I used size 2 diapers and for the bottom layer I used size 4.  I used the leftover newborn diapers in the center of the bottom layer to finish it out.  I took cake boards and cut circles out of some butterfly scrapbook papers from Susan Winget and KandCompany and covered the boards with that.

The little leopard print slippers I had found at Wal-Mart before I'd seen the cake idea, so they matched perfectly with the ribbon I was able to find at Hobby Lobby. I set those on the sides of the bottom layer.  In addition to the leopard slippers I also found a pair of pink sparkly shoes to set on top along with the pink butterfly headband shown here.  The original idea had a big bow on the top but I liked the idea of the shoes instead.  Can never have to much bling as far as I'm concerned.


I picked the scroll alphabet letter L for the front and thought briefly of painting it a different color but stuck with the white.  I tied it on to the second layer ribbon with a matching piece of thin ribbon threaded through the mesh.  Additionally, I found some soft baby spoons, some baby washcloths, some hair barrettes, some little girls socks, and a couple of pacifiers with little flowers on the buttons. All in different hues of pink!


It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of the things I made for the shower, but I do think this cake turned out even better than what I had anticipated.  Of course any chance to buy pink girly things I'm totally on board with cuz there need to be more girls in my family!  Current count is 6 grand kids, 5 boys and 1 girl, so the upcoming birth of Laila is greatly anticipated!  Grandma and Grandpa need some more girls to spoil!

More fun projects to come, including how I dressed up the little hearts on top of the diaper cake shown here in this last picture.  Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Another grandbaby!

We are expecting our seventh grandchild.  Yes, you read that right seventh!  Our oldest son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first child.

She is due in early May...I'm personally holding out for my birthday...other family and friends want her born on their birthday's, so we'll see if she accommodates any of us or just comes on her own terms!!! I'm inclined to think that is what will happen (smile)!  The kids decided they wanted to come home before their little bundle of joy arrives and so while they were home we (both families) hosted a baby shower for them.

In anticipation of the birth of our newest granddaughter, I wanted to make some pretty girly decorations for the shower.  Additionally, my daughter-in-law peruses Pinterest just like many of us and had found some cute ideas for different baby shower games and activities. I was able to gather the materials from the local craft stores and we were able to have a little hair band creation activity at the shower as well as the rest of the games and fun.

The day for the shower turned out to be a beautiful Northern California spring day with sunshine and warm weather, so the outdoor festivities went off without a hitch.  I'll be posting a few of the projects I did for the shower over the next few days.  Little Laila was well loved in advance of her upcoming birth.  Come back and check out some of the special things I made for her!

See you soon!  Imagine, Create, Enjoy!

Recycled Baby Food Cups

I have frequently admired other crafter's ability to use recycled materials and the ingenuity they show in some of the projects they make.  While this little project is not extremely unique, it is a cute little use for those small plastic baby food containers.  They are the ones that have replaced the old-fashioned baby food jars we used when our children were small.  I had washed out a few from when my grandson was visiting and hung on to them for one of these type of projects.

I wanted to include some sweet treats in the Christmas packages I was mailing and these turned out to be the perfect size.  I also was able to use up some scraps of Christmas papers I had laying around.  Love it when I can upcycle and use up scraps from other projects.  I found enough matching scraps to create a band to go around the base of the container and the cut a smaller piece to go on the top of the lid.  I cut it to size and then rounded the corners to fit the lid perfectly.

I added the holiday M&M's to each and tucked them in with my other gifts and off they went. Another project checked off my list!

Once again, Imagine Create, Enjoy!!

Christmas Journal

I have a Christmas Journal that I either bought or received many years ago when my children were small.  The idea behind them...to write down your favorite family Christmas memories each year. Then you can look back each year and read the history of your family and see how things have progressed and changed. I wish I could say that I was one of those moms who religiously filled it out year after year; unfortunately, I never started the book.  I don't know why, the busyness of the holiday season, etc., etc., I really have no excuse! I thought though in my motherly wisdom that I might give one as a gift to my new daughter-in-law in hopes that as they start their new family, they will start writing in the journal each year to log how the years go by...the traditions they establish, the memories, the changes they go through, and that they are able to enjoy each year the journey back through the years to see where they've come from and look forward to where they are headed.  Maybe this year I'll start mine finally.

See you around!  Continue to Imagine, Create, and Enjoy!