Juice Bag Purse and Lunchbox

I finally got around to using some of those hundreds of juice bags that we have been saving and rinsing out. I made a juice bag purse first and then a lunchbox. The handles took the longest so I decided that if I really want to crank them out I'll have to switch to nylon straps. What do you think?

Room Makeover

I've been wanting to paint my daughter's room pink since we moved her in 2008 and finally got around to doing it a few weeks ago. Here are the before and after shots. We painted the room light pink first (Disney by Behr "Fairest of Them All"). I cut out the castle, trees and silhouette in vinyl using my Cricut and used it as a template for painting the darker pink (Disney by Behr "Pretty in Pink"). It was quite a challenge but I really like the results. We also did some massive de-cluttering, bought new sheets and a new bedspread at Target and repainted of her nightstand and book cabinet.

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Additional Pictures

Tinkerbell Baby Shower

This shower theme was so much fun. My niece has always loved Tinkerbell so when we found out she was having a girl, a Tinkerbell Shower seemed like the thing to do. I found the bed canopy at a thrift store and attached flowers from a flower bunch that I bought at Joann's. I framed three of her favorite sonogram pictures for all the guests to see. For a party favor, we had flower clips for all the guests to wear. We played two baby shower games. For the first game, I covered baby food jars with paper and guests had to guess what each jar contained. During the second game, guests had to remember 31 baby-related-items that were in the Tinkerbell diaper bag. These are my favorite games because at the end the mom-to-be gets a starter collection of baby food and a stocked diaper bag!

For diaper cake directions, click HERE.

Party Favors

I couldn't find flower hair clips within my budget so I decided to make them. I bought flower bunches at Joann's for less than $1. First, I covered metal clips with ribbon using hot glue. I cut the flowers off the wire stems and attached them to the covered metal clips using hot glue. It was fairly easy and a lot less expensive than purchasing them already made.

Materials: Ceramic Mushrooms and Fairy Wings (99 cent store), Green Stones (Michaels), Tutu and Flower Headband (Handmade by Sarah Nesbit), Cricut Storybook cartridge, Cricut Tinkerbell and Friends cartridge, Pampers Swaddlers Diapers, Tinkerbell Diaper Bag (Big Lots)

Tinkerbell Invitation

I haven't posted in a while but I will have some things soon because I'm working on some baby shower stuff for my niece. The theme is Tinkerbell. I'm currently finishing up the invitations. It's a pocket card. The purple piece that slides out has the party information printed on it. I'll have more tink stuff to show in the next few weeks! I used Cricut Tinkerbell & Friends, Tags Bags, Boxes and More, A Child's Year, Wall Decor and Design Studio to make the card.

Cricut Anniversary Expression 2 Giveaway

One of my favorite blog spots, Everyday Cricut, is giving away a Cricut Anniversary Expression 2. Click HERE to see the post.

Marine Corps Boot Camp Graduation

Girly layouts where I can put flowers and bling are much easier than themes such as this. Military, men, camping. I struggle to make them interesting.

Materials: Creative Imaginations Signature Marines Collection, Stampin' Up Early Espresso 12x12 Cardstock, Combat Creations Antique-brass look metal brads, K and Company Embellishments Grand Adhesions - Marines

The Pretty Family

My sister-in-law's family in 2006. Their last name IS Pretty.

Materials: Colorbok Nocturne 12x12 cardstock pack, Stampin' Up 5 Petal Flower Punch, Stampin' Up Punch Potpourri Stamp Set, Stampin' Up Full Heart Extra-Large Punch

Yucca Valley Concert

Now for some simple layouts. This is my family and I at a concert in Yucca Valley in 2008.

Materials: Martha Stewart Crafts Deep Edge Punch Daisy Fan, Cricut Wall Decor and More Cartridge, Cricut George and Basic Shapes Cartridge, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mask Concerto, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Spray 2 Ounce Bottle - Tattered Leather, Tim Holtz Idea-ology CORNERS Metal Hardware

Christmas 2010

My son and daughter at Bass Pro Shop during Christmas.

All cuts were made using the Winter Woodland cartridge except for the dog (Everyday Paper Dolls) and wreath (Christmas Solutions).

Materials: Cricut "Winter Woodland" cartridge, Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls, Cricut Christmas Solutions cartridge

"Fashion" Wall Decor

We rearranged Olivia's room the other day so I thought I better finish a project that I've been wanting to do for her dress up area. Didn't realize how cute the Paisley cartridge was until I started using it. Lots of girly stuff. Everything except the high heel shoes and patterned purse were used with the Paisley cartridge.

Materials: Cricut Paisley cartridge, Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge

More Snow Layouts

More pictures from our snow day last January. This time they are pictures of our yard, street and backyard neighborhood.

Materials: Bo Bunny Snowy Serenade Sparkles paper, Bo Bunny Snowy Serenity paper, Advantus Tim Holtz Idea-Ology 2-1/2-Inch Ornate Plates, Cricut "Winter Woodland", DCWV Robin #2 paper, Martha Stewart Crafts Scallop 3 Dot Punch

Snow Day

In January 22 last year we got quite a treat here in Yucaipa in the form of a big snowfall (big for our area that is). I made sure to take lots of pictures. How many chances would I get to scrap a snow day?

I bought paper online specifically for these layouts. It's Bo Bunny's Serenade collection. It's beautiful paper. Heavy cardstock with lots of glitter. I still have about 8 pages more to do for this snow day so I'll post them as they are done.

Materials: Bo Bunny Snowy Serenade Crystals paper, Bo Bunny Snowy Serenade Sparkles paper, Die Cuts With a View 12x12 Robin #2 paper, Cricut "Winter Woodland" Cartridge, Cricut "Joys of the Season" Cartridge, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Spray 2 Ounce Bottle - Slate, Stampin' Up Whisper Whites stamp pad, Stampin' Up Spring Bouquet Flower Punch, Stampin' Up Looks Like Spring stamp set, Stampin' Up Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

Easter Bunny Cake

Easter and spring will be here before you know it. I wanted to share a cake that I made a few years ago for an Easter party. I used a Wilton shaped pan, a boxed white cake mix and homemade buttercream frosting. The ears and eyes were made out of pink and green taffy, rolled out in sugar. I added some black gel icing on the eyes. Next time I would dye some frosting black since the gel was a little runny. His nose is a red jelly bean and his teeth white pillow mints. This was a good beginner cake for me because the icing wasn't supposed to look smooth and there wasn't any decorating with icing tips

Ancestry.com

This is Part 3 in my blogs on researching your families genealogy. For the first two blogs, click HERE for the "Genealogy: Where To Started" post and HERE for the "Family Tree Maker" post (or click on the label "genealogy" for all three posts).

OK...so you've talked to your oldest relatives and bought a software program that can store all the information you are going to be researching. Now what?

Even if you didn't buy Family Tree Maker, I suggest getting a subscription to Ancestry.com. I'm sure you've seen the "I gotta a leaf" commercials. Click HERE to watch it. Ancestry.com also partnered a show with NBC called, "Who Do You Think You Are?" Years ago, I bought Family Tree Maker Version 16 and it came with a 1-year subscription to Ancestry.com (a $100 value). From what I can tell, Family Tree Maker 2011 does not include a free subscription. I'm sure Family Tree Maker 2011 has a lot of new exciting features but just be aware that there are older versions out there, some coming with a free subscription and some without. Family Tree Maker (any version) and Ancestry.com are a nice research duo because the software has a Web Search that is integrated with Ancestry.com. In other words, the software works with the website to automatically look for information.

Ancestry.com also offers a 14-day free trial. Be careful though. All of the free subscription offers require you to enter your credit card information and if you don't cancel the free subscription, you'll be charged automatically for a renewal. Don't let this scare you off though. Even as absentminded as I am, I put a reminder on my calendar and canceled the free subscription before being charged a renewal fee.

Ancestry.com has so many features that it would probably be most beneficial to go directly to their website to review them all. Click HERE to go there now.

In case you don't want to leave this site, however, here are some of the features I found the most useful:

Census Records
Immigration & Emigration Records
Military Records
Birth, Marriage & Death Records
Family Trees
Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records

There are of course many many more and you can also simply put in a name to "Search All Records". The possibilities are virtually endless.

I'm going to try my best to post more blogs about genealogy. As I mentioned before, I'm no expert. BUT, I did research my families history for many years and would like to pass on the knowledge I gained in what was a slow learning process. I plan on posting what I know about the following topics in the future:

Free Online Websites
Library Sources
Census Records
Cemetery Records
Marriage & Death Records
Obituaries
Family Group Sheets
Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Girl Baby Shower

Although it was over two years ago, I thought I would post some pictures from my sister-in-laws baby shower. This was such a fun party to make things for. I loved the colors (pink and brown) and getting to use butterflies and other little creatures. I also tried to tie in the "clothesline" theme that is so popular now.

The invitation. It was a standard folding card. This is the outside of the card. The information was printed inside.

For diaper cake directions, click HERE.

For an additional watermelon baby carriage design, click HERE.

Scrapbook Layouts

Materials: My Mind's Eye Bohemia Blossom Angel Small Damask/Pink paper, Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip card stock, ColorBox Pigment Ink Petal Point Option Pads - Tuscany, Fiskars Scissors 6 Pack Paper Edgers Designer Series, Cricut "New Arrival" cartridge, Cricut "Opposites Attract" cartridge, Stampin' Up Something To Celebrate stamp set, Creativity Journaling Stamps Stampology Clear Stamps, The Paper Company Clear Stamps - Journaling, Prima flowers, BBSBGG Baby Girl Clothes Line Garland