Thursday, December 1, 2011

{December Daily: Album Cover}

Are there any of you guys wanted to use the 6x8.5 inch album size for DD this year, but couldn't afford the kit from Studio Calico? I LOVE Studio Calico, but unfortunately with me staying home eith the kids and not working, the $$$ really isn't flowing unfortunately.
However, with my clever little trick, you'll be able to use the page protectors (sold apart from the kit) and stil be able to use the same album size as Ali!

All you'll need is:

1/4 yard of fabric
a sturdy piece of cardboard (at least 14x18)
12x12 sheet of paper
hot glue gun
Glossy Accents (optional)

For my cardboard all I used was an empty diaper box...plently of those around here with 2 in diapers! I cut 2 pieces from the box at 6.5x9, one for the front cover and one for the back. So that I don't risk any pattern showing through my fabric I just tore off the printed part of the box. If your box is not printed, just skip this step.



For my fabric I cut two piece slightly larger than my piece of cardboard (at least 1.5 inch overhang on all four sides). I then took my hot glue gun and put a dot of glue in each corner of the cardboard...CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOURSELLF!!!



Then you will fold all four corner over onto the hot glue...DON'T PULL TOO HARD OF THE FABRIC OR ELSE YOU MAY DISTORT THE PATTERN OF YOUR FABRIC.



Once your done with that part you will squirt a line of glue down one side and bring that side's fabric up to the glue, creating a nice crisp edge...can you see it coming together already?!?!?!?! Repeat this step with the next three sides.


Once your done it should look like this. Now you can cut your paper down to (2) 6x8.5 pieces and glue that over the back of your cover (I used Glossy Accents), now covering up the last of the cardboard and creating a fully customizable album cover...pretty cool huh?!?!?!?! Just repeat this for the back cover as well.




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I still have a few things I am waiting on to arrive, so until then that is as much as I can show you, but what my plan is now is to punch three holes in my front and back cover (corresponding to my 3 holes in the page protector) and use three large rings to hold it all together!

What is really awesome is that you can do this to make ANY size album you want!!! I have made COUNTLESS numbers of these in 8x8 using chipboard and patterned paper...SO MUCH FUN!

Link me up with your creations using this tutorial.



















Friday, October 14, 2011

Logan's Birth Story Album

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Easy Spinach Lasagna

I have a few things that I have been wanting to post, but this is the first thing that was ready to write up so here we go!
I recently made my VERY FIRST Lasagna and it turned out superb, so I thought that I would share the recipe. I used THIS recipe, but altered it quite a bit, making a little lower in fat!

Easy Spinach Lasagna
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 jar spagetti sauce
1 sm. can tomato sauce
1 pint low fat cottage cheese
1 pint low fat ricotta cheese
1/4 c. parmesan cheese, grated
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed
2 eggs
1 box whole wheat lasagna noodles ***DO NOT BUY "NO BAKE" NOODLES***
2 c. 2% mild cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large pot sautee onions. Add ground beef and sausage and brown then add the spaghetti and tomato sauce and heat thoroughly.


3. In a medium bowl add cottage, ricotta and parmesan cheese along with thawed spinach and both eggs. Stir all ingredients until well combined.



4. In a 9x13 pan layer your ingredients sauce, noodles, cheese making sure to end with the sauce mixture.




5. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and top with cheddar cheese and bake for an additional 15 minutes, uncovered. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.




Hope you like your YUMMY lasagna...and stay tuned for more posts SOON, including a DIY Vampire Cape and DIY Halloween Banner!!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

