Layout of the Week #111

I don't know why I have such an affinity for office supplies.

I just love different sized envelopes, tags of all sorts, and random office stamps.

I'm not kidding. When I pass by a box of large manilla envelopes at work,

 I can't help but think how Id like to turn them into a mini album!

It may go back to when I was a little girl playing at my grandma's house.

She had a big roll top desk and would let me sit and play "office" with all her supplies.

Today I'd like to flash back to two layouts that I used envelopes on.

This layout has a business size envelope that holds additional photos and a pamphlet.

If you'd like to complete this layout, you can go here to see a step-by-step tutorial.

This page is actually made out of three long envelopes attached together to make the background.

 

If you enjoy scrapbooking or would like to get started scrapbooking,

please stop by every other Wednesday for a new start-to-finish layout tutorial.

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless.

For as the body without the spirit is dead, 

so faith without works is dead also.

James 1:26

This post is linked to Ivy and Elephants, The Crafted Sparrow, and The Dedicated House.

Quick and Easy Gift Idea

Recently a friend and I had to come up with a gift idea for Mother's Day
that we could quickly and easily make for around 30 ladies.

That's not necessarily an easy task when trying to keep it low cost, too.

Here's what we did--
it's a great idea if you need to make several gifts--
perhaps for Teacher Appreciation.

It's a recipe card holder
made from a binder clip!

It could also act as a photo or gift card holder.

We got the binder clips at the dollar store; they came six to a pack.

Then we cut small strips of paper to cover the bottom (black) part of the clip 

and attached the paper with Mod Podge.

For a finishing touch, we added a little bow to each clip using a glue gun.

We only spent money on the clips. The paper and bows I already had on hand.

Even if you have to buy some, the amount of paper and ribbon needed is so little that this project would still be very affordable.

We added a "recipe card" with a poem and placed a gift card behind that.

Here's what the poem says:

Recipe for Life

Ingredients needed: 

1 cup good thoughts

1 cup consideration for others

1 cup kind deeds

3 cups forgiveness

2 cups well-beaten faults

4 cups prayer and faith

tears of joy, sorrow, and sympathy

Directions: Mix good thoughts, consideration, kind deeds, forgiveness and well-beaten faults. Add tears of joy, sorrow, and sympathy for others. Fold in prayers and faith to lighten other ingredients and raise the texture to great heights of Christian living. Pour all into your family life. Bake well with the heat of human kindness. Serve with a smile!

Quick, cheap, and easy.

Not to mention. . . cute!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, 

to which you were also called and have confessed

 the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 Tim 6:12

This post is linked to Too Much Time On My Hands, The Crafted Sparrow, and I Heart Naptime.

Mini Album Monday #8- Mischief Themed Album

     Today I want to show you one of my all time favorite mini albums. It features my boys when they were around the ages 7 and 8. In this album, I tried to capture what my boys were like by sharing many funny stories and photos about the things they said and did.
     As any of you who are moms to boys know, little boys can be mischievous. . .especially when you have more than one.

 

I wanted this album to look like a police case file, so I used a file folder.

I trimmed it's length down to 12" so my pattern papers would fit on it.

I covered the front and back with kraft cardstock.

I used a photo of the boys wearing fake moustaches. (We didn't actually take the picture for this book, but I thought it matched the theme well.)

I used some Confidential and Top Secret stamps, then used ink to make it look like there were coffee stains on the file.

 

This is what it looks like when you open the front cover.

You can see I added lots of "evidence."

 

 I've told you before that ever since my boys were little, I have kept a notebook to record stories of the cute things they've done and said. I was able to use lots of these in this album.

 

On the left side, I used this paper by Creative Imaginations to document a story about my oldest son cutting a lock out of his hair. He didn't admit to it until I found the lock on the floor of the playroom closet.

 

The first page flips up to reveal more of the incident and a photo of the two culprits-because when one did something, the other was usually involved.

 

Underneath those two pages, I added a page filled with funny stories about things the boys had done. I titled it "Incident Report."

 

My boys have always been super creative and just plain cute (I may be a bit biased!), and I never knew what they were going to say or do:)

 

Here are a couple of my favorite stories:

Sam was trying to break a twig off of a limb that Daddy had just cut down. He said, "Mom, I just wish I had big buck teeth so I could chew it off!"

