Remembrance Packet

Our society and lifestyles have lead us to often times live even

hundreds of miles away from our families. Gratefully there are many ways

for us to keep the family updated and connected such a social media and

other types of amazing technology such as Skype. However, these tools

are not a complete replacement for missed family events or face to face contacts.

 

This past January my family suffered the great loss of my second born Son. Due

to the unexpected nature of this event and for other reasons, neither one of my

parents were able to attend his funeral.

 

Being a mother of a baby not known intimately by his extended family nor by

the world is an experience unlike any other. However, some things are the

same as giving birth to a surviving child.  Just like with my first born, I wanted

desperately to share my son with the world. Share how very special he is. I

wanted my parents, and the rest of my family to know him as I do, LOVE him

as I do. So, I set to work on a “remembrance package”.

 

1) I took a 12x12 piece of card stock and folded it into an open end envelope

with the top overlapping the bottom by about an inch.

2) Out of contrasting card stock I punched two circular discs

for the enclosure piece.

3) I then lined up the circle to the bottom, middle portion of the

top flap of the envelope and hole punched though both pieces creating

a single hole. (as seen below)  

 

4) I then paced an eyelet in the created hole. (found in

the scrapbooking/paper crafting supplies)

 

 

5) I Repeated the process for the bottom portion of the envelope,

taking care to leave at least a 1/4 in. gap between the top and

bottom circles .

6) I then tied/anchored one end of a  long ribbon say about

8-10 in. to the top circle. ( The ribbon and knot behind the

circle and around the eyelet NOT through the eyelet)

This allowed me to close my envelope by winding the

ribbon in a figure eight pattern between the two discs,

closing the envelope in a very “Old English” kind of way.

 

 

7) I printed simple/respectful sticker labels for the front

of each envelope.

“In Remembrance of Brennan James McCarroll”

 

8) I enclosed the following:

*one copy of each of the talks given at the funeral

*one copy of the program used at the funeral

*one small, inexpensive photo book which included

photos of the flowers, his hands and his feet (taken by

professionals in the hospital) the location of the cemetery,

and copies of several quotes and poems that I found

comforting.

 

This was not only helpful for them to help make up for not

being able to attend the funeral, but it was also therapeutic

for me as well. 

 

This idea does not have to be associated with such a sad occasion.

There are graduations, weddings, births and reunions missed by

family members all the time! This is a simple and inexpensive way

to include those who are unable to travel or miss out for any reason,

a family event.

What ideas do you have that you could place in such a memento?

 

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Simple trash to treasure

I LOVE taking what appears to be junk and turning

it into something fabulous! My husband loves the

results but hates to participate in the “finding” of

such treasures! We drove past this beauty nearly

twenty times over a span of two weeks and every

time we passed it I drooled, and every time my

hubby stepped on the gas. Well, I finally found

myself driving on my own one day and I scored!

I felt triumphant! Then it sat on the back porch all

winter long. See, here in Flag I am restricted by

season as to when I can paint.

 

{ Insert your imagination Here}

 

This is where I was supposed to but the glorious pre-

picture of my “trash” It was great! A dirty white  wicker

frame with a splash of blue stain across one side.

Can you picture it? Pretty trashy right. Okay, I will

explain. I have been going through a lot of emotional

turmoil the last six months and well, I have somehow

lost my picture along with my mind. So use your imagination

and enjoy the following post-pics. they are good too.

It just looses it’s “wow” factor without the before photo. Sorry folks.

 

The phrase is from one of my favorite songs I sing to my son.

It makes a big statement on a very blank wall of our home.

With it’s size I think I may add more fabric flowers to it so that

it balances out more.

I made the two roses by rolling old rick-rack around itself, and

the larger flower was from the sleeves of an old sweater!

The frame was from what looked like an old vanity. Between

paint and the thin fiber board for the back this project

cost me around 6 bucks! Can’t beat that!

 

Oh BTW, the flowers are removable! I attached wire to the

back of the flowers and then wedged the “stem” in the frame.

This way I have the option of changing the accents by the season.

