organized!

Since my mom is visiting I've had some extra me-time to finish a couple of projects I've had on my to-do list! I love having company!! This week I have:

organized my closet for winter (even though it's still in the 80's here)


I'm going to attempt to try and organize some of my scrapbooks with the newer layouts. (This layout was for Entre Artistes magazine.)



I've cleaned and rearranged my little art studio. It always feels so good to have everything back where it's suppose to be again!


I decided to hang up this banner that I made this past summer, it's in Chase's room now! :)



I made another mini to hold all of these little cards.


Today is going to be a super busy and hopefully productive day!! It seems as though no matter how much I check off my to-do list, I always find something else that needs to be done. Like some scrapbooking and maybe a little more gift wrapping. :))

my favorites

If you scrapbook or journal, you probably have at least one page like this one... a list of your favorite holiday memories. My mom and I were talking about our favorites, everything from cookies to music and movies for the holidays. I think a mini journal about my favorites would be a really cute idea!!

Here's my top 5 favorite movies:

1. White Christmas
2. Home Alone 1
3. the Santa Clause
4. A Christmas Story
5. The Holiday

I know I'm probably missing a couple of movies, I just can't think of them right now. :) I love all of the Burl Ives - cartoon Christmas shows. They are still so cute! I'm going to spend the afternoon putting together a couple of new holiday-ish tutorials for my blog and work on a guest artist post for next week. Happy Saturday afternoon!

Red, White & Pink

I'm here :) I've just been.... lurking... can I say that if it's my own blog? I kept meaning to pop in and say hello... but I've been a little rushed these past weeks. As much as I love the holidays, I kind of wish it could just slow down. This past weekend Peter and I started the tedious task of unpacking all of the Christmas boxes..... I've accumulated quite a bit of stuff, but I love it all!! Alaina helped me decorate our living room tree and Chase said "oh wow!" with each unwrapped ornament. I love how excited they are with the holidays.



This Christmas needed a little something different.... and I didn't want to do any shopping for new stuff. (I know, gasp!) So, I've decided to use different shades of pink mixed with my usual red and white. It's oh so lovely and yet still traditional.

I have most of the presents already wrapped, with the exception of a few ornaments. I love wrapping small box presents... so many possibilities with a small package!!








What have you already checked off of your to-do list? Decorating, shopping, wrapping? A little of each? Don't forget to slow down and have a cup of tea and a sugar cookie!!

Today I:

made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry relish, sauteed peas with almonds, green bean casserole and fry bread with honey (which we're just finishing now.) It was just us this year, Alaina is sick and in an effort to contain the germs, we decided to stay home. The first time in.... actually I think it was the first time we didn't have company over for Thanksgiving, or spent the day with family. It was nice and quiet. Perfect.

This morning I woke up called the kids into bed with me and we watched the Macy's Day Parade... just like I use to as a kid at my grandparents house. Alot of today was spent remembering what the holiday meant to me as a child and I hope I can give my kids the same memories that I have.

I hope your Thanksgiving was memorable for all the right reasons!! Happy Thanksgiving. xo ~ Tara


*my shelf, decorated for today*

Cute & Easy Fabric/Ribbon Bandaids

Kids and ouchies seem to go hand in hand... or maybe that should be 'on knee & knees'? If you have children or have a child occasionally in your care, there's a really good chance that you have a small stash of boxes, with bandaids in different sizes and colors, ready to go at a moments notice! (Just ask Alaina's teacher!!)

Since I'm almost positive that my children see bandaids as removable body-art stickers, it was quickly becoming an expensive new hobby for us. With this simple idea, there's no need to purchase those neon shades or the cartoon character bandaids anymore. Now you can make your own cute fabric bandaids with just a few materials and only 3 quick steps!

Materials:

Glue Dots - Craft
Fabric Adhesive Bandaids (I like the generic fabric bandaids)
ribbon or fabric scraps




Directions

1. Unwrap the bandaids from package and place 3 glue dots on the top of the bandaid



2. Add a small piece of fabric or ribbon on top.



3. Trim the excess fabric off from around the edges of the bandaid.

Alaina and I had alot of fun whipping up this cute little tutorial.. hope you like it!!

an Envelope Tutorial

It's dark & rainy here in the desert today, which means it's a good day to spend inside catching up on some house-work. I was taking a quick lunch break and looking through a couple of easy-peasy tutorials that I made but just hadn't posted yet. So, here is my envelope tutorial made with just 2 glue dots Glue Lines!!

With the holidays approaching, there are more reasons to give a card to your favorite teacher, a small envelope with a gift-card tucked inside to the best hair stylist, or just a quick thank you to a sweet friend. You'll be sure to find lots of reasons to pass out envelops with pretty cards this season, and what could be sweeter than handmade envelopes from vintage papers!

