Faithbooking - How To Scrapbook Your Faith

Faithbooking-Scrapbooking Your Faith by Dawn Stegall

What is faithbooking? While there are different definitions of what faithbooking means, it is simply incorporating your faith throughout your scrapbooks. A few common meanings may include:

A means to express our faith.

A journey of faith.

The ability to capture life's lessons that God teaches us.

An eternal legacy for our children.

A witnessing tool.

An incredible, permanent reminder of our God Moment and His hand in our lives.

Scripture, thoughts, prayers, blessings, memories, letters, and stories combines with our photographs to always remember our personal and spiritual journey with the Lord.

Why should you start faithbooking? Because we are commanded to. Throughout the Bible, we are commanded to remember. Remember the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord. Psalm 78:4 We are also told to teach. Teach them to your children...Dt. 4:9 Teach them the right way to live...1 Kings 8:36 There are many more scripture verses that tell us to remember and teach. What better way to remember and to teach then with faithbooking! Remember and teach through your journaling and scripture verses then enhance with photos and embellishments.

If you currently scrapbook, don't wait to finish your current scrapbook album to start faithbooking. For me, they are one in the same. I like to incorporate my faith throughout my scrapbooks as one. They are not two separate projects. Always start your faithbook in prayer. Then you can start simply by adding scripture and verses to capture the theme of the layout and then progress into journaling more thought provoking faith questions.

If scrapbooking is not your thing, then consider keeping a journal. Express your feelings on paper and then share the portions you want with others as you feel led. Remember there is not a right or wrong way to faithbook-just get started today!

Dawn Stegall is dedicated to helping and encouraging scrapbookers to remember God in their scrapbooks. For more about faithbooking and to claim a free quick-start guide to faithbooking, please visit http://www.faithfullyyours.net/

Scrapbooking | Citrus Bright Colors Toddler Girl Scrapbooking Layout

When it comes to scrapbooking, I usually stay away from the citrus bright colors...not sure why, but they usually just don't appeal to me. I was challenaged to come up with a 12x12 scrapbook layout using the bright colors because I had 2 photo's of little Gia and she was dressed in bright citrus colors...so I wanted to draw those colors out of the photo's with my layout design.

My 12x12 background paper is a weathered bright orange color with faint weathered markings done in pale orange (can't see it on the photo). For my side border, I decided to use a piece of hot pink grapefruit colored paper and bright lemon yellow paper. I cut each of them to 2" by 12" in size and then used a scalloped edge scissor on one long edge to add interest. I glued them together leaving 1/2" of the yellow one sticking out behind the pink one. I then stapled them on the left side of my page with hot pink staples.

I cropped down my 2 photos, rounded their corners and mounted them onto hot pink paper, rounded the corners, mounted them onto the lemon yellow paper, rounded the corners again and glued them into place. I had a 3-D embellishment that was done in bright yellow with a bright pink heart with pink bow & pink rhinestone that I put under my one photo. Above that I put sticker letters that spell out the word PLAY.

I used those same sticker letters to spell out the word FUN and under the bottom photo is a 3-D Embellished piece that says SUPER STAR.

This layout took me about 40 minutes to complete and I think it turned out fabulous. It really draws out the colors in little Gia's outfit!

Happy Scrapbooking!

Scrapbooking | Two Quick and Easy Baby Shower Scrapbook Page Layouts

If you are looking for some frugal, quick and easy baby shower scrapbooking page layouts, I think you will appreciate both of these ideas. Each one of them was done in the 12 x 12 layout size.

Page 1: Family Snapshots (shown above)

For this page page, I used a solid white piece of white 12x12 cardstock which I mounted a 1/2 sheet of green floral paper to the bottom 1/2 of it. I had 2 photo's of family members posting for pictures at the baby shower so I cropped them down, rounded the corners and mounted them onto pink paper and rounded the corners again. These are family members of the mom to be. I took a piece of self-adhesive floral lace and ran it horizontally across the page where the edge of the green piece of paper touches the white background. I mounted my bottom photo with glue dots and then added a glitter sticker to each side. I mounted the top photo and then added a clear backed sticker that says Baby Shower on it and used pink sticker letter's to make the word Steph's. The grandmother to be was wearing pink and there was pink in my granddaughters dress...so tried to use pink accents in the layout.

Page 2: Mom To Be Stephanie

Stephanie was having a baby boy and her shower was done in blue & yellow colors. So my background is a blue piece of 12x12 paper with yellow swirls. For the center area I glued on a piece of yellow paper with blue swirls after I removed 4" of it. I decided to not matt the photos but did crop them and round the corners. I used a blue tag that has an ABC theme on it and added a blue/yellow piece of fiber for the tag tie. My only other accents are 4 stickers (due date calendar and 3 little baby shower tickets).

