Be Thankful Banner

Leelou Blogs has a fantastic Thanksgiving Printable Kit filled with all sorts of great printables for Thanksgiving.  I especially loved the Be Thankful banner printable.  Being the crafty person that I am, I saw it and thought to myself, "I'll bet I can make something like that".  It has been a while since I used my Cricut, and I have been itching to make something fun with it.  I pulled it out of the dust bunnies the other night and came up with my own version of the Be Thankful banner. 

As an additional activity for Thanksgiving day, I think we will use clothespins to attach all the things we are thankful for this year.

Recycled Homework Supply Caddy

My 11 month old adores these cereal puffs, we go through at least one or two containers each week.  They are made of a nice, heavy plastic and are just begging to be made into something else.  They are such a nice plastic, I can't bear to toss them in the recycling bin.  I have been collecting them in my craft room as I search my brain for ideas.  My 5 year old just started kindergarten, and what would be better to celebrate a new school year than a special place to store homework supplies?

After a tearful goodbye (tearful for Mommy at least, my daughter raced into the classroom  and never looked back) I went home and broke out my crafting supplies.  Between drying time and caring for the baby, it took me almost a week to finish putting it all together.  As this was going to be a surprise to celebrate getting through the first week, I could only work while my daughter was in school and the baby was sleeping.  When she got home last week on Friday, this was waiting for her on the table.

 Here is a view from the top.  Right now, we only have enough supplied to fill 4 of the containers, but I know this will quickly change as we get further into the year.

My daughter squealed in delight seeing all the shiny new supplies.  I explained to her that these were her homework supplies and we would keep them in a special place in my craft room.  She couldn't wait to pick out the perfect spot.  She was so exited to use her homework supplies that her homework (yes, she already had homework in the 2nd week of school!!!) was quickly done as soon as she came home from school all week.  I am going to savor this excitement while it lasts!

This was a great project because it cost me less than $5, I got to play with Mod Podge (one of my favorite things)  AND I was able to recycle something that most people would just toss.  I love it!!!

This post has been entered in the CSI Challenge:  Back to School Challenge

Dollar Store Thank You Card

I just love the wonderful ladies at The CSI Project.  This week's challenge is Dollar Store projects.  As I wandered through the aisles at the Dollar Tree, I was inspired when I walked past the flowers.  My mom sent me the greatest card with a flower and tulle on the front for Mother's Day.  I knew I couldn't do the same thing, but could do something quite similar with dollar store items.  I picked a bunch that had a different colored flowers so I would get the most bang for my buck.  Then, I wanted over to the wedding section for the tulle.  When I got home, I assembled my materials...

I yanked plucked a yellow flower from the bunch, cut a small hunk carefully measured and cut the right amount of tulle and set to work gluing it to the front of the card.  While the glue was drying, I used my Cricut machine to cut a circle for the center of the flower, inked my "Thanks" stamp in black and slapped centered it on the circle.  Once the glue from the flower was dry, I used double sided tape to stick the circle to the flower, and voila....cute Dollar Store Thank You Card.

Just imagine the possibilities of what can go in the center of this flower...As limitless as my stamp collection :)

Mother's Day Cards

I recently got a Cricut machine.  Oh wow, is it ever a great machine!  I have tons of great ideas of things I can do with it.  However, my pocketbook vastly limits these possibilities.  As you are aware, the cartridges are pretty expensive, so I only have 3 of them.  These Mother's Day cards were created using the Jasmine and Home Decor Solutions cartridges.  For the first two cards, I used photos from a recent trip with the kiddos to see the wildflowers (please excuse the blurred images, but I have a strict policy of not letting the kids pictures be on this blog). 

 

For this card, I used tiny colored brads to hold the letters, they are not glued down which makes them loose, and gives a fun whimsical look.

These last two cards were from the kids.  They are two variations on the same idea.

For all these cards, I make a full sized insert with the sayings printed on my computer.  Needless to say, everyone loved their cards, and I had a great time making them and learning about my new Cricut machine.  I can't wait to save up enough money to purchase more cartridges...