13 in 2013 Update: Mini Tote Bags

Hi everybody!  I’ve been working on my 13 projects for the year.  I’ve enjoyed having some direction in the projects I make.  I certainly do extras, but it’s fun to have some sort of plan. 

Mini Tote Bag.  (Taken next to a bottle of Mod Podge so you can see that it really is mini!)

First up, is the Mini Tote Bag.  We got a disney resort themed scrabble game for Christmas, and to hold the letter tiles is a super cute mini-tote bag.  It was so adorable that I needed to make one.  This one didn’t completely end up the way I had envisioned, but it still works.  No tutorial, because I was totally sewing on the fly, but if I make another one I may take note of measurements and share. 

I use this tote to hold little strips of paper for the class I teach at church.  The strips of paper have questions that we answer each week to get to know each other better.  It’s a great opening activity to get the class moving.

That’s all for today.  I’ll be back soon to share another project.

Thanks for reading!

Lynette

Journal Cards Created with the Silhouette Cameo

Hi there everybody!  Today, I decided to share with you a little bit about how I am documenting my baby’s life.  Let’s keep a few things in mind:

1.  I am NOT a scrapbooker.

2.  I don’t have nor WANT to dedicate a lot of time to keeping his book.

3.  I only have about 5 years of my life documented, and I wanted something that I could do to keep his life documented, and not feel overwhelmed if I get behind or need to stop at some point.

4.  I won’t be sharing layouts because my husband and I don’t like the idea of our pictures out on the internet, BUT I will show you the journal cards and the type of book/layout I am using.

Alrighty.  I had seen this idea on pinterest over a year ago, and it stuck with me.  I played around for awhile on doing project life, but with as expensive as it was I decided not to.  I also didn’t like the idea of only having ONE book for the family.  What’s going to happen WAY down the road and my kids only have 1 book between them to have our memories?  I want all my kids to have their own books.  I will also do one for our family with trips/holidays, etc.  So, I scrapped that idea.  I do, however, LOVE the way Project Life looks.  I love how there are different cards, and designs, and places to journal with your pictures.  So I imagine I will get more creative as I go, but this is what I’ve done so far.

 

A sample of my journal pages made with the silhouette cameo.

The Book: Recollections Photo Album.  400 4 X6 spots (40 pages).  I found it at Michaels.  I paid $18 with a 40% off sale, but remember they always have 40% coupons floating around as well.  I loved this books because they have places for pictures to go vertically AND horizontally on both pages.  They have nearly every color of the rainbow, and I plan on getting myself a purple one to catch up on my life once my baby’s book is well established.

(Don’t bother going to Joann’s. They didn’t even know what I was talking about, and all they had was scrapbooks or silly photo books with horizontal spots only.)

My Layout:  I use 5 pockets on each page for pictures, and 1 for journaling unless the material requires different.  The journal cards change positions each page, depending on how many vertical/horizontal pictures I have.

The Journal Cards:  Here’s what I did.  I created a rounded rectangle in silhouette studio.  I sized it just under 4 X 6.  Then I chose my shapes: T-Rex, Moon, Gears, Wrench, etc.  I placed the shapes on the rectangles where I wanted them.  Then I grouped the shapes, and cut out the cards.  After that, I had cards with cut outs.  I grabbed scraps and glued them behind the cutouts (see picture below).  I kept the shapes that had been cut out for future projects.  I could glue these on plain journal cards, or use them for complete different projects.

Backside of journal cards so you can see how I glued my scraps to fill in the cutout.

The cards were generally easy to do, and I had them cut out and some written on all in one nap time on a Sunday afternoon.  So, there ya go!  That’s how I am memory keeping, and journaling along with the pictures.  If you have any questions about specific shapes, or anything else, feel free to leave it in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Lynette

13 in 2013

Let’s face it, I’ve been a non-existent blogger lately.  We’ve had a lot going on.  A crawling, toddling, busy busy baby, a few water leaks in our waterlines, a shed to tear down, pruning to do, dinners to cook, laundry to wash, a mini-kitchen remodel (that was my surprise Christmas present), and a craft room to just sit….for weeks on end.(And for the record, all the major projects have been completed by my husband.  I’ve been just trying to stay one step ahead of the baby and the dishes, etc.)

At the beginning of January, I was excited for a new year.  I was ready for a fresh start.  Time to dedicate to getting back into a routine after having Dash (ya it took me 9 months to get ready to START a routine!), time to dedicate to cooking more, crafting more, playing more, and organizing my home a bit more.  I decided to make a list of 13 semi easy projects to tackle this year---all crafty.  I also wanted them to use what I have, so nearly every project will use on hand items.  Sweet!

By the 3rd of January, we were tearing up our front yard due to a water leak.  It was a mess.  It’s still not all the way cleaned up (the yard that is).  Less than a week later, our water heater went out.  Then we realized we needed to make some modifications to our water heater to help out with some water pressure issues.  (Needless to say, our Christmas tree did not get taken down til the last few days in January, and our Christmas lights are STILL up.)  A few other things happened, and by the 15th of January, my husband and I were saying that it had been a long year.  I decided February would be the new January.  I  hoped that February could give me the clean fresh start that I had anticipated a month earlier. And February has been a much better month.

So after that lengthy discussion of the current happenings of my life, here’s my list of 13 projects to tackle in 2013. 

