Organized Chaos...

Meet Lucy, the Goldendoodle

2012-01-18T16:52:00.000-06:00

I'm a Golden Girl...I love me some Golden Retrievers! I've had them since I can remember, starting with Lady Daffodil (Daffy), then Daisy, then Lilly, and then when I got married I got Duke (aka co-chairman of smelliness). Since losing Duke and Sammy (Pekingese), it's just been too quiet around here. At first I was excited that I didn't have hairballs around every corner. But a clean house is a boring house, right?!?! And that longing for a furry friend started tugging at my heart strings...

I did a little research and discovered a "breed" of dog called a Goldendoodle...part Golden Retriever and part Poodle. Honestly, I've never been a huge fan of poodles. But then again, I've never really known one either. :) I found a super sweet lady named Cynthia over at One Of A Kind Goldendoodles and picked her brain about them. After speaking with her and seeing the adorable images at her website, I was hooked!

Goldendoodles are basically wavy Golden Retrievers that don't shed. YIPPEEEEEE! The coat depends a lot on the breed of the mother (Cynthia only breeds her female Golden Retrievers to her male Poodle). And the size depends on the size of the parents, namely the Poodle. Cynthia only breeds a Standard Poodle, not the minis. And we love BIG dogs in our house!

We couldn't be more excited to be adding a new member to our family...of the furry type that is! Lucy Rose is about 5 weeks old and will be ready to come home in a few short weeks. Since birth, Cynthia has given us weekly updates and photos of our little cutie...can't wait to actually meet her n person!

Litter of Goldendoodle puppies, with mom Dolly...16 in all!

Christmas Photo:

2 weeks:

3 weeks:

4 weeks:

5 weeks:

Go check out the cute-patooties over at One Of A Kind Goldendoodles and fall in love yourself...I'm expecting her to look something like this full-grown:

Cute, right?! :)

Thirty Days of Thankfulness Tree

2011-11-03T10:03:00.000-05:00

A bunch of my friends are doing the "Thirty Days of Thankfulness" challenge, and I wanted to participate, too! This little project lets my whole family take part and my hope is that it will really help us concentrate on being thankful this month.

This project is super-simple and SUPER-cheap! I found a vase in my cabinet and filled with little pumpkin vase filler (Target $1 spot). I collected dead branches from the back yard and put them in the vase. And the rest was done with my Cricut and about 12 pieces of carstock! The banner was cut from the Wild Card cartridge at 15". I ran it through my printer to get the text and then inked the edges. The leaves were all cut from the Doodlecharms cartridge at 3 1/2' and 4". Each family member has a different color, and one leaf for each day of the month. I punched holes in the stems and used twine to make loops to hang them.

The tree is a little bare right now (we'll do day 3's leaves tonight at dinner), but just wait until the end of the month! I'll post a follow-up pic to show how beautiful our Fall Thankful Tree will be!

I'm thinking you could adapt this to work with different seasons or holidays activity...

1. Fall tree with colored leaves for Thanksgiving

2. Christmas tree with ornaments at Christmas

3. Eggs on tree for Easter

4. Hearts on tree for Valentines

5. Flowers on tree for Spring

Might have to get crackin' on the Christmas one!!!

Thanks for looking and have a creative day!

Pampered Chef "Apron" Invitation

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

My sweet friend, Colby, is having a Pampered Chef party later this month and asked if I would make her some "cooking" themed invitations to send out. Um, YEAH! She originally asked for a chef's hat, but I only had one image in all of my cartridges and it wouldn't have worked well. Soooooo, plan B was developed...an apron!

This apron is from the Country Life cartridge (LOVE!!!)...I cut the shadow at 5" in red cardstock. I cut the normal image at 5" in patterned paper and also in cream carstock (to mat on the reverse side with party details...not shown). To give the invites some dimension, I added plaid ribbon to the top of the apron and attached it with brads. I also added a paper flower and button, along with pockets that I hand drew stitching on to give them detail. To finish, I printed "You're Invited" onto cream cardstock, trimmed, and matted with blue cardstock, attaching it beneath the flower embellishment. These fit perfectly in a standard thank you-sized ennvelope.

Hope you like them, and thanks for looking! Have a creative day!!! :)

In Loving Memory...Round Two

2011-09-21T16:16:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a difficult six months this has been for my fur babies. We lost Duke, our Golden Retriever, 6 months ago to lymphoma. And this past Monday, we lost Sammy, our Pekingese, too.

Sammy was blind, possibly hard of hearing and his teeth were in bad shape, to the point that they were causing him pain and would need to be pulled. AND, he bit a very good friend that came over to visit. He wasn't always agressive, but given his health, we assume he was becoming increasingly confused and/or scared. On recommendation by our vet, and after much soul searching, we decided it was in the best interest of The Mess Maker and The Noise Maker, as well as the children and adults that come over to our home, to put Sammy down.

Sammy's been around about as long as The Household CFO has been...he became a part of our family just one month after getting married and was my original "baby". We're missing you, buddy. I hope you're playing, eating LOTS of dog treats and loving on Duke right now!

In loving memory of our second furry friend...

November 8, 2001 - September 19, 2011

Bird-Themed Luncheon Table

2011-09-20T14:47:00.000-05:00

I'M BACK!!!!!!!

Wow, it's been a while since I posted, and I do apologize for the long hiatus...moving to a new home took over my life for a bit, but things seem to be settling down (finally!) and I'm back in the crafting mode! :)

Recently, I volunteered to host a table at our annual mom's group luncheon. Each "hostess" plans a theme for her table and decorates with whatever she wants. I chose "birds" because I have a slight obsession with them! Here's another pic:

The "tree" in the middle looks a little lopsided in the picture for some reason, but didn't look that way in person!?!? Why am I posting this on my crafty blog? Because I used my BFF Cricut to make a lot of the little embellishments on the table of course!

These little favor bags are just tulle bags from Hobby Lobby, filled with birdseed and tied. I used my Storybook Cartridge "D (+shift+shadow)" for the bird base and "D (+shift)" for the top layer of the bird. I ran the birds through my printer after cutting them to print "Thank You" on them. You can see my tutorial on how to do this HERE. Then I just hot glued them to the little bag!

I also used the bird cut from the Storybook Cartridge for the tree centerpiece, adding about 8 birdies to the branches. To add a little more detail to the tree, I also cut about 35 flowers from the Florals Embellished Cartridge "Flower7 (+shift+Layer1)". I cut a slit in each one to the center, overlapped the cut edges and glued, making them 3D. Then I glued a pearl in the center of each and attached to the branches.

For napkin decorations (instead of napking rings), I folded the napkins using a "bird nest napkin folding" tutorial I found HERE. I placed a twig in the center of each, and then a small grapevine birds nest complete with a little birdie (supplies from Hobby Lobby). Isn't he cute?!?!

And here is the table all set up! I used a bird embellished planter to hold the tree centerpiece, wooden birdhouses, framed bird prints, wicker decorative balls, bird embellished tea light holders and other bird decor from around my house. To finish the table off, and add a little "treat" for those sitting at my table, I made birdnest cookies!

I must say that I do NOT like coconut, but I made these and tried them and they were actually really tasty! You can find the recipe HERE. The "eggs" are Jordan Almonds I found at Wal-Mart. I put each cookie in a bad and tied with raffia.

The last crafty thing I did was to make prayer verse cards. I printed three prayer verses onto cardstock, trimmed them into rectangles, inked the edges and stamped a bird image on the center. These were displayed in a trio of birdhouse place card holders from Willow House (pg. 29 of current catalog).

So that's it! Here are some of the other FAB tables my girlies decorated...

Mari & Lindsay: Pink, Black & White

Leslie: Picnic

Nicole: Black, White & Lemons

Charity: Back To School

*I didn't get a photo of Gretchen's table because these were taken before hers was set-up. :( It was a great luncheon (with yummy food!) and we had 13 new moms attend! SUCCESS!!!

Thanks for looking!

A Dora Cake...

2011-06-08T15:15:00.000-05:00

Going through some old photos, I found this...

Never posted the good ol' Dora cake I made for the Mess Maker's 4th (family) birthday party. This was HARD! She wanted a "Princess" Dora cake, not just a Dora cake. The only Princess Dora they make is the one with the yellow dress... "But mama, I want a pink dress!"

I think I made it work, but this took some real effort I tell ya! Fondant flowers, colored, cut and embellished by yours truly...over the entire dress.

Thought when I finished that it was perfect...until I noticed a slight "lean"...and then a bigger lean...and then the whole thing looked like it was going to be one massive landslide.

Oh well, lesson learned...

USE CAKE SUPPORTS!!!

Family Summertime Bucket List

2011-05-29T22:44:00.000-05:00

One of my new FAVORITE crafty blogs is "Tatertots & Jello"...Jen has the most amazing ideas and inspiration, and she features awesome ideas from many other sources as well. I just love visiting over there!

I found this project the other day, highlighted on Positively Splendid, but developed by Jen at T&J...a Family Summertime Bucket List. Pure genius...

It's basically a bucket (or other container...mine is an old Similac formula can I've had taking up room in my craft closet for over a year now!) that has cards with fun activities listed on them...whenever the kids are bored, have them draw out a card and complete the stated activity...everything from planting flowers and having a picnic, to going to the zoo and having a Bar-B-Q. Fun, right?

Jen has done all the work for us and has provided her pre-printed activity cards (along with some blank ones to add your own activities) and a label for your "bucket"...just visit Positively Splendid's feature of Jen's Bucket List project and download the cards for yourself! I printed mine out today and got to work, creating an entire summer's worth of fun for my kids in no time at all, thanks to Jen's pre-printed activity cards!!! My container isn't very "pretty" as I am EXTREMELY challenged when it comes to Modge Podge...but it works for a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old, right??? ;)

Can't wait to get started...thanks Jen!!!

Crayon Photo Frame & Teacher Gift Basket

2011-05-25T21:39:00.001-05:00

I made these frames for The Mess Maker's preschool teachers as part of their end-of-the-year gifts. There are LOTS of crayon art projects out there on the web, but I followed the tutorial over at Mama Made It because it was the easiest to follow and I found the exact frames she used at Target. I used 32 crayons on each one...to cut the crayons, I used a sharp butcher knife and then glued them on the frame with a hot glue gun. When finished, I printed the sentiment and added it to the inside of the frame... Easy-peasy!

Here is a photo of the finished gift baskets, with the crayon frames, the owl pillow boxes (that have giftcards inside) and the bookmarks with the students' favorite thing about each teacher printed on them:

(Tin buckets are from the Target dollar bins!)

Thanks for looking!

Owl Pillow Box

2011-05-25T21:18:00.000-05:00

I saw these cutie-patootie pillow box owls at Card A La Carte and just HAD to make some of my own! I used my Cricut, though, and will share what cartridges/shapes I used...

Wedding Solutions Cartridge:

*Pillow box was cut in "blackout" mode at 6"

George & Basic Shapes:

*Circles (for body and eyes) at 1 1/4"

*Hearts (for feet/beak) at 1 1/4"

*Circles (for black part of eyes) at 3/4"

A little bling was added to the eyes for sparkle, and a tag with the sentiment, "From Owl Of Us" was attached with ribbon and a glue dot.

These little cuties hold giftcards for the Mess Maker's preschool teachers for end-of-the-year gifts. They're part of a gift basket I'll be posting in bit...