I signed and dated the page in the bottom right corner.

Very quick and easy pages...great for a beginner!

Happy Scrapbooking!

Scrapbooking | Using Buttons and Ribbons in your Baby Girl Scrapbook Layouts

When it comes to scrapbooking baby girl page layouts, I love to use ribbon, lace and buttons! All of those frilly things just say ~ Baby Girls! Today I would like to share 2 page ideas with you that I recently did that incorporate lace, ribbons and buttons and feature my beautiful little granddaughter Gia.

These page ideas are very frugal, fast and easy so you can have both pages done in less than 1 hour.

Page 1: Lace and Buttons Baby Girl (shown above)

For this layout I used a piece of coral colored 12x12 scrapbooking paper that had a printed side border in a striped pattern. I took a piece of self adhesive white floral lace and ran it down the middle of the printed border. I then used a large glue dot and attached a large round white button to the center of the lace strip.

I used 3 photos in this layout which I cropped down, rounded the corners and mounted onto dark coral colored paper and rounded the corners again. From a piece of light color coral paper that had dark coral small polka dots, I cut two 1" by 12" strips. I cut one of those strips down to fit the width of my layout (minus the width of my stripped left border) and mounted it down with glue. I then took the larger of my 3 photos and tacked it down. I accented that strip on each side with a medium sized round white button.

I took the smaller 2 square photos and mounted them to dark coral paper and rounded the corners. From the second strip of polka dot paper that you had cut, I cut two pieces that each measure 1" by 4" in size. I used my ruler and craft knife and angled one end on each strip so that it was pointy. I centered the strip onto the back of each photo so that approximately 2 1/2" of it stuck out from the top. I mounted them to the layout and used a glue dot to mount 1 small round white button to the top of each strip. See Photo!
Page 2: Ribbon Princess Baby Girl

For this layout, I used a piece of pink 12x12 size paper that has girly words imprinted on it such as: princess, pretty in pink, smiles, posing for pictures, etc. I think I got it at Joann's or Michael's stores. I cropped down my 2 photos, rounded the corners and mounted them on dark blue paper and rounded the corners again. I had a cut out title that says "Handmade By God With Love" that I mounted onto the blue paper and cut it down so it had a 1/4" border. To that I applied a pink sheer ribbon bow with a dark pink rhinestone in the center (applied it to the top of the title). For the final embellishment on the page, I had a 3-D Embellishment that I got from the Paper Wishes Web Site Store that is on chipboard. It has a princess castle and the word princess underneath it. At the top of it is a pink gross-grain ribbon bow and a yellow star with dark pink rhinestone.

I signed and dated both pages at the bottom. On the backside of both pages I decided to do my journaling. I wrote about my granddaughter in great length and what was going on the day I took the photo's of her. When it comes to journaling, you don't always have to journal on the front of your layouts...if you have something lengthy to say...journal it on the backsides!

4 Rainy Day Craft Projects To Do With Children

Looking for something to do with your children on those rainy days, when everyone seems to be cooped up indoors? When my daughter was small, we used to do craft projects together. It quickly became a 'rainy day' tradition in our household.

I feel it's important to spend quality time with our children. These days, too many children are sitting in front of a television watching TV shows, or playing video games. I don't find this to be quality family time.

Here are 4 easy craft projects that you can do with your children.

Soapy Bath Crayons

1 c. grated Ivory Soap
1/4 c. warm water
food coloring
plastic cookie cutters

Mix water, soap and food coloring together in an old bowl. Stir the crayon mixture until it begins to stiffen. Remove the mixture from the bowl and knead until it's the consistency of a very thick dough. Spoon crayon mixture into plastic cookie cutters or other plastic molds (play dough molds work great too!). Press down firmly. Place the plastic cookie cutters in your freezer for 10 minutes. When firm, pop the bath crayons out of the cookie cutters. Allow them to air dry overnight.

Play Dough

2 c. flour
1 c. salt
4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 c. of water
4 tbsp. oil
food coloring

Place flour, salt, cream of tartar, water, and oil into a large pan. Heat over medium heat, stirring until dough comes away from the edge of pan, and makes a soft ball. Cool on a sheet of waxed paper. When cool, add food coloring. Store in plastic containers or in plastic bags.

