Tile Coasters

I had an afternoon to come up with a housewarming gift for someone I barely knew. I had no idea what this person's decorating style, color palette or needs were. So, I went to Cricut! Doesn't everyone love what comes from the Cricut? Here's what I came up with!

These coasters started out as plain stone tiles purchased loosely from home Depot. There was a set of 9 in the box and I paid less than $4 for the box. I made a set of 4. This will leave me with enough tiles to make a second gift at another time.

To get started, I washed my stones off as I have found that when I have worked with natural stones, as opposed to ceramic tiles, there is a lot more dust that interfere with the adhering of the vinyl. I cut my "H" at 3" from the Opposites Attract cart. After placing the vinyl, I covered it with a layer of Modge Podge. Finally, I put these clear nubbies on the bottom. The nubbies are actually designed and sold for the purpose of keeping cabinet doors from slamming. All in all, I have $5 tied up in this project.

The best part: When my hostess received her gift, she was thrilled. Their new home is much larger, and they had just bought a new table for a new sitting area, but were in need of coasters. She was thrilled. So was I.

Multi-fold cards

These cards were actually timely (end of school and Father's Day). I'm just really late posting pics of them. I found the directions online for the "Teacher" one. The back was exactly the size I needed for a gift card. I loved the way the card folding hid some of the words and paper. Using this concept, I came up with the pull down card for Father's Day. From there, I needed a Thank You card, so I substituted picstures into the squares. The card was so stinking cute!

Hello, Mudder! Hello, Fadder!

Here I am at Camp Scrapbooking. (Do you have the snappy little tune stuck in your head yet?) Thank goodness because it was virtual camp, I didn't have any rain, alligators in the pool, or lost comrades, as the song suggests.

Here's how it worked. Each day, camp "counselors" would post entries with scrapbooking challenges, design ideas, photography pointers, etc. They also posted camp food recipes. There were a total of 10 different badges up for grabs by completing the suggested activities. Because my family was so good to let me have some time each day, I was able to get all 10 Camp CK Merit Badges (virtual badges I was able to post in my signature line on the website that hosted camp).

So, here is a sampling of the projects completed from last week's camp. The photo of the flowers was from a photography challenge. The Chip n Dale was for the 1st Aid badge - this layout was in need of some 1st aid to punch it up a little bit. The orange layout is from a "nature-inspired" layout challenge. The key ring photo album is Spencer's and features the places we went on vacation. He helped w/ the stickering. Now he'll be able to take it to school and show & tell about what he did this summer.

Anyways, look for CAMP CK again next year and sign up with me!

Don't burst my bubble!

Claire's birthday was the middle of the month of May. Our month was so busy we had to cancel a few things just to find time to have a party for her!

When we first moved to this house 4 years ago, I painted her room this yellow with a small section over by the windows the bubble gum pink. We decorated in Dora, but Dora was quickly outgrown. For the last 2 years I have been wanting to find a theme that would fit my decidedly less-than-frilly girl, but wouldn't require repainting. She adores Bobby Jack so this was a perfect fit for both of us.

I used vinyl in a teal, chocolate brown, golden, and bubble gum pink to create the wall decor. Obviously, the lettering and bubbles were simple cuts on the cricut. Bobby himself is made from circles and ovals as well. The only thing hand cut are his eyes and nose. But even the eyeballs were simple circular cuts. The lettering of the Bobby Jack signature came from the Opposites Attract cartridge. The caption lettering came from the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge, along with all the ovals and circles. I used the monkey on the comforter as my pattern. By employing some algebra, I was able to keep my ratios the same when I enlarged it onto the wall.

I had a lot of fun with this quick project. It took me about 4 hours to complete. Not a bad time investment to get a one-of-a-kind look!

A Whole Lotta' Sewing Goin' On!

I made the girl's flower girl dresses for a wedding this weekend. Of course, their American Girls needed matching dresses from the fabric remnants! The pails that I posted a couple of weeks ago are also from the same fabric as the sashes. There's nothing better than feeling like a Princess in a beautiful dress. And having your dolly match is the icing on the cake!

Wedding Tile

May is by far much busier than December ever thought of being! To add to an already full calendar, I have been getting ready for a friend's wedding that the whole family was asked to be a part of. So while I have actually been doing a lot of crafting and sewing, I've not had a chance to post any of it.

As the maid of honor for the wedding, I had to prepare a toast. Being the chatty one that I am, I made sure I wrote out my speech beforehand in order to keep the toast short. As part of the speech before the toast, I had a bible verse that I felt was particularly applicable to this couple. I used the Cricut to cut the verse from vinyl, along with the couples name and wedding date. I have learned that I must modge podge over the tiles or else the vinyl letters lift with time. This particular font was the "upright" from the "Opposites Attract" cartridge. On the back I tried something new. I modge-podged on a sheet of scrapbook paper to cover up the ugly back. Then I printed out a copy of the speech/toast to put on the back as well. I loved the way doing both sides of the tile turned out. I think the bride could even flip the tile over to the back and display that side if she ever wanted. Much better than the plain ugly back or adding just felt or cork!

Candles and flower Pails

I have been very busy with too many things to mention over the last month. But I wanted to take a moment to post a set of candles I was asked to make for one of my daughter's girl scout troop. The words come from the Girl Scout Law. There are 10 candles, each one containing a part of the Law. The girls used the candles as part of their Investiture and Rededication Ceremony. I cut Cricut letters from vinyl, used the transfer tape and lit the candle. Nothing complicated, but very unique!

I have also been helping a friend get ready for her wedding at the end of the month. I included a picture of the flower girl pails. These started as galvanized metal buckets with wood colored handles. Gotta' love spray paint, fabric and hot glue!