Thanks for looking! :)

I was in the "Cricut Chirp"!!!

2011-05-24T19:42:00.001-05:00

I recently posted a bunch of layouts I completed at some weekend crops to the Cricut Messageboard. And I just found out a few days ago that I was highlighted in the May 2011 edition of the Cricut Chirp, Provocraft's monthly Cricut newsletter...WOO HOO!!!!

So honored that they thought highly enough of my work to feature my layouts! Here is a sampling of the layouts...the rest can be found in my original blog post, HERE.

Thanks for looking and for all the kind words...I appreciate it! :)

Teacher Appreciation Bookmarks

2011-05-17T19:34:00.000-05:00

I made these last year for the Mess Maker's preK teachers, and they really liked them. So, why reinvent the wheel??? :) These are the ones I just made for her teachers this year...same except for the kids' names and responses to the question, "I like Ms. _____ because...".

I used my Cricut A Child's Year cartridge to cut the kids at the bottom at 2 1/4" in blackout mode, trimming some of the bottom of the image off so it didn't cover any of the type. The base of the bookmark is 3 1/4" x 7 1/2". The patterned paper is 3" x 7 1/4" and the cream cardstock with the responses is cut to 2 3/4" x 7". The font is Chocolate Box (one of my faves!) downloaded from dafont.com. I added an eyelet and ribbon, along with some twine accented with wooden barrel beads.

I just love hearing the responses from preschoolers as to why they like their teachers! Here is a sampling of what the students said:

"She writes notes and hugs me"

"She opens things"

"She plays silly songs"

"I like to talk to her"

"She listens to my stories"

"She gives me snacks"

Awwwwww....pretty stinkin' cute, right? :)

These will be given along with a gift card to the teachers' favorite restaurants, from the whole class. Can't wait to see what they say!

Printing Onto Die Cuts!

2011-05-17T11:30:00.001-05:00

I have had several inquiries recently about how I print onto my die cuts after they're already cut out (because if you're "Cricut Centerpoint Challenged" like I am, it just never works after your print and try to cut them on the Cricut!) I posted this tutorial a while back, as part of a Scrappin' Saturday feature at FCCB. But I want to post it again, for anyone that might have missed it!

I am featuring a Monkey Birthday Inviation I did for my neice's first birthday. You can use this technique for lots of projects, including adding journaling and printed text to die-cut journaling blocks, page accents, card embellishments, and any other shape you want to add computer-generated font to, AFTER they are already cut out:

1. In your word processing program, type your text exactly how you want it on your die-cut, making sure to leave enough space between them if you're printing multiple journaling spots:

2. Print out your text on regular printer paper. At this time, I place my die-cuts (which have already been cut to the size I need for my layout) over the text and adjust the size/spacing of the text as needed to make sure it all fits nicely within the cut. I typically print out several pages until I get it just right:

3. Add a very small amount of adhesive over the center of each journaling spot:

4. Turn your paper over, hold it up to a light or window and take your die-cut shapes and center them over the journaling area. By using only a tiny amount of adhesive, you can easily remove the die-cut and reposition it over the journaling:

Do this for each die-cut shape you want journaling on.

5. Run your paper back through your printer, with die-cuts attached, the same way it went through before:

6. When finished printing, you'll have perfectly placed journaling on your die cut:

7. Gently remove each die-cut shape and add to your project with additional adhesive:

That's it! I've never had a problem with my die-cuts separating from the paper in the printer or my paper jamming in my printer when the die cuts are going through, but I suppose each printer is different. I just have a very inexpensive HP Inkjet printer from Wal-Mart.

So that's my tutorial. I hope you found it helpful! Remember that you can do this on ANY shape your good ol' Cricut can cut...so experiment! And then let me know if you tried this and how it worked!

Happy Scrappin'!

Mickey Mouse Birthday Invitations

2011-05-16T09:34:00.001-05:00

I've had several inquiries on the Mickey invites I posted HERE. So here are the sizes/cartridges I used to create these:

1. Black invitation base: Mickey Font Cartridge

-Cut the Mickey Tag at 5 1/4"

2. Red "Shorts": Plant. Schoolbook Cartridge

-Cut the circle with shadow feature at 4"

-Cut circle in half with paper trimmer...this provides the front half circle where you adhere the buttons, and the back pocket where you include the party info.

3. Buttons: Wild Card Cartridge

-Cut the button (icon feature) at 9" (sounds huge, but they obviously come out small!)

4. Letter "K": Mickey Font Cartridge

-Cut the white using the "shadow" feature at 1 1/2"

-Cut the yellow in regular mode at 1 1/2"

I glued the front red half-circle on with tape runner and then added the buttons with foam dots to make them look dimensional. On the back, I used Scotch Quick Dry to put a small strip of glue along the bottom edge of the half-circle, leaving the middle and top open to slide in the party details:

(I used the Mickey and Mouse Deco fonts, downloaded from dafont.com)

At this size, the invitations will fit into a standard invitation-size envelope. There will be room on each side in the envelope, but the size was needed to acommodate the height of the ears. You could make your own square envelopes, but who wants to pay the additional shipping??? :)

My Little Astros...

2011-05-14T14:58:00.000-05:00

The Mess Maker and the Noise Maker were invited to a birthday party today...at Minute Maid Park! What a fun time they had...

They both sported their new Astros gear!

We got a tour of the facility (WOW!) and even got to go down to the field, where the kiddos were able to say hi to some of the players...

Such a fun time...the Mess Maker is super-excited about going to see a real ball game now! She might just be a softball player in the making...

Famiyl Game Night!

2011-05-09T21:05:00.000-05:00

We recently started "Game Night" at our house and the kids (all three of them... J/K Honey!) love it...can you tell?

About 10 years ago I was working in the San Diego public schools as a speech pathologist. I was staffed at one of the schools by an outside therapy staffing agency and was given NO materials. So, I went to Goodwill and picked up anything I could find that might keep the kids' interest, including this game:

I've never seen it on a store shelf, so I don't know if it's still available...but it's awesome! The kids can play over and over and over and never get tired of it. I don't have the directions, but when we play, we just try and place all the food cards down on the board before the ants pop out of the picnic basket...

Once the ants pop out, it's hysterical laughing from both of them!!!

One of my friends told me the first photo looked like a Milton Bradley ad...um, MB if you're listening, I'm totally up for being paid!!! :)

Teacher Appreciation: Thank You For Helping Us Bloom!

2011-05-04T19:42:00.000-05:00

It's National Teacher Appreciation Week, and although the Mess Maker's preschool doesn't really "celebrate" the occasion (which I think is a travesty!), I wanted to do something for the teachers to let them know how appreciated they are!

The idea for this plant stake came from an original design by "Dimple Prints" HERE. I designed a similar sentiment in Word, and then punched it out with a circle punch. I added a green and white circle mat (Cricut: George cartridge), and then a yellow scalloped circle (Cricut: Storybook cartridge) for the flower.

I attached the flower to a wooden skewer. But I wanted to make sure the teachers knew it was from the entire class, so I decided to add each child's name to a leaf (Cricut: Doodlecharms cartridge). The leaves were cut at 3/4", and then I ran them through my printer to print the names on them. I have a tutorial HERE on how to do this if you're interested!

I hot glued the leaves to the skewer and added a narrow green ribbon. Mrs. S gets a green Hydrangea plant because green is her favorite color, and Mrs. T gets a Gardenia plant because that's her favorite flower. :)

To all of the wonderful teachers out there who educate, nuture, entertain, shape and encourage our children...

THANK YOU!!!

My Cut Search...Cricut Cut Search!!!

2011-05-03T21:02:00.001-05:00

Ever heard of "My Cut Search"??? I hadn't until Kate over at Fantabulous Cricut shared it with us today for her FCCB Quick Tip Tuesday. It's an amazing time saver!

If you need to cut a specific Cricut cut/image, but can't remember what cartridges that cut might be on...this is your new best friend! It happens to me ALL the time, especially now that my cartridge stash is growing. Rather than pulling out reference sheets or searching in DS, My Cut Search allows you to type in the cut you want and a super-quick search engine pulls up any cartridge containing the cut searched for, along with page number and button/key on the overlay!

Cool, huh? Go check it out...you won't be sorry!

Kate is providing another tip regarding My Cut Search next Tuesday, so head over to FCCB next Tuesday to check it out. Thanks for this awesome tip, Kate!!! :)

Photo TV Choice Board

2011-04-28T14:49:00.002-05:00

I'll admit it...my kids watch entirely too much TV. Until today, that is!

When I was a practicing speech pathologist, I made choice boards and picture communication boards for many of my students. Since these devices work for children who can't verbally express themselves, I figured, "why not use one with The Noise Maker?" (who screams in frustration when I don't understand which show he wants to watch)...

How would this help cut back on TV-watching you might ask? Because each kiddo will get to choose ONE show to watch in the morning, instead of me just turning on the TV and letting it play. When their two shows are over, so is TV time.

Choice boards are very visual things...and my kids (as are most at this age) are VERY visual! These can work for almost anything...snack time, play time/toys, television, and even basic wants/needs for the non-verbal child.

Supplies needed:

1. Old cookie sheet or other magnetic surface

2. Magnetic Tape (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)

3. Photos of desired shows (or foods, toys, etc.)

I printed these photos from Google Images, adhered them to carstock for durability, and then laminated them.

All you have to do is tear a piece of magnetic tape and adhere it to the back of each photo:

Then place the photos on a cookie sheet and either attach to refrigerator with heavy duty magnets, or place in a drawer to store.

I plan to keep mine in a drawer so that I can use the back of it to store photos of more shows:

To use, ask the child which show they want to watch and allow them to pull off the photo of the show, eliminating the need for a verbal response to communicate the need/want. The words will eventually come, but until then...no more screaming when I don't understand the Noise Maker's requests....AND I can easily teach moderation of TV viewing at the same time!

TA-DA!!! :)

Happy Birthday Banner Card

2011-04-25T20:49:00.000-05:00

The inspiration for this card came from one in Paper Crafts Magazine (Jan/Feb 2011) HERE.

I used my Cricut and the George and Basic Shapes cartridge to make the banner, and the Accent Essentials cartridge to make the frame for the sentiment. The sentiment is a stamp set from CTMH (Card Chatter-Birthday).

Thanks for looking!

Lollipop Card...How "Sweet"!

2011-04-25T20:39:00.001-05:00

Isn't this is sweetest card you've ever seen??? My sweet friend Robin over at Robin's Creative Cottage sent this to me and I just LOVE it...THANK YOU Robin! If you want details on how Robin make this adorable card, you can check out the info and video tutorial on her blog HERE.

Robin is the creator of Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog (FCCB)...if you haven't already, please stop by and take a look at the amazing talent and inspiration over there! From weekly challenges, tips and tutorials to cartridge highlights and scrapbooking articles, you're sure to find something new and exciting to fuel your creative juices!

THANK YOU Robin...you're the "sweetest"!!!! :)

Amazing Bluebirds...

2011-04-25T16:56:00.000-05:00

Growing up, we called Blue Jays "bluebirds". It wasn't until I moved to Texas that I actually saw a true Blue Bird. How amazingly gorgeous they are! My dad told me to put up a special "Blue Bird box" (got ours at Lowe's) and they'd nest in our yard. And they did. They eat bugs which I LOVE, so we now have three boxes spread out over the yard.