Finger Paints
2 c. of plastic liquid starch
1 c. of Ivory Snow detergent flakes
food coloring

Combine liquid starch and Ivory Snow in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer until the volume is tripled. Divide, add in food coloring as desired. Store in covered containers in the refrigerator.

Blowing Bubbles Refills
1/2 c. liquid dish detergent
5 c. water
1 container with lid
1 bubble blowing wand

Mix water and dishwashing liquid together in a large bowl. Don't over mix. Pour liquid into empty bubble blowing containers.

Tip: When you spend time crafting, please remember to take photographs. It's a great way to preserve all of these wonderful memories.

Take advantage of those rainy days, and spend some time crafting with your children.

This article is copyright 2009 by Shelly L. Hill and can not be reproduced without my permission. All Rights Reserved.

Scrapbooking - 15 Minutes Baby Girl 12x12 Scrapbook Layout

For those of you who love very quick and easy pages then this 12 x 12 baby girl scrapbooking page layout is for you! This entire page takes less than 15 minutes to make. Furthermore, if you are frugal and like scrapbooking on the cheap...this page will cost about $1.25 since it utilizes odds & ends from other layouts.

Color Inspiration: Gia is wearing a mint green & white check dress with a yellow bib.

I call this my princess granddaughter page!

I had a piece of Disney Princess Paper left over from a Disney Paper Pack and it was in the mint green color that I needed. My granddaughter was in a mint green & white check dress. I cropped down my photos and rounded the corners. I then mounted them onto a scrap piece of 8x10 yellow cardstock and rounded the corners again. I got into my odds & ends bin and found a rub-on sticker that says "This Heart Belongs To:" and I wrote Pappy & Nanny on it and mounted it underneath the bottom photo (bottom right on the page). I found a piece of white floral self-adhesive lace in my bin that measure 4 1/2" long and mounted that to the page in the top left corner. I found a piece of chipboard that has a printed poem on it about children so I mounted that on top of the lace with 2 large glue dots.

Since I had no room for journaling, I flipped the page over and wrote a few paragraphs about my granddaughter and what was going on that day that the photo's were taken. Remember, you don't always have to journal on the front of your layout.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Goodbye Traditional Scrapbooking - Hello Digital

Goodbye Traditional Scrapbooking; Hello Digital! by Nancy Kraska

I have never understood the need to scrapbook. I have friends that make page after page of photos, but never saw the allure of cutting and pasting pictures on top of one another. At least that is how I saw it.

Although I do like doing things with my hands and letting the creative juices flow, the traditional method of scrapbooking never appealed to me. Digital Scrapbooking, however, does appeal to me.

About three years ago, I started going through photo albums looking at the pictures of my children as they grew and they were in a hodgepodge of order. Some were marked others were not, as I never seemed to have the time to put any order to the albums. There were pictures in shoeboxes that just sat. Pictures of the rest of my family when they were young, including pictures of my parents when they were children. Pictures of grandparents I barely remember. Some were fading, some were bent, and some even got stuck together because of dampness.

I thought I should preserve them for my children, and grandchildren. So I set about organizing them on my computer by scanning each one in, using a photo editor to fix any of the more serious problems, and then saving them one by one to discs for each of my four children.

Recently on one of the forums I belong to the members started talking about Digital Scrapbooking and how much fun and inexpensive it was to do. So I started asking questions, reading informational materials, and found a use for all those pictures that are stored on my computer and disc.

Digital Scrapbooking doesn’t have to cost anything to do. If you already have a photo editor program on your computer such as Photoshop, then you can do Digital Scrapbooking. I personally use Microsoft Picture Plus, but any photo editor program should work.

The papers and embellishments can also be downloaded to your desktop for free. Just type in free scrapbooking materials, or some variation, and you will see listed sites that offer free supplies.

As far as layouts there is no rule, except to have fun. You can do anything you want design it anyway you want, put anything on the page. Once you get the page, as you want it, then print it out. You can use the page as a part of an album, use it in a picture frame, printed on the right paper it can be used for decoupage, wrapping paper, I can think of a thousand uses other than putting them into an album. I have been putting mine onto disc again for the family.

You can truly make these your own. Ever seen a scrapbooking paper and said I wish this came in rust, well with digital scrapbooking it can! Make your digital products suit your needs. Unlike traditional scrapping with digital scrapbooking if you should make a mistake simply press undo and start over again. Didn’t cut that line as straight as you’d like, glued that element in the wrong spot? With digital none of these things apply. As you have as many chances as you need to get it just the way you want it.

The versatility of digital is so different than the traditional method. The elements of a page can be resized, recolored, combined, cut, whