Baseball, Apple Pie and Fourth of July!

I remember my grandmother always saying this time of year.....Baseball, Apple Pie and Fourth of July!  Of course my grandfather (the farmer) would always say, "the corn needs to be knee high by the Fourth of July!"  Priorities!  My grandmother loved baseball, her favorite team being the Detroit Tigers.  I know, I know...but being from Michigan, we are die-hard fans.  Her apple pie was loved by all. I honor of my grandmother, I made this......

Supplies:

• Tin pail/container - $1 at Target
• Firework straws - $2 at Target
• Flag Tootsie Rolls, red and blue starred Tootsie Pops, and Baseball gumballs - Wegmans bulk aisle

I filled the pail about 3/4 full with shredded paper (yup, all those credit card applications that went through the shredded!).  I filled the rest of the pail with the Tootsie Rolls and Baseball gumballs. Next I stuck 5 of the firework straws in the bucket (cutting the front 2 shorter).  The last step was to add the Tootsie Pops.

I took this to work and they were totally amazed (right brain accountants!!). The guys LOVED the Baseball gumballs and had a great walk down memory lane. Do you remember them as kid? My siblings and I use to love them. The Flag Tootsie Rolls were a big hit too. None of use have every seen them.

Happy Fourth of July to you all.  Be safe and enjoy the long weekend, baseball and apple pie!

What Could Be Better Than......Father's Day Card

What could be better than watching game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and cheering for Boston (my #2 team...Detroit is my #1)?  We are a big hockey family and spend August to April at the rink. 

Oh right, so what could be better than......watching the game? Watching the game while making a Father's Day Card and writing this post!  By now you all know - easy is what it is all about!

Materials Used:

• Paper: StampinUP! Ballet Blue; Bazzill Black, and Glitter Gold
• Cricut Cartridge: Sports Mania (one of my favorite - amazing hockey items!)
• Adhesive: Scotch
• Stickers: Glitter Gold stickers from Michaels

1. Cut the Ballet Blue 11 x 8.5 paper in half - 5.5 x 8.5 and score at 4.25.  Fold and card should be 4.25 x 5.5.

2. Using your Cricut, cut the Trophy (Glitter Gold) from Sports Mania cartridge and the layers (Black) at 4.5 height (let the width set itself).  Any trophy sticker would do too.

3. Adhere the Glitter Gold trophy to the card. Adhere the black layers to the trophy.

4. Add stickers.

5. Cheer for the Bruins!!!!

At the end of the second period it is Bruins 3 and Canucks 0.  I really hope I have not jinxed them. In all seriousness  this has been a great Stanley Cup Playoff.

P.S.  WOOOO HOOO!!!! Final score....Bruins 4 and Cancucks 0.  Way to go Bruins!

Additional Goodie Jars

Here are two more jars that I decorated for the other teachers.  Click here for the post on how to make one. Enjoy!

This one was filed with Cheetos!

This one was filled with Chocolate (my kind of lady!).

Decorate a Goodie Jar

Hello Everyone!
This week I made another gift for my kids teachers (just the main 3 - no speciality teachers this time). I purchased the jars from Walmart and decorated them with the teachers' favorite color and will fill them with their favorite snack.

Supplies Needed:
Jar (a flat edged jar works best)
Paper: I used Pink Passion by StampinUP and Pink Glitter by DCWV
Adhesive: The stronger the better. I used my ATG 714 tape gun. Also used Xyron sticker maker.
Embellishments: Flowers from Michael's $1 bin. Keep in mind, any embellishment will do.
Cricut Cartridge: Mini Monograms
Pop Dots: StampinUP
Ribbon: StampinUP Rose

I cut the rounded corner squares with my Cricut Expression (my Cricut Expression 2 should be here next week!!!). I cut two squares in Pink Passion and two squares in Pink Glitter, all at 2.5 inches. After covering the square with a lots of adhesive, I place it on the jar. My jar had a square on each side with a raised edge, which the 2.5 inch cut out fit perfectly. I alternated the Pink Passion and Pink Glitter on the sides.

I attached the flowers and gem with pop dots. 

On the lid I cut a circle at 3.5 inches and another one at 3 inches.  I layered the plain paper and glitter paper.  Again, attached the flower and gem with pop dots. Using my Xyron sticker maker, I attached the ribbon around the lid edge. All done!

This jar will be filled with white cheddar popcorn, the teacher's favorite snack!

More Decorative Notebooks

Below are all the other notebooks (and bookmarks) that I decorated to give you some ideas. Anything combination is possible! To see how to make these easy notebooks, click here. To see how to make the bookmarks, click here.