13 in 2013

1.  Make mini tote bags

2. Paint an Apron for me

3. Dye and Refashion 2 white t-shirts.

4. Make the Hobo bag I got for Christmas (it was a kit and it’s super cute!)

5.  Make a cool ‘etched,’ vase or bowl/jar.

6. Make a new church bag?

7. Make a few knit headbands

8. Make myself new hair clips

9.  Make Dash a toy or pants from t-shirts.

10.  Organize and make labels for my pantry

11. Make a fun wall art w/pattern cut out in the frame and vinyl on the glass.

12. Make “this is my stache,’ vinyl for my change jar.

13.  Make Dash some hooded towels.

My baby is awake and needing his mama, so you will just have to wait for explanations on these projects when I complete them.  This list will be completed as I have time, and definitely not in order. At this point, I’ve completed 3 projects with 1 just needing some finishing work.

Have a fantastic day and thanks for reading!

Lynette 

Making it Ours: Canvas for Family Room

I found some inspiration for this artwork here.  I loved the concept of using the shapes as frames for some of the words.  I painted the canvas and cut out the vinyl with my silhouette.  I love how it turned out and reminds me to have a positive attitude.

Picture of canvas with the other art I’ve made.

That’s all for today!  Thanks for reading,

~Lynette~

Making it Ours: Love at Home Tiles

 

Thanks for joining me today for another post of the ongoing “Making it ours,” series.  I’m enjoying sharing the large and small projects we’re doing in our home to make it feel like ours. Enjoy!

I started and finished this well before Dash was born.  I finally got it hung last week.   I had bought three mdf tile pictures for $2 each from family dollar.  They were beach themed with large fake seashells glued to them.  It worked for a cheap apartment bathroom makeover, but I am done with beach bathrooms.  So I asked my husband if he could remove the shells and I would reuse the tiles.  And that’s what I did.

Above is what they looked like after the shells were removed.  (Yes, I got ahead of myself and forgot a real before pic).

I sanded the beach themed stuff (which was actulaly paper glued on), and painted them a brown I ahd left over from a previous project.

I got the idea for the ‘love at home,’ from this guest post by Craft-O-Maniac on Tatertots and Jello.  I cut out the shapes with my silhouette.  I slapped the vinyl on, and I was done!

I hung it in my family room next to probably my most favorite vinyl project I’ve ever done.  I will get that posted later this week, don’t you worry.  I love the personal feel my home is finally taking after a year of being here.  It’s starting to feel like ours.

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Making it ours: Kitchen Wall Art

Welcome to another post of the ongoing series ‘Making it Ours.’  My husband and I bought our home about a year ago, and this series tracks our progress to make our home feel like ours.  Some projects and simple like artwork, while others are a full remodel of rooms.  Enjoy!

As my baby has been getting older and more content to play, I’ve had a limited amount of time to finish up some quick crafts.  I have several things photographed and ready to show you.  I am finally getting some artwork on the bare walls in my home.

I started these canvases months ago.  I had two of them done, and one still blank right before dash was born.  I decided to go ahead and hang them up, and once I had a chance I could apply the vinyl to the third one.  So for the first two months of Dash’s life, we had the two outer canvases complete with a blank one in the middle. :)

I designed the canvas on the left on my own, designed the salt and pepper shakers (still missing the red ‘s’ and ‘p’ labels) in the silhouette software, and then used inspiration from pinterest to make the canvas on the right.

 

Close up of the ‘Eat’ sign

Close up of the Salt and Pepper Shakers

Close up of the ‘Happiness is Homemade’ sign

I absolutely love the Eat sign.  I think it’s my favorite because it’s my original design and it’s a little unique.  My kitchen is getting closer to feeling like mine, and it’s fantastic!

Thanks for reading,

~Lynette

Just a Thought

Hello everybody!  I haven’t been blogging much lately.  I just haven’t felt like it.  But today, I think I just need to write a bit to get some things off my chest.  Last week I had to take Dash to a doctor’s appointment.  It was an extremely warm day, I and needed to stop at the grocery store on the way home.  While pulling into the driveway of the parking lot, my car died.  I started it back up and got into a parking lot.  I immediately unloaded the carseat (and Dash of course :)  from the car and into a grocery cart and decided what to do.  I thought I saw my mother in law’s van in the parking lot, so I walked closer to investigate.  If it was her, I could find her in the store and ask for a ride home.  As I neared the van, an older lady began yelling at me.  “You’re going to cook your baby!”  I thought she was just saying that it was hot outside.  I laughed and said, “I know.”  She proceeded to yell and said in a desperate voice, “You need to get him some air.”  Dash was simply covered up by the car seat canopy I had made him.  I made it a little short on the sides so he can usually always have air circulation.  He was fine, and actually more protected from the sun and heat than I was.  I didn’t even know how to react to this ranting woman, so I turned around and went into the store.

This lady had no idea what I had just gone through.  She had no idea that my car was giving me trouble and that I was counting my blessings that I had made it to a parking spot.  She didn't  know that because I was worried about my baby being out in the heat, I hadn’t checked my car out very well.  It was 111 that day, and I was rushing to get him inside the store.  Don’t worry, the story ended well.  I was able to get a ride home, and my husband checked my car out when he got home.  He couldn’t find anything wrong, so I still have a car to drive. 

As much as I’d love to be upset at this woman, I am taking it as a reminder that sometimes people are going through a lot more than we think they are.  And if we were aware of what they are going through, we would probably be a little more accepting and lenient on him.  It was a great reminder to be slow to judge others.

Thanks for letting me share!  Have a wonderful day,

Lynette