This year, we added one over the back patio, mounted to the house. I wasn't sure they'd nest in it, but they did...we've been patiently waiting and we now have baby Blue Birds to enjoy...

Truly amazing, aren't they? Can't wait to see the little ones start flying and eating up those Texas-sized bugs! :)

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T16:36:00.000-05:00

Oh, how I love Easter! For the obvious reasons...but also because I get to watch my children participate in the same traditions I did as a kid, and it's fun remembering back to when I was a kid! I think the kids are a little young to fully understand the true meaning of Easter, but The Mess Maker is starting to grasp a little.

The highlight this year was getting to dye Easter eggs! This was the first year we dyed eggs...we'd done the plastic ones before. But I wanted to start the tradition we had as kids and dye real eggs, so we did!

The Mess Maker had a ball! We waited until the Noise Maker went to bed, so that we could let Katie have her first dying experience without any drama. :)

The "Easter Bunny" hid the eggs and the kiddos found them in recod time!

The "Easter Bunny" carefully accounted for all eggs upon hiding and we still managed to lose one! Oh well...hopefully it fed some little critter in the middle of the night last night!

Happy Easter everyone!

Lots O' Layouts!

2011-04-18T11:27:00.000-05:00

I've been to two weekend-long scrapbooking retreats in the past several months and I actually almost completed the Noise Maker's baby scrapbook during those two weekends (only two pages away!).

Here are the one-page layouts I've done:

"Laugh...It's Contagious"

"Bumbo Buddies"

"Splish Splash"

"Learning To Walk"

"1st Hair Cut"

"So Happy"

"My Little Monkey"

"All Boy"

"8 Months"

"Gone Bananas"

"Siesta Key Beach"

"Happy New Year"

"Dino Baby"

"First Trip"

"Summertime"

"The Poop Face"

"Happy Father's Day...NOT!"

"Daddy...You Hung The Stars"

"Great Expectations"

"Baby Cakes"

"Sweet Dreams"

" I (heart) You"

A few of these have been inspired by some I've seen in magazines and online ("Happy New Year", "8 Months", "So Happy"), but most are my own! :)

Here are my 2-page layouts:

"Who Loves You...Sissy Does"

"Happy Birthday Monkey"

"Grandparents"

"Family"

And here is my "Flip Flap" layout:

"Baptism"

The bottom photo is actually the front "page" of a series of photos, attached to page with CTMH's Flip Flaps...

Journaling is hidden behind! All I have to do is cut a slit in my page protector, and you can flip through the photos while it's in the album...cool, huh?

Thanks for looking! :)

Toy Story On Ice!

2011-04-18T10:22:00.000-05:00

I took the Mess Maker to see Toy Story On Ice this weekend...she loved it! Snapped a few photos during the show...okay, a TON of photos! But I got some good ones that I'm going to put in a mini album for her:

Slinky Dog:

Buzz Lightyear:

Rex & Zurg:

Bullseye:

Woody:

Woody & Jessie:

Lotso:

Ken & Barbie:

Aliens:

Octopus (can't remember his name!):

It was fun...and we're currently watching Toy Story 2 due to our renewed interest after the show!

"Thanks A Latte!" Coffee Cup Slider Card / Gift Card Holder

2011-04-15T15:15:00.001-05:00

I wanted to give some giftcards to Starbucks to the volunteers that helped with the Book Theater play I coordinated at the Mess Maker's school...and I wanted cute packaging! So I searched the web and found this coffee cup slider card idea HERE.

I changed up the sentiment to read "Thanks a latte!" instead of Happy Birthday, and changed up the color scheme a bit, but the base of the card is the same. And it has a Starbucks card inside!

I won't repeat the instructions here, because I think "Creative Cucina" did a great job with her photos and instructions. But I will show a few photos of the part where you add the sticky strip or Terrically Tacky Tape, because I had to play around with it before I could figure it out! :)

Here is how you apply the TTT:

Then fold in the right side:

And the fold in the left:

And this is how you trim the "cup"/sleeve to the correct size:

The rest of the information and instructions are at Creative Cucina.

Here is a photo of all of the cards I made:

Thanks for looking! :)

Book Theater Presentation of "Sheep In A Shop"

2011-04-15T15:03:00.000-05:00

This year, I decided to volunteer for a position on the PEO board at the Mess Maker's preschool. They had the "book theater" position open, so I said I'd volunteer... MISTAKE!!! Not because it wasn't fun, or it was hard or anything...just because I had no clue what I was doing! I have absolutely NO drama/stage experience so I was pretty much flying by the seat of my pants the whole time!

I chose the book Sheep In A Shop by Nancy Shaw...such an adorable story! The Mess Maker's school is turning 30 this year, so I needed a birthday-themed book and this one fit the bill perfectly.

I struggled trying to find volunteers for the the roles, even with no speaking parts! But I finally wrangled in some friends to complete the lineup (above). It went off without a hitch and I think everyone liked it...I haven't heard otherwise anyway!

Here are some photos of the show:

THANK YOU

to everyone who helped and volunteered, both as actors and behind the scenes...I appreciate you! :)

The Noisemaker's MICKEY PARTY!

2011-04-02T12:42:00.001-05:00

My "baby" boy turned two and because of his intense LOVE of anything Mickey Mouse, we went with it for his party theme. We have an AMAZING park close to the home we'll be closing on in just one short month...and we invited all of the Noise Maker's and Mess Maker's friends to help up celebrate!

In true Household CEO fashion, I did make a lot of the things we had at the party, most with a little inspiration from the web...

Invitations:

The details are on a piece of carstock stuck into the back pocket (on the other side). I got this idea from Lisa at Lisa's Handmade Cards (truly talented lady!). With the help of my Cricut and Mickey Font catridge, these were a breeze! The buttons were cut from the Just Beacause cartridge.

Cupcake Toppers:

The inspiration from these also came from Lisa's Handmade Cards. I used the Mickey Font cartridge on this one too, and attached the pieces to lollipop sticks.

Mickey Shirt:

I wanted a special birthday shirt for The Noisemaker so I whipped up this one with the help of (once again) my Mickey Font cartridge and some freezer paper...I cut the image from freezer paper, ironed it on, painted, and ta-dah!

Treat Bags:

I cut some black cardstock to fit the tops of the bags and added a strip of red polkadot paper. I printed the journaling on my printer and attached it on top. Then I cut some "gears" from my Accent Essentials cartridge to mat the Mickey Mouse heads on (printed from the web) and attached them with a foam dot. Fun Mickey toys and treats for the party guests!

We also had a book exchange in lieu of gifts...what fun! He definitely had a good time...even if he won't remember it!

Texas Bluebonnets...Y'all!

2011-04-01T14:22:00.000-05:00

We've lived in the great state of Texas for over three years and this is the first year we've experienced the amazing Springtime masses of our beautiful state flower, the Bluebonnet!
A few of my friends and I buckled up the kids and went on a mini-road-trip in search of these beauties. I will admit I started wondering if our leader had gotten lost after about 30 minutes of driving in the middle of nowhere, but once we arrived I realized it was well-worth the drive!

Minus the part where we had to climb over a barb-wire fence (onto private property...shhhhh!), it was just Heaven! Here are some shots from this morning...the Mess Maker and the Noise Maker (and their friends) had a ball, after a brief, but scene-causing, bout of crying by the Noisemaker, which seems to come with the territory now that he's two...

Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

In Loving Memory...

2011-03-16T10:39:00.000-05:00

Duke, our Golden Retriever, was diagnosed with Lymphoma back in August and was expected to make it about 2-4 weeks. He was just barely 8 years old at the time. To our amazement, he responded extremely well to the medicine and was in remission until just recently, six months later!

Unfortunately, the cancer came back and we had to put him down two weeks ago. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do in my entire life. We miss him terribly. I was just able to pick up his remains today, and plan to scatter him in my parents' back yard, his most favorite place to "explore".

Me miss you "Dukey"!

In loving memory of our furry friend...

July 29, 2002 - March 3, 2011

Kitchen Makeover...COMPLETE!!!

2011-02-25T14:39:00.000-06:00

So, it might have taken a little longer than expected, but my Aunt and Uncle's Dream Kitchen Makeover is complete! For those that don't know, they won a $30,000+ Dream Kitchen Makeover from one of their local TV stations a few months back. They are happy to have a kitchen back, and not just any kitchen...you won't believe the difference!

BEFORE...remember the avocado counters and wallpaper and dated cabinets?

AFTER...take a look at the new, modern kitchen, complete with granite counters and stainless steel appliances!

Amazing, right?!?!?!

Sooooo happy for them...there's nothing like a beautiful kitchen to spend time in with family, for those brithdays, holidays and other family get-togethers that make up so many great memories!

Congrats Aunt Kate & Uncle Bob! :)

I retired from FCCB... :(

2011-02-18T16:05:00.000-06:00

Those that know me know that I have been a part of Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog (FCCB) since day 1. I absolutely LOVE everything about it and I have been proud to be a part of the Design Team. But things have gotten CRAZY around here with moving and so I had to take a few things off my plate for now...FCCB was one of those things. :(

So, I have officially "retired" from FCCB so that I have more time to get what I HAVE to get done, done. I will still be checking in for the Daily Inspirations:

Monday: Challenge Me Monday

Tuesday: Quick Tip Tuesday

Wednesday: Wednesday Winners

Thursday: Thursday's Tutorials

Friday: Fantabulous Friday

Saturday: Scrappin' Saturday (sniff, sniff!)

Sunday: Sunday Spotlight

And maybe, if things EVER slow down around here, maybe I'll try playing along with one of the weekly challenges!

If you haven't had the chance to head over to FCCB and check out the amazing Design Team inspiration, fun weekly challenges and other great tips and techniques, PLEASE do! You won't be disappointed!!!

And, to Robin, founder of FCCB...YOU ROCK! I have truly loved working with you and will so miss being a part of such an amazing thing, all of which you created! You're an amazing talent and truly a wonderful person!!! :)

Valentine Lollipop Flower Pots

2011-02-18T15:44:00.000-06:00

I made little lollipop flower pots for the Mess Maker's preschool teachers last year for Valentine's Day, and decided to do them again this year for her new teachers. I couldn't find Tootsie Pops (?????) so I had to use Blow Pops, which have the wrappers twisted at the top. So I just used glue dots to hold the wrappers down over the lollipop. Problem solved! My original directions and lollipop flowers can be found here. I used flowers cut with my George cartridge and dot embossed cardstock in light and dark pink. Sooooo easy and fun!

Things may be crazy at our house right now, but I can't completely stop crafting! Yes, I have to keep my craft room looking "pretty" for showings. No, I can't leave my Cricut, cartridges and paper all over because it wouldn't be attractive to prospective home buyers. But I CAN do a quick little craft to show the Mess Maker's preschool teachers they are appreciated for Valentine's Day! And yes, I cleaned up every last tiny piece of paper in my scraproom when I was done...

One Pot Dinner...YUM!

2011-02-17T18:27:00.000-06:00

Things are C-R-A-Z-Y around here right now...we're in the process of moving. You know, selling...buying...packing....entertaining children...AHHHHHHH! It becomes absolutely necessary to make easy dinners these days unless I want my family to survive on fast food alone. This is one of my all-time fave EASY meals...I have had it for years and I have no idea where it originated from, but it's TASTY!!!