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Dollar Store gift basket

Chili- Cook Off Prize

My husband was assigned to spend no more than

ten dollars for a prize for the Hottest Chili at

our church chili cook-off. Well…

he asked for help and I jumped on it!

Nearly all  contents from the dollar store.

 

*buffalo wing flavored chips

* Red chili pepper flakes

*Jar of sliced Jalpenos

*Tapatio taco sauce

* Dried, whole red peppers

*Strike anywhere matches

*Red slotted spoon

*red and white dish cloth

all composed in a red bucket and

nestled in red and yellow tissue-flames!

To top it off, I made a paper crafted wheel

labeled of course : HOT!

All for $10.00

Never underestimate the power

of the dollar store!

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Race Car Themed Room!

Hello Everyone,

Part of my New Years Resolutions is to work more diligently on my blog. As some of you

may have noticed, I have not been posting for several months. I found a teaching position

in the nick of time and shortly after I found out I was expecting! Although they are both 

huge blessings these two things put me in a state of high anxiety and consumed the

majority of my time the last few months. (My pregnancy is High Risk and my class has

been extremely challenging to say the least.)However, I am excited to find a new rhythm

and a stock pile of great posts to launch 2012 with! So I figured, why not start with a

big project first!

 With the baby coming, and discovering that we would need to switch out the rooms to

accommodate a nursery I went to work on making the room transition exciting and

remarkable for Aiden. This way he would feel special and not feel pushed out.

 

It has not been a secret that my son has been almost obsessed with cars/vehicles of

ANY kind so, I had my theme, that was easy… Cars! The two challenges were budget

and the fact that we are in a rental.The color of the room was white, and very dingy…

luckily our landlords offered to pay for paint if they pre-approved the colors. Naturally,

we had to go with neutrals. However, this is not too much of a compromise since neutrals

work with many color pallets.

The pennant banner material was  purchased and started for his Birthday in September

but I just finished them this week. I had extra material left over and made the Checker-

flag Valance. He got the Stop-light bank for Christmas. (Knowing our budget was

tight, we picked things that would work for Christmas and his room transition.) He

LOVES it! His Aunt made the red and blue afghan to match and the car blanket

at the foot was from his room before. The bedding and bed was already red and blue so

to save money we kept the same color scheme.

 

Aiden was extremely excited to use his “letters” in his new room. These were previously

used in his nursery and had yellow and green ribbon around the edges. I removed the

ribbon and found this old elastic belt in my odds and ends craft box that worked perfectly

as a backdrop to glue the letters to! the colors and design worked perfectly I think, as it

looks like a road! He has been fascinated with clocks since he was 18 mo. or so. Getting a

Cars themed clock was a no-brainer when it came to Christmas this year! The wall

clings came with the clock so homerun on a free and removable room décor helper!

The picture you see was colored by Aiden’s cousin as a gift. It added a great personal

touch to the room.

 

The red and blue wall plaque was a very inexpensive project made over the summer.

I considered  re-painting the lamp and the orange book case but I felt it added a bit

of “umph” and went quite well with the cars theme. Not to mention it kept the budget

pretty low. I had left over fabric from the pennant banner to recover the lamp shade

that helped to tie it all in. He loved the “new lamp” so much he literally squealed in

delight! I used his own toy cars to help drive the theme such as the remote control race

car on top of the bookcase and I reused the wall pictures that I had in his old room

to complete this room. They were cheaply made from a combination of cork tiles,

scrapbook paper, and pre-painted wooden vehicles. Several months ago I also picked up

the cars coat hanger on clearance for less than 5 bucks!

 

Tips to consider when on a budget…

*Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose.. ALL that you can.

*Choose a theme that you love!

*Go with solids on sheet sets so that in does not interfere with theme. (it is easier and

less expensive to recover throw pillows and throw blankets than it is to change an

entire bedding set!)

*Pick colors that can be used again as they grow or are easily added to, to make different.

* Check your scraps before shopping for new, you never know what can suddenly be a

great inspiration!

* mix it up, do not commit to a brand (such as Disney only) when committing to a brand

you limit your options on budget and in my opinion is too confining in style. For example,

I sprinkled Disney Pixar Cars throughout, but as he grows and his taste changes, I could

switch those items with Chevy, for example, with little added cost to me.

