My Idea Book

I made a new idea book a few days ago. I keep it in my purse. After I tell you about it, you'll see why you need one too. I have mine divided into sections: Parenting/Marriage, Crafts, Home, Food, and Misc.

Here are a few samples of the ideas floating around in this little notebook:

* A list of gift ideas for Hubby
* Items I need to fill in gaps in my childrens' wardrobes
* A sketch of a cute dress I saw at Gap Kids that I think I can make.
* Hubby's shoe size, pant size, and dress shirt size.
* A couple of recipes I found while out and about.
* A price list of commonly purchased items.
*Great picture books we've checked out from the library.
* A list of projects I want to make soon.
* Scrapbooking sketches
* Fun color combinations
* Several pages of journaling I've done about my kids when I've been waiting somewhere (like the doctor's office).

I am constantly finding inspiration and ideas and I need a place to keep them from disappearing into the far reaches of my very forgetful brain. I used to sketch on the back of receipts or jot down an idea on an old program from church, but then I'd lose the little papers. It is much better to keep everything in one place! So go get yourself a notebook. You don't even have to decorate it (but you know I had to...haha). Pop it in your purse and start writing down your ideas!

Cloth Taggie Block

I recently fell in love with a new blog... http://www.makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/. Not only does she create awesome stuff, but she's my old college roommate! Small world...gotta love it! Anyway, I decided to use her cloth baby block tutorial (http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/03/as-promisedcloth-blocks.html) to make my little man a new toy. I changed it up a little by adding ribbon taggies and a few buttons. Warning: Buttons can pose a choking hazard. I figured these were large enough to be relatively safe. And I sewed them on extra tight. This project was so quick and easy and I was able to use scraps of things I had on hand. It would be a great addition to a baby shower gift.
The little guy seems to like it.

A Little Dollar Store Goodness

Never underestimate the dollar store. You just don't know what fun surprises await! I found this ceramic bird and the wooden star plaques at my local Dollar Tree. I put the bird next to my little nest...seemed fitting. The stars are for my little boy's nursery. I just painted the edges green, added coordinating scrapbook paper and did a little stitching on my sewing machine. The nursery is coming together nicely.

This post is a little jumbled, but I'm too lazy to fix it. Better to post a jumbled mess than nothing at all, right? Besides, who actually reads the words anyways....it's all about photos! :) Happy crafting, friends!

Spring Decorating

Even though we still have snow on the ground in these parts, I'm ready for spring to be here! So when I found this stuff at Salvation Army, I snatched it up:

One white plate, a parfait dish (so stinkin' cute), and some brand new greenery, including a little bird's nest, for a whopping total of $2.00. Oh, yeah!

I ripped the bird's nest off the fake branches it was attached to and set it in the parfait dish. So easy!

The plate got some letter stickers from my scrapbooking stash added to the middle. Again, so easy!

And here it is all together!



Next I decided to try my hand at blowing out real eggs. I've seen cute fake eggs, but just couldn't justify buying them...you know I'm a cheapskate. It wasn't too hard to blow the eggs, but I did get raw egg on my lips. EW!! And of course I saved the eggs to make french toast for breakfast. :) Then I dyed the eggs in vinegar and Crayola kids watercolor paint (hey, use what you have, right?) and "speckled" them with permanent markers. Added the eggs with some rafia in my glass jar and changed out the picture in my frame for a metal easter egg that's part of a wreath I got free several years ago. Whala! Spring!


What do you think? Is it better with the little candle and flowers? I feel like it still needs something, but I don't know if this is the right something. It was the best I could come up with shopping around my house. What I really want is a little ceramic bird or bunny. There's still time. We'll see what I can come up with.