{'All About Me' Booklets for Dolls}

Santa added a second American Girl doll to our home this year and the fun hasn't stopped. Dare I say that Mom likes all this doll stuff as much as the kiddo does? I hate to admit it, but I get a little pulled in to the tiny realism! My kiddo was wishing out loud for little booklets for each doll to write down their favorite things. Alas, she was writing on PLAIN scrap paper that had no flair at all. What???! So I went to my own scraps (the scraps with flair) and came up with these.

I made these exactly like my Scrappy Quote Chipboard Book , I just changed the size. Again, I used cereal boxes as my chipboard, and adhered scrapbook paper to both sides of that to make the front and back covers.

I created the pages in Word, and printed them on white cardstock.

One likes horses and one is from Hawaii. :)

 I punched the holes with my Crop-a-Dile and bound the books with hemp cord.

These are 5x7 for the overall measurements and my kiddo {loves} them! She wants me to make one for her, but since she's a living, breathing-not-plastic-and-stuffing person, I think she should have the store bought version. :)

If you'd like to make some of these for the 18" dolls in your life, you can download the pages I made here:

Kanani's All About Me Pages

General Doll All About Me Pages

I also added one blank page at the end just for drawing or miscellaneous.

Have fun playing!

I'm linking up to these parties:

 

{DIY Lunchbox Notes}

School started on Wednesday (back to the old grind for all of us!) and as I was thinking about lunches for the week, I realized that my little basket of lunchbox notes was finally about empty. Time to restock! I have several versions of lunchbox notes saved on my computer...really cute, very easy to print and cut out, very convenient. Then I remembered that I'm low on printer ink. Ugh...don't want to a)go out and get more at this point or b)spend more $$ on it unless I have to. I have to print lots and lots, but lunchbox notes is NOT one of them! :)

So I stepped into my craft room and said to myself...."Woman, you have LOADS of unused paper lying around...masses of stamps and stickers...WHY do you need printer ink?"

Now of course I can write a quick note on scrap paper, and without a doubt, the love is still there. Some of my favorite love notes from my sweet husband have been on a napkin. You've got those, right? BUT...since I'm a crafty lady and my daughter likes cute stuff...I had to go a little further, while still keeping in mind that the reality is that these will get PB&J on them and will go in the trash. (Meaning, I'm not making little masterpieces either!)

You know all that 12x12 white paper that they stick in scrapbook sleeves?

Do you keep yours? I always just stick it in this organizer. My kiddo uses it for art projects at times, and I use it for stamping scraps as well. It's perfectly good white paper and I have tons of it.

So I grabbed a few sheets of it, a couple of journaling stamps, ink, and a stamp set I have from Stampin' Up with cute sayings and little critters.

I started stamping, trying to space them on the page to allow for cutting out and leaving a small blank side for my handwritten note.

Then I cut them out and added them to my little note basket that is hidden in the kitchen cabinet. She knows I write them, she just doesn't know where I keep them. :)

It's a little silly, but it's gratifying to create with scrap paper, whatever craft medium you can scrounge up, and save money at the same time. Will I still need to buy printer ink? Yep! But I'll only be using it to print what I really NEED to print. And...handmade lunchbox notes is just a {little} extra love, isn't it?

Have a good week!

I'm linking up over at these fun parties:

Sundae Scoop @ I Heart Naptime

{A Little Inspiration}

The New Year is upon us! Where did the time go? I'm not one for making resolutions, but I do like to have inspiration around. I'm a lover of quotes, and I tend to collect them. Anybody else do the same thing? I actually started saving them on my computer a few years ago, and whenever I find a new one that inspires me I just add it on. I like to go back to it occasionally, and when I do I always find at least one that is a good reminder or food-for-thought for that particular day.

So...as the New Year approaches...I thought maybe I could collect these wonderful bits of wisdom into one little custom book just for me. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out, and it was so simple to put together. You can make this mostly with things you probably already have lying around.

Here's what you need:

scrapbook paper

paper cutter

adhesive/glue stick

cardstock

hemp cord, jute, twine, ribbon-your choice for the binding

cereal boxes from your recycling bin

scrap ribbon or buttons for embellishments (as you see fit!)

I started by using my trusty 'quotes' file from my computer. I tweaked my fonts a little bit, then oriented them a little differently into a Word document. I printed them on cardstock, cut them out, and distressed the edges with brown ink.