 

In church, Ethan was laying on my lap playing with the ties on my dress. As we stood for the closing prayer, I realized that Ethan had tied his head to my dress. The harder he tried to slip the strings over his head, the tighter the knot got! After we finished praying, I untied the knot and set him free.

 

Sam was out back on the swingset. He held something up to show me.

"Is that the pepper?" I asked.

"No, I think it's the salt," he answered.

"Why is the salt outside?!" I asked.

"Ethan thought he found a bird skin and he wanted to salt it to lure a cat!"

 

On the right side, I adhered the photo and two tags to the fold of the binding on the folder.

When you flip those over, you can see that I added another photo and two more tags to the backs.

 

Attached to the right side of the folder is this cool envelope that I had in my stash. It's labeled Valuables Envelope.

 

I wrote a couple of funny stories on it and added another "Confidential" stamp.

 

I sealed the envelope shut, then cut the right side of it so I could place this stash of photographs.

 

The envelope flips up to reveal several more photographs of my silly boys.

The pattern paper from Creative Imaginations worked great with this project- this sheet in the background is covered with the words, "It wasn't me," "I'm innocent," "Alibi," and "I was framed."

 

This file folder wasn't the normal type- it actually had an extra flap in the center for business use which gave me an extra two pages to fill.

Here on the left are more photos, and I adhered another photo and two tags to the binding.

 

Here's a close up of the left side.

In the top left photo, my older son is wearing a cowboy hat  with a long rubber snake coiled around his shoulder and my camera case strapped across his chest doing his impression of Indiana Jones.

The top right photo is my younger son with two dinosaurs sticking out of his ears. I just happened to look away from him for a second, and when I turned back to him, that's what I saw looking back at me! The sticker in the upper right hand corner says, "Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting."

 

I used stickers by 7 Gypsies and Creative Imaginations.

 

Here's a close up of the right side.

 

The photo and tags flip over and are backed with another photo and two tags.

On the right side, I happened to have a plastic bag that says biohazard. (I brought this home from work.) In it, I placed a gum wrapper, a candy wrapper, a tiny toy gun, and a Lego piece- just little tidbits that I routinely found in my washing machine!

 

The bag flips up to show photos of "Suspicious Activity" like marbles in their dad's shoes, a plastic alligator eating a little figurine, and a door that is "booby trapped" (tied closed from the outside with a dog leash.).

Whenever I happened across something that made me shake my head, I always reached for my camera before making the boys clean it up!

 

You can see that each tab in the folder is labeled Exhibit A, Exhibit B, and Exhibit C as I tried to stick with the police file theme.

 

Finally, the back is covered with kraft cardstock and ink stains.

The stickers at the bottom say, "Created by your very tired mother" and "Dedicated to Sam and Ethan. Live as if bedtime will never come, then dream of mischief."

 

I like to think that someday they'll look at this and laugh at the little stinkers they used to be! Or they may look at this and think that their mom was a goofball with too much time on her hands! Either way, I get a kick out of reading it! Every time I look at it, I smile and realize what a blessing my creative and mischievous boys are.

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

Behave  courageously, and the Lord will be with the good.

2 Chron. 19:11

 

 

This post is linked to Skip to My Lou, The Dedicated House,Shabby Creek Cottage, Sunday View, and Craft-O-Maniac.

Mini Album Monday #5- An Album Featuring Your Child's Notes/Artwork

     My boys are pretty delightful. They have always been very busy and very silly little boys. I've kept a notebook since they were little in which I've written down the funny things they've said and done. Sometimes I go back and read these stories. . and I laugh til I cry. No joke.
     In addition to writing down these anecdotes, I also saved some of the things they've written. I made this simple book to store them.
     I totally recommend that you get a notebook and write down your children's funny stories. You always think you'll remember, but if you do this, you'll be surprised at how much you would have forgotten if it wasn't written down.

 

For this album, I just used a regular file folder. I cut off the folded edge so that the two sides of the folder became my album cover. I covered it with strips of dictionary paper and used a couple pieces of pattern paper that have letters on them. Since this is focusing on the boys' writings, I decided to use a letter theme throughout the album.

