Top 5 {January} aka. The Valentine's Edition

Happy Weekend Eve!

I am so happy that it is Thursday, this week is just flying by. And so is the month of January! I can't believe that February is just around the corner!

At the end of the month, I usually take a few minutes to look back at what I've done, and look forward to what I am going to do. I thought that this would be a good time to make a Top 5 list - because who doesn't love a good list!

This month, in honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I would share 5 pins that I love for Valentine's Day! Some I've made, some I plan on making, some I want to make, but my wedding dress thinks I should hold off on them (I'm looking at you Reese's blondies!)

5. Paper Heat Trees I haven't made these yet, but I think it would be so much fun! If I can find some construction paper, I may make one for my classroom!

Click Here to See Pin

4. LOVE I made this last Valentine's Day (but without the banner...because I don't like the Beatles. Please don't hate me forever!)

Click Here to See Pin

My version:

3. Sweetheart Wreath Confession: I probably won't make this (I want to, but with the move coming up, I don't think I should be making more decorations that will need to be packed up!) But, my mom, who is also super crafty, does plan on making this! If she does, I'll ask her to send me a picture!

Click Here to See Pin

2. Every love story is beautiful... I totally made this last year. It currently is on display in our apartment. I think it was my first pinterest project ever, now I think of it!

Click Here to See Pin

My version:

(Sorry about the weird camera angle, I'm not sure what I was doing!)

1. Heart Cupcakes I am definitely making these! I'll share pictures when I do!

Click Here to See Pin

And a bonus, because who doesn't love a bonus! All the Reese's desserts that I want to make, but will be good and not make!

Click Here to See Pin

Click to See Pin

I am already excited to get home and start creating after looking at all of these pictures! I hope work goes by quickly today!

Do you create lists or goals for things you want to create each month?

WOYWW {01.30.2013}

Happy WOYWW! The day where crafters from around the world link up with Julia and then get to sneak a peek at each other's desks!

My desk hasn't had much going on lately. I spent my whole weekend doing wedding crafting (on the floor) so my scrapping was largely ignored.

Project Life is just sitting there...but I will be working on it tonight so I am ready to share on Friday!

What's going on on your desk? Link up with Julia and let us all know!

DIY Photo Coasters

Happy Tuesday!

Its Tuesday today. And I know its Tuesday today. Unlike yesterday, Monday, which I thought was Sunday! That's what happens when you don't have to work on Monday (not that I am complaining about that!)

Do you ever pin something on Pinterest and then never ever make it? So the pin is just hanging out there, waiting patiently to be taken off the computer and into real life? I do that all the time. Mostly with all those yummy desserts that I want to eat, but know I shouldn't!

This is not one of those pins! This is one of those pins that I actually made, and loved, and can't wait to make again!

The Frugal Girls have an amazing tutorial on how to create your own DIY Photo Coasters.

Click Here to See the Pin

As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to make them for my mom's birthday!

Like my brother said, "Mom loves pictures and coasters!" So what could be more perfect than combining those two loves?!

I decided to make a set of 8, so that everyone (and by everyone, I mean Tommy and I) would get the same number of coasters with our pictures on them. Because I'm a very nice sister :)

My mom has some of them on display in the kitchen, and some of them acting as coasters in the living room.

I am so so happy with how they all turned out!

This is definitely something I will be making again. I can't wait to get our wedding pictures so I can make a set for our home!

What pin have you made that you just love?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday {01.27.2013}

Did you know that it is Monday? I didn't! I spent all day yesterday forgetting that it was Sunday!

But, I have my Scavenger Hunt pictures today, which I thought was Sunday, so I'm going to pretend that counts!

Lace

You'd think with the wedding coming up, I'd have something lace to photograph (like my gorgeous rehearsal dinner dress...) but all of that is in New York! But crochet blankets always remind me of lace, I'm not entirely sure why!

Bling

One of my favorite necklaces.

Wood 

A wooden chest in my favorite copper color!

Fuzzy 

Fuzzy calls for a Benny pictures. This picture may or may not have been taken this weekend, as Ben lives very far away, but I know I've never posted it before!

Fabric

Burlap. We have tons of it right now, for the wedding. Under this (small) pieces, are two more (much bigger) pieces. I'm telling you, we've got enough burlap for 3 or 4 weddings!

Well, that is all for me on this Sunday Monday afternoon!

I'll be back tomorrow with a fun crafty gift!

Project Life 25 {Week 32}

Its finally snowing here in Chicago! It isn't snowing much, but it is snow!

This was the least snowy year Chicago has had in 129 years, and every day that went by meant that we were setting a new snow-less record!

But it is finally snowing, and I'm enjoying that!