Things I would like to add:

*recover pillows with scrap material from pennant banner.

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Baby girl baby gifts

Simple but cute!

One of my oldest and dearest friends

recently had a beautiful baby girl and

I wanted to make something very pink and

unique!

The green headband was made from extra

bias tape I had. and the pink poka-dot flowers

were made from scrap fabric too!

The flowers are all removable for easy washing too!

Happy Birthday Mindy!

 

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Shower Curtain Up-cycle

Shower Me with Savings!

Just in case you haven’t noticed yet,  

I am not one to spend my money carelessly.

If I can find a way to make it for less I will.

When I went to buy a shower curtain I was thrown

into classic sticker shock! There was no way I was

going to pay 30 dollars for a curtain that hangs near

the facilities, and where my pigpen of a boy cleans up

after a hard day of play. Nope, not me, and not $30.00.

After many shopping trips and coupon clipping I

gave up an went the route of DIY!

Boring Hotel-Style Basic Shower Curtain

$10.00

Now, I have learned the hard way that for some projects, pinning

is a MUST and for others, over-pinning is IMPERATIVE!

To my dismay, the curtain was not straight to begin with

and the polyester was very slick to sew on. It took a lot of patience.

I had to pin and measure each ribbon and sew them one at a time.

Then, begin the process over, measuring from the last  stripes

placement.

Trendy Ribbon: $4.00

Uniquely designed, custom shower curtain

for only $14.00 = Awesomeness!

A 50% Savings…

I leave you triumphant!

Linked up: *Before&After Party   *Made by You Mondays

Just Something I whipped up Monday

Making the world cuter Monday   Market yourself Monday

Motivate Me Monday  Craft 

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Cano Sedona Wedding Centerpieces

 

This was by far the most beautiful wedding

I have ever been to. And I had the

privilege of putting together their

centerpieces!

 

The Venue: Tlaquepaque, Sedona AZ

Colors: Black & White w/ Red accents

The time of year: September

 

The Japanese Mitsumata Branches arrive straight.

They are very light weight and come bleached white.

They are extremely pliable after a good soak in water.

The image above shows the branches after they were

shaped. My front room looked like a circus for a month!

Getting them to the venue was a challenge I did not

first anticipate! But thanks to my ingenious husband,

who built this temporary frame the branches arrived

intact and undamaged.  

 

The set up process was all a matter of timing. And it was tight. We had to

put all of them together and placed on the tables.

I placed submersible lights in the glass vase with the glass beads to

let the red accents shine. The tea lights were battery operated and

had the flicker feature to make it twinkle.

The tea lights were in fluted votive holders and hung with fine

wire so that it gives an illusion of floating candle in the dark.

 

What a beautiful and perfect night for

a perfect couple. May they celebrate each

and every year!

 

Linked to: I Heart Naptime and Six Sisters Stuff

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Car Wall Plaque

      From Trash Table top… to Toddler Terrific!

I have had this simple MDF table top disc for several years now.

I did in fact use it as a table top back when those inexpensive

three legged tables were popular.

 

 

 

It has been hard living in rental homes the last year and a half.

I had the perfect nursery to bring Aiden home to, decorated

exactly how I wanted it. The only room I have ever finished.

However, I still have the desire to make my sons room special

no matter where we live. This is tricky since we are limited by

rental rules, and of course, as always, a small budget.

 

I took stole my design from a flannel throw that I

bought and put together for Aiden last year at Christmas.

 

  

 

I chose similar colors and painted each layer one on top of the

other giving them a couple of hours in between to dry.

To make the car I chose a car style off the blanket and

hand drew the shape on a piece of printer paper to

create a template/ stencil.

 

 

Finally I purchased wood letters and painted them to

create the message!

 

I then attached a picture hanger to the back of the disk

ready to be hung up.

( MDF is heavy material so make sure you use an anchor 

and screw when hanging to insure that it is safe for a child’s room.)

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First Vinyl Project

A Final –Vinyl Thank You!

My son was celebrating his last Day of Preschool

and I wanted to give his teacher something special.

