Hoppy Easter Banner

Yesterday I enjoyed a nice relaxing day at home with my boys.  It has been such a wonderful week being able to spend time with them.  I cannot wait until summer vacation....only 3 months.  Yay!  So yesterday's crafting task revolved around a new Easter banner.  I made an Easter Peep banner last year (at the beginning of my banner making phase).  Now....we all know how when you start to evolve in your skills and creativity the items you made at the beginning of your adventure just aren't up to par.  Okay, let's face it....it's just not good....at all....  Hence.....the NEW Easter banner.  I am MUCH happier with this banner.  PLEASE bear with my photos....I've been taking the pics with my phone, and apparently I need to stop doing that.  It's just SO much easier than having to hook my camera up to the computer to download the pics.  Does anyone else feel this way?

To make this banner I used the following items:

Paper:  Reminisce (I actually had leftover paper from either last year or the year before)
Cricut Cartridges:
        Birthday Bash-Banners cut at 6"
        Create a Critter-Bunny cut at 4 1/2", Carrots cut at 1", Basket cut at 2 1/2"
        Alphalicious-Letters cut at 5"
        Doodlecharms- Eggs cut at 2" and 4 1/2"
Peachy Keen Stamps-Critter Faces (Large)
Stampin' UP Chocolate Chip stamp pad-I used this for the distressing
Twine-

Close up of the end piece.  I really like the basket of eggs and carrots.  :-)  I added stitching to the carrots, but distressed and speckled the eggs.  I like the looks of them...it really matched the look of the paper. 

I added a few buttons to this piece for something different.  The thread used was twine by My Mind's Eye.

The husband took today off to spend a day with the family.  We're getting ready to head out and go bowling.  Yahoo!  I feel a heavy competition brewing. Have a great Friday!

SMILE!

It's Sunday night, and I'm in the process of watching the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, A Smile as Big as the Moon.  How fitting for these two crafts I'd like to share tonight.  The first is a banner I made for the Health Clerk at my school.  She's such a wonderful, smiley person, who LOVES smiley faces.  I had her name for "Secret Santa" at school this year....this is what I made her:

 She has the banner hanging above her office door, which is fitting, considering her office is decorated in smiley faces.  :-)

To make this banner, I used the Birthday Bash cartridge and Smiley Cards cartridge on my Gypsy.  For the letters, I used the Alphalicious cartridge.

Last, but not least, here is a card I made during our snow days a little over a week ago.  Super simple, but I LOVE it!

This card would be so easy to replicate for various holidays or birthdays, as well!  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  Happy Crafting!

Let it Snow!

Greetings from snowy Seattle!  It has definitely been an interesting few days here in the Pacific Northwest.....Monday we had no school due to Martin Luther King day, Tuesday was a late start to school because of weather (some snow), today we didn't have school (pics to follow showing why), and tomorrow there's no school, either due to weather.  So...today we got about 6-ish inches of snow.  Now, coming from the midwest, I KNOW that this isn't a huge amount of snow.  And God knows, if we were back in the midwest, we sure as heck would be in school.  HOWEVER, this is the Pacific Northwest.  We usually get rain, not snow, and we don't have the equipment to remove the snow.  Here are a couple of pics of our snow.....

 

My youngest son went outside this morning to measure our accumulation, and measured about 6 inches of snow.  He spent a good majority of his day shoveling our driveway so Eric could get back home after work.  Isn't he the sweetest?  There is now a HUGE snowpile in my front yard.  I'm sure it will be lots of fun to play in tomorrow!  :-)

So...tonight it decided to start drizzling....ugh!  That means freezing rain....and once again.....no equipment to clear roads quickly.  NO SCHOOL tomorrow!  BUT....that means the road behind our house will be PERFECT for sledding tomorrow...nice and slippery!  Yahoo!




Today I decided to take advantage of my time home by reorganizing my craft room.  It just needed a little clean up and organizing so I could actually work in there.  After completing that project I decided I might want to finish the snowman banner that I started at Christmas.  I had completed one for my mom while she was here for Christmas, but never finished my own.  Considering January is half over, it's probably a good idea that I got it done today....Valentine's Day crafts are coming up soon!


Here's a pic of the completed snowman banner:

To make this banner, I used Birthday Bash for the banner pieces.  The Snowflakes were made using Winter Wonderland.  The letters were made using Alphalicious (my favorite Cricut font).  The snowmen were made using a template that my friend, Lily allowed me to use.  Check out her blog at www.scrapnbookstore.blogspot.com.

Here are a couple of other pics of the banner:

I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year!  To all my Pacific Northwest friends:  stay safe and warm!  To all my midwest friends:  the snow's heading your way....watch out!  Love and miss you all!

Spooky

I have been seriously slacking on the blog lately....not by choice, though.  School has started and I have 27 cherubs in need of some love and interventions, as well as my own two cherubs at home.  Oy!  Does it ever get easier??  I have done some crafting here and there.  Today I'm going to share a couple of the decorations I've made for my home for Halloween.  Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays to decorate for.  My boys LOVE spooky / scary decorations....I don't.  I prefer cute fall-looking decorations.  So here's what I came up with for this year. 

This picture is horrible, I know...I took it with my phone....ugh!  Anyway... I used the following materials to create this card:

Mini Monsters Cartridge--2"
My Pink Stamper Spooky Puns stamps

Halloween Barn Star:
-For this, I used a small barn star.  I created a tracing template in order for my paper cut outs to fit perfectly.