One Pot Dinner:

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 C chopped celery

3/4 C chooped green pepper

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. salt (optional)

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 C uncooked no-yolk egg noodles

1 (16 oz.) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes

3/4 C water

1 beef bouillon cube

In a large saucepan, cook meat until no longer pink; drain. Add onion, celery and green pepper and cook 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt, basil and pepper. Stir in egg noodles, beans, tomatoes, water and bouillon. Bring to boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer 20 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Serves 5.

I've had a LOT of requests for this recipe lately, so here you go everyone!

P.S. This is a super-easy meal to take to a new mommy or someone in need of a home-cooked meal...just whip up some cornbread muffins and you've got a complete meal!

"Support The Cause" FCCB Challenge #45

2011-01-31T09:46:00.000-06:00

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Support The Cause"...create a project in honor of a cause that's near and dear to your heart. This card is a breast cancer awareness card. I recently had to purchase a new Cricut Expression (the LED screen on my other one went out) and I found the pink one with the "Pink Journey" exclusive cartridge included. Hadn't had a chance to use it until this project!

I cut the ribbon and shadow, the scallop oval, and the "Hope" sentiment from Pink Journey. I used a scrap of pink/brown butterfly paper I had in my stash for the card mat. I popped the ribbon and oval sentiment with foam dots and added a butterfly mirror I had in my embellishment drawer.

Hope you'll head over to FCCB and enter your own "Support The Cause" project for your chance to win this week's prize! :)

Happy Crafting!!!

Kitchen Makeover....PROGRESS!!!

2011-01-23T21:19:00.003-06:00

Thank you again to those of you out in Blogland that voted for my aunt and uncle to win the $30,000 Dream Kitchen Makeover, given away by one of their local TV stations!!!
(Original post can be found HERE)

They won (thanks to an amazing number of votes!!!) and the makeover is in progress! Thought I'd share some of the photos my uncle sent me on what the kitchen looks like now. It's not completed (as you'll see), but it should be done in about a week or so. I'll definitely show you the final result.
Are you ready for this??? :)

Before...notice the lovely green, uh, I mean "avocado" countertops with coordinating wall paper:

During the "demolition":

My uncle and my dad, "supervising"...keep in mind that they are the premiere experts in anything having to do with home building/remodeling/fixing, having been "secured" up on the roof to help their grandfather re-roof the house when my dad was only 4 years old:

The damage...I guarantee you my dad and my uncle kept some of this scrap material for little "projects" they want to complete:

AND, the current condition of their kitchen...TOTALLY 100% empty:

They're making coffee in the bathroom, storing food in the dining room and appliances in the office. They're troopers, I tell ya! But I know they'll think it was well worth it when they get their dream kitchen!

More to come...stay tuned! :)

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

2011-01-23T20:43:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting the winner of the FAB CTMH blog candy for answering my question: "What should I do with this???" (see post HERE)

This was the Blog Candy up for grabs:

I loved all of your ideas...but since things have been a little crazy lately, I've yet to actually put the rack into use. Soooooo, I don't have any photos yet. But when I do get around to using it, I'll post the pics!

And now for the winner....

Nancy Watson said:

"So funny! My husband would not have gone to the dumpster for me

as he is mortified that I dumpster dive! But, I can't tell you how many things

I have been able to get to organize our house with that way.

Anyway, my first thought when I saw this is if you put down some cardboard on the

shelves you have the perfect place for storing your GlimmerMist.

However, this would also work for re-inkers and ink pads (as I have one and

that is what I use mine for). Also, you could get those tiered spice shelve things

and put one on each shelf and store your wood stamps on this too.

Have fun with whatever you do!

THANKS Nancy! I have a TON of re-inkers and ink pads and I think this would be a great solution!

Please contact me at the email address below to claim your prize!

TheHouseholdCEO (at) live (dot) com

Wedding Cake Card: Fantabulous Cricut "Sweet Shop" Challenge

2011-01-17T06:00:00.004-06:00

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Sweet Shop": create a project incorporating some type of sweet...cake, ice cream, candy, etc. YUM!!!

My Design Team project is a black & white wedding cake card. I love black and white for wedding projects. I used a white card base, with a black swirl lace cardstock for the mat. I cut three sizes of black/white patterned papers into rectangles and matted them with white cardstock.

I adhered them to the card with foam dots for dimenstion. I tied a narrow white ribbon around each cake layer and then added a three-layered flower over each knot. The flowers were cut with George & Basic Shapes at 3/4", 1" and 1 1/4". The centers are red pearl brads (Eyelet Outlet). To finish, I stamped the word "love" onto white cardstock using CTMH ink/stamp, inked the edges in red and adhered with foam dots.

Now I just need to find someone that's getting marries to send this to!!! :) Hope you'll play along with this week's "Sweet Shop" challenge at FCCB. You can make any-themed project for any season or holiday, just make sure to incorporate something sweet & yummy on it!

Happy Crafting!

What Should I Do With This??? (BLOG CANDY!!!)

2011-01-09T17:59:00.001-06:00

You know the saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure"??? Well, it's true. And I'm living proof...

Sunday is "doughnut day" in our family and we go get doughnuts at the doughnut shop and coffee from Starbucks. Anyway, this morning when we pulled up in the drive-thru line at Starbucks (because there is ALWAYS a line), I happened to look over at the dumpster and see this perfectly good wire rack sitting next to it. Why would they throw out a perfectly good rack?!?!?

The Household CFO was not excited about this, but hung his head in shame anyway and went to get this beauty out of the trash for me, right in front of everyone in line. Now THAT's love I tell ya! :)

I just know I have the perfect use for it...I just don't know what it is at the moment. Sooooooo, I'm asking for your help. And, for helping me out, I'm offering up some yummy

BLOG CANDY!!!

Contents (all CTMH): two mini stamp sets, 1 sheet of textured stickers, 1 package of "sweet leaf/colonial white" embellishments and 1 package of ""twilight/colonial white" embellishments.

All you have to do is give me an idea of what to use this storage rack for.

If I choose your idea, you win. It's that simple! Please leave a comment below by this Friday, January 14 to be eligible.

Good luck, and I'm looking forward to hearing your creative storage ideas! :)

The Mess Maker Turns Four!

2011-01-09T17:49:00.000-06:00

We had a party at My Gym for the Mess Maker's fourth birthday this weekend...she had a blast!

She LOVED the ball pit and spent the majority of the party in it with friends, but I think the highlight for her (judging from her face anyway) was the "birthday motorcycle"...

She wanted a "Dora" theme (surprise, surprise), so we had Dora balloons, Dora serveware and Dora cupcake toppers...that pink icing is going to show up later, I just know it! :)

The Noise Maker had a blast, too!

Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate with us and make her birthday so much fun and so special!

Snowflake Card: Fantabulous Cricut "Snowy Delights" Challenge!

2011-01-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Snowy Delights": create a project incorportaing snow or snowflakes! Perfect for this time of year, don't ya think?

For this mini card, I used a scrap of pink/blue patterned paper that reminded me of snowflakes for the mat on the front of the card. Using my NEW Winter Lace cartridge (LOVE IT!), I cut the snowflake and shadow at 3". I ran the cream layer through my Xyron and sprinkled glitter all over for some sparkle (which unfortunately doesn't show up well in the photo). To finish, I tied a sheer pink ribbon around the center of the snowflake and added a blue pearl brad before adhering the layers together and adding the snowflake to my card.

It may be cold, but this little snowflake card makes me all warm and cozy! :) Hope you'll play along with this week's Snowy Delights challenge at FCCB...head over and check out the prizes up for grabs!

Happy Crafting! :)

Dora Birthday Cake and Party!

2010-12-29T21:15:00.000-06:00

Me: "What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?"

The Mess Maker: "Dora."

Me: "What kind of Dora cake?"

The Mess Maker: "PRINCESS!!!"

Can I tell you how HARD it is to find Princess Dora birthday party supplies????? Luckily, it wasn't hard to make a Princess Dora cake which I think made the Mess Maker not notice the fact that all of the princess-themed decor wasn't actually Dora!

To make this cake, I used the Pampered Chef Batter Bowl. One cake mix is baked directly in the bowl and then inverted. I baked another cake mix in two 9" round cake pans. I stacked the round layers, placed the dome layer on top and placed a Dora doll on the top.

I iced it in pink (it HAD to be pink!) and then added fondant flowers I cut with some flower-shaped cookie cutters and sprayed with edible food coloring spray. Super-simple and yummy! Oh, and the cake was PINK (of course!)...strawberry. Mmmmmmm....

BLOG CANDY WINNER!!!

2010-12-29T20:00:00.000-06:00

Wow, we had a FANTABULOUS Crawl over at FCCB and we thank everyone for "crawling" along with us and entering your own projects in the challenge!

I apologize this post is a "little" late...okay, a LOT late! With the holidays and traveling, etc. I completely forgot to post my winner!

Using Random.org, my winner is.....

#39 Joanne!!!

Joanne said, "What an adorable way to showcase your family! So cute! Oh, and I can't wait to try your cookie recipe, they look so yummy!"

Thanks, Joanne! Please contact me at the email address below with your mailing address so I can send you your CTMH Felicity Kit! You have two weeks to claim your prize!

TheHouseholdCEO (at) live (dot) com

Fantabulous Cricut Deck The Halls Crawl!

2010-12-13T06:01:00.003-06:00

Welcome to Organized Chaos and the third Fantabulous Cricut Crawl...Fantabulous Cricut's version of a blog hop!

In honor of the approaching Christmas holiday, we're having a
"Deck The Halls" Crawl!

Each Design Team member will be featuring an original Christmas/Holiday-themed project to decorate and spruce up their homes for the Holiday Season!

If you've come from visiting Leinad at Scrap-Stickle-Pop, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, start HERE.

Make sure to check out each DT member's blog for some awesome inspiration! There will be PRIZES along the way at our DT members' blogs, AND there will be a Grand Prize up for grabs at FCCB for one participant that submits a "Deck The Halls" project at FCCB!

How fun is that? :)

For my project...I made a sign for the wreath on my front door:

I recently got the new Car Decals cartridge and I've been wanting to make a little family sign for our house. Since it's Christmas time, I decided to make a Winter-themed sign for my Winter wreath, to jazz it up a little! The red sign came from Hobby Lobby last year in the Christmas section. It was 50% of $5.00 at the time. I used Cricut white vinyl to cut the winter characters (using the "Athlete" feature) from Car Decals at 2 1/2" and 3". The snowflakes came from Joys of the Season, cut at 1". The lettering is from Lyrical Letters, cut at 1/2". It was super-simple to do and I just love the result!

Okie dokie, now for the details of the prize I'm giving away...

CTMH's "Felicity" Collection!

This set is valued over $30 and is no longer available! It includes 3 color schemes, 6 pieces of double-sided decorative die cut papers, 6 pieces of double-sided beautiful patterned paper and an exclusive, and a full-size stamp set that includes flourishes, flowers, birds and an entire alphabet!

To be eligible to win this prize, you must:
1. Be a follower of my blog, Organized Chaos.
2. Leave a comment on this post telling me your MOST favorite cartridge (only one!) and why it's your "must have" cartridge!

