The new dollhouse

newseasongreetings

Elegant Greetings Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make unique Christmas cards with Shutterfly.

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There is art in everything

Do you know what this is? What this was?

Placemats for Santa and the reindeers

Today was a day full of Christmas craft with my kids. Here is part 1 of 2 of their special placemats for Santa and his reindeers.

Claydough ornaments

One of my best memories from my childhood was crafts with my mom.

My Andrea mosaic framed and ready

The other day I came across a cool mosaic program called andrea mosaic. It compiles photos from your computer (selected by me) and creates a mosaic of a chosen photo. I used one of my favorite butterfly photos I taken at a local butterfly garden. Then imported about 1000 photos and selected my settings to create a mosaic with a lot of detail. This is my finished product. I really like it. Each photo is smaller than what is recommended (< 1 inch), but I really wanted to keep a lot of details of the butterfly and its surroundings. I sent it to Snapfish to print in poster size and framed it as soon as it was delivered. Not only something I'm proud to hang upon our walls for it's beauty, but also one of my best shopping bargains. I spent less than $10 on the print and frame using online coupons, account credits, and a steal of a deal at our goodwill. Nice!

Bedskirt apron

My mom gave me a sheet set that in included a Bedskirt and coverlet. Instead of using the bed skirt, I cut it up. This is one of the ways I used it for a sewing project: bedskirt apron. It was pretty much an apron by the way I cut it. I added ties and top piece. Not my favorite apron, but very functional for messy jobs.

Curtain panels for my boy

I found a cute sheet set awhile ago and decided to use the flat sheet as a curtain (my kids don't really use their flat sheets, do yours?)

The curtains were cute and worked fine, but didn't look as finished as I wanted. So when I found blue fabric shower curtains that matched and on clearance (my favorite kind of buy) I decided I'd redo the curtains...someday. ***Weeks pass***Today when the kids accidentally pulled the curtain rod down I was finally motivated to finish this project. I trimmed the sheet to use parts of it as the new panel's casing (aka rod pocket). Two reasons: to color coordinate the two sets and because I didn't want to cut into or alter the blue fabric shower curtain panels (in case I one day wanted to use them as they were originally intended). Bored with explanation? Sorry. Here's the new set. The "before" shot not provided- it was only the one polka dot panel before adding the outer panels.

Yes, the center curtain is about 2 inches longer because of how the rods are hanging. I need a better double rod but for now I'm satisfied or tolerating the difference :)

Using sheets, shower curtains, or table cloths is an inexpensive way to make curtains. Cheaper than buying fabric by the yard and an easier project since the fabric edges are already hemmed. Give it a try next time you need a new set of curtains, ok?

Kids' garden cart

Using scrap wood parts from a dresser and file cabinet, I made the kids a garden cart. We added the dirt. Now what should we grow?

Menu planner

This chalkboard/clipboard menu planner keeps my family organized. I clip recipes, a weekly meal plan, and shopping lists to the board. Hang it up with the backside facing out to chalk in the menu for the day. Both sides are painted with chalkboard paint so I can also jot notes on the side facing the wall. Thus board not only organizes our meals, but also makes planning more fun. Color coding food groups (or meal courses) gets the kids involved. For example, They can help choose what vegetable will be served from a list.

Better than any store bought mug. My Disney shutterfly mug

Blank Project Collage Mug

Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly.

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My shutterfly obsession grows from photobooks to cards!

I love holidays for so many reasons, but one reason is all the opportunities to take photos of my family and friends during all the fun and create keepsakes I can cherish over and over. As most of you know my addiction to scrapbooking and taking photos has now turned into a digital photo book obsession. Well, lately I've realized I'm just as obsessed with creating my own cards from the photos and collages I make. I think my "make my own card" obsession started when I decided to make our wedding invitations Then it escalated when Jeff and I became a family and all the cute family photos had to be shared. It's a great way to send everyone both a few of our favorite photos and a nice message.

I'm starting to plan for our holiday cards this year. Shutterfly is offering  even more designs and ways to personalize their card templates. I like being able to add my personal touch vs. picking a basic template and just using it. I use a lot of different websites to create and purchase my photo gifts, but Shutterfly is the one I shop the most. They have the best promotions and selection. Their customer service is great too (don't get me started about a few other online photo service companies...argh!) Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards right now. Just one of the many promotions they have going on. They always have so many. They are also having a special promotion for bloggers to receive 50 free Holiday cards. When I read about this, I jumped at the opportunity.

I'm very excited and can't wait to make our Holiday Cards. I can't decide whether to make Thanksgiving cards or a Christmas letter style card. I've never written a Christmas Letter to included with our holiday cards, but I always love reading the ones we get. It's nice to get a summary of a friend or family members' life over the past year. It's amazing to read how much happens in a year and even better to read how even some of life challenges can be embraced and reframed in a positive way. I like the idea of including a letter as part of the card's design. I bet this card makes a great keepsake not only for extended family, but for the family that shared their story. After looking at this style of card, I am considering the "Top 10 moments"  card if I chicken out on writing a full letter for the card. It's cute, what do you think?

Or hmm, what if I can't choose 10 moments to write about? Maybe I have more? Then the year in photos card is my best bet. A picture says a 1000 words, so 12 photos should say a lot!

 I admit I'm still not sure which to choose and I'm not sure I want to let family and friends know exactly which one I'll choose. That would spoil the surprise and I think I'd like to wait until you get it in the mail. Speaking of mail? Do I actually have everyone's updated addresses? I don't want to get yours lost in the mail...