I’m co-hosting a baby shower and was in charge of creating the invitations.  We’re having an airplane theme.  Here are the invitations I created along with the envelopes I made (I found the paper at Archiver’s).

A couple of months ago, I ran across a blog post about covering your mouse pad with fabric.  I have a plain black mouse pad (boring!), so was instantly excited to do this.  I used fabric that I already had on hand, laid my mouse pad out, traced around it and cut.  Super simple!  I did use the heat bond mentioned.

For some reason, the tutorial I used is missing all of the pictures, so here is another tutorial that shows the same thing (her mouse pad just happens to be round) in case you’re interested in trying this yourself.

I follow several blogs, but one blog is of a lady who makes most of her kids clothes (and they’re so cute).  I saw a post for a super cute fleece coat.  This lady made a tutorial and sold it on Etsy, so I of course had to buy it.  It was (to my surprise) SO EASY to make (and it was my first piece of clothing)!

I first made a size 3T for Ashley.  I tried it on Brody (they’re about the same size) and it was too big, so I made a second coat (size 2T) for Ashley.  It was a perfect fit and because I used corduroy instead of fleece, it was actually even cuter!  I showed Jason who asked if they made a pattern for boys.  Sure enough, the lady did, so I got that pattern too and made Brody a coat.  Each coat only took a few hours to make.  The buttons were the longest thing to do (making holes and sewing on the buttons).

So, here you go…the three coats I made:

A few months ago, my Mom emailed me a link to a website that was giving away a free “31 Days of Prayer for your Husband” cards, if you became a follower of her blog.  There were 31 different things to pray for him about along with 2 or 3 scriptures to go along with each day.  This lady made 31 small digital scrapbook pages (4×6 size).  She also makes one called, “42 Weeks of Pregnancy Prayers” that she had for sale in her Etsy shop.  I purchased the pregnancy one (thinking it would be a great gift for pregnant friends) and requested the free prayer cards for husbands after I signed up for her RSS feed.  I then found a tutorial on how to make a handmade photo flip book (on the same lady’s site).

I recently found out a friend was pregnant, so I spent last night putting together my photo flip book.  I sent the digital scrapbook pages to Walgreens photo center and picked them up this morning while I was out and about, then finished putting together the flip book during Brody’s nap. I love how it turned out!  It was so easy to make, just slightly time consuming with the cutting and assembling, but not so bad that I won’t make another one.

My friend Jodi has started a business.  She is one extremely crafty lady and blows me away with all that she can do.  She has such an eye for the finest of details and lets nothing go unnoticed.  She is the mom of two incredibly cute kids.  She’s battled and overcome postpartum depression and is venturing out to try to make some extra money for her family.

She’s created a FULL SERVICE holiday card business (she also can make custom handmade cards for ANY occasion). All you need to do is send her your holiday letter and your addresses, and she’ll do the rest! She will make or purchase your cards and envelopes, print letters, sign cards, buy stamps, address and mail ALL of your cards. Stress free for you!  Check out her facebook page for more details.

Here’s a quick couple of pics of Brody’s friend Ashley’s present.  Her party was a couple of weekends ago.  Her colors were pink and green polka dots, so I did my best to match the theme.  I even found a tutorial and made the bow out of paper myself (so easy to do).

Brody’s best friend (Ashley) is having her birthday party this weekend. I’m also in birthday party mode as Brody’s party is at the end of the month. While searching online for ideas for his party, I came across a cute tissue paper wreath tutorial.  Of course it looked too girly, but I wanted so badly to make it.  No biggie, I’ll just make it for Ashley.  Her party this weekend will consist of pink and green polka dots, which is why I went for the colors that I did while making it.  I’m very happy with the way it turned out…

For the most part, it was extremely simple to make, but VERY tedious!  I will not be making one again, but absolutely love the fun look of it and happy to cross it off my list as being accomplished.  I would recommend trying it if you like it and have a reason for it.  It’s cheap to make and honestly just takes time, so if you have the time, go for it.

Here’s another gift I wrapped this past week. Nothing creative, but it counts, right?

I love wrapping gifts!  There’s just something about being able to touch my creative side and make something creative without spending a lot of time. Obviously having cute wrapping paper helps, although using standard solid white or even kraft paper works sometimes even better (then the sky is the limit with accessories and colors you can use).

My neighbor is about to have a birthday.  I purchased this gift wrap from her daughter for a school fund raiser.  I figured it was the perfect gift wrap to use to wrap her gift.  I purchased a huge roll of brown ribbon last year and have used it in many projects (getting my moneys worth for sure).  This was perfect to wrap around the whole gift.  I then printed out “Happy Birthday Jen” on cardstock and cut it to the size I wanted. Add some thinner ribbon, cut some holes through the cardstock and viola. Simple and easy gift wrapping.

I will definitely use this technique again (so easy).

I have a friend I’ve been meaning to write for over a month now. *sigh* I hate when time flies by so quickly and I haven’t done something I so desperately wanted to do. I definitely have priority issues (AKA…spending too much time on the internet).

I made this card last night. I tried a few new techniques, although I don’t think I quite perfected them. I love everything about this card except for the bottom right triangle part. It just doesn’t flow well with the rest. The card also appears to be upside down (which it’s not). Anyway, it’s a creation, something I haven’t done in a while and I wanted to share it with you all.