That's it! Easy peasy! Now it's your turn! Let's see your Christmas/Holiday-Themed Decor projects! Make sure to include a Cricut cut somewhere on your project! And make sure to link up your project to FCCB no later than Sunday at midnight for chance to win the Grand Prize!

Next stop...Melin's blog, Cooking With Cricut. Go see what she has in store for you today... it's sure to knock your "stockings" off. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Happy Crawling!

Yummy, Yummy, To My Tummy...COOKIES!!!

2010-12-11T16:22:00.000-06:00

I made these super-yummy Chocolate Andes Cookies for a cookie exchange party last night with the girls...soooo fun! They turned out really good and were really simple to make, so I'm sharing the recipe for anyone interested.

The recipe originally came from Jackie Schmidt at AllRecipes.com:

Chocolate Andes Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 C butter

1 1/2 C brown sugar

2 T water

2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 eggs

1 1/2 C flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 (4.5 oz.) packages of Andes mints

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, cook sugar, butter and water until melted. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes.

2. Pour chocolate mixture into large bowl and beat in eggs, one at a time. Combine flour, baking soda and salt and stir into chocolate. Cover and refrigerate dough at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

4. Bake for 8 minutes in the oven. When cookies come out of oven, press one Andes mint into the top of each cookie and let sit 1 minute. When mint is soft, swirl with the back of a spoon to make a pattern with the green filling of the candy.

5. Let cool. Makes approx. 40 cookies.

Enjoy! :)

Custom Christmas Gift Tags!

2010-12-08T06:00:00.002-06:00

My friend Tommie, "The Seriously Sweet Party Expert" at OhMyGluestick! designs adorable party circles for any occasion or holiday you can think of...including Christmas. I would normally use these as cupcake toppers attached to candy sticks, but since I'm not making cupcakes for the holidays, I decided to make gift tags out of them.

Now I don't know about you, but I think some of the stick-on type labels are kind-of tacky (not all, but most!). Unless I shell out the bucks for them, they're usually cheapo and have somewhat of a glossy surface, which then makes my ink smear and look awful! Unfortunately, they are absolutely necessary to keep the gifts going to right recipients! :)

So here's the perfect solution: use printed party circles and attach them to bows to make your own custom, perfectly-coordinating gift tags! The set I used for these projects are from the Red & Green Holiday Set:

Aren't these super-cute? There are several other holiday options available at the OhMyGluestick Etsy shop as well.

I used a 1 3/4" circle punch to punch out the circles, leaving a bit of the printed border surrounding the circles. Then I used my Cricut (Storybook cartridge) to cut 2" scallop circles to mat the printed circles. I used a cardstock from my scrap stash and made these little cuties for nearly nothing! And the best part is that my writing (on the back of each tag) didn't smear a bit because I was able to write on mat cardstock! :)

I also added tags to these little gift bags (20 for $1.00 in the $1 bins at Target) which hold The Mess Maker's handmade Christmas ornaments to give to family this Christmas:

Thanks for looking and have a creative day!

Sock Cupcake: FCCB Challenge #39 "Gifts Galore"!

2010-12-06T06:00:00.002-06:00

I first made sock cupcakes almost a year ago...and I posted some of my first sock cupcakes in an earlier post back in February. Well, I've been at it again! This time I made them for Fantabulous Cricut's Challenge this week: "Gifts Galore": Create a handmade gift or gift package! This has to be one of my most favorite gifts to give...and I made this one in Chrismas colors, just in time for the holiday!!!

For the cupcake wrapper, I have a Design Studio file graciously shared by Rach1Fun from the Cricut Messageboard. You can find her blog HERE. It uses the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and cuts this lovely scallop-edge wrapper! The socks are from the Michael's Dollar Spot and the cherries (which look almost black in the photo, but are really a dark red) are from Target.

To turn this cutie into a gift, I placed it in a cello bag, tied a red ribbon around it, and stamped a sentiment (CTMH) on a circle cut with George and attached to a circle tag to embellish.

Hope you'll hop over to FCCB and enter your own handmade gift/gift package for your chance to win this week's prize!

Happy Crafting!!! :)

Looking For Help With A "Helmet Therapy" Insurance Appeal?

2010-12-01T14:42:00.005-06:00

The Mess Maker and the Noise Maker were both born with Torticollis, a tightening in the neck muscles on one side, which made it difficult for them to fully rotate their heads. Both went through rounds of Physical Therapy to treat the disorder, but the Mess Maker (above) ended up having to wear a special helmet for several months to correct the abnormal head shape that resulted from sleeping mainly on one spot of her head (see below).

This process was ubelievably difficult, stressful, time-consuming and heart-breaking...especially the casting part of the experience (which probably upset me more than her!):

And the worst part of the whole ordeal was fighting with our insurance company. They wouldn't cover the costs of Helmet Therapy, claiming it was only "cosmetic" in nature. We were out $3,000 for this much needed device.

I spent months researching and gathering information for an appeal. A lot of people I came in contact with in similar situations had been denied coverage by their insurance companies as well. I was determined to get coverage, and was able to compile an unbelievable amount of resources supporting the medical necessity of Helmet Therapy, which I turned into a 250-page successful appeal packet. I would be happy to share this information with anyone interested.

1. My 10-page appeal letter (entire document can be found HERE).

2. If you would like a copy of my appeal resources and information, please email me your mailing address and I'll mail you a CD with all of the information I used.

TheHouseholdCEO(at)live(dot)com

If you have been denied coverage for a Star Band, DOC Band, Hanger Band or any other type of Helmet Therapy by your insurance company, don't give up!

You Are My Sunshine Layout: FCCB Challenge #38--Ribbon!

2010-11-29T06:00:00.006-06:00

I love ribbon...along with Cricut cartridges, it's an absolutely obsession! I use it on almost every project I make. So how fun is this week's Fantabulous Cricut challenge: Ribbon!?!?!?! You can use any cartridge, any cut on any project...you just have to incorporate ribbon! :)

For this layout, I used George to cut a 6" circle for the sun in the upper left corner. I trimmed the sides to be flush with the page and punched holes along the bottom border to thread my ribbon into. Both the ribbon and the strips of patterned paper mimic the sun's rays.

For the title, I used Storybook and used hot pink to make the shadow for each letter. I also used Accent Essentials to cut the layers of the flowers. I curled each petal, inked them, layered them together with a brad and then added a button (with ribbon!) for the center.

I used my CTMH Edge Distresser on almost every piece of this layout...so fun! Gave it some fun texture, too.

I also used my Autumn Terracotta ink (CTMH) to give everything an orange, "sunny glow"!

Hop on over to FCCB and link up your own Cricut ribbon project for your chance to win this week's prize!

Happy crafting! :)

Feather The Nest Baby Shower Invitation

2010-11-27T23:06:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine is having a baby and another friend is hosting a baby shower for her...and I got to do the invites! :) This idea/theme was not mine, and is based on one found HERE.

I used my Cricut and my Create a Critter and Cindy Loo cartridges. The bird's tail is pieced together using the wing cut in a smaller size in 3 coordinating colors. The inside says, "So Let's Feather Her Nest"... Awwwwwwwwwwww! :)

"Thankful" Layout: FCCB Challenge #37

2010-11-23T17:07:00.000-06:00

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Thankful For": create a project about something you are thankful for. That's easy for me...my kids! :)

I used the CTMH Twitterpated papers on this one, which I have to admit are my favorite CTMH papers of all time! The photo was taken almost a year ago, right before Thanksgiving, and I love that both of them are smiling (it's rare to capture both smiling at the same time in photos these days!).

I used the Cricut Cindy Loo cartridge for the tree, deer and leaves for this layout. The kids were cut from A Child's Year. The title is made with letter stickers, also from the CTMH Twitterpated line. I also added several brads and some journaling printed on the computer.

Hope you like it! Head over to FCCB and enter your own "Thankful" project to be eligible to win this week's FANTABULOUS prize!

Happy Crafting! :)

THEY WON, THEY WON!!!

2010-11-23T17:06:00.001-06:00

THEY WON!

To everyone who voted for my Aunt & Uncle to win the dream kitchen makeover...thank you, thank you, thank you!

They won the News On 6 (Tulsa, OK) Dream Kitchen Makeover Contest and will be receiving a brand-new complete kitchen makeover worth $31,000!!!

I am so excited for them and can't wait to see their new dream kitchen...WOO HOO! I'll post some photos of the finished project when they're done!

Please Vote: Dream Kitchen Makeover!!!

2010-11-22T22:39:00.000-06:00

My Aunt and Uncle are one of three finalists to win a $31,000 complete kitchen makeover! This contest is being held by one of their local TV news stations. My cousin submitted their kitchen and here is the entry:

"I am submitting this photo on behalf of my mother and father-in-law. They purchased this house in the mid 70s and raised all 4 of thir children there. As you can see, not much has changed in the kitchen since the 70s, including the avacado formica, the dark cabintery, gold linoleum and the retro wallpaper. My in-laws are wonderful people and are always lending a hand to others in need; always putting their wants and needs on hold in order to help out others. The kitchen was always an area they were going to get to, but never did. My father-in-law grew up building houses and has helped so many others with various updates and repairs to their houses, always putting his projects on hold until everyone elses projects were complete. Unfortunately, health and life have gotten in the way, including a back, arm and shoulder injury that will make ever remodeling their kitchen (which you can see from the photo that work was started, but never complete) impossible. This is the house they raised their kids in, retired in, and will be the house they live in for the rest of their lives. It would be so nice to give such wonderful people who give so much to others such an awesome gift! Thank you for your consideration."

Please take just a moment to vote for these very deserving people! Voting closes TOMORROW (Tuesday, Nov. 23rd) at 5:00 p.m.

Vote here:

News On 6 Dream Kitchen Makeover: Moyer House

Thank you so much and I'll keep you posted on the results!

MS WALK 2010!

2010-11-17T12:25:00.002-06:00

Our Moms On A Mission: Team Colby team attended and participated in the MS Walk 2010 this past weekend...would have been great if I hadn't still been sick. :( I was there, but didn't walk. I held down the fort...the tent set up in our name due to the amount we raised...

OVER $5,000!!!!!

Our team rocked it! So glad to have been able to help raise funds for such an important cause. And it was all in honor of our sweet friend, Colby, who lives with MS. Love ya!!! :)

Thank you so much to everyone who donated...it is much appreciated and definitely went to a GREAT cause!

"Under The Weather" Card: FCCB Challenge #36--Achoo!

2010-11-15T06:00:00.000-06:00

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Achoo!": create a project having to do wither being sick (i.e. get well card, band-aid, flu-bug, etc.). I decided to make an "Under The Weather" card!

This card took three cartridges to complete...the cloud is from one of my newest cartridges Serenade. I LOVE this cartridge! I didn't use the detailed layer for the cloud, just the base. Second, I used Forever Young to cut the umbrella and its layers. And last, I used Create a Critter for the chickie. The eyes on the chickie are made by following Melin's tutorial at Cooking With Cricut. Everything is inked and poped with foam adhesive. The light blue base of the card is also embossed with the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles folder.

Hope you'll head over to FCCB and link up your own "Achoo!" Cricut project for your chance to win this week's awesome prize!

Happy Crafting! :)

Viola's Boutique Crochet Flower Cards

2010-11-14T13:13:00.000-06:00

Some of the Fantabulous Cricut Design Team members were very generously given some free crochet flowers from Viola's Boutique, one of our newest sponsors...with the challenge on using them on a project!