{Logan's Birth Story}

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated my blog, but as I'm sure you know we have been busy. I didn't want to do another blog post until I had this one written and ready...so here it goes...Logan's birth story:
I am now a mother of three and this is the birth story of my last child, Logan Ray Zadik. It was July 21st and I was almost a week overdue with my third child.
1:30 am -I was awoke out of my sleep with some cramping and I decided to get up out of bed and go to the bathroom, to which I noticed I was having bloody show. I thought to myself…”oh my gosh…this is it!!!” I stood around for a little while to see if I was going to have any more contractions, and boy did I. Quickly another contraction came, then another, and another. I decided to start timing them, as well as wake Jason and tell him “um…baby…I don’t think that you will have to go to work today!” To which he replied “oh yea?” and quickly turned over and went back to sleep…gee thanks!
I went downstairs and turned on the t.v. and laid down on the couch to see if I could get a little more rest. My contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart and I wasn’t too uncomfortable. I knew that this was the real deal so I decided to call the midwife to give her a heads up. She said to just give her a call back whenever we were headed to the birthing center. I also called my mom and sister at this time and told them to go ahead and head to the house, considering both of them were about an hour away and I wanted them to have plenty of time to get here. I had no clue how this birth was going to go since both of the other kids birth’s were so different.
2:30 am -I tried to rest on the couch, but my contractions were getting stronger and faster. I was easily able to breath through them still, however I didn’t want to be alone so I went upstairs and asked Jason if he could at least come downstairs and sleep on the couch so that if I needed something he would be there. I had visions of the baby coming so fast that he just pretty much fell out and I was left by myself with no help…silly I know, but hey…it’s happened to people before!
3:00 am –I was talking with Jason during contractions and realized that we didn’t have anyone to come and watch the kids while we were at the birthing center since mom and Kellee were coming to the birth. We quickly tried to think of a solution and called Kristi to see if she could drive over. She just happened to have woken up a few minutes prior and answered the phone and was so excited to come over immediately. Mom arrived soon after I got off the phone with her. She told me that Kellee was unfortunately not going to be able to make it and I was so bummed. She was supposed to be taking pictures and documenting the experience since this was going to me our last child. I decided to call a friend who had also offered to take pictures and she was ecstatic to be offered to join us in this experience. I was still having contractions lasting about a minute and about 3-5 minutes apart, but still able to talk though them.
3:30 am –Kristi arrived and was SO EXCITED! She had never been around anyone in labor before so she was not quite sure what to do. She asked me many questions to which I answered if I could. At this point I decided to sit on the ball and bounce though and between the contractions to get them moving a bit.
4:30 am –Suddenly my contraction got super strong and very uncomfortable. I called the midwife once again and told her we soon would be on our way. We started getting our things together and packing the car up.
4:45 am –We arrived at the birthing center, but no midwife had arrived yet…so I stuck it out in the car through the longest 2-3 contractions ever. It’s definitely not easy to be sitting in a car and having contractions…let me tell you.
4:55 am –Rena, my midwife arrived and quickly scurried inside to get things moving.
5:15 am –Rena checked my cervix…the moment of truth…6 cm…I thought to myself “yahoo…only 4 more to go…I CAN DO THIS!!!” Rena starts to fill the tub up for me to get in. I continue to breathe through my contractions, swaying while holding onto the column for the tub. All I am thinking at this moment is “you can do this…you can do this…not much longer.” I also envisioned a flower blooming and opening up just like my cervix was doing to help stay calm and collected. I think my friend arrived about this time and began to document this AWESOME experience by taking pictures.
5:55 am –the tub was finally ready for me to get into…Oh boy did the water feel wonderful, but when my first contraction came, I wanted to jump right back out! This is definitely NOT where I wanted to be. I decided to tough it out for a little bit and see how things would go.
6:10 am –I had the urge to push, and Rena quickly checked me and gave me the “ok” to go ahead and start pushing when my body told me to…at this point I remember pushing like a crazy woman because I was SO ready for him to be out…
6:14 am –Logan arrived into the world and he was PERFECT!!! Jason got to help catch him and laid him on my chest…it was amazing!!! We checked him over to make sure first of all he really was a boy, then his 10 little fingers and 10 little toes…they were all there and as cute as can be…I remember how quiet he was compared to Caleb who screamed for and hour after he came out.
6:30 am –We waited for the cord to stop pulsating before we cut it…Jason always has the hardest time cutting through those things. They are like super thick rubber bands. Logan and I chilled out in the tub for a few more minutes before I handed him over, rinsed off and got out and headed to the bed.
6:40 am –I held him for a little bit while they went and got the scale to weigh him. I remember trying to guess what he would weigh…he seemed long, but not too heavy. My guess was 7 lbs 14 oz…and I was WAY off…he weighed 9 lbs 3 oz!!! We had another football player on our hands. They handed him back to be and we tried out our hand in breastfeeding…instant latch…that is the best feeling and bonding moment when your newborn latches onto you for the first time. I was also in quite a bit of pain from the cramping so I took some ibuprofen. Logan and I were thoroughly checked out and made sure that no problems arose as the time passed. At one point Jason had to leave to give someone from work something so I had him pick up Mackenzie so that she could come and see her new brother. Jason told me later that when he went to pick her up she was still asleep. He went in to wake her up, patted her on the back and told her that baby Logan came out while she was asleep, to which she jumped out of bed in excitement to see her brother.
7:20 am –Logan and I took our herbal bath and washed up
7:45 am –Jason and Mackenzie arrived with breakfast!!! She checked out all his 10 toes and 10 fingers and we counted them.
8:00 am –We took a few family photos (minus Caleb) and got dressed and packed up to head home.
9:00 am –HOME SWEET HOME!

(don't worry...nothing yucky!)
***unfortunately I couldn't get these to show in order...sorry***


Created with flickr slideshow.

Monday, July 18, 2011

{Waiting Game}

So I was officially on Maternity leave as of Saturday...and boy was this weekend busy...not busy enough for Logan to come on his "guess date", which was Saturday!!! Oh well...I'm sure it will be soon. I go back to see my midwife on Thursday, if I make it that long. Between now and then I guess I am just going to catch up on lost projects, take more pictures, do some cleaning/organizing all while trying to keep my extremely puffy feet elevated and relax...um...did I miss anything ;)
A few weeks ago I started Project Life and I absolutely *LOVE it* I would recommend it to anyone. It has been working great for me because all I have to do is print out some pictures, add some journaling and stick them in the page protectors. Digital scrapping has been SO TOUGH for me to keep up with, even though I still have been spending the money on all the new cute product! SO, project life was the PERFECT solution for me. I love that you can add little things here and there besides the traditional photos and journaling ie. invitations to a party, receipts, ticket stubs, etc. These are all things I normally keep, but end up throwing away cause I don't have anywhere to put them, plus it's hard to incorporate in a digi page. Ooh, I'm so excited!!! ALL of my photos so far that I have added to my album are printed from my iPhone, which is SO AWESOME because it's always with me. The quality is not the greatest, but hey...I am getting life documented and I am able to remember the simple things in life.
Here is a link to get you started on Project Life if you are interested or you can click the ad to the left!
The products that I purchased to get started are as follows because all of the Project Life 2011 Kits are SOLD OUT:







100 3x4 Journaling Cards by Becky Higgins

Divided Photo Pocket Pages-Design A by Becky Higgins

Divided Photo Pocket Pages-Design B by Becky Higgins

Apps I use on my iPhone photos:

Camera + ($1.99)

Instagram (free)

Hipstamatic ($1.99 + .99 add on's)

These are just a FEW things that are out there to purchase other than the kit...there are also endless possibilities of page protectors...as you can see all the ones I have purchased and there are still so many others.

Here are some things that I want and plan to get soon:







I guess this should be enough for you to think about right now...off to shopping you go...how about a little inspiration?!?!?!?
ps. I'm just a TAD behind, but ONLY because my computer has been acting up!




Tuesday, May 31, 2011

{Tutorial & Im a HORRIBLE BLOGGER}

So I must confess, not that its hard to figure out, but I am a HORRIBLE BLOGGER. I spend so much time reading other people's blogs that I don't keep up with my own! What my plan is to post more of the projects that I make and make some tutorials, but I either make things and give them away too quick that I don't get pictures, or I get so busy making something that I forget to take pictures. So with that being said I have a quick tute for ya!
I recently visited this blog and saw this great tutorial for an earring hanger...HERE is the original tutorial, bt I will show you some different tecniques and tricks that I found helpful!

First thing I did was start out with a frame. I purchased it from JoAnn's for $5...50% off! I guess that is a decent price for a frame. It's a pretty nice one anyways. I suppose that you could find an unfinished one from Hobby Lobby which would make things a little easier. Whatever your preference is. This frame originally was a solid brown. I sanded the edges so that the natural wood showed through and lightly sanded the rest of it so that the paint would stick. I then used a damp cloth to get all the dust off.



Let the frame dry completely. I then painted the front of the frame with an acrylic paint. The first coat will not cover the frame very evenly, but let it dry and apply a second coat which will looks ten times better. Don't worry about it looking too pretty though cause your going to again give the frame another sanding. Sand lightly the frame roughing/distressing it to your liking!





Now turn the frame over and make a mark at 2", 5" and 8" on either side of the "picture" opening (these would be measurements for an 8x10 frame holding the frame vertically). At your marks insert your thumb tacks just slightly into the wood so that there is still room to wrap the wire around it. I decided to use framing wire instead of the jewelry wire because it was a bit thicker and braided so that it would be a bit straighter as you pulled it across (plus I found it on clearence for 99 cents...yay). You then want to hammer the tacks into the wood the rest of the way. Because this wire was a bit thicker than the jewelry wire I decided to reinforce it by using a piece of super sticky tape over the thumb tack so they wouldn't come out after some use.
Voila...you're DONE!!! Doesn't it look perty?!?!?






I just recently purchased a Silhouette SD so I am going crazy with the projects...stay tuned to see what I make :D

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

{New Dress and Easter Egg Hunt}

This past weeken we went to the Annual Easter Egg Hunt on the Harris Farm! We all had a lot of fun as we normally do...it sure was a hot day though and you will see Caleb's face is beat red in some of the pictures. I also make Mackenzie a new dress every year for this occasion. This year I am making the dress available in {MY SHOP} available in sizes 12m-6years. I am also working on some more boy clothing items...it's just so much harder as you most know to either make/buy for boys...but it's coming...promise! {more pics to come}





Friday, March 18, 2011

{Five Finds Friday and New stuff}

Hello everyone...it's been a few weeks since I've posted. I have been SO SICK with an aweful sinus infection and FINALLY feeling better! In case you haven't checked it out lately go to {MY SHOP} and see all the new things I have added!!!






Ok now for the fun stuff...here are my {FIVE FINDS} for this week:


{Love Encounter Sketches} by Kitty Designs at O'Scraps-I had to get these to make a new Shutterfly book with. She does the BEST albums!!



{Aviator Hat} by Oops! I knit it Again-ths hat is ADORABLE...I think that I want to get it for the new little baby-boy-to-be!!!



{Organic Camera Toy} by Little Sapling Toy's-coolest toy EVER!!!



{Chocolate Flap Cap} by Unmashin-this would look so cute on Mackenzie with her curls popping out!!!



{Lucky and Blessed Necklace} by Lisa Leonard-once this new baby is born I'll have to get a new necklace...this one is perfect!!!