Next, I cut my cereal boxes down to pages that are 5x7. I then went through my scrapbook paper and cut several pages to 5x7 as well. Since this isn't a keepsake project with photos, I simply used glue stick to adhere the 5x7 scrapbook paper to the 5x7 cereal box pages. I used a small sanding block to smooth out all 4 edges of each page. This distresses the edges a little bit and also makes it look very even and neat. (You can use a nail file for this as well.) Here are the finished pages:

 The next step is optional, but since I have an addiction to distressing, I also inked all the edges of each page to give it an antiqued look.

Once you have your pages the way you want them, just start adding your quote blocks any way you like. I also glued these down with glue stick instead of adhesive. 

When I rearranged my quotes in Word, I tried to make them various sizes to add interest to my pages.

Next, I used my crop-a-dile to punch 2 holes along the left side of each page for binding with the jute twine later.

 I used scrap pieces of ribbon and buttons for a few extra embellishments. It's a good idea to punch holes before adding embellishments. Don't ask me how I know this. ;)

I used jute twine to bind my book. I love jute because it looks rustic and is sturdy. Get your pages in order, lace the holes, and knot. The pages turn really easily and I can lay it flat.

I printed out a title on cardstock as well, and then adhered it to the front. It now has a happy place directly in front of me at my craft table. :)

I can see making a smaller version of this for a purse or school bag, can't you? Like a little pocket full of thoughts to ponder.

I'd love to hear what you think!

Have a great week!

I'm linking up over at:

Sundae Scoop @ I Heart Naptime

What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar & Dots

{Merry, Merry Christmas!!}

Here's wishing you the Merriest Christmas ever and a New Year full of blessings and more blessings!

God is good.

(About to board the Polar Express.)

Looking forward to great things for my family and creative projects in my craft room in 2012!

God Bless,



{Scrappy Christmas Coasters}

I will be honest and tell you that I made these a couple of months ago, and I'm pretty sure I was surrounded by pumpkins and skeletons at the time. You can never be too early, no? I guess I was on a roll.

I had leftover holiday fabric from an apron I made for my mom like this one. I wanted to make some scrappy coasters with it, so I looked around the internet for some info. I did find several tutorials, and even tried a couple that seemed easy, but honestly they all still seemed too hard. Like I was re-inventing the wheel.

I will apologize ahead of time for the lack of process pictures, but I decided to cut a square template out of old file folders that measured 5.5" x 5.5" (the unfinished size I wanted the coasters to be). Then I started cutting scraps...piecing them to other scraps...and machine stitching them to each other.

Yeah...it was a hodge podge, which was exactly what I wanted.

My only 'rule' to follow was that I made sure that each scrappy piece I finished was LARGER than my 5.5" x 5.5" template. Here are all of my top pieces:

 I then laid the template on top of the scrappy piece and cut it down to size.

I cut a backing piece out of solid fabric to 5.5" x 5.5".

 I adhered a piece of fusible fleece to each side (one to the scrappy side and one to the solid side). I wanted them to be thicker since they are coasters.

I then pinned them wrong sides together, stitched on 3 sides, turned back around, and top stitched all around the edges. I also "stitched in the ditch" along the seams of all the scraps...just to make them look "scrappier".

And the final product...

I'm really pleased with how they turned out, and I love it when I use up scraps.

What have you been up to?

Take care,

{Quicky Centerpiece}

I've got 2 minutes set aside to blog, but I wanted to share the pretty, quick, and cheap centerpiece I have on my dining room table.

I {love} antiques, and have had this bowl for several years. I use it for LOTS of things throughout the year, whenever my little brain needs a change. :) This year, I bought cheapo balls on the $1 spot at Target and dropped them in. Love! I like it that it doesn't look planned...and I'm using one of my favorite bowls...and it's easy to move for dinner...and it cost me next to nothing (okay, I'm sure I paid $20 for the bowl MANY years ago, but that's an investment, right?) . Of course it is. It's paid for itself by now.

What I'm throwing out there is that you can put these cheap ornaments in any bowl or basket that you already love and make something totally new out of it. And hey...your kids can mess around with them all they want because they are PLASTIC (don't look it, do they?) and cost $2.50 for a set. So you won't even bat an eye when little fingers approach.

Thanks for stopping by for a quick post.

We're getting so close now to Santa's visit and I.CAN'T. WAIT!

Take care,