Graduation Gift

I know that most students do not graduate until May, but I was inspired by my own graduation this December to post about gifts. I try to make homemade gifts for graduations. Sometimes the gifts take a while to get to their recipient.

This would be a gift for my sister. I found a shadow box at Michaels  Craft store. The paper was found at Hobby Lobby, along with the diplomas on the picture. The accessories were found at Michaels Craft store and Hobby Lobby.

This was an easy gift.
First step: Selecting materials.. easier said than done.

Second step: Glue the paper to the back of the shadow box.

Then I placed the picture, gown, and other accessories how I wanted it and then glued/taped everything on to the paper.

See.. easy peasy!!

Just thinking about Christmas

I'm so thrilled that it is almost Christmas. I plan on making it the best Christmas ever! OK, maybe not ever because C man still has  at least 15 years of Christmas Bliss with us.  I am on a mission to create an Advent calendar. First, I am researching, perusing Pinterest for ideas. Second, I am picking out my ideas for the Advent Calendar.Third, I will create my calendar.


My idea is to take a cork board and find Christmas fabric or take some cardboard and cover it with Christmas fabric or paint it.  I will glue glittered clothes pins to the board. I am in the stage of glittering the clothes pins. C man is trying to help me, but he is making more of a mess than successfully helping me. The clothes pins will be covered in green, white, and red glitter.
Reminder to self: Much better way to glitter clothespins than what I did.

I found some Christmas coloring pictures online and printed them out for C man to color, so that he can take  part in creating the calendar.  These pictures will be glued to envelopes, numbered 1 - 25. Inside of the envelopes will be Advent activities, some will be done at home and others will be done in the community.  I will use the clothes pins to hold the envelopes.

Things to do

Note to Self:

Take a day off during the weekend to do something of the projects you want.

Redo C man's dresser. Find a blue color similar to Thomas the train and find a red similar to Thomas the train.  Order knobs from esty. 

Find a brown and a blue to match the new comforter and paint the night stand that is peeling. Find a sander.  

Put the picture frames up in C man's room and your kitchen frame up!!

Ready for Nov. 6 to get some of this done!!

Oh my the time has flown by. We have been busy potty training. It is not going. Today, C man refused to sit on the potty. I had errands to run today so I put a diaper on him. I feel defeated in the potty training area right now. 

The temperature here in Louisiana has reached the 100s. Yep, the 100s. Everyday, we have heat warnings. This causes us to stay inside, which sucks because C man is so  active. I can only hold his interest for so long until he is on to the next thing.  In our apartment, we have a large sliding glass door. I let C man color on it with markers. He lasted 10 minutes at most. Then I let him paint, that lasted 15 minutes.  Trying to be screen free is hard when you live in an apartment and temperatures are ridiculous. At night, he plays outside for an hour with the girls next door. He loves them. He is and will be my social butterfly.

I've been making a list of books to read as we get closed to the terrible threes, even though I feel like we have been in the terrible twos for so long.

Make a photo frame

Do you need an idea for Father's day?


How about creating a cute, yet masculine photo frame to put into the office or work area. I see tons of cute ideas used to create photo frames, but all of the frames had a tie theme. The tie theme definitely  would not fit my honey, since he works in the oilfield.   Do you want to make one for your masculine man? Follow the steps below to make one and Happy crafting!!

Things you will need: 
 Photo frame
Bottle of paint
Selection of what reminds you of the person
Glue gun/modge podge/ craft glue


 Pick out a plain photo frame. I found one at Wal-Mart for 2 or 3 bucks!

 Pick out a color. B's favorite color is orange, so while at Hobby Lobby picking up supplies I grabbed an orange bottle of paint. 


B works in the oilfield, so I tried to find something to put on the frame. I found these bags of washers for 97 cents at Wal-Mart.
























 Paint the frame. I had C man help me paint the frame, which only lasted 2.5 seconds.

I let the frame dry an entire day before finishing the project. I used a sponge brush to paint the frame.

The next day I picked a great picture of B and C man to put in the frame.

I used a glue gun to glue the washers onto the frame. You will want to layout your design with the material you select before using your glue gun or whatever glue material you use.

Oh, Father's day

Did you realize that Father's day is coming up? I didn't until I started blog hopping and noticed blog tutorials about Father's day gifts. 

I found quite a few that are cute  Awesome!

There is a  basket that was made using beef jerky, money, and various other foods. I found it at Delightful Order. Click Here to see it. This woman is amazing. Every time that I browse her site I am filled with so many ideas to try around my own house apartment.

Source


I found another great Father's day idea. Heidi at Two Happy Stampers, recreated a card using card stock, hole punches, and stamps. Click here to see it.

Source

At Hydrangeas and Harmony, Jennifer created a scrapbook. The scrapbook starts from the first day that her kids were born and she updates the book every Father's day. Click here to see it.


I have decided to create a basket for Father's day. In the basket will be tools for B to use, candy,and  a picture frame with B and  C man.   Here a a few before pictures.

When I am finished I will post the after pictures!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Bucket list for Me

Every one is making a summer bucket list, so I am making a summer bucket list for myself and one for the C man. 

Myself: 

1. Organize the  hall way closet and blog about it. 
2. Organize the bathroom cabinet and blog about it. 
3. Create a chore chart for C man. 
4. Create a menu board from existing cork board. 
5. Create a station for reminders from existing cork board. 

I probably won't  will do all of these things. 

The Family: 

1. Go to the Circus
2. Have a picnic outside. 
3. Go to the Audubon Zoo, Aquarium,   and Insectrium.
4. Go to the Library for Toddler Reading Time.
5. Create fun art/craft projects.

Bring Mickey Home

The town of Lafayette, Louisiana  has been shaken, but is pulling together to help one family find a loved one.


A 22 year old woman is missing in Lafayette, Louisiana. Her family and friends are searching the community, along with the LPSO, LPPD, FBI, and other agencies. Please  be on the look out in your community, especially if you travel the interstate. 

Please view the other post. 




http://helpmickeysfamily.webs.com/

Bring Mickey Home

Mickey Shunick: Find Mickey Now!

Mickey Shunick: 10 Steps

Decorative Clipboard

Today, I had some free time on my hands. I decorated my clipboard. My clipboard serves  as a holder for my cleaning schedule and holds my assessment papers when I am in the classroom. 

I chose a purple color scheme, since my recipe binder is purple. 

Step 1

Choose your color scheme.

Take a sponge with Mod Podge on it and coat the entire surface. After you coat the surface, place the paper onto the clipboard. Press down firmly on the paper to smooth out any bumps you may have. Let this dry for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Step 2

Turn over the clipboard and apply Mod Podge to the back of the clipboard. After this place the paper onto the clipboard.  Press down firmly on the paper to smooth any bumps you may have. 

Step 3

Decorate your clipboard. I decorated my clipboard with stickers from the scrapbook paper pack. 

Happy Crafting!

Blog's I am linking up to:

 <a border="0" href="http://thekurtzcorner.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa386/asmith0341/tutorials.jpg"/></a>Blog party

Cherished Handmade Treasures

2 out of 30

2 out of 30

 Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.

1. Working in retail for the rest of my life.
        
      Every Saturday and Sunday when I leave the boys to go to work, I die inside. I miss being able to spend the day with Branden. I don't want to work at a job where I am disrespected everyday and treated like I don't have a brain. In Louisiana, you are often looked down upon when working in retail. I have worked so hard the past seven years to put myself through college and beat cancer. When I graduate I hope to find a job and leave the retail world.

2. Being a working  mother.

       I struggle everyday when I bring C man to daycare. I always wonder if I am making the right decision to help my family financially, so that we can save money for a house, a new car, and other things in life. I know that I am not alone in this struggle, but it sure is hard. 

3. Getting rid of old school stuff.

        I have this quest for knowledge and this quest has made me  keep old school stuff. I am scared that I will forget something that I know or something that is very important for me to know. I am finally letting go of old papers, but it is very hard for me to do.

The List 1 out of 30.. I think
20 random facts about me

1. I am going to school to become a teacher. It is one of  the hardest, challenging, yet rewarding things I have done in my life. 

2. I want to change the Education system in Louisiana and help children learn. 

3. I am *the Luckiest Girl* ever. B has let me follow my dream, even though it has taken a while for me to figure it out. 

4. I have the sweetest baby boy ever. 

5. I battled with cancer and won. 

6. I am Catholic. 

7. I love reading to C man at night. I try to read to him at least 3 times a day. 

8. My dad taught me to be an independent person. 

9. My sister is my hero. She has a 4.0 at LSU. She is SUPER SMART. 

10. I enjoy taking C man for a walk in the afternoon. 

11. I took a fashion design class in high school and now I work in retail. Ha!

12. I am slowly finding myself after years of being lost. 

13. Folding towels is the best chore ever!
14. I miss my friends dearly. 

15. I am an alum of a sorority. 

16. I only believe in driving Chevrolet's.

17. Sometimes, I will stay on the computer all day looking at love quotes. 

18. Currently saving money to buy a house. One day it will happen. 

19. I miss being able to plant a garden and having weekends to hang out. 

20. I think a kid is the best excuse for  going to the Zoo, Aquarium, etc

Christmas and New Years

Let me begin with Christmas. Christmas eve I was off of work, which enabled us to participate in Christmas eve activities with my dad's side of the family. It was so nice to spend time with family, especially since we never get to see my dad's side of the family.  We ate food, went over the story of Christmas, and opened presents. Of course, we had to take LOTS of pictures. Santa's helpers also put together Connors train table and there was NO fussing between the two of us. 

Fast forward to Christmas day, Connor woke up around 6:00 and all of us presents were opened by 6:30.  After hours of playing with his toys, we went to my grandparents house to eat lunch. This was bittersweet because my grandfather passed in 2007 and my grandmother passed in 2010.  After lunch, we went to my parents house. We opened presents there. After this, Branden and I  went to the movies to watch War Horse( amazing movie, it is a must see).  Then we made our way over to my aunts house for supper.  We had a Just Dance tournament. We played an elimination bracket.  The final was between my cousin  and I. 

I have no pictures from this I wish I did.  Once I find my camera cord, I will upload pictures from Christmas and pictures of Branden and Connors presents that I made.