I'm also enjoying that I am getting to the end of my Christmas Project Life pages. Not to be a grinch, but I'm looking forward to Valentine's Day (and all the pretty hearts that go along with it!). Plus, looking at Christmas stuff makes me a little sad that Christmas is over and I have to wait a whole 11 months for it to come back!

This week we started out in Chicago, then flew to the east coast. So, my left page protector is all about our Chicago Christmas stuff, and the right one is all New York!

Top Row: Our salt dough ornaments, drying
Middle Row: Getting ready to start painting
Bottom Row: AJ concentrating very hard on his painting ~ Our ornaments, waiting for the paint to try
Journaling:
AJ suggested that we create our own ornaments for our tree. We used a really simple salt dough and some of my Christmas cookie cutters to create our shapes. Then, we broke out the paint and glitter to decorate our ornaments. They were so much fun to make, and I love how they look on our Christmas tree! I think AJ had fun too, even though he "hates arts"!

Top Row: One of the Christmas cards we sent out this year ~ Benny by the Christmas tree ~ One of my favorite decorations

Middle Row: The house, finally decorated with lights ~ Mail from England ~ Santa Cupcakes

Bottom Row: Napkin ring making supplies ~ The table, all set and ready for Christmas Eve ~ The dessert table, waiting for the desserts

Journaling

We spent lots of time getting ready for 12.24 We made napkin rings, set the tables and ran errands. But, we still made time for a family dinner at Mama T's and driving around to look at lights.

Well, I'm off to go look at the pretty snow! And enjoy some quiet before schools starts. My students are working on a group research project, which is great, but also a little bit loud! But a good loud, the kind of loud where they are sharing ideas and learning from each other,which is a very good loud!

What are you up to this weekend?

WOYWW {01.23.2013}

Its already Wednesday! And that means its time for WOYWW. The day where crafters from around the world link up with Julia and then get to sneak a peek at each other's desks! Yay for Wednesday :)

I'm sorry for the blurry picture. I took it while I was brushing my teeth and running out the door this morning, and I didn't realize it was blurry until I got it uploaded. But by then, it was too late!

My desk is kind of a mish mash of a million projects right now! Project Life, a secret project I can't talk about yet (aka. a gift), all my alphabet stickers are out.

And the markers are out from a test AJ and I were taking - the 1930's Marriage Test to be exact.

There are paper versions you can print out (if you want to put it in your project life album like I do!) or you can take the online version here.

I'm sad to say that I would just be an average housewife back in the day. Apparently wearing red nail polish and the occasional curse word kept me from reaching "superior" status!

How do you stack up against a 1930's housewife?

Good Things Jar 2013

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great day off or a great Monday at work if you didn't have the day off!

You may have seen the Good Things Jar pinned all over the place this winter. Like here, here, here and here.

The basic idea is to record all of the good things that happen on little notes and throw them in a jar. Then, on New Year's Eve, open up all of the notes and remember all of the good things that happen to you that year.

If there is something I love more than adorable jars, it is adorable little notes!

So, of course I had to make one.

And of course, all of my mason jars are at home in New York, waiting patiently to be used for our wedding decor.

Instead, I decided to use the vase in the middle of this display on my dining room table (you can kind of see it peeking out from behind the hurricane glasses here...)

The vase was holding wine corks. But I had so many, that now my hurricane jars are sharing the wine cork collection, so the vase was just empty. Begging to be used for something fun!

I made up a little tag for the vase to match our dining room chairs (kind of).

Then, I cut up a bunch of scraps into (roughly) 2x3 inch squares. It didn't have to be perfect, just big enough to write on. Now we have no reason to record the good things that happen in 2013!

I can't wait to open up all of our notes and read them next New Year's Eve! I think it is going to be such a fun way to reflect back on our year!

Would you (or do you already!) have a good things jar for 2013?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday {01.20.2013}

Happy Sunday everyone!

Do you have a three day weekend this week? We do (well, I do, AJ has to work!) and I am very excited to be home for another day!





Basket 

A basket that held a Christmas gift is now home to all my Project Life materials!

Auto

I wanted to take a picture of the auto setting on our coffee maker. And then I realized we don't have an auto setting! So instead I found the keys to my automobile :)

Park

Self park to be exact.

Recycle

So glad I procrastinated and didn't take out the recycling!

People Watching

Michigan Avenue is great for people watching. And there were lots of people out yesterday when it was "warm" (compared to today, when it was so cold I would have cried, except my tears would have frozen on my face!)

Project Life 25 {Week 31} *UPDATED*

Happy Friday everyone.

Its a Project Life day, but I went to do this post and I realized I'm missing the left side of my layout!

