2015: The Year I Put My Thoughts Into Actions

I have all these grand ideas in my head, things I can make, things I can create, and boo hoo I get to the end of the year and all those things are still in my head.  Well this year I'm making a commitment to myself to produce at least one thing a month.  I mean how hard can it be.  There are creative people all around me always making stuff and churning it out at a crazy fast rate.  

To start the kids school year back in a good way, I've created these morning routine charts.  They know they need to get these things done each morning, but goodness they just can't seem to get every item every time.  This morning was our first try and it really did help M get through everything quickly and efficiently.  C has preteen boy angst going on, so he really wasn't impressed with the chart.

As they complete a task, they can flip the "Done" side up.

I created everything in Photoshop and then glued it all to a file folder.  After I ran it through my laminating machine, I added the magnets.  However, these strip magnets aren't very strong, so I may be replacing it with Velcro.  My original intention was to hang them on the wall, either in their room or bathroom.  I'm rethinking that idea, because the chart covers both things they need to do upstairs and downstairs.  M carried hers around this morning, flipping each item as she completed it.  By leaving it loose, I realize that is an invitation for it to get lost.  Possibly I can place a pocket on the wall to slip it into, or Velcro on the back to stick it to the wall.  I'll play with some ideas and update the blog when I decide what works for us.  

Maggie says I forgot to include her ever important stuffed animal, however, I explained that's a nighttime chore.

Sorry I can't get Cameron's to flip correctly on the blog, but you get the idea.

If you think your family would benefit from a chart like this, I'd be happy to provide you with the file so you can create your own file folder morning routine chart.

Scrapbook Retreat - Fall 2010

Our scrapbook retreat at the beginning of October yielded quite a few pages from our entire group. We took some pics of them going up the stairs - over 100 pages completed by our 6 retreaters.

There were some pages that I'd been thinking about in my head and sketching out before I went. I'd been wanting to do a page about Father & Son, to show their love and awe for each other. The week of the retreat I heard the song "Anything like Me" by Brad Paisley and I just knew that the words from that song were a perfect example of Chris & Cameron's relationship - at least in my eyes. Well, in my MIL's, eyes as well since she's been telling us for quite a while now that Chris has the unique opportunity to watch himself grow up because Cameron does so many things just like Chris did at the same age. The line in the song that says "It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my payback if he's anything like me," just went so well. And I agree with the last line especially, "And he'll be alright if he's anything like me." I think Chris has turned out just great, so I think Cam will do just fine too.

I also wanted to accomplish name pages on this retreat. I wasn't so sure on what the pages were going to look like, more I was interested in what I was going to write on these pages. Both kids have been given special family names. Cameron's middle name of Doyle has been handed down for 4 generations to the first born males in the Jones family.

Maggie's name is special to both sides of our family and I really wanted to capture that on paper for her to read and understand one day. Not only is my grandmother a Margaret "Peggy", Chris' great-grandmother on his dad's side is a Maggie. We also found out, during the naming process that his great-great grandmother (I think that's how many) on his mom's side was a Margaret too.

It's always interesting to me to see how people come up with their children's names, and so often today it seems there is a challenge to come up with the most "creative" spellings as well. Chris and I both feel strong ties to our families and really wanted names for both kids that were strong so they could be lawyers and doctors if they want to, or simple enough that they can be teachers (simple names are easier for little kids to say) or preachers (hehe! I'm rhyming now). Margaret Olivia is a mouthful, but that's why a shorter version of Maggie is perfect for a little girl.

I really felt accomplished at the end of the retreat this month. I was able to complete pages that I'd been thinking about in my head for a while now. It felt so good to get those ideas out on paper and see them come to fruition.

I can't wait til our next go round in April!

Halloween Spirit

Since Chris hasn't pulled down my decorations for Halloween yet, I had to make a few things myself just so I know we are in the right season. I am not a fan of the Christmas stuff being out before we even get a chance to enjoy the haunted season.







My ideas come from some blog posts at one of my favorite blogs http://dollarstorecrafts.com/. They have some nifty ideas and links to other cool blogs that provide cool graphics, like the BOO in the first picture, or the outline for the witch in the second picture.

Teacher Gifts

So Chris says he thinks teacher gifts are silly, but I think they are a nice little way of saying "Thank you for making sure my kid gets an education and sorry if they are a bit spastic during the day." I taught at our MDO, trust me a nice little cup filled with chocolate goes a long way!

Anyhow, to end our summer and start our new year at MDO, I put together some garden themed (get it, planting seeds to help them grow) baskets and signs for the teachers. And the most "expensive" basket, filled, was only $10. It's just that I spent some extra time making everything match and look cute together.


I was able to score the cute garden basket including the tools for only $3 on clearance at Hobby Lobby. Most of the other items I picked up in the $1 spot at Target.

So I have to finish the package off with the little tag that says "Pom Poms - Because everyone needs their own cheering squad." I have googly eyes, foam letters, seeds, and some stickers that I covered with the same paper for a topper.
The idea below is from one of the CKC classes I took. You cover a post it note pad with cute paper, use a hair band to hold it all together and then tie some extra ribbon to finish it off. Super simple and I think it came out cute. Make sure to use double sided paper.


I'm proud of this one because I did not steal the idea from anyone, it was all my own this time. Anyway I picked up these mini cork boards up at The Container Store, there were 6 in the box. Then today I picked out one of my flower stamps, put paint on a paper plate, and stamped the corkboard. It just dresses it up a little, which I like.


Anyhow, these are the ideas I have for the beginning of the school year. I got some great ideas at CKC that I intend to use too - mummy wrapped Hershey's bars at Halloween, a picture frame calendar for the new year and more. I hope the teachers enjoy the extras!

CKC 2010

CKC was a whole new experience this year because it was moved to the Galleria. There were positive and negatives for this location change. A big plus was that the hotel and the convention area were all together, no lugging our supplies across blocks of the downtown area. However there was a disadvantage in that we did have to lug our stuff from across the garage, through the lobby, up the elevator, into our room, then back out of the room, down the elevator, across part of the mall, and then into the crop room. I really felt like I moved my stuff back and forth more this time, I'm not sure why.


Above is one of the layouts we did in the "I Dare You" class. I enjoyed this particular layout because I got to use Glimmer Mist for the first time. On white paper, we put down cardboard cut out stars and then sprayed the paper to a point where we added color and dimension with splatters. Then removed the cardboard pieces and let it dry. So the effect lets the white paper show thru in a star shape. Nifty stuff!


Here is my first completed project from the "Gifts Galore" class. I signed up for this class with the intent that I get new ideas for teacher's gifts for the year. I was pleased with most of the ideas, however the teacher did lack some of her own creativity (the ideas were lifted off the internet). I really prefer when the teacher takes the time to throw in her own flair to a project, not just regurgitate something she read somewhere.

Finally I'm super excited about this new book I won during one of the classes (sorry I didn't get it rotated right). Anyhow, retreat ladies watch out, I'm using this book to guide our BINGO! It's gonna be good!

Disney Ideas

With our Disney vacation coming up, Chris & I have been brainstorming on how to make some cool stuff for the kids to enjoy on our trip. He was able to find me an applique program for my machine of Minnie and Mickey to put on a few items.

Applique is not something I've tried before and I've learned over the weekend that it is something the requires quite a bit of precision. I should add, I'm not a precision person so it has really been a test of patience for me to try to figure this all out.

First idea, take a t-shirt and turn it into a dress (don't you remember mom doing that for you when you were a kid?). I did okay, however the shirt is huge on Maggie, so I'm going to have to make some adjustments to the width, and add a ribbon along the bottom to kind of finish it out. Below is a rough mock up of what we are going towards on the dress. Cam's shirt will be simple because I won't have to make any alterations, it'll just have the Mickey head and then I'll be done.

I decided to test Minnie on something less important, so I took a scrap piece of fabric, and appliqued Minnie. I was so flustered after applying Minnie that when I embroidered Maggie's name I totally forgot to use stabilizer. Then I took sewed here and there to turn the scrap fabric into a pillow case that is the perfect size for the plane ride.

The applique is not perfect, but I did not figure my first attempt would be. I learned quite a bit in that 5 hour process. And although I think the kids will like having their custom shirts, and I will be proud to have made the items for them, I will NOT be appliqueing in the future.

We are also working on new tie-dye shirts with a red, white and blue theme since we'll be in California right before the 4th of July. We'll make enough so we can all wear those.

Finally, for whatever reason, I've had trouble finding something cute for Maggie to wear when we are at Legoland. All the Lego shirts are too boyish. I wish I could find a Toy Story 3 Lego Jessie shirt for the girl. Not totally certain what I'm going to do about that one yet, so if you have ideas send them my way.

Obviously we are excited about this trip.

Mickey Shirts for the Lisa

Here are some of the new shirts I've been working on for our friend Lisa.