I chose some white daisies with yellow centers, each with green leaves. I just adore these little lovelies!

I used some patterned paper scraps in my scrap bins and put together a standard-size red floral card, and a mini 3x3 yellow dot card. On the red card, the yellow centers didn't match, so I insered pearl brad (Eyelet Outlet) through the centers to cover the yellow. It gives the flowers a completely different look. I added some computer-printed journaling on a layered frame from Storybook and tied a ribbon to finish.

For the yellow card, I used a small jewel brad that still allowed the yellow center to show, which coordinated perfectly with the yellow paper. I used Stroybook to cut out the black scallop circle shape to place behind the daisy to make it pop. The sentiment is a CTMH stamp, stamped in black to match the die cut scallop circle.

I am so grateful to Viola's Boutiqe and can't wait to use more of these adorable crochet beauties!

Flower Pot Card

2010-11-10T09:20:00.001-06:00

While at my friend Jen's house this weekend, I was able to go through my photos and organize/delete to get them ready to be printed...I'm talking TWO YEARS WORTH!!!

Anyway, I found a photo I took of this flower pot card I made for my mom for mother's day a couple of years ago, before I had a blog. Forgot about it until I saw the photo and thought I'd post it! I have no idea what cartridge(s) I used, but I'm thinking by looking at it, maybe WIMG or Accent Essentials?

Just pull the flowers and the card/sentiment comes out from the pot. It's not a new idea...like I said, I made this a couple of years ago. But I still think it's a nifty little concept and could be modified for a lot of different themes: Christmas toys coming out of a stocking, sun coming out from behind the clouds, lid coming off of a stock pot, etc. My wheels are turning now!!! :)

Happy crafting!

"Live Life" Card: FCCB Challenge #35: Color & Shape Challenge!

2010-11-08T06:00:00.002-06:00

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is a color/shape challenge: use the color green and the shape of a circle somewhere on your project!

I combined the shape/color requirement in my little tree on the card above. The papers were all scraps I had in my scrap bins. The circle is cut from the Cricut George & Basic Shapes cartridge and the tree is cut from the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. I added a little bluebird from Create a Critter as well. The sentiment is a Close To My Heart stamp, stamped on white cs and matted in blue. To finish, I tied a white bow and added a red pearl brad (Eyelet Outlet).

I hope you'll play along with this week's challenge for your chance to win a FANTABULOUS prize!

Happy crafting!!! :)

Using Party Circles On Cricut & Scrapbooking Projects

2010-11-04T06:00:00.003-05:00

My friend Tommie, The Seriously Sweet Party Expert from OhMyGluestick!, gave me early access to her new Harvest Party Circles to prepare some projects and a tutorial over at Fantabulous Cricut! How stinkin' cute are these:

Adorable!!!

My tutorial shows how to use your Cricut to assemble these cuties into everything from cupcake and treat toppers (which they are designed for) to magnets to cards and more. Click HERE to go to FCCB and see the tutorial.

Here are some of the projects I made with the Harvest Party Circles by OMG!:

1. Cupcake/Treat Toppers (tutorial at FCCB)

2. Glass Marble Refrigerator Magnets

3. Custom Brads

4. Greeting Card (Owl is from Storybook cartridge)

5. Gift Tag (acorn is from Create a Critter cartridge)

Head over to FCCB for more information! And be sure to check out OhMyGluestick! for adorable graphics for your next party or Cricut project!

Have a creative day! :)

Halloween 2010!

2010-11-01T14:31:00.000-05:00

I just HAD to have this Babystyle peacock costume for The Noise Maker when I saw it. Got it from Ebay since Babystyle no longer makes costumes. :( The princess dress, on the other hand, is a little random...it's actually one of The Mess Maker's old princess dresses and she insisted on wearing it, rather than the BEAUTIFUL pink princess dress with lights in the skirt that I bought for her this year. Oh well... :)

Happy Fall Turkey Card: FCCB Challenge #34 "Bird Bonanza"!

2010-11-01T06:00:00.004-05:00

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "Bird Bonanza": make a project featuring a bird or soemthing to do with a bird. I LOVE BIRDS!!! It was hard for me to pick what kind of bird I wanted to use, but since we're coming up on Thanksgiving now, I decided a little turkey guy would be perfect!

This cut is from Simply Charmed...one of my newest (and most favorite) cartridges! This cartridge to me is like an update of one of my go-to cartridges, Doodlcharms. LOVIN' IT! I cut the sentiment and all layers of the turkey with it, then just added some brads in the corner and ribbon at the bottom.

Hope you'll head over to FCCB and link up your own bird project for you chance to win this week's FANTABULOUS prize!

Happy Crafting!!! :)

Green Eggs & Ham (Well, sort of)...

2010-10-28T08:35:00.000-05:00

The Mess Maker requested Green Eggs & Ham for breakfast. She's been REALLY into the Cat In The Hat and Dr. Seuss lately. Well, I don't keep ham slices on hand and didn't have any lunch meat in the fridge. Why not bacon??? Close enough!

She didn't seem to mind...

Paw Print "Zoboomafoo" Birthday Invitations

2010-10-26T20:33:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine has a daughter that is about to turn four and loves the show Zoboomafoo...so she requested Zoboomafoo invites. If I'm being honest, I had never heard of the show before she mentioned it! So I looked for it on On Demand, and it's really a super-cute, educational show!

Anyway, she wanted zebra print and hot pink as the color scheme...and she requested a paw print. Now I have a pretty big collection of Cricut cartridges...I consider it a slight addiction. But believe it or not, not one of them had a paw print image. So out came the Design Studio and George and I was able to come up with a basic paw print and backing:

The base of the invitation is half of a 81/2" x 11" sheet of cardstock, cut lengthwise. The two folds are made by scoring the base of the invite at 2 3/4" on both ends and folding toward the front. I addes pieces of zebra print paper to both of the front flaps, and also inside of each flap. The inside wording was printed on my computer with the Happy Sans font (LOVE IT!):

(I put an envelope in front of the party details to protect privacy)

Once I completed the base of the invitation, I added the paw print cut from black and pink glitter cardstock, with a tag (from George) that says "party!". Looks like a WILD TIME to me!!!

P.S. She hired someone to bring a live Lemur (just like the one on Zoboomafoo) along with some other critters to the party...how fun is that??? :)

Have a creative day!

Little Monster Treat Bag: FCCB Challenge #33--Halloween!

2010-10-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY got the Cricut Mini Monsters cartridge, just in time for this week's Fantabulous Cricut Challenge...Halloween! The assignment was to make anything having to do with Halloween.

This cartridge has all the pieces needed to create this "Little Monster", except for the googly eyes I added. Super-simple to make and I think it turned out pretty cute. What little goblin wouldn't like to receive this little treat bag with a Halloween surprise?

Be sure to head over to FCCB and enter your own Halloween project for your chance to win this week's prize!

Happy Crafting!!! :)

Fall Wine Glass Charms: FCCB Challenge #32 Leaf Theme

2010-10-18T06:00:00.002-05:00

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is to create a project using a leaf for Fall!

I haven't made wine glass charms in a while, and thought this was the perfect opportunity to make some new ones to celebrate this gorgeous season! They're soooooo easy and really turned out pretty cute! To make the leaves, I used the Storybook cartridge and cut the leaf (shift "B") out of clear shrink plastic at 2 1/2" three times. I inked each leaf using a different color of Adirondack (Tim Holtz) alcohol ink with a sponge dauber. Then I punched a hole at the top of each with a standard size hole punch.

To shrink the plastic, I used my heat gun. The two sides of the leaves wanted to overlap a little while shrinking and not lay completely flat, which actually made them look a little more "realistic" and less one-dimensional. One shrunk, I added them to a silver ring and added some coordinating glass beads and the ring of leaves to a metal charm loop.

That's it! Hope you check out Fantabulous Cricut's FANTABULOUS prize for this week and enter your own Fall leaf project for your chance to win!

Have a creative day! :)

Blog Candy Winner!!!

2010-10-17T06:00:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone who left a comment linking up your favorite stamped projects for my blog candy giveaway...wow, such a wide variety of awesome inspiration!

And now for the winner......

#6 goatesgirl

who said:

"well I don't really use "real" stamps that often although I have been starting to lately...I do love digi stamping though and my favorite thing to do woth stamps is make thenm look different either by paper piecing, adding stickles or liquid glass, bling whatever...here is my fave thing I did with a digi stamp"

Clicke HERE for more information about this awesome card!

Congratulations "goatesgirl"...you've got some fabulous "real" stamps to use on your next project!!! Please contact me at the email address below with your mailing address to claim your prize! You have two weeks to claim your stamp sets!!!

TheHouseholdCEO(at)live(dot)com

Have a creative day! :)

BLOG CANDY!!!

2010-10-14T14:55:00.000-05:00

I just read The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa to the Mess Maker and it's put me in the mood to "give"! Soooooo, up for grabs is a brand-new full size Close To My Heart Stamp Set ("True Friends, no longer available) along with two mini Stamp Sets ("Bee Mine" & "Dream", also no longer available). These are high-quality, clear stamps and are perfect for card-making!

To be eligible to win, you must be a follower and leave a comment on this post with a link to your most favorite stamped project. I want some stamping inspiration, so let me see those beautiful creations!!!

Contest is open from now until Saturday, Oct. 16th. Winner will be announced Sunday, Oct. 17th.

Good luck! :)

"Man Made Card"!

2010-10-13T17:59:00.001-05:00

This "video tutorial" is for any of you that have husbands who want nothing to do with your scrapbooking and papercrafting hobby, claiming that it's too "girly". NOT ANYMORE!!!

I found this video by Stamping School over at the Stamp Goddess' website Fabulously Artsy and just had to share...super funny!

Unfortunately, my husband probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a wrench and pliers, so we own absolutely none of the items used in this tutorial. Oh well, maybe it will help someone else out there in Blogland with a "non-crafty" husband... :)

Altered Wall Clock: FCCB Challenge #31--"On The Wall"!

2010-10-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

This week's challenge at FCCB is called "On The Wall": create something to hang on the wall! I have been needing a clock for the Noise Maker's bedroom and I've had this clock sitting around in a closet for a while, so I figured I'd do-it-up "Cricut style", using the Boys Will Be Boys cartridge. Can I just tell you how much I LOVE this cartridge???? Sooooo fun for little guys!

I cut circles for each number, and added the numbers for 12, 3, 6, 9 (you know because I can barely tell time as it is, much less without ANY numbers to reference!). Then I just chose images from the cartridge and cut them out with layers in coordinating colors and slapped them on the circle of patterned paper I cut to fit the clock face.

Now taking the hands off and putting them back on was a little tricky. Took me a while to figure out. But it's back together now and I think it turned out pretty cute. Be sure to head over to Fantabulous Cricut and enter your own handmade wall decoration for your chance to win this week's prize!

Happy Crafting!!! :)

Update on MS Walk and Fundraising Goal...

2010-10-08T15:10:00.000-05:00

I am so happy to have made my goal of $225 in pledges and support for the MS Walk in November! Thank you to everyone who has made a donation or pledge on my behalf. My team is doing really well, having currently raised a total of $1,595.00!!!

I am so thankful for the support and encouragement of family and friends, as well as individuals I've never met who have been generous enough to donate to such a great cause.

