Baby Shower {Greeting Card Scrap Book} Kit

What do you do with all the beautiful greeting cards you receive for your child's first birthday, or in the mail for Christmas, or on your Wedding Day???  Well, I am the type of person that has a hard time throwing them away, but they just end up sitting in a keepsake box tucked away on a shelf.

THE SOLUTION

I've come across  a concept  over the past few years on blogs, Pinterest, etc and I think it is fabulous.
But, I think there is a way to take this concept up a notch and not only include those beautiful greeting cards in the scrapbook, but use them as backdrop for photos from the event, journals, keepsakes and more! [Click the photo to be taken to one lovely blog post with the idea]

SOOOOO....I've been saving the cards we receive for different milestones and holidays to create this style of scrap book ever since, but have not taken the time to put one together yet.  Here's the bin I've been saving all of Madisyn's Baby Shower Cards in....

As you can read here, I needed a gift for a Gender Neutral Baby Shower and wanted it to be something useful, unique and memorable.  I figured it was the perfect time to make myself put together one of these scrapbooks for someone else, so that I would know exactly how I want to do mine that I've been saving all my cards for.

So, I went through Madisyn's books and found that we happened to have two copies of the Pokey Little Puppy.  This is the perfect, classic, and gender neutral book to create this kit with!

I started by using a box cutter and carefully cut off the front and back cover of the book right along the spine.

And ended up with a front and a back for the scrapbook.

I gathered some gender neutral colored supplies (ribbon, cardstock, patterned paper, etc) and some binder rings and started to put it all together.

Using my book binding punch, I made 3 holes in the covers for the binder rings.

Then, I Mod Podged some patterned paper on the inside of the covers for a spot to include the Invitation to the party on the inside of the cover and a Guest List in the back.  

I also included a few blank patterned pages inside in case she needs extra room to journal or anything.  To complete the kit, I gathered photo corners, some extra coordinating card-stock pieces, a sharpie to write down the gifts and guests at the party, and a hole puncher.

Then, I created a little celo bag to put it all together in and made a cute little tag for the top!  To make the tag, I just measured a half an inch on either side larger than the envelope and folded a piece of paper, then stapled it onto the top of the bag and glued my letters over the staples.

And here it is all together (with the Mod Podge not yet dry behind the letters).

In her gift basket I also wanted to include the What to Expect- The First Year book that I used as a reference with Madisyn.  I enjoyed this book, and thought it might be special for her to thumb through the same one I used (and there's no sense in buying another book, when I already had it and don't need it anymore!)

It turned out great, and I can't wait to see it after she puts it all together.  Now, I just need to pull out another duplicate book and get Madisyn's made! [I will certainly do a follow up post so you can see how the greeting cards are used to mount photos, keepsakes and more!]

I did create a Silhouette cut file for this project that I'd be happy to email to you for the wording on the tag- just leave me a note!

I'd love to hear about the Greeting Card Scrap Books you make with this concept- the possibilities are endless!  Your comments make my day!

Linked up at:

Make Bake Create

Gender Neutral DIY Baby Shower Gift Ideas

I am headed to one of my best friend's baby shower this weekend, and I am super excited to see all the ladies and babies!  However, this strong friend of mine has held out in finding out what the gender is of her FIRST BABY at the request of her husband!  This is fun and exciting and all, but it makes gift giving difficult.  Especially when I want to hand-craft gifts special, just for this little sweetie.
Aimee has special requested one of my {Monthly Onesie Sets} as her baby shower gift, but I don't want them to be gender neutral, so those will have to wait.  BUT, I can't show up EMPTY HANDED, right?!
So, I went on a Pinterest Hunt to come up with some cute, and easy gifts for options to take to the shower.

I hope you enjoy my collection of DIY Gender Neutral Baby Shower Gifts below! [Click the image to follow a link to the tutorial]

Burp Cloths

Do Not Disturb Sign

Diaper Caddy/Organizing Bin

UpCycled T-Shirt Bibs

Soft Blocks

Closet Dividers

Alphabet Art

Nursing Cover

Taggie Blanket

Baby Blocks

And of course, what I've schemed up to make, I cannot find a tutorial for--- so I guess I will have to make my own for you all!

It's along the same ideas as this:

Christmas Card Book

I better get started!  Stay tuned to see what I've come up with!

{Autumn Paper Crafts} a curated collection for looksi square

Hi Friends!

I curated a collection of Autumn Paper Crafts for looksi square this week and thought I would share them with you!  I found some really fun projects.  Take a look at the photo sneak peak below- and please click on over to looksi square to find the actual tutorials and blog posts!  Have a great weekend!

