Dino-mite!

It is way past time for us to transition our 4-year-old son's room from a nursery to a big boy room. The Peter Rabbit pictures I painted on the walls and decoupaged on the room accessories before our daughter was born just aren't cutting it anymore. Nope, for this rambunctious-bursting-with-energy-man-child, we need dinosaurs and Jeeps, action and adventure, vibrant colors and LOTS of storage. We intended to revamp Ronan's room over the summer, but the porch project took over all of our home improvement time. At the moment, we are at a shingle standstill with the porch, so Ronan's room has come to the forefront of my mind again.

A fun door hanger is a small start, but at least it's a start. I've been hoarding these Archaic chipboard stickers from Basic Grey for way too long. Can't wait to make some more neat (and very boyish) things with these!

Details:
Patterned Paper & Chipboard Stickers - Archaic - Basic Grey
Ink - Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Wooden Door Hanger - Darice
Acrylic Paint - Apple Barrel

If you are in Western Pa or Eastern Ohio, stay warm & dry!

Dress-up Fun

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought I would share a couple of simple dress-up/costume ideas.

My daughter's school has a Storybook Character Dress-Up Day, when the kids dress up as a favorite storybook character and bring in the book to share with the rest of the students. The school urges parents to keep the costumes safe, inexpensive, and simple.

Last year, Shannon dressed up as Horton from Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss. I altered a plain gray hooded sweatshirt for her costume by adding felt ears, black yarn, and a felt tail. She also wore matching gray sweatpants. She made the clover herself out of pipe cleaners. When she's done using the sweatshirt for dress up, we can easily remove a few stitches and use it for everyday wear.

Shannon likes her costumes to feel more like regular clothes, so when she wanted to be a fairy for Halloween last year I knew the free instructions for a fairy dress on Hillary Lang's Wee Wonderfuls blog would be perfect for her. The dress, which is constructed very much like an apron, slips on over Shannon's regular clothes and ties on the sides. She can put it on and take it off by herself and has worn it numerous times over the past year.


Another thing I do all year is scour yard sales and the thrift shops for used costumes. Costumes new at the stores can be so pricey. I've found some nice, quality customes in really good shape, like Ronan's dragon/dinosaur (we never really did decide what it was!). My other favorite source for kids' dress-up clothes and accessories is Etsy.com.I got these great capes for the kids from superflykidz. My kids love them! Ronan's even been known to wear his to church (not during the service though - we have to draw the line somewhere!) and the neighborhood grocery store!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope some of these ideas were helpful!

Happy First Day of Fall and a Yummy Recipe

I think everybody over on the Crafty Secrets member forum at Splitcoast Stampers is thinking warm and cozy thoughts on this first day of fall. I hosted this week's challenge with a "Falling for Fall" theme. I created this Fall Fairy card for my sample:

Details:
Stamp sets - Crafty Secrets - Fairyland & Sweet Kids
Cardstock - Neenah (natural); DCWV (yellow); Bazzill (orange)
Ink - Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Markers - Copic

Last week the fabulous Julie Campbell (I want to be like Julie when I grow up!) hosted the challenge and chose a baking theme. She also asked us to post a recipe. Here's my card:

Details:
Stamps - Papertrey Ink - Punny Valentine
Cardstock - DCWV
Patterned Paper - Paper Pizazz - Flea Market Fabrics
Main Image - Crafty Secrets - Domestic Goddess - Creative Scraps
Corner Punch - Fiskars
Border Punch - Martha Stewart

Here's the recipe I shared, which is so good for holiday parties, open houses, showers, and such:

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
1 8-oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 t. vanilla
3/4 c. confectioners' sugar
2 T brown sugar
3/4 c. miniature chocolate chips
3/4 c. chopped pecans

Graham crackers

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add sugars; beat just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Place cream cheese mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap; shape into a ball. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Just before serving, roll cheese ball in pecans. Serve with graham crackers.

ENJOY and Happy First Day of Fall!

All in the Family

Just heard from my friend, Karin, that she opened her birthday present, so now I can share this with you. I made this name frame (To avoid glass glare, I added the oak frame after I took the photo) using Stampin' Up's All in the Family set and Family Accessories set.

If you're not familiar with this set, it's pretty fun to play with and a bit challenging too. The heads, bodies, arms, legs, etc. are all separate, and you stamp with them to create all different kinds of people. If you are a perfectionist, you could make yourself a little crazy lining up all of the different parts.

In the end, I just wanted to have fun making something special for my best friend. Next to her love of Christ, the most important thing in Karin's life is her family, and I wanted to make her something that reflected and celebrated both her faith and her family. Of course, if she has any more kids, I'll have to make a new one (and buy a panoramic frame!). That's okay - just another reason to stamp!

Details:
Stamps: SU! All in the Family; letter stamps & family sentiment - Making Memories
Ink: Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo; SU! Wild Wasabi
Cardstock: Brown - Coredinations; White - Neenah; Pink - Bazzill; Green - Wild Wasabi
Accessories: markers - Copic; ribbon - Paper Wishes; heart punch - Fiskars; fine point marker - Sharpie

Thanks for stopping by today, and God bless you & your family!

Thank You Cards

I've found myself in need of a lot of thank you cards lately, which is pretty awesome when you think about it. Since my hubby's job was eliminated in July, we have been continuously blessed by the kindness and caring of our family, friends, and neighbors in so many ways. These loving gestures, both big and small, have made this trying time much more bearable, and they just add to the mounting evidence of how very much God cares for us in every aspect of our lives. He is indeed so good!

So here are two very different thank you cards. The first one is for the mum of one of my daughter's classmates. It's very feminine with lots of purple and flowers. It also has a good bit of sparkle with the rhinestone brad flower center and Spica Atyou Glitter pen highlighting the flowers (the glitter pen is hard to pick up on camera, but trust me, it's there).

Details:
Stamp set: Crafty Secrets - Bouquets of Joy
Dark purple dp: K&Company Recycled
Lilac dp: K&Company Brenda Walton
Natural Cardstock: Neenah
Ink: Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo & Stazon - Royal Purple
Markers: Copic Sketch
Accessories: Copic Atyou Clear Glitter Pen, ribbon - Michaels, flower - Prima, rhinestone brad - Making Memories, corner punch - Fiskars
This card is for a pastor and his wife, so I wanted it to be a little more suitable for a male recipient. I used a more masculine color palette (greens, blues, and browns) and limited the embellishments.

Details:
Stamp set: Crafty Secrets - Bug's Life
Plaid dp: Brenda Walton
Brown cardstock: Core'dinations - Chocolate Box
Natural cardstock: Neenah
Ink: Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Markers: Copic Sketch
Accessories: ribbon - Michaels, glitter glue - Stickles - Stardust, clear gloss finish (to make eyes buggy) - Plaid

Thanks to YOU for coming by to visit today!

Will Craft for Food!

Seriously, my mother-in-law and I have a pretty good deal going on. I supply her with cards throughout the year to send to family & friends, and she supplies us with hamburg. You gotta love the barter system!

Here is a card I made over the weekend for her to give away. I love this sweet little girl image, and thought it would make a fun birthday card. Kind of a "Gasp, you're how old?" card. :)

Image - Heartwarming Vintage - Childhood Images booklet
cardstock - Papertrey Ink - Sweet Blush
patterned paper - DCWV - Old World Stack
ink - Papertrey Ink - Sweet Blush
glitter glue - Stickles - Star Dust
rhinestone brad - Making Memories
flower - Prima