Heart Cards

I made these great cards the other day.

{blank on the inside}

I was really happy with all the colors I had

stashed in my scrap paper box.

Boo ya for being able to use some of it up!

Also, I made three of my four foul shots

in our basketball game this morning. 

It was awesome.

Little Notebooks

I've been saving all these old cereal and cracker boxes for a while now. They are in this really great little pile in the basement. My hubby, being familiar with my random little piles of things, carefully set them on the shelf when he was organizing some things last week. Then the other day he came home to see me stitching up some of these cute little notebooks, and I think I saw the look of relief on his face as he saw me actually using some of that pile from the basement.

This was a really fun project to do when I just had a little time on my hands, and my hubby's sister (who came for a visit) enjoyed making some as well. We just cut the cardboard and the papers to the same size, stitched down the center with the sewing machine, and then decorated the outside with paper, fabric, and mod podge.

 This one (above) is my favorite so far.

4th of July

We went to a parade,

it was really hot. 

And then we went to a BBQ

and there were stuffed jalepenos

that weren't spicey

(because I'm a baby). 

I helped a friend make a really cute bunting

for her awesome July 4th party,

She inspired me.

 I decided our own BBQ that evening

needed one too.

Made out of construction paper, of course.

The 4th of July is like Christmas for me. 

I love it. 

I get so excited to just play all day long

with my family and friends.

I spent an hour filling up water balloons before the party,

for some light after dinner entertainment.

And we finished off the night with a nice round of

Vanilla ice cream 

covered in fresh Peaches and Blueberries.

And sparklers. 

Those are my favorite. 

Quick Cards Tutorial

I pulled out my scrap paper the other night to write a couple notes to some of my favorite people. I cut one cute paper in half and turned it over to write my message on the back of it. Just as my pen was about to touch the paper I thought, "What am I doing? That would be super lame to just have a note scrawled across the back of a plain piece of scrap paper!" I pulled out more paper, and my needle and thread, and made some really great cards in no time.

Here is what I came up with:

Cut out the paper, fold the big one in half for the card base

Stitch from front to back, 

leaving the tail long enough to use for a knot

Stitch from back to front, 

leaving a little space between the two stitches

so the paper won't rip

Tie a knot, trim off the excess thread. 

And done- Cute cards instead of lame notes!

I love it when that happens.

Book Page Wreath

I made another one of these babies for my sister while I was in Utah last. Since I live a gazillion miles away from all my super neat sisters, they haven't seen some of my stuff I've made recently in person. As they watched me make this wreath they were saying things like "You are still working on that?" and "That's alot bigger than I thought it was going to be..."

"yep." was my response to both of those comments

I love making these book page wreaths huge because it makes a statement for the room that it's placed in. It is noticed, and it's simple. Well, simple besides the fact that it takes a hundred years to make (okay, more like 5 or 6 hours....same thing) This particular wreath was made out of an old Miss Manners book, so of course I had to sit and read a few of the paragraphs as I was making the wreath! These big wreaths are such an easy way to dress up a huge blank wall without breaking the bank, I know everyone's gotta love that!

Birthday Banner

 My husbands birthday is this week and I wanted to make some decorations without the result being super crafty girly style. I've seen variations of this banner made from fabric or felt, which is where I got the idea. Here is the banner I ended up making from my scrap paper, and my favorite part is that it was so easy! I decided brown and blue was an okay "man" color scheme for the dinner party. I used my paper cutter to measure and cut so the triangles would end up the same size and shape. I printed the letters from the computer on regular white paper and glued them on the front of the triangles, and I just taped the triangles to a string of yarn so I could string it across the dining room doorway. It really didn't take me that long to make. If you are wanting to give this a try, just be aware of the order of the letters as you tape them on the string. I was being oh, so careful, when I first held up the banner to hang it up, it said "!yadhtribyppah". Yikes- Blonde moment for me...!