let freedom ring

Here's my latest holiday banner. I just LOVE how it turned out. I think red, white, and blue, can look tacky, or really great. And I think this looks really great. I love the balance between old charm, like the twine and nautical paper, with the fancy, like the glitter and crystals.


With left over paper I always like to make an "insect" art. I found this frame at my mother-in-law's house. It was gold leafed and very out of date, but I just love the details of it.

I made this Uncle Sam back in my college days when I was trying to raise money to go on an LDS church history trip with my parents and brother. I still love him to this day, and if you know me and want one, let me know, my mom just made some more for a craft open house.

I also made these firecrackers then too. I have changed out the raffia I originally tied them with for twine. It was a nice refresher.

patriotic printables

One of my favorite holidays is the 4th of July. I am already getting into the spirit of things. It always kicks off around this time, Memorial day. Then comes flag day, then the fourth.
I love all the flags that appear on the homes on my street. It is just so warming to relfect on what our country was founded for.
Here are a few printables to frame and display.

Just click on the pictures.

drawer doll house

My niece and her family were in town for a quick trip. While here we were able to celebrate her birthday with her. I found out she didn't have a little play house, so I had an idea that was inspired by this doll house.






I love how it turned out. I painted the little wood people to be her family. I divided the drawers in half with chip board. The paper is all just mod-podged in. To keep the drawers upright when playing with them I added velcro to the bottoms/backs and some on the drawer case. It works pretty well....and the best thing about it is that you can store all the pieces inside of it so they don't get lost and it's easy transport.

folder tutorial

To make your own custom paper folder choose your color/print paper in a 12x12. This will fit 8.5x11 paper that is landscape and cut in half, or anything smaller.
Take your piece of paper.

Fold your paper in half.

Open it back up.

Fold the bottom up anywhere from 2 1/2 to 3 inches, but no more than 3.

Fold the bottom back down to prepare to glue.

Just a thin strip of cool glue on each end. (I use cool glue because it dries quicker and doesn't smoosh so much.)

Right after applying the glue to both sides fold the bottom back up and hold until dry.

Insert your papers. In this case I put all the game papers on one side and the advice cards on the other for my baby shower.

Then tie it closed with something cute. You can write something on it if you want to personalize each one, or leave it blank.

girly baby shower

We had a great shower for my sister-in-law this week. It has been a long time coming. I have been doing a lot to have it be the best shower ever. My other sister-in-law hosted it, my mom did the food, and I decorated and did the games.
It turned out great. Her mom was able to be there and then we just had our family there. It was very intimate and fun. The food was great. My mom of course made the cutest treats.
We got this idea from a blog that had done it in blue for a boy. We of course had to have a rubber duckie punch that was pink!

Cupcake rattles with lollipop sicks and gumdrops.

Marshmallow booties with paper cups of mints.

Toast bibs with cheese, meat and garnishes.

I love decorating for parties. I went over early that morning so that it would be ready for that evening. It was fun to set up and see where things would look good. I even brought my laptop and had a slide show of the pictures I had taken of the baby's nursery so that everyone could see what a great job she had done making it all.




I made cute pink clothes pins for the "cute" game. And I had great prizes for each winner. It was a great motivator.
I made these cute little game folders for each person with the game card in them.
We played:
Clothes Pin "cute" Game
Guess her Belly with Yarn
How many Kisses in the Jar
The Tray Game
Baby ABC's
Baby Word Scramble
Nursery Rhyme Time
We all had a great time playing the games.


We also filled out "Words of Wisdom" for her and gathered them for her to keep. It was fun to be able to each tell her at least one thing we had learned and would want to pass on.
I made her a diaper cake, a "baby sleeping" sign, and a hooded towel. It was the first time I had made a diaper cake and the sign, but I think they turned out SOOO good. The towels are something I have done for a while now. I have them for my kids and they are the best.

presley's nursery

I have been having a lot of fun helping my sister-in-law get ready for her little one. She was inspired by Chloe's Room and so we went shopping for fabric that spoke to her and got started. It has been a lot of fun to help here and there as she has learned to sew. She has done an amazing job on her room. Presley is one lucky littl girl!










She got so good at sewing and doing it all herself she came up with these adorable little ties for her curtains. What a great idea of how to incorporate a splash of your theme fabric on store curtains to save money. Genius! :)