Since I've met my initial goal, and I still have over a month left before the walk, I have raised my personal goal to $300! That's only $75 more, but I want to keep trying to support the cause as much as I possibly can. So let's make this thermometer rise to the top (again!)...

If you are able to make a donation or sponsor me for the 2010 MS Walk, I would greatly appreciate it! You can donate directly to the National MS Society online, via my Fundraising Website. Funds collected go to research and treatment for individuals living with Multiple Sclerosis, including my friend Colby.

Thank You!!! :)

Halloween Treat Bags For Teachers!

2010-10-07T16:25:00.001-05:00

With Halloween coming up, I wanted to give the Mess Maker's preschool teachers something sweet. I came up with little treat bag covers to dress-up a plain little cello bag with their favorite candies!

For each bag cover, I cut a piece of 12x12 black carstock in half (2- 6"x12" pieces). I trimmed one of the pieces to 10", then scored one end of each piece at 2 1/2". I scored the other end of the 12" piece at 2". Then I adhered the two 2 1/2" sections together to form one long strip. I folded along the score lines and folded the 2" flap over the end of the shorter piece and had my cover. Then I placed the cello bag with candy inside the cover, punched holes at the top and threaded ribbon through to secure it. Here is a side view:

To embellish, I covered the front with cute little pumpkin paper by the Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby). I added a die-cut pumpkin (Create a Critter) and printed "No Tricks...Only Treats!" onto it. I tied green leaf ribbon to the stem and adhered it on the front. Then I cut two candies from the Mini Monsters cartridge and adhered them on the flap.

Hope the teachers will get a kick out of these "sweet treats"! :)

Have a creative day!

"BOO" Card: Circut Simply Charmed

2010-10-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

I just got the Cricut Simply Charmed cartridge a couple of weeks ago and I am absolutely loving it! Sooooooo cute! This is one of the Halloween images from the cartridge and I thought it would be perfect for a little Halloween card! I love this little bat...almost looks like a sweet little guy...except for the teeth!!!

I also cut the headstone from Simply Charmed and used it as a background for the tree cut. Then I added the sentiment and drew in some faux stitching around the pieces for detail. Hope you enjoy!!! :)

"Royal Cupcakes": FCCB Challenge #30 Natl. Bake & Decorate Month!

2010-10-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

This week's challenge at Fantabulous Cricut is called "National Bake & Decorate Month": create a project that has something to do with baking...and if we have the Cricut Cake, we can use that to create something tasty as well. Well, I don't have the Cricut Cake. :( But that didn't stop me from whipping up something tasty!!!

I made some chocolate chip cupcakes and decided to dress them up a bit in honor of this week's challenge. I have to brag a little on the super-cute graphics...because I didn't make them!!! My friend Tommie, from OhMyGluestick! designs graphics that you can use for party decorations, including these little "party circles" which I used as cupcake toppers. This set of four designs is from the "Alice In Wonderland" set (which was one of the featured free sets a while back!) and features the ace, spade, heart and club. How fun would these be for a card game get-together or royal-themed party??? OMG! has an Etsy shop with TONS of graphics for party decor, and she does custom designs as well. Go check her out!

Okay, to complete my cupcake toppers, I punched each image using a 1 1/2" circle punch. Then I used my Cricut to cut a 1 3/4" circle (George & Basic Shapes) to mat the image and a 2" scallop circle (Storybook) to mat the circle. I added stickles to the dot borders on each image to give them some sparkle and added a rhinestone in the center of each. To finish, I attached them to lollipop sticks and tied coordinating ribbon around the sticks. Super-easy and super-quick, and I think they're pretty stinkin' cute!

Hope you'll visit both OMG! (for fabulous party decor ideas) and Fantabulous Cricut to enter your own "Bake & Decorate" project.

Have a creative (and yummy) day!!! :)

"Little Yankee" Layout: FCCB Challenge #29--Natl. Sewing Month!

2010-09-27T13:24:00.001-05:00

This week's Fantabulous Cricut Challenge is called "National Sewing Month", in honor of...National Sewing Month! :) We had to use some type of stitching on our project, whether by hand, machine or even faux stitching. I went for the machine stitching, since I love the look of it and don't use it much...and now I remember WHY I don't use it much... Basically, I suck. HAHAHA!

I have had this paper for years and years...really. And I thought the colors went really well with the colors in the photo, so it finally got put to use. For the argyle (did I spell that right???) pattern, I cut diamonds with my Cricut (George and Basic Shapes), adhered them to the yellow carstock strip and then sewed diagonally across them to create the argyle look.

The title is from the Cricut Boys Will Be Boys cartridge (one of my new FAVES!)...I cut the base of the sentiment out, and instead of using the "man" part of the cut, I found the word "Yankee" in the Yankees font somewhere online and printed it out, cropping it to fit in the box. Perfect with the Noise Maker's little Yankee's outfit, huh? :)

Pretty simple layout, but I love the color combo and it's one of my most favorite pictures of my little guy! Hope you'll head over to FCCB and play along with this week's challenge with a sewn project of your own!

Happy Crafting! :)

WINNER!!! Fantabulous Cricut Crawl...

2010-09-22T06:00:00.005-05:00

Wow, thank you all for the wonderful comments on my Fantabulous Cricut Crawl project! Your kind words made my day. And it was also fun to find out what everyone's favorite subject in school was! I'm surprised at how many people said "science" and "math"!?!?!? :)

Okay, now for the winner of the CTMH Stamp Set for one person that left a comment, told me their favorite subject in school and is a current follower. Chosen by Random.org.......#28 Meredith!

Congratulations! You have two weeks to claim your prize. Please contact me and give me your shipping address so I can get you this FANTABULOUS stamp set!

TheHouseHoldCEO(at)live(dot)com

DIY Party & Holiday Decor By OhMyGluestick!

2010-09-21T10:50:00.000-05:00

I know sooooo many people who say they aren't "crafty" and wouldn't know where to start on handmade party and seasonal decor. Well, if you like the idea of having a "handmade" component to your party decor, but don't know how to go about doing that, I have a solution!

My friend, Tommie, from Oh My Gluestick designs the most AMAZING graphics that you can buy, cut/punch out and use for your own parties and seasonal decorations! She can make custom invitations and then design party circles, treat bag toppers, and more...all coordinating in the color/theme you choose!

The best part about it is that she emails you the graphic and for one (VERY reasonable) price, you can print them off as many times as you want! This saves you from having to start from scratch, yet allows you to have the hands-on experience of making your decorations, all without breaking the bank!

For the Party Circles, just use a scallop or circle punch to punch them out and then glue to popsicle sticks or hang from ribbon as tags or decorations:

From this:

To this:

Or this:

HERE is a tutorial on how to use the Party Circles, from OhMy Gluestick.

For the Treat Bag Toppers, just print, fold in half and attach to the top of a treat bag for a custom, coordinating party favor!

How easy is that???

Other products offered by OMG include water bottle labels, party hats, banners, door decorations, cake toppers, and of course invitations and announcements. Visit OMG's Etsy shop HERE for more info!

**All images are from Oh My Gluestick and are copyrighted.**

Fall Pumpkin Topiary

2010-09-17T14:52:00.000-05:00

Fall is soooooooo my favorite time of year! I love the weather, the colors, the festivities AND the decorating! This year, I don't have a plant in the urn on my front porch. Poor thing didn't stand a chance in the Texas heat! So I decided to make a pumpkin topiary to dress up my front porch.

I got all supplies for this topiary at Michaels. The pumpkins were half off this week. Because the white ones were so stark (and still look that way in the photo, though they're not) I used an antiquing medium mixed with several drops of brown re-inker and coated each pumpkin with it. It gives an aged or slightly distressed/worn look. I hot glued those together (after cutting off the stems) and added leaves between, where the hot glue was exposed.

I didn't have enough leaves so I used my Cricut (Stretch Your Imagination, Wild Card) to cut some more. I sprayed the leaf die cuts with water, scrunched them up and then dried them with my heat tool. I inked the raised portions and the edges and they looked like beautiful fall leaves! I hot glued those to a grapevine that I wrapped around the pumpkins. I also added some brown raffia, twisted around the grapevine.

I set it in the urn, added some moss around the edges (sprayed with Ortho Max...no bugs allowed!!!) and I now have a pretty cool-looking decoration on my porch!

Thanks for looking and have a creative day! :)

House Warming Card

2010-09-17T14:41:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to use this house card from the Cricut "Wild Card" cartridge since I bought it. And I decided that making a house warming card for my friend Michelle that just moved was the perfect opportunity!

I used light brown cardstock for the house base and ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Mini Mosaic folder to give it the appearance of "stone". Then I inked the raised area to give it some depth. I cut out all the layers offered (door, window, roof and topiaries) and inked each of those as well.

On the door, I wanted to make a curtain, so I accordian folded a small piece of striped paper and adhered it to the inside of the door window. Then I added a "welcome" banner and attached the brads slightly closer than the length of the banner so that it would stand out a bit. Here's a close-up:

To make the card sturdier and to make the window look like a light was on inside, a cut the house in blackout mode 1/4" smaller than the card base and used those as mats on both sides of the inside of the house.

Thanks for looking and have a creative day! :)

Teacher Appreciation: Rolo Pencils!

2010-09-16T14:10:00.001-05:00

Wish I could take credit for this idea. Oh well. It's actually an idea featured in the September 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. I fell in love with these the second I saw them, and decided they'd be a perfect little gift for my daughter's AWESOME pre-k teachers!

The body of the pencil (inside) is a package of Rolos and the tip of the pencil is a Hersheys Kiss attached to the Rolos with a glue dot!

To make the outside of the pencil, you cut a piece of yellow cardstock to 3 1/2" x 4 1/2", trim one short end with scallop edge or zigzag edge scissors, and score every 1/4" lengthwise...wrap around the Rolos and adhere. Then wrap a 3 1/2" x 3/8 " piece of pink cardstock at the opposite end. Add a small pink circle to cover the exposed end of the Rolos. Cover the seam between the yellow and pink pieces with a length of silver foil tape. Then just wrap the ends with a ribbon and tag. I used Create a Critter to make the apples on these, and printed my sentiment from my computer right onto the tags.

To finish, I put them each in a clear bag and made a bag topper with each teacher's initial and some embellishments on them. Super-easy and super-fun!

Thanks for looking and have a creative day! :)

Monkey Birthday Invitations!

2010-09-16T13:58:00.001-05:00

A while back, I made some pink monkey birthday invitations for my niece, Avery, for her first birthday:

My friend Jen asked if I could make some Monkey invitations for her son's sencond birthday. Soooooo, I thought to myself, "why re-invent the wheel"??? I just modified the original pink one I did, and made them for a boy! I made them very similarly, using my Cricut "Create a Critter" for the monkey cuts and the "Accent Essentials" cartridge for the green accent that mats the sentiment. The monkeys "swing" on the leaf ribbon added to the top of each card! They're attached with little metal rings that allow them to move freely on the invitation.

I used the same patterned paper (Hobby Lobby) in blue instead of pink. Everything else is the same as on the pink ones. I made 20 of these bad boys. Whew! Hope she likes them... :)

Thanks for looking and have a creative day!

FANTABULOUS CRICUT CRAWL: Button Up For School!

2010-09-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Organized Chaos and the second "Fantabulous Cricut Crawl": Button Up For School! It's Fantabulous Cricut's version of a blog hop!

