Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you all have a beautiful Memorial Day today as we remember and appreciate those in the service who have sacrificed and do sacrifice so much for all of us!! Well, today, I wanted to share some gifts I made for a close friend who recently had her 5th baby. The name album was made with the beautiful Close to My Heart Paper collection, "Stardust" and the Pooh Font for Cricut. The little retro robot is from Embroidery Library and the sweet bear/receiving blanket design was from the website, "Sewing for Sarah".

Summer in Paris Chandelier

Okay, I had been wanting to do this ever since I ordered Summer in Paris. I immediately thought "Barbie furniture" when I saw the 3D elements. So...my first project is this sweet little chandelier, about 3" high. I didn't even worry about getting every teeny, tiny piece out. I glittered with Martha Stewart glitter all over and yellow stickles for the little flames. My tip for putting it together is to tie thread around the pieces that slip together after you glue them to hold it in place while it dries. After it is dry, you can just cut away the threads! Hope you like it!

Bubbles Over the Top

My crazy kids like to get into my big tub with their swimsuits on after they finish swimming. Yesterday they asked me for some bubble bath. I said, "You can turn on the jets, but only for a minute, then turn them off". A few minutes later, I heard their cries for help! They couldn't get the jets turned off. After I turned them off, I heard Cade say, "I'm a yeti!" and Joy responded, "and I'm a yeti sister!" I love it!

Post-Holiday Joy Layout

I made this layout for the BBTB2 challenge to use a cut from the 1st row of Tags, Bags, Boxes, and More. Hmmmm....now I'm not sure if it is what they wanted since they all used these beautiful beach images from Peggy Loves Vintage. No matter, I am happy to share here anyway. The poinsettia is from Winter Woodland.

My daughter was amusing herself one morning (when all the Christmas decorations were being put away) with the decorations. I love her ability to take the ordinary and turn it into something delightful. That's the way I wanna be!!

More Purses from TBBM!

When I find something I like, it's hard to stop! Since my daughter had 2 bday parties to go to this week and I am definitely NOT going shopping right now (foot surgery last week), I made more of these cute little purses and used the "button" feature on the Paisley cart to decorate them. I thought they would be perfect moneyholders. Another little fun tip is to use the self-adhesive velcro circles to close them. I have a niece and a daughter who would love to play with them so that would make them last a lot longer! It also makes them resealable and holds them shut and they look sooo much prettier that way!

Life's A Beach Leaf Challenge

Here is my take on the challenge from BBTB2 to use the Leaf from the LAB cart. I got this cart for Christmas from my sweet mom, but haven't used it too much. I was so excited to see all of the beautiful creations by the design team. The purse cut is from TBBM. My daughter threatened to carry it away with her! (The flower is stickled and the scalloped part of the purse is inked in silver...it looks a bit like a glare in the pic.)

Paisley Cards

These are from the cart, "Paisley". I was so excited to finally learn how to use that "Card/Tab" feature. The bottom card was my first attempt, but it was a ton of work, even though it turned out cute in the end. After looking at all of the great ideas on the Cricut.com messageboards, I finally got it figured out. I can be a bit slow at times, you know....:) I gave the butterfly card to my MIL with an early Mother's Day gift since she is going out of town. She loves butterflies so I hoped she would love it, and she did!

I want to remember this...

On Wednesday morning, I went in my son's room to wake him up (he can't fall asleep at night if I don't do this) and he said, while he was still laying there in the bed, "Mom. Did you and daddy pray for your surgery yet?" I said, "No, not yet. Do you want to pray together before I go?" He said, "Yes," then closed his eyes and began to pray for God to lead and guide the doctor and for me to have no pain. He prayed for a couple of minutes and nearly brought me to tears. It was such an encouraging moment for me. I can see all my kids' faults and blame myself, but this was a glimpse that they really are learning some of the most important lessons in life!