To make these envelopes extra simple, I've used an A4 envelope as my template. Unfold the envelope and trace onto the back of the paper you'd like to use for your envelope.



If you want to get extra fancy, cut a piece of scrapbook paper just slightly smaller than the inside of your envelope.



Use 2 Glue Dots - Glue Lines on the outer margins to secure your envelope's seams. Fold the bottom of the envelope inward, and fold the outer edges over the bottom part of the envelope.



Just add a cute handmade card and a postage stamp and you're ready to mail!



See how quick and easy that was!!

a few photos

in loving memory of my grandpa. This beach was our favorite, and we always stopped at the look-out to see the light house whenever I could visit. I took alot of photos these past 4 days of the coast line that he loved so much, I hope he would have liked these.

Sweet November Winner...

is:

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 71
Result:
27
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Erin said...
Oh Tara you are so talented. I have enjoyed this week so much, I am so inspired. I would love to see what your creative space looks like as well as any winter, christmas crafting ideas/projects. I am also intrigued as to how you layer like you do! Ah so much yummy goodness, I could stare for hours! Thank you for sharing.
Erin
PS What kind of sewing machine do you have? I had to retire my grandmas vintage Singer, she just can't handle it anymore. Any suggestions, there are so many options out there :)

6.11.10

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~ Erin, please send your address to me, rosas07@msn.com, and your Autumn Journal will be on it's way to your home. ~

*** and for 3 more Sweet November - giveaways please hop over to Jessica's blog!!

(those are the lovely photos that I used for my Autumn Journal.)

Thank you so much for all of the comments! I have lots of new ideas for this little blog! I have a few extras from our crafty week that I'll be adding to my Etsy shop tomorrow night.... probably around 7 or 8. (I need to get 2 little kids ready for bed first. :)) I only have 1 or 2 of everything, but if you'd like something custom made or ordered, feel free to send me an email. I'm always available to talk about ideas!

Thanks again! I'll leave you tonight with a few photos from tomorrow's Etsy update.

Sweet November: a sweet giveaway

and what could be sweeter than putting together your very own Fall inspired art journal! I've created the prettiest of vintage kits, and it includes just about everything you need to create your own book!!

This kit includes:

a vintage book with 10 sewn pages
an envelope of gathered tags, leaves, and handmade sewn journal cards
a vintage flash & bingo card
a shipping tag full of vintage trims and handmade flowers.
2 handmade tags and a vintage fabric garland
1 sheet of handmade Autumn paper stickers
and so much more!



Hope you've enjoyed our week of Fall Inspired posts!! In case you missed a post, here is the official list:

Autumn Journal
Autumn Yo-Yo Wreathe
Place Settings
Pumpkin Butter recipe
Pumpkin Spice Granola recipe
Jessica's Fall Playlist
Jessica's Hullo Fall
Tara's Welcome to Autumn

To enter this Sweet November giveaway, I would love to know what type of tutorials you would like to see. - Easy enough right! I'll be choosing a name on Tuesday afternoon. Pop into Jessica's blog on Monday for another Sweet November giveaway! Thanks so much for joining us this week!! xo ~ Tara

Sweet November: something extra

Happy Friday to you! I decided yesterday, to do an extra post for today..... because today just seemed like a good day to share something special. :) Oh & before I start , check out Jessica's Sweet November recipe! I made some last night, and I'm excited to try some Pumpkin Butter with sweet potato fries. Sounds good doesn't it?

Double Oh!! Thankyou for all of the comments on my autumn journal!

Alicia had asked:
'I meant to ask.... Is the photos and chapter words with the scrolls around them stamps? or part of the old book?'

- Those words, are from a sheet of rubons... but I can't remember who made them!! So sorry! If I find the packaging, I'll be sure to post the name!! Also, if you have questions, feel free to ask, and I'll answer them in the next post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now that the holidays are inching closer, I'm thinking ahead to the dinner parties that we'll be hosting over the next few months. While, I adore the concept of name-cards.. (Little cards with pretty scrolled names of your dinner guests, placed ever so neatly at each table setting. Just an extra touch to let your guests know they were thought about before their arrival.) my carefully thought out seating arrangements never go as planned. It's usually Alaina that takes it upon herself to reassign everyone, more to her own liking.... of course.

So, this year, I'm one step ahead of the game! Instead of creating name-cards, each table setting will have a little place card with an Autumn word. I've used some of the words from the Autumn Word List from yesterday's post, and created a set of Fall place cards. (I also fully intend to do this for our Christmas dinner parties as well!) Each person can choose their own seat and place-card.

Autumn

Acorn

Cider

Persimmon

Leaves

Now that I'm thinking about it, wouldn't a set of placecards with the different tree names be pretty too!!: Cedar, Maple, Oak, Walnut, Cyprus..... just think of the many possibilities to create something lovely!!

Join Jessica and I tomorrow for a very Sweet November giveaway!!