Halloween Centerpiece:
This is a pinterest-inspired project.  I found this on pinterest and just had to make one.  I followed the original creators directions on layering the candies and filling in the middle with marshmallows (saves a lot of money on candy).  Instead of using halloween themed lollipops and rock candy sticking out the top of the centerpiece, I decided to use my cricut to create little toppers to stick out.

Simply Charmed Cartridge:
Ghost: 3"
Pumpkin: 3"
Boo: 2"

Boo & Spooky Banner:

For the BOO letters, I bought the cardboard letters that you can find at JoAnn's.  I painted the outside edges and the inside edges black.  I then traced the letters onto Halloween paper and mod-podged it to the cardboard letters when they were dry.  I did not go over the top of the paper with mod podge because the paper had a texture on it (the green with the spider webs).  I didn't want the effect of the web to be lost.

For the Spooky Banner I used the following:

Birthday Bash Cartridge for the banners:  cut at 6 1/2"
Simply Charmed Cartridge:  Bat cut at 4"
Alphalicious Cartridge:  Letters cut at 5"--letters were inked with black ink to add dimension


Behind each of the letters, I hand-made the paper-folded rosettes.  I cut 1 1/2" x 12" strips and then scored them every 1/4" folding them back and forth like a fan.  I hot-glued the ends together and then added hot glue to the middle, holding until it dried.  I then placed the green circle on top.




I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween!  I will do my best to start posting more often.  :-)

Susie

Projects, Projects, Projects

August seems to always be the fastest month of the year for me.  I feel like it sneaks up on me and then sprints to the end of the summer, all the while, packing in doctor appointments, soccer practices, tournaments, camp, and trying to set up my classroom for the school year.  Why is that??  This year has proven to be no different.....I have been really busy with all of the above, hence the reason I haven't blogged in a while.  However, here are a few of the projects I've been working on.  They are all school related, but there are a few other crafty projects to be posted soon!  

My theme in my classroom this year is polka dots on chocolate....I think I already blogged about that.  :-)  I am also incorporating a few owls here and there because they are just so darn cute....I can't help it! 

Last year, I had a basket with a label, of course, titled Book Hospital.  I needed a place for my students to put damaged books for me to fix (and my desk is not an option).  It seemed the most logical solution.  I did like the basket, but I wanted something cuter this year....plus I really want to use that basket for something else.  :-)  This first picture is of my new Book Hospital.

Supplies Needed:
*Beverage Bucket.....Target $1 (fantastic deal!)
 *Baby Steps cartridge
 *Pink vinyl
 *Lots of ribbon

This next picture is of the step stool I am using in my classroom.  My students often use it to reach the top of our SMARTboard.  I had a red plastic step stool last year that I found at Target in the dollar section.  I think it cost me $2.50.  It held up great!  However.....it did break because of my clumsiness.  Boo!  So...I found this wooden one....at Target.  I just cut out some circles on my Cricut to jazz it up a bit.  Isn't it cute??

Supplies Needed:
*Wooden Step Stool
*Plantin Schoolbook cartridge---circles cut at various sizes.  I did use Roly Poly to get the empty middle.
*Vinyl--brown, pink, green

These next pictures show my new whisper phones.  These tools are used by students so they can hear themselves reading.  It's super neat how these work!  These are tools I have always wanted in my classroom, but have never had the money to purchase.  They are terribly expensive.  I think I found 12 for $70.  OUCH!  So....I went to Home Depot in pursuit of creating my own.  I had a friend who made hers, so it was rather easy for me to grab the supplies I needed.
Supplies Needed:
*PVC 3/4" Elbows (these came in a package---it was cheaper)-$2/pkg
*PVC pipe (which this great guy at Home Depot cut for me for free)-$1.50
I think for this whole project, I spent $20 and was able to make 30 whisper phones!  Much more affordable!

 

All I did was take two elbows and connected them with the pvc pipe.  Super easy! Then you get the following picture:

And because I like to have EVERYTHING organized in my classroom....I cut vinyl numbers (to match each student's number).  I put each number in the middle of the phone.  For the numbers, I used the Alphalicious cartridge.  I chose the short stack feature and cut the numbers at 2".

 This next project was Pinterest inspired.  I think I seriously have an addiction to Pinterest.  Oy!  So....here's the project I pinned...okay....never mind....I can't figure out how to post a picture from someone else's blog.  Any tips, please help!  Here's the link instead...http://whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com/2010/11/student-birthdays.html
I just thought these pixie stick birthday treats were adorable.....so here's my spin on the idea.

 For my birthday pixie stick treats, I decided to use the smaller pixie sticks.  I also decided to make a cute little bucket for the pixie sticks to go in.  I love it!

Supplies Needed:
*Create a Critter Cartridge--balloon (I used my gypsy to delete the face)
Alphalicious Cartridge--letters cut at 2"
*Peachy Keen Stamps--Everyday Character Face Assortment
*Bucket (I found these at Target last spring.  This was left over from some Easter baskets I made. They were $1 each, so I kinda stocked up.)
*Vinyl
*LOTS of ribbon 



And....my last project for tonight.....I really wanted a banner to hang back by my small group table.  It needed something fun and cheery.  I decided to make this READ banner, with polka dots and owls!

Supplies Needed:
Birthday Bash Cartridge--pennants cut at 6"
Create a Critter Cartridge--Owl cut at 4"
Alphalicious Cartridge--Letters and shadows cut at 4"
Ribbon

Thanks for hanging in there with me tonight!  Lots of projects going on!  I can't wait to share what I've done with some furniture!  Have a great night!