If you've come from visiting Melin at Cooking With Cricut, you're in the right place! If you've just happened across my blog and would like to play along with our Fantabulous Cricut Crawl, start HERE.

In honor of Back To School time, we're calling our second Fantabulous Cricut Crawl "Button Up For School"...each design team member will be featuing a button somewhere on their project! Here's a sneak peek of mine...scroll down to see my project!

Each Design Team member will be featuing an original project featuring a button AND a Cricut cut somewhere on the project. Make sure to check out each DT member's blog for some awesome inspiration! There will be prizes along the way at our DT members' blogs, AND there will be a grand prize up for grabs at FCCB for one participant that submits a project meeting the the "Button Up For School" challenge criteria!

How fun is that?

Here's my project for the Crawl:

I made a card for my daughter's pre-k teacher using the Cricut "Just Because Cards" cartridge for the apple and layers, and the Storybook cartridge for the marquee-shaped frame. All pieces were inked and the frame was popped off the page with foam adhesive. The "bite" mark was made by punching a small scallop on the edge of the apple.

Where are the buttons??? Look closely...they make up the little worm peeking out of the apple! I used four mini green buttons. For the face, I used a white ink pen to outline the holes to make the eyes. On the other three, I punched a small green circle and adhered the circles on top. I also added little antenna!

You might be wondering what the rest of the sentiment says...well, here ya go:

Hee hee! :)

Okay, time for prizes!!! I am giving away a super-fun prize for the Crawl...a brand NEW full-size Close To My Heart clear stamp set!!! The set is called "Piece of Cake" (retired!) and features different cakes and sentiments, perfect for using on those handmade birthday cards:

Here's how you can win this fabulous stamp set:

1. Leave a comment on this post...let me know what your favorite subject was in school!

2. Become a follower of my blog.

Now it's your turn! See if you can incorporate a button on your own "Button Up For School" project. Make sure to include a Cricut cut somewhere on your project, too!

Next stop...Leigh's blog, My Scrappy Journey. Go see what she has in store for you today! And when you're done, make sure to link up your project to FCCB's Fantabulous Cricut Crawl post to be entered into the contest for the GRAND PRIZE!!!!

Happy Crawling!

FCCB Scrappin' Saturday: Job Layout Challenge!

2010-09-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

I'm excited that we are having our first Scrappin' Saturday Layout Challenge today at Fantabulous Cricut (FCCB)! I made the layout above for this challenge.

We are offering a prize...a Cricut Alphalicious cartridge goes to the winner!!! The requirements are to make a layout about your job, featuring YOU, and to use at least one Cricut cut somewhere on your project. Fun, right? Participants have one week to complete their layout and submit to FCCB.

For my layout, I used the FABULOUS American Crafts Dear Lizzy collection papers. These are leftovers from the class I took from Elizabeth Kartchner herself! I love these papers...they just make me happy!

I used my Cricut George cartridge to cut the hearts and circles (to make the spiral flowers). I lifted the edges of the hearts for dimension.

The spiral flowers, which I learned from Elizabeth Kartchner, are really simple. You just spiral cut a circle (any size), leaving a small round portion uncut in the center of the flower. Starting with the outermost end, begin rolling inward until you've reached the center. Then just put a brad through the center of the flower (grabbing the innermost piece of the rolled flower) to secure it. Using your hand, you can gently but firmly press down on the entire to flatten it out somewhat.

I also used the Street Sign cartridge for my title ("proof") and for the small arrows on the photos. This layout is based on a sketch by PageMaps:

PageMaps is having a layout contest using this sketch. The prize? American Crafts Dear Lizzy collection products!!! Hee, hee...

Happy Crafting!

Fantabulous Cricut: "Road Trip" Car Card

2010-08-30T06:00:00.002-05:00

This week's Fantabulous Cricut challenge is called "Road Trip": Make a project incorporating a vacation or travel. I love this car from the Cricut "Just Because Cards" cartridge. It's so vintage and cool!

For this card, I cut the layers of the car and adhered them together, inking each of the pieces. I added silver paint (paint pen) to the bumper to make it look more realistic. Then I added rhinestones for the headlight and tailight. I adhered a strip of embossed (Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder) paper to the bottom of the card base and adhered the car to the card with foam dots.

To finish, I cut the sentiment, "Getting there..." and adhered it to the front and added flowers accented with mini buttons. The inside says, "...is half the fun!".

Hope you'll head over to FCCB and check out the other FANTABULOUS design team projects! Be sure to link up your own "road trip" project by next Sunday for your chance to win this week's prize!!!

Happy crafting! :)

I Met "Dear Lizzy" Today!!!

2010-08-28T15:33:00.001-05:00

The owner of my local scrapbook store won a contest, the prize for which was a class taught by Elizabeth Kartchner (aka "Dear Lizzy")! Now if you know me well, you know that I absolutely idolize this girl! I just love her scrapbooking style and if I had to choose a "celebrity" to meet, she would be it!!! The second I heard she was teaching a class here I called and reserved a spot!

Here's a photo of us from this morning:

She taught a super-fun class and we got a TON of the American Crafts Dear Lizzy Collection supplies!

We made this super-adorable layout, with my favorite...handmade flowers! It's not done yet...I still need to add the main photo and a strip of smaller photos on the pink piece of cardstock:

And we also made a super-cute mini album out of just 4x6 photo protectors! This one needs the photos, too. After adding the photos, I'll punch the holes through the page protectors and tie the ribbon:

One product we used today that I fell in love with is the adhesive backed fabric paper...it's awesome! You can fray the edges of it really easily to give that shabby chic feel to your projects.

Super-dork here also had Elizabeth autograph my "52 More Scrapbooking Challenges" book which she authored. In my defnse, though, I wasn't the only one that asked her to!

This was seriously the highlight of my year! Thanks Lizzy for a FABULOUS class!

Margarita anyone??? TAG SWAP!

2010-08-26T15:21:00.001-05:00

I am so excited I get to participate in my first swap! Kathy over at Paper Phenomenon is hosting this one and we are swapping summer-themed tags. How fun!

I decided to make a margarita tag...problem is, I don't have a margarita cut in my cartridge library. :( So, .cut file-searching I went until I came across Jade's blog, Handmade By Jade and her super-cute (and FREE!) margarita glass .cut file! Go check out her blog...it's awesome!

I wanted the margaritas to look realistic and I think I accomplished that because every time I see them, I CRAVE a frozen margarita! Hee, hee... All pieces were cut using Jade's file and Cricut Design Studio. The base is made from a thin chipboard, lined with white cardstock (with a green piece on the back). Then I cut each margarita glass again in Bazzil Bling green cardstock. I trimmed the green pieces to give me the inside drink and the top of the drink. I also cut the glasses out of a transparency...then inked them with white Staz-On ink to make them look "frosted". I adhered all of those layers together and had the base of my tag.

To embellish, I added layered flowers with green brads to the bottom of the glass. Then I added Glossy Accents around the rim of the glass and sprinkled my new FAVORITE thing: Diamond Dust. This stuff is AWESOME! It comes from Michaels and is made from ground up glass. Just sprinkle it on and ta-da...instant salt rim!!! (I also added some Diamond Dust to the brads in the flowers).

Next, I set a large eyelet in the upper left corner of the drink, and tied ribbons through. For the lime, I used white shrink plastic and cut circles with my Cricut. Then I drew the lime with a light green Sharpie marker, punched a hole in the corner and shrunk it with my heat gun. I attached it to a ribbon with a silver ring.

So that's it! I really hope my swap partners enjoy them. Thinking about making one for myself now! :)

Happy crafting!!!

"Cherry On Top" Blog Award!

2010-08-25T09:47:00.001-05:00

I am so tickled that Brandi from "Scubascrapper Brandi" chose me to receive the "Cherry On Top" blog award! Thank you Brandi!!!

The rules for receiving this award:

1. Thank the person that passed it to you (check!)

2. Copy award to your blog (check!)

3. List three things you love about yourself

4. Post a picture that you love to your blog
5. Pass the award onto 5 others

Three things I love about myself:
1. I am creative...I love being able to think something up and create it using my hands. I've been a crafty-girl for as long as I can remember!
2. My love for my children...my heart can't keep it contained! I know my kids know they are loved and that's the most important thing I can give them as a mother.
3. My sense of humor...it's so important to be able to laugh at the little things when everything you see on the news and read in the paper seems so negative.

Here is one my most favorite photos at the moment...my dog, Duke, was just diagnosed with terminal lymphoma and I snapped this photo the day of his diagnosis. It's bittersweet for me, because I know the day this was taken he was given his diagnosis, but I also see what a beautiful creature he is and how he will be missed...

Okay, time to pass this award on. Here are my five:

1. Linda at The Paper Boutique: I love tutorials and this lady does them fabulously! I love seeing what awesome new projects she'll teach me how to make next!

2. Christine at Creating With Christine: I just love her style and she posts some truly unique projects that are sure to inspire you!

3. Denise at Paper Pastime: I love her super-creative projects and visit her blog frequently for inspiration!

4. "The Bean" at Greenbean's Crafterole: If you haven't seen Greenbean's AWESOME blog, you are definitely missing out! She comes up with the most amazing ideas and turns them into FAB creations!

5. Kathy at Paper Phenomenon: I am addicted to mini albums and this is one of my go-to gals for inspiration!

Gone Fishin' Layout: Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #23

2010-08-16T06:00:00.011-05:00

The challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut this week is called "The Great Outdoors": Create a project with an outdoor activity. We just recently got back from a trip to the river with family and I knew exactly what photos I wanted to use on this project (and what paper I wanted to use...this super-cute fishy paper from 3 Bugs In A Rug)!

The Mess Maker had her first fishing experience, which lasted all of about 1 minute...the moment the fish came out of the water she took off! Oh well...she takes after her father. :)

For this layout, I used the Create a Critter cartridge for the fish and Plantin Schoolbook for the title. I added an eye brad to the fish, and cut a hook and added twine, wrapping the end around the "i" in "fishin'". The letters in "fishin'" were embossed with the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug folder.

To finish, I pleated some fabric ribbon and added brads to secure it. I threaded several buttons and adhered them randomly. And I printed the journaling, cut it into strips and then adhered them at the bottom of the page.

This layout is based on a sketch by Pencil Lines, found HERE:

Thanks for looking and be sure to head over to FCCB and check out the prize up for grabs this week!

Happy Crafting!!! :)

Horse "Happy Birthday" Card

2010-08-15T22:22:00.000-05:00

My grandma was having a hard time finding a horse-themed birthday card for one of her great-grandkids that loves horses...so I made her this one to give him! I made this one a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" card since kids like big cards!!!

I used Create a Critter for the horses (using the "flip" feature on one of them), and used Melin's Face Tutorial for the eyes. I inked the white card base with two colors of blue ink to make the sky. Then I tore two colors of green cardstock to make the hills. I snipped narrow strips into a 3/4" x 8 1/2" strip of the lighter green and ahdered it in front for grass. Then I hand cut the fence poles, inked them and adhered them over the grass, adding twine behind them to complete the fence. The clouds are also from Create a Critter. For the "happy BIRTHDAY" I used CTMH stamps and inks (as well as for the inking on the individual pieces).

I hope he (and my grandma) likes it! Thanks for looking and have a creative day! :)