Halloween Decor {Boo REVAMPED}

I love saving stuff from the dump- especially something that has sentimental value.  But, ONLY if I can put it to good use!

My mom was SOOO good at making each and every holiday special for us kids in some way (which I've written about before), and I love thinking back on my childhood and remembering those things she did (mostly VERY cheap, or even free things) to make each little holiday special, in some way.

Most of the time those special feelings were created with the use of crafty decor.  I'm not sure where she came up with this Halloween Sign- but it isn't half bad, really.  And I couldn't stand to let it get tossed into the "dump" pile as we were cleaning out the garage last week.

I remembered that I purchased a BLACK feather wreath on 75% off clearance at Joann's last winder and then knew exactly what I would do with them!  

I cut it all apart and ended up with these three "BOO" letters that were in desperate need of painting.

After some "Vintage White" spray paint (about 6 coats to cover up the splatter paint), they were beautiful.

I used some black sturdy ribbon, strategically hot glued to the rear of each letter to tie them on the wreath individually.  I paid close attention to what direction I wanted my letters hanging out to figure out which direction to glue on the ribbon.

My mom, is MASTER of bows--- she can make them big and beautiful or small and beautiful- unfortunately a skill I have yet to learn from her, but I love to watch each time- hoping I will learn.
She made me a beautiful bow with some vintage style black and white striped ribbon to adorn on the wreath.

It turned out simple and beautiful, exactly what I wanted.

A little something to add to my so-far small collection of Halloween decor to assist in making Madisyn's holiday a little more special.

Did you make a wreath this year for Halloween?  I'd love to see and hear about it- please leave links in comments!

Linked Up At:

Wow me Wednesday at Ginger Snap Crafts

Wonderful Wednesday at Ducks in a Row

Show and Share Wednesday at Mostly Homemade Mom

Book Page Wreath

How I spent my 31st Birthday....

My lovely sister Emily of {LOLA FLORAL}, graced Madi and I with her presence for my birthday.  Kyle is on a big hunting trip in Wyoming and was gone for my birthday, and is STILL gone---we miss him so much.

So, with all that's been going on and Kyle being out of town, I was kind of a grumpy mess on my special day =(  Having Emily here was a breath of fresh air.  I love talking business with her and bouncing ideas off of each other.  

So, she asked me what I wanted to do the morning of my birthday, and I decided it would be fun to drive into Port Angeles (we are currently calling Sequim, WA home) and do a little Antiquing.  So, we got ourselves a Pumpkin White Chocolate Latte', and drove the 20 minutes to the town next door.  It was Sunday, so we weren't counting on a lot being open in a small town, but we had a great time!

We ending up pulling some inspiration from the best (only 3 half-way descent booths to draw from) booth inside an Antique Mall.  The artist had done some working with paper and made a beautiful wreath from old book pages.  I decided making one of those wreaths with my sister would be the perfect Birthday Afternoon, so we finished our Antiquing there, and stopped in at Joann's on the way back home to pick up a few supplies.  

Supply List

• Old Book/Hymnal/Sheet Music- I have a stash that I cherish {see how I've used them before here}
• Foam Wreath Form
• Greening Pins (50-100)
• OPTIONAL- Floral Ribbon, embellishments

The Process

Emily and I chose different books- and it is amazing how different our wreaths turned out- we decided sheet music would have been a fun approach, or even spray painting the edges of your book black or even a funky color before you start tearing pages out would create a unique look.

All you do, is tear a page out of your book, fold it in the middle and crumple, then push one of the pins through the middle and shove it into the wreath form.

My book pages were way thinner and way more fragile than the one Emily chose... so take that into consideration- I had to be very ginger when folding and pinning in order to not rip the pin right through.

Just repeat this process over, and over and over keeping a close eye on holes created from not putting the pages close enough together into the form.

I did put some in the "inside" of the ring and "outside/bottom" to make it look super full.

Emily wasn't happy I wanted to take her photo while she was working, because neither of us had showered, or cared what we looked like that day (perfect birthday)... but I did it anyways, and isn't she cute?!

Here's us together with our finished products- I absolutely LOVE mine and found a beautiful mirror to hang it on.  [Do make sure, you only use this wreath indoors--- the paper will soak up moisture if it is outdoors and it will be ruined]

I'd love to see photos of your's if you make one and see how you chose to embellish!

Linking Up At:

Make, Bake, Create

Inspire Me Wednesday

The 36th Ave

The Weekly Creative