Happy World Card Making Day!

Happy World Card Making Day everyone! In honor of it, I've been making some cards - however, these weren't all made today - but I am working on more today and will post those a little later.

This one uses a journaling card from the Becky Higgins Project Life Honey edition.

These are quick cards using My Mind's Eye washi tape. The labels were cut with my Cameo and the stamp is from an old Stampin Up set.

I created these based on the Create a Bunch Birthday card class that is being offered at Archiver's. I saw the cards there and really liked them so I almost signed up for the class until I realized that I already owned almost all of the supplies being used. I was able to recreate them at home.

The embossed happy birthday card from above inspired me to use the numbers embossing folder and make a card where I can color in the numbers for the age of the person I'm giving it too. The coloring in wasn't my best work but it will do. I'll make another one.

Kids Morning Chore Chart

My kids, specifically my 5 year old, have a hard time remembering what they need to do to get ready in the morning. Instead of having to tell them and repeat myself all the time, I made this quick little chart in Microsoft Publisher and so far, it is working great! I used washi tape (love that stuff!) to decorate clothespins for each girl so after they do something, they move their colored clothespin from the bottom to the side of the chart. I designed it so that both clothespins could fit on the right side but my girls put their pins on different sides - the pink goes on the left and the purple goes on the right. I like that system better (especially for small fingers) and wish I had centered my chart more but I already had it laminated at an office supply store so it's too late now.

The girls love this chart so much so I'm going to make something similar for their weekly chores.

Easy Fourth of July decorations

Last year, I started to get some cute Halloween decorations that I placed on my little desk in my entry way. I enjoyed the display so much that I decided to try to change it seasonally and use homemade decorations when I can. I always wanted to do something seasonal on my mantle but that is more daunting to me - I can handle this desk better.

This is my first time with an Independence Day display and I'm really happy with it. Here it is (click the image to see it bigger):

Yes, I know that light switch in the middle of the wall is awful but I just pretend it's not there. I've tried covering it with a decoration but that is the main switch we use in the kitchen/living room so covering it is more of a hassle. There are a few other places in the house where the builders did that and it drives me crazy!

The vase with the little flag and flowers were made last year as a last minute table decoration when we had hosted my husband's parents for a cookout. I cut those things with my Cricut Expression but I can't remember which cartridge (I've since sold the machine) - it's probably Graphically Speaking. The little silver sprigs in the vase were from my Christmas tree decorations and added for a bit of sparkle.

The Framed subway art is here from The Crafting Chicks. I looked all over for subway art and this was my favorite. I printed it at home on photo paper instead of cardstock so the colors would really pop.

The shadow box was sitting in my storage area so I took white 12x12 cardstock, added a few blue cardstock stripes and cut that large star out of pearly red paper using my Silhouette Cameo (I love that machine!). I realized as I was writing this that the star fell down - it was supposed to be in the middle of the shadow box but the glue dots must not have held. It doesn't bother me too much so I'm going to leave it alone.

I found the hanging sign while checking out Pinterest. I would link directly to the site where I printed it but the site seems to be down as I write this - just click the Pinterest link in the previous sentence and pin it for yourself for later. We didn't have any dowels but my brilliant husband came up with the idea of using a tube from a pants hanger. He's so smart! I covered it with washi tape and used red liner tape instead of a glue gun as the directions suggested to adhere it. I had it printed at OfficeMax for only $1.25. I love how it turned out!

And there you have my Fourth of July display. I'm sure I will add to it or change something next year but since it was all inexpensive paper that I already had on hand, I won't feel guilty about it. I'll probably keep it up until the end of July and then change my display...but I have no idea what theme to go with next. Any suggestions?

Have you made any festive decorations? I would love to see it, leave a link in the comments.