I named this album "Words of Wisdom." For the title, I used scrabble letters and an old negative strip.

To bind it, I just punched holes and used two office rings. This way I can easily add to it.

 

 

This is what it looks like when you first open it. I used several layers of pattern paper on the left side. I wrote a quote by Dr. Seuss that says, "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

The next two photos are close up photos of these pages.

 

 

If you decide to make a book like this, you can keep this page simple by using only one piece of pattern paper or by leaving it blank.

 

This is the introduction page. It says, "You boys delight me in so many ways. . . The things you do, the things you say, and your darling little notes and writings. This album is a collection of some of these writings."

 

I tried to keep this as simple as possible to keep the focus on the boys' work.

For each entry, I added description.

This is my brother's business card that Ethan used to make his own business card by crossing out my brother's name and adding his own. 

 

I just punched holes in the papers and added them in chronological order.

 

This is a funny picture Sam had drawn and hung in the hallway.

 

I added a couple of envelopes for the smaller papers.

  

 

I added a few photos here and there. This is my menu board with notes that the boys added.

 

You'll notice that the album pages aren't all the same size. I like the randomness of it.

 

This is a quiz that Ethan wrote for my mom to answer. . . he was testing her knowledge of Spartans.

 

This is a cute thank you note with a drawing.

 

There are lots more pages in this album, but I think you get the picture. It's packed with cuteness.

 

I printed off a large photo to cover the last page of the book.

This is actually the only photo of the boys in the album. 

 

 I covered the back of the file folder with strips of dictionary paper.

 

See how simple it is? Once you make the cover, you just have to add your child's notes or drawings. If you're not a scrapbooker, but you'd like to do this, you could even use a preprinted file folder. 

 

This would also be a great way to store your child's artwork or the school papers that you want to keep.

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

I am the bread of life.

John 6:48

 

This post is linked to Craft-O-Maniac, Making the World Cuter, Skip to My Lou and Between Naps on the Porch.

Mini Album Monday #4- Father's Day Album

     Since Father's Day is coming up this weekend, I thought I'd feature a dad themed album for Mini Album Monday.

 

For this album, I used a file folder and folded it into thirds.

I chose brown papers and a set of father stickers by 7 Gypsies.

 

This album is a trifold. 

This is the first page (the backside of the cover). I cut a heart out of dictionary paper and adhered it over the pattern background. Then I used one of my favorite photos of my hubby and our boys. On the two tags, I wrote a funny story about a conversation between my hubby and each boy.

 

This is the flap on the right side. I covered each section with pattern paper. On this one, I placed two photos with a tag for pull-out journaling behind the larger photo.

Once you open this flap, you get to the center of the book. 

 

Here is the center section and the right side.

The right side has a photo with another pull-out tag for journaling.

The center has two pieces of cardstock with journaling and additional photos.

 

Here is a glimpse of the open trifold.

I printed off several questions for my boys to answer about their dad:

What is your dad really good at?

What can you do better than Dad?

How are you like Dad?

How are you different from Dad?

How old is Dad?

How tall is Dad?

What one thing is Dad always saying to you?

What did you and Dad do together that you'll always remember?

How do you know that Dad loves you?

 

The center piece lifts up to show more photos. 

 

Another flap lifts up for even more photos and a few questions that my hubby answered.

The first questions were about his childhood:

What did you want to be when you grew up?

How did you help out around the house?

What did you do in the summertime?

What were you most afraid of?

The next questions have to do with him being a dad:

What do you enjoy doing with your kids?

What's your favorite memory from when your kids were babies?

What have you learned from being a father?

What do you find yourself doing that your father used to do?

 

On the back, I used just one piece of pattern paper and added a "Dedicated to" sticker.

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one

can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."

John 6:65

 

 This post is linked to Between Naps on the Porch, I Heart Naptime, Skip to My Lou, Craft-O-Maniac, Today's Creative Blog, and Making the World Cuter.