She has been amazing and has taught him so much in

just five months! Anyway, I have been cleaning my

classroom for the big final move and ran across this

very nice glass jar and my crafty wheels started turning.

I have been dying to try something with vinyl for awhile

but I needed to start with something small first.

This was the perfect opportunity to try it.

 

I purchased black since vinyl was, to my surprise,

very expensive, and it would be the most versatile.

I used my sisters Cricket Machine to

cut the lettering and the design for the top.

Now, don’t laugh but yes those

are store bought Oreo cookies; a new flavor for

the summer called Berry-“something”…

Sorry I forgot to write it down.

I picked them for the color and for the convenience

as I only had one night to get this project done!

Anyway, here is an aerial view (haha) of the top

design I placed on the lid. I loved the end result!

I see vinyl in my future!

I hot glued the ribbon and flower embellishment.

Now, I want one! (said with a slight whine)

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Crafty Teachers Party!

The School, the school is on fire!

So my friend Karen went to the Women’s Expo

a couple of weekends ago and was admiring some

flower accessories that several people were sporting 

and/ or selling.  Someone tipped her off that I have

been making my own and long story short it turned

into a make shift craft day! So many cute ideas with

such a simple project. Check it out!

 

Take a look at what we did in just 2 hours!

 

 

 

 

Thanks Karen for such a fun Suggestion!

I would love to do it again sometime!

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Fire Flower Embellishments!

From Plain Dress to Fashion Success!

 

So a few months back I was in search of two things. A project and a way

to update my wardrobe. I found both on my friend Jamielyn’s blog:

 I Heart Naptime

I stumbled upon a fantastic tutorial on her site for what she calls

Fire Flowers! These beauties are simple to make and so very versatile!

I have also been admiring the fashions at the store Down East Basics

but sadly they do not carry my size. So Jamielyn’s blog gave me a

way to satisfy both needs at once! (lil’ Fun and Fashion.)

Take a look at what I was able to do with two basic and very

inexpensive dresses and some scrap material!

Before :

 

I picked up the dresses for $15.00 each.

They were quite boring as they were!

After:

I then added the flowers and a few accessories!

I shopped Ross and TJ Max for the cardigans

For about 10.00 each!

I got two Down East Basic Nock-offs for as little as $75.00

(including accessories!)

 

 

QUICK TIP!

When looking for a specific piece for an outfit don’t close

your mind to alteration possibilities. I found this very ugly top

and nearly passed it up… for good reason…

 

 

Yuck! Right?

Then I realized that all I had to do is cut or seam rip

the ugly insert out of the sweater and I would have the cardigan I was seeking!

Had I passed it up, I would have spent $20.00 more for a

very similar cardigan unnecessarily!

 

 

So, How did I do? Make a comment or two!

(CP ladies please comment below not on FB Thanks!)

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Shabby Chic Centerpieces

Mom’s 70th Birthday Party Décor

My Mom has always been a fan of all things with ribbons, lace,

flowers and pearls! She also likes to read and drinks a lot of tea and

coffee So for her 70th Birthday party my self and

my two sisters came up with these retro-shabby chic pieces that brought

just the right amount of elegance and femininity to her special day.

 

We spent a couple of weekends shopping at second hand stores for the

floral tea cups and saucers. I also bought every strand of pearls we could

find for a reasonable cost.

 

… I am nothing if not resourceful. I was able to borrow several well

aged books from my in-laws collection that went beautifully with our

theme and color scheme. In this pic you can see that I embellished a

standard tea bag with a simple satin ribbon and rosette.

 

 

We used decorative place card holders to mark it as the 70th year.

We embellished each of these cards with diamond accents to give

it some festive sparkle. Teaspoons and old lacy or floral hanker-

chiefs completed the look!

 

                Take a look at our gift table to match!

   

                              Open Box for cards, Floral pens for sign in book, and a

                               Victorian shoe for the money tree!

                                                          

My Aunt makes professional cakes so I sent her a picture of my

prototype of the centerpieces and added that my mom is also known

for her quilting. These are the amazing cakes she came up with. they

were displayed in the center of the room as the focal point and all I can

say is…. WOW! and Thank you to Cakes by Unique Design!

 

                         

                                                                               

                                                             

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