Christmas Gift Box/House

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, but I'm baaaack!  I had seriously thought about quitting crafting and selling all my scrap supplies, but I am so glad I came to my senses.

Anyway, here's my newest paper crafting gift box.  I bought the kit from SVGcuts.com mainly for this gift box, but there are other cute items that come in the kit and it is so reasonably priced!

All of Mary's designs are well thought out and come with video tutorials.  It really couldn't be any easier.  The top half of this house comes off so you can use it as a gift box, or you can do what I did and use it as part of your Christmas decor.  Since I kept this for myself, I added a string of 20 white lights to the inside (yes, Mary allowed for a hole on the back of the house to poke a string of lights inside).  I absolutely love it!  

Hope you had a great Christmas and New Year's holiday!

Christmas Ornament Exchange!

After receiving an invitation to a Christmas ornament exchange party, the hunt was on!  I had to find an ornament that would be easy and cute, so where did I go to search??  You got it!  Pinterest, where else?!  I knew I wanted to do some type of snowman and there were lots of ideas. I finally decided to give the sock snowman a try.  I bought some infant crew socks, stuffed them with cotton balls, used hot glue here and there and this is what I came up with.  I'm thinking about making a couple for myself!

Finally Finished!

I finally finished the rag quilt for our bed! It took awhile to find the different black and white flannel fabrics AND this is the first time I made a rag quilt with a pattern.  I usually just randomly place different flannel squares, but this turned out just fine (at least to me, it did).

For months, we've been trying to find a different nightstand for our bedroom.  We've gone to Goodwill, The Salvation Army, antique shops and looked at yard sales and just weren't having any luck.  We wanted to find something to 'redo.'  Sometimes you just have to be at the right place at the right time, and one day we finally had success!  We were at one of the local Goodwill stores, and stuck back behind some taller furniture my eye caught a cabinet that I needed a closer look at.  I loved the detail on the doors, it was the right height and depth, but when we opened the doors, there was a sewing machine inside.  I was a little disappointed until my husband said he could take the sewing machine out with no problem.  Woohoo!  So we bought this little gem for a measly $15.00, loaded it up and took it home.  This is what it looked like when we bought it...

...it was just an ugly brown cabinet that was about to get a 'makeover.'

This is what the inside looked like with the sewing machine.

My husband, being the handy-man that he is, removed the sewing mahcine from inside the cabinet, made new shelves, sanded, primed and painted this wonderful little cabinet red, and now it looks like a brand new piece!

Looks pretty good, don't you think?

Not sure why my pics look kind of squishy. 

Carrot Cake

Okay, I know this is different from what I normally post, but let me tell you, this is THE best Carrot Cake you will ever eat.  I am a faithful viewer of The Pioneer Woman and this is one of the recipes that she made on one of her recent shows.  I don't do a lot of 'from scratch' cakes, but this was about as easy as can be...the frosting, too.

Thanks, Pioneer Woman.  My husband loved it!!

New Quilt

Can you believe this is the first quilt my daughter-in-law has ever made?  It looks like she's been making them for years!  I was the happy recipient of this beautiful quilt.  This is one of the best Christmas gifts I've ever received.

Thanks again, Sarah!

Another Rag Quilt

I think I'm on a roll.  I loved the baby rag quilts so much, I just had to make one for myself.  As you can see, I might have went a little overboard on the size.  Well, maybe not!

Baby Rag Quilts

These have to be the easiest quilts to make...ever! I watched a couple YouTube videos and thought I'd give them a try.  Simple, simple, simple!  

Of course, after I made one for a baby girl, I had to find flannel for a baby boy and make another one.  

Deco Mesh Wreath

In October, I was in Kentucky and saw Deco Mesh Wreaths.  What, you've never heard of them?  Well, I hadn't either, but from what I understand they are huge in the southern states.  I didn't buy one because I thought I could make one.  When I got home, I was so happy to find out that one of the local colleges was going to be having a class on making these wreaths! Me, my daughter-in-law, her mom and a couple of other ladies all signed up for the class.  This is one of the wreaths I made.

I love these wreaths!  It looks so much better if you could actually see it.  For some reason, it just doesn't photograph as well as it looks 'in person.'

Drum and Tissue Box

Christmas is right around the corner, so I've been making more tissue box covers.  Yes, I want one (or two) for every holiday!  Of course, I had to see what Mary had at SVGcuts.com, and found this cute little drum.  Yes, this drum is made from scrapbooking paper!  You know you want one!

Christmas Chargers

Love these chargers!  I bought the Santa and Snowman files from Kim Bright (google her for awesome .svg files) and after carefully weeding the vinyl, attached each to a charger along with snowflakes...instant cuteness!  Is cuteness a even a word??

Happy Thanksgiving

If you've never been to SVGcuts.com, you need to stop right now and go look!  They have tons of .svg files for every occasion and more!!  They give away free files weekly, and just tell me, who can't afford free??  They also have files that you can purchase for a VERY reasonable price.  That's where this little turkey and Indian files came from. I made about ten of the turkeys and I filled them with candy and plan on handing them out to nieces, nephews and friends. What little boy or girl wouldn't love to receive these cute little turkeys?

I used a file from SVGcuts.com to cut out the bag and then attached the cute little boy and girl to the front.  Once you start making these, it's hard to stop!

Fall Tissue Boxes

Everyone needs a tissue every now and then.  Why not cover those plain boxes with a cute cover.  The inspiration for these boxes was found on splitcoaststampers.com.  They have so many cute ideas.  Check them out!

Give Thanks

Fall is my favorite season!  I love the changing colors of the trees and the cooler temperatures.  I also love to do paper and vinyl crafts for this time of year.  This bottle was pretty easy to do.  Well, that is, after my husband cut the hole in the back of the bottle and inserted the colored lights.  I just used my handy dandy Cricut to cut out the leaves and wording with vinyl.

Surprise 30th Birthday!

Here's a picture of the 'Sucker Bouquet' I put together for my son who just turned 30!  (How can that be when I'm only 35??  LOL)  He was totally surprised when he walked in and everyone yelled, "SURPRISE!" Love when a plan comes together so well.

Happy 30th, Zach!

Mickey Mouse Bag

I decorated this plain red bag with the ever popular Mickey Mouse!  I love doing these bags for the birthday kids!

Happy First Birthday, Wyatt!

Superstar!

This sign is for a wonderful little girl who will be celebrating her fourth birthday in a few weeks.  She loves to sing and her aunt always tells her she's a superstar and wanted a sign that said just that!  

 Happy Birthday, Teagan!

Baby Shower Bag

I'll be going to a baby shower next weekend and I wanted to make a custom bag for my gift. I love buying plain white bags to decorate.

Baby Girl Card

I love Pinterest!  I saw this card in a baby boy theme and made this one for a baby shower that I'm going to in a couple of weeks.

First Cascading Card

My first cascading card!  I was expecting it to be difficult, but it really wasn't.  I'm pretty sure I'll be making more of these cards.  Oh, the possibilities!