 

Thrifty Thursday #50

     Here we are with my fiftieth Thrifty Thursday. Some of you are probably thinking, "My word, this girl likes thrift stores. She is one serious secondhand shopper." And, yes, I would have to agree with you.
     But today, my friends, while I was at the thrift store, I saw a lady who is even more serious than I am about thrifting. She was walking through the store with her oxygen tank on her back!!! I am not kidding y'all. She was breathing very heavily and walking very slowly. Now, I'm a nurse and keenly observant (my hubby would say nosy), so I kept an eye on her and even offered her a chair to sit on at one point. But she seemed very happy to be digging through treasures.
     Although I was keeping watch on her, I was still able to find a few things.

 

Picked up this old Monopoly game for $1.

Earlier this week I showed you a scrapbook that I made from a Scrabble board. I am going to teach that album in a class, and I will need several board games to cut up, so that's probably what I'll do with this guy. 

 

It's hard to tell in this photo, but this is a bag full of binder clips for $.75.

I love binder clips. There's just so much you can do with them. Couldn't pass up this bargain!

Here's one project idea using binder clips.

 

I found another dinner plate- for only $1. I'm up to five now. Almost have my mismatched set!

 

 

Here is the best find of the day. I got these two slide holders for a dime each! Whoo-wee! I saw these boxes on a bottom shelf and snatched them up. I couldn't believe my luck. I'm not quite sure what I'll do with them, but I'm thinking one of them may become a wreath of some sort.

I just love that black one!

 

I wish you luck on all your thrifty adventures. Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

Ask, and it will be given to you;

seek, and you will find;

knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

 

This post is linked to Embracing Change, Apron Thrift Girl, and My Girlish Whims. 

 

Thrifty Thursday #32

     Hey My Friends, I'm late posting today, but I'm here. School started this week and I'm home-schooling my boys (though K12, which is online public school). Between school, grocery shopping, making dinner, and going to my son's two hour football practice, this is my first chance I've had to sit down and post.

     As I headed out to make a quick stop at the thrift stores the other day, I spotted a yard sale. I found the cutest plate for fifty cents. I was so excited to hang it in my kitchen. But as I had it in my pile to take photos, I carelessly dropped it to the ground and it shattered. My son giggled when I said, "Fifty cents down the drain." I wasn't trying to be funny, though. I actually meant it.

My other yard sale purchases were these two doilies. Though I probably won't leave them in the embroidery hoops. I got them for a quarter a piece which is quite a bargain for two doilies and two embroidery hoops!

My favorite thrift store often has pretty old plates. I love the print on this one and even though there's a little chip on the lower side and we can't eat off it, I can hang it on my kitchen wall.

I seriously cannot pass up old sheet music- especially when it's only fifty cents!

It's finds like these that make me feel like dancing in the aisles of the thrift store! ( I'm just kidding- the thrift store doesn't have aisles!)

Old paper products are like the Holy Grail for me. These notepads are 8.5" x 14". That means one of these pieces of papers will go from the top to the bottom of a 12"x12" scrapbook page! 

One is notebook paper, while the other is my favorite. . . ledger paper.

I was in a hurry, so I only got to stop at two thrift stores. There was one more that I wanted to go to, but I knew that my hubby and I would be in that part of town later that evening for date night, so I decided to wait until then.

It's not every guy who agrees to make a thrift store run at the beginning of a date! I do believe he's a keeper:)

This is the reason I wanted to go to this particular store. I had seen this music stand buried behind some stuff the last time I was there. My older son, the drummer, claimed our only music stand, so my younger son, the guitarist, lays his sheet music on the floor when he practices. 

This stand is in great shape and is very heavy duty. This bodes well since my younger son is so hard on his stuff. 

While I was waiting for the thrift store guy to un-bury the music stand, I was shuffling through the dishes. I have a nice collection of the saucer size plates, but I don't have any dinner plates. Imagine my surprise when I found this beauty! Got it for a dollar. My goal is to have a set of mismatched dinner plates. I think there's such charm in that:) When I stayed at the B&B recently, we ate off of their mismatched china plates and I found it delightful.

     Happy treasure hunting to you all. Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Your word I have treasured in my heart

that I might not sin against You.

Psalm 119:11

     This post is linked to Embracing Change, Apron Thrift Girl,  and My Repurposed Life.