Decorative Notebook - Super Simple

Hello Everyone! I am so sorry that my post from last Thursday disappeared while Blogger was "down." The good news....here it is (again)! It is Teacher Appreciation time at my kids schools.  I made decorative notebooks last year and the teachers are still stopping me to let me know how much they loved it and what they used it for. Since they are SO simple to make, I decided to create them for my children's teachers this year.

Materials used:
Notebook - any size or kind will do. I stock up on them at "back to school" time when Staples has them $.01 (does anyone know where the cent symbol went on the keyboard and what replaced it? I know when I took typing in school (way too long ago) there was a cent symbol)
Paper - StampinUP paper pack, but any paper you like will do
Paper cutter - I used my Provocraft cutter, but any will do
Adhesive - any you like, but the stronger the better
Optional - Ribbon, embellishments, stickers, etc

First measure your notebook, mine was 8 by 10.5 inches. I cut my paper at 7.75 by 10.5 because of the spiral wire. The next step is putting the adhesive on the back side of the paper. I have found the closer I can get to the edge of the paper, the better. This will prevent the edges from "rolling." I also put a big "X" corner to corner to help keep the paper down. The hardest part of this project is lining up the paper with the notebook. If I get going too fast, I usually mess it up. I start at the upper right corner and match up the notebook corner to the paper corner. I carefully line the top of notebook and paper up and press down, while keeping the rest of the paper off the notebook. Next, I line up the right side of the notebook to the paper and carefully press down all the paper.

I added a ribbon to the edge of mine (I used my Zyron sticker maker to adhere the ribbon to the notebool/paper) . I think this blends the paper to the wiring/notebook nicely. I also used my Cricut Expression and Songbirds cartridge to cut out the M.  I cut the M using the real size dial at 3 inches. Keep in mind, you can decorate your notebook any way you want with ANYTHING! That is what makes these so much fun.

I also made a matching bookmark for all of them. If you are interested in seeing all them that I made using several different colors and pattern paper, click here!

Remember, I love comments and hearing from you all. Thanks and have a great weekend!

Mother's Day Card

Hello Everyone! Today I made a Mother's Day Card, which is super easy to make. At the end of the post, I have alternative suggestions on how to make this card with your everyday supplies you probably have at home.

Supplies Used:
Stampin Up! Paper - Melon Mambo, Kiwi Kiss and Whisper White
Stamp Set - Women of Life by Paper Trey Ink
Ink - New Leaf by Paper Trey Ink
Flowers - purchased at Michael's (I no longer have the little jar they came in, so I am not sure what brand)
Embossing machine - Sizzix Texture Boutique
Embossing folder - Textured Impressions Flowers by Sizzix
Adhesive - ATG 714 and Pop-dots

First, I cut the Melon Mambo paper in half (8 1/2 x 11 original size) to create the base of the card, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2. I scored the card at 4 1/4 inches and folded along the score line. Remember, if you have a bone folder, using it will create a nice smooth fold line.  The next layer is 4 x 5 1/4 inches in Kiwi Kiss paper. I decided to emboss this layer, but you certainly don't have to. I used my Texture Boutique by Sizzix embossing machine and embossed little flowers on the paper. 

An embossing machine is very easy to use. They are often on sale at craft stores and if not, make sure you use a coupon (typically 40% off). Also, the chain craft stores do take competitors coupons (Joann's, Michael's AC Moore, Hobby Lobby). The paper is placed in between the embossing folder, the embossing folder is layered in between the "plates" (they come with the machine) and then it is all "cranked" through the slot (in the picture above, the corner of the paper is in the slot). If you don't own an embossing machine, it would be something to consider. Embossing is very easy and adds to your card and other craft projects.

Next I cut the Whisper White paper to 2 1/4 x 4 inches and stamped the stems of the flowers. I attached the flowers using Pop Dots. I just love the glitter flowers! I stamped "Happy Mother's Day" underneath the steams.

Now it is time to assemble the card. Using my ATG 714, I adhered the embossed Kiwi Kiss paper to the Melon Mambo card and the Whisper White paper to embossed Kiss Kiwi paper. I shifted the focus of the card to the bottom right by adhering the Whisper White paper to the bottom right corner. You could place the Whisper White paper anywhere you prefer on the card.

There you have it, a super easy Mother's Day card. As promised above, here are some alternatives you could use to make a similar card. Instead of embossing the Kiwi Kiss paper, you could leave it plain, use pattern  or textured paper. You could use a marker, crayon, or color pencil and draw the stems and write your greeting. This could easily be a changed to thank you, just a note, thinking about you, with love, happy birthday, etc. You could draw flowers, use stickers, cut them out of a magazine, newspaper or colored paper. The possibilities are endless.

I hope you all have a great weekend and to all you mothers out there - Happy Mother's Day.