My Greeting Cards

So, I didn't have much time to craft recently, but I cannot stay out of my craft room altogether! So here are a couple of cards I just HAD to make in my spare time...

I am LOVING my new Cricut 'Sophisticated' cartridge! It has a ton of beautiful, elegant designs. I'm finding this whole cardmaking hobby to be addicting, very addicting! Have any of you gotten this amazing cartridge? I'd LOVE to see what fantastic creations you come up with using it! My Cricut ROCKS! :)

I made this card for my Uncle Bob's birthday

materials/supplies used:  Cricut 'Sophisticated' cartridge, Cricut Cuttlebug 'Happy Birthday' embossing folder, ribbon, buttons, thread, twine, patterned paper and a white eyelet.

I made this chandelier card to say thank you to my Mom for buying me another AWESOME new Cricut cartridge! 

materials/supplies: Cricut 'Sophisticated' cartridge, Stickles, small stick-on pearls, stick-on jewels, and a tiny bit of copper embossing on the flames of the candles.

Not too crazy about the way the stickles look as the crystal "drops" but the rest I really like. Many chandeliers are beautiful, don't you think? :)

Graduation Craziness!!!!

Our youngest graduated high school last year, with HONORS, no less!!! Proud mama here! It's kind of sad to see her grow up but I am so happy she is doing so well.

We threw her a simple graduation party at a beautiful nearby park. It overlooks the lake and there was a TON of room for the volleyball and horseshoes we set up. The day turned out perfectly, thank you, God! It was sunny and warm but there was a lovely breeze that kept most of the flies away from the food and the bees away from our guests.

I made all of the decorations and most of the food. I planned and prepared all of the games and basically wore myself the heck out!!! But my daughter had a blast, everyone who came said they had a great time and the food was a hit, so it was worth it!!!

Anyone who knows me knows I DON'T DO SIMPLE. I never have, and never will... so I had to do it up right! Money is tight these days, so I had to figure out ways to cut corners. But I don't think it affected the end result too much.

Yes, I'm taking a moment to pat myself on the back... after all, if I don't do it, who will??? LOL It was a TON of work but I am proud of myself for the way everything turned out. I wish I had taken these pics with all of the foods and such at the time of the party but I was so insanely busy I never thought to take any. Oh well, such is life. So I'll just show you what I can now...

Hot Dog Bar

We had a hot dog bar, per my daughter's request. You have to imagine all of those little labels each behind a small bowl of that condiment. It took up a whole HUGE table! It was a LOT of work to make all the signs and labels, and then to set it all up, along with the other dishes and dessert. 

My Mom, Mom-In-Law and myself made lots of yummy side dishes & desserts. Hubby and my Dad cooked up the dogs and some burgers too. I was SO thankful for everyone's help!!!

I didn't really get to socialize at all at the party *insert sad face* but it was for Baby Girl so I didn't mind.

Cupcake Stand

For the first time EVER, I made my own frosting!!! And it even turned out great! I piped them on some homemade cupcakes.

I also made the cupcake stand. Found the idea on Pinterest (of course!). I cut some cardboard circles from a big box, some pattern paper, ribbon and 3 small glass candlesticks from the Dollar Tree to connect them together and WAA-LAA! a super cheap alternative to the really expensive cupcake stands I kept eyeing. Super easy and I think it's adorable. As you can see, there are frosting smudges on it, a tell tale sign that there was actually some yumminess there at one time!

The Money Box

I made this money box out of a regular cardboard box and just decorated it with a few embellishments and empty gift boxes I wrapped up in pattern paper. 

I used my Cricut to make the numbers and picture of the adorable little owl.

Table Decorations

These were on each table (8 OF THEM!). Again, I just used my Cricut and some empty glass jars, sucker sticks, ribbon around the top and some glass marbles inside to help keep everything in place. I love how they turned out! :)

Luminaries

Each of these luminaries are actually a single die cut from the Cricut 'Happy Graduation' cartridge. I backed the sides with tissue paper on one and turquoise cardstock on the other. These were also on the tables.

Graduation Party Invitation

Again, Cricut to the rescue! Her school colors were red black and white so I stuck to that for the cards and money box. But then I did all of the decorations her favorite color, turquoise. For the card, I used my Sizzix Big Shot to make the criss cross embossing and the Cricut 'Happy Graduation' cartridge for all of the images. Pretty simple really, but I made 60 of them so you can imagine how long that took!

Whew! Glad it's over!!! LOL

I also made a graduation photo board but I already put the pictures back in their albums so no pic. I wish there was, it turned out really beautiful and Sarah (she will always be Baby Girl to me) loved it. There were some tears by some of her aunts and grandmas as so many memories came to mind. 

So that about sums it up... there were a few other miscellaneous things I made for the party, but I think you get the gist. And I think you can see my obsession with my favorite toy. MY CRICUT makes me smile. :)

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you will leave me a message and let me know what you think or just to say hello. I love to meet new friends. :)

Christmas Craftiness

Since I just started my blog, even though Christmas time is over, I'm going to put up my Christmas crafts here... better late than never, I guess! LOL I've found many ideas on Pinterest. Ok I admit it... I'm Christine, and I'm a Pinterest Addict! But I'd never do a 12-step program because I enjoy my addiction so much! :)

So anyhow, here ya go...

I made this little Advent box out of small match boxes. If you do a Pinterest search, you will find sites that give instructions but I'm too lazy for that so I'll just show you my finished product! The little "drawers" are just the right size for one miniature Hershey bar! It's totally adorable and I loved making it.

I had drooled over these types of ornament wreaths for several years but the cost was too prohibitive. I figured that with my frugal nature and some creativity, (along with some great Pinterest ideas) I could pull this off! It way a total pain in the butt to make, but I love how it turned out so it was worth the time. I've found them for around town for about $50-$90, but I was able to make mine for only $10-$12 total!!! I simply used bulbs I got from the Dollar Tree and a wire hanger, bent into a circle, for the base.

The reason it took soooo long was that the little plastic "hanger" tops that are attached to each bulb were very cheap and would come off the bulb and/or break off as I assembled it. So, in the end, I decided to take on the very time-consuming task of hot gluing my own little hangers made of string onto EACH BULB before adding it to the wreath. My fingers paid the price!!! Hot glue and I are not friends...

It also took many, many tries of putting on & taking off the bulbs to find just the right order that gave it a nice mix of colors & styles without too many gaps in it. I am extremely please with how it turned out!

I think this is one hobby I may adopt into my crafting time in the future!!!

Beautiful Paper Rose Wreath

Lately, I've been playing around with wreath-making, for the first time in many, many years. It's been very rewarding to be able to look at my finished product up on the wall/door so often, unlike the handmade cards and scrapbook pages that we don't see as much.  

I made this wreath for Mom for this past Christmas & she LOVES it! It took WAY more time than I anticipated, about 24 hours total hands-on time, but the end result was so worth it.

This is a terrible picture. I took it at night before I gave it to Mom. Night time and pictures, not a great combo I guess. I'm still learning how to take decent pics and still have a ways to go! 

I made this one for our home. I made a mistake when assembling this one and made each rose smaller than they should've been by leaving out one of the pieces. So this wreath is thinner than Mom's. I used a swirly patterned paper and sprayed each rose with glitter spray, which I do love the look of... I LOVE bling!!! But with this design, I think I like the simplicity of plain white cardstock.

I also made a beautiful ornament wreath that you will find on my Christmas Craftiness page if you'd care to take a look. 

I hope you will enjoy browsing my crafts and maybe get inspired to make some yourself! I find it so therapeutic, like a fun little escape from all the serious business of life. :)

A Little Introduction... My First Trip to the Blogosphere!

Thanks for visiting my new blog!!! I'm Christine. I'm a Christian Mom who loves God and loves crafting! I figured I'd start a blog in hopes of meeting new friends and sharing some of my projects with you and maybe inspiring you to try your hand at crafting too! I'd love to meet you and check out what wonderful creations you come up with! Crafting is fun, relaxing and therapeutic for me. A little escape from all of the seriousness of daily life.

Just a little about me... I'm a Mom to 2 awesome grown kiddos, Josh & Sarah. They are a blessing to my hubby and I! Vince and I have been married for 23 wonderful (and crazy!) years. I attribute the way we've been able to steady on together all these years to the power of God in our marriage, Also, to our dedication to work on problems when they come up instead of running. 

Here's a pic of me and the family on our vacation to Florida last year... not too crazy about how I look in this one, but the memory is priceless to me so it's worth it! 

I home schooled our kids for several years and then ran a very successful home day care for 6 years before I got too ill to continue and had to close 3 years ago. That was a terrible time for me, being sick and missing those little pumpkins every day, not to mention that our family's income was cut almost in half. I have found some peace with it and try to remember that everything happens for a reason. God has a plan and He's not done with me yet! :)

We recently rescued our furbaby, Paris, only 3 days away from being euthanized at the pound. What a blessing she's been to me!!! On my worst days when I need comfort, she is my constant companion. And a fluffy, little heating pad too! I'm her favorite person (sorry family!) and she follows me around everywhere.

Love Love Love her!!!

If you'd like, please take a moment to introduce yourself, maybe add your blog link, and let me know what you think about the items I post. I'd LOVE to check out your craftiness too! I'm looking forward to meeting some great new, crafty friends. Thanks again for stopping by!