So, for now, I'm going to share the right side, and then after my half day at work today, I'll add the rest! (which I did now!)

So, this is the right side...

Top Row and Middle Row: Our laundry room
Bottom Row: The tree at Daley Plaza/Christkindlemarket

And, now I have the left side of my layout too!

Top Row: Relaxing and watching TV
Middle Row: Working on PL ~ My favorite Christmas manicure
Bottom Row: Some of our Christmas decor

Ah! What a crazy post :)

Do you have any plans this weekend? I have a three day weekend, but after being off because of the flu for the past 4 days, it just seems like an big long extended vacation!

Third Thursday Scrapbook Stories {01.17.2013}

Hi everyone!

Its the third Thursday of January, which means I'm over at Julie's sharing a new layout for 2013!

I'll be back here tomorrow with more Project Life :)

Pay It Forward

Happy Wednesday!

So, turns out, I do have the flu! I'll be home today and tomorrow, because I still had a fever last night!

But, being home has its benefits!

Yesterday, I was one of the first 5 commenters on Julie's Pay it Forward post. I've been seeing this Pay it Forward all over, and I really wanted to participate, but I was never quick enough!

So, here are the details (that I am totally stealing from Julie...)

The first 5 people to comment with their email will receive a surprise gift from me sometime during 2013! There will likely be no warning, it will happen when the mood strikes me. We all deserve a little something special every now and then and I would love to PAY IT FORWARD and spread the love!

There is only one catch: If you are among the first 5 to comment below, you must make the same offer on your blog or FB status (if you don't have a blog). Let's keep it moving friends!

And, since its Wednesday, I'll share a picture of my desk too...in all its mid-cleaning glory!

New Printer Review {HP Photosmart 6510}

Hi everyone!

I can't believe its already Tuesday! So after explaining all about how I was only going to post on Sundays now and not Mondays, I ended up not posting on either.

Sunday morning, I woke up with a fever and it still hasn't gone away. I didn't go to work Monday or today! But at least I have an appointment with the doctor today. It is definitely the flu (you know, because I diagnosed myself via flu.gov)

Being home and being really sick is no fun. I haven't been able to get off the couch, let alone do anything at all.

So, no crafting for me.

But, I can still print my pictures from my couch thanks to my new printer!

Originally, I was going to get a Canon Selphy, until I found out it doesn't work with Windows 8. So I had to go searching for a different one!

I've always had an HP printer, so I decided to go with another HP one.

This time, I got the HP Photosmart 6510 all in one eprinter. It does everything! And wirelessly :)

But most importantly, the pictures come out great. And my favorite part is that I don't have to leave my apartment, let alone my couch!

Maybe today I will get a little crafting done. But if not, I'll definitely be able to print out my pictures!

Do you prefer to print your pictures at home, or do you order them?

Disclaimer: I was not provided with anything for this review. I just got a new printer so I was excited :)

Project Life 25 {Week 30}

Yay! Its finally the weekend!

I am so looking forward to not having to get up early for the next two days!

And AJ and I have reservations at one of our favorite new places for dinner tonight. My parents had given him a gift card for his birthday, so we are going on a date night tonight!

Fortunately, our reservations are later, so I can nap before we go out. I'm really looking forward to that nap :)

Please excuse the little glare in these pictures. I took them this morning before the sun came up, and I didn't realize there was glare until after I'd uploaded them. But, I had to get to work, so I just had to roll with it!

This is my two page spread for Week 30. I can't believe I am up to 30 already!

The left side shows pictures of our neighborhood Christmas decorations, and a picture of AJ's shadow on our game of Scrabble.

On the left side, most of the pictures are of the Kris Kringle Create a Craft Workshop that we had at school. Basically, students (grades K-3) came and made presents for their parents! There is also a picture of one of the funny races at Pep Rally (but I blurred that out, because you can see some kids' faces in it!) And then there is one of our garage during the holiday party.

But this is my favorite part of this layout, the insert:

AJ and I played Scrabble by the Christmas tree Sunday evening. And I won! You have to understand, that never happens, and by never, I mean literally never. I've never ever won at Scrabble before! Of course, I saved the score cards and put them in this insert (on the back is our score card from the next game, where AJ totally beat me by around 100 points!)

I made the insert by cutting up some other scrapbook page protectors and using washi tape on the open edges!

Well, I'm off to work. I'll be back on Sunday for the Scavenger Hunt :)

Also, I'm going to try not posting on Mondays for a while. I've been doing Scavenger Hunt Sunday again, so I'm going to switch Mondays for Sundays!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Scrapping Nook DT CALL

Hi everyone!

I'm just popping back into to let you know that Scrapping Nook is having a DT Call right now. Stop by here to check it out :)