Busy Weekend!

I stayed busy this cold and snowy weekend making tons of craft projects. 

The first was a lollipop plant for Brayden's teacher. Brayden painted it while I made the letters on my Cricut.  I also added the ribbon and then I let him decorate it.  The top part is a Styrofoam ball and I stuck the suckers in it took 2 bags. 

Then I made my husband a Valentines gift. I found a wood box on clearance at Michael's for $.49 and painted it blue.  On the front I wrote "It's a joy"

Well he saw it before I gave it to him and came and asked me are we having a baby... he thought it said "it's a boy!"  LOL 
On the inside I filled it up with one of his favorite candies Almond Joys and wrote "being married to you"

I also gave him a card I found very funny...

It is so true, our lives are so busy right now. But I will always make time for him!

Brayden also made Mamaw and Pawpa something. 

These coffee mugs were on clearance for $1.99. So I got then for Brayden to decorate.

Next I made myself some storage items for crafting
My paint was all unorganized in a big bowl so I bought a picture holder box.  It was $3.99 and I used my 40% off coupon on it. 

Then I put a dab of paint on all the tops so I would know what color they were and put them inside. 

They fit perfect and it will hold around 40 bottles
Then I decided to decorate these paper holders I have had for a while now. 

I never really liked these but they were on clearance really cheap and I thought hey they will do the job.  I originally planned on just staining them and using them how they were but this weekend I decided differently.  First I ripped the roofs off them, that way they could be placed together touching. then I painted the insides pink and wrapped the outside in some spare scrapbooking paper I had.
I saw on pinterest someone did the same thing with a cereal box so I decided to make a 3rd one as well.

I used spray adhesive to make the paper sick. 
I'm not sure the paper one will last but here is what all 3 look like together:

Next I made a holder for my stickles.  I got a picture frame from Goodwill and removed the glass.  I painted the outside to look like a zebra (to match the paper holders) and then the inside pink. 

After it was mod podged and dried I put on the Velcro and hung it up inside my cabinet. 

Lastly I I got Brayden a little Valentine's present and he painted it. 

I told you it was a busy weekend!

Scrapbooking: Finished 2009!

Ok, let me start off by saying I plan on finding a way to take better pictures of my layouts (other than using my camera phone).  You can not see the details of any of the pages when I do that.  I might try scanning the next ones (if my scanner is big enough). 

With that being said here are just a few of the pages:

Everyone remember the zhu zhu pet craze in 2009.

I hope this is 2009.. it could be 2008. My kid never changes

LOL that Easter was a messy one, but some of the best memories are messy

Brayden to this day remembers Barney being at his birthday party. 

I try to save everyone's birth announcements and picture Christmas cards so send them our way :)

The Columbus Zoo

Family from WV

We miss our boat, I can't believe it has been 3 years since we had it. 

Chris just said it's time to buy another one!

Family fun

I love the picture of him after his haircut... he was not happy

4th of July

The kids got their picture in the paper, just for being so darn cute

New Hobby: Couponing

My New Years resolution was to not spend any money til March (besides the necessities).  So to help out with the money saving I also started couponing.  I know I made fun of all my friends that do it, asking them when they would ever need 500 rolls of TP or if they had an odor problem when they stocked up on 50 things of deodorant.  But I joined the bandwagon. 

Here are my deals:

1st week

1 pack paper towels, 1 pack tp, 6 boxes of cereal, 2 packs pens, 4 body wash, 2 cleaning sprays, 2 KY jelly, 2 baby shampoos, 1 box tampons, 1 light bulb, 1 snickers and 2 packs of razors.  OOP $39.63 and $16 CVS cash for next time

2nd week:

7 shampoos or conditioners, 4 hair dyes, 3 deodorant, 1 body wash, 3 tooth paste, 2 dish soap, 2 packs of paper towels, 2 packs tp, 2 wipes, and 3 cards. Total $133.89, $35.67 OOP and earned $10 for next time

I am still learning but am hoping I start getting things for even cheaper once my coupon pile stacks up a little bit.

Book Review: Hunger Games

This is not the type of book I would think I would like, it is about a future time period after the destruction of North America, in a nation known as Panem which consists of 12 districts and The Capital.  All of the the districts are responsible for maintaining some part of the Capital's lavish lifestyle (food, coal, textiles, etc) and they are all in the Capitals complete control. In some of the districts the residents are literally starving to death.  About 75 years ago the districts tried rebel against the capital and it resulted in the 13th district being destroyed and the 'Hunger Games" were created as a reminder to the districts not to get out of line ever again.   During this event the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of 12 districts for a massive televised battle in which only one person can survive. 

The story follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12, who volunteers for the 74th Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. Also participating from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a baker's son whom Katniss knows from school.

This is all I am going to say about the books because I don't want to to give anything away... but take my advise and read them! They are some of the easiest reads and had me glued to the book.  The most time it took me to get through a book was 2 days. 
I give the books:

Stepdaugher's Scrapbook

Every year I try to make my stepdaughter a scrapbook for either Christmas or Easter, here are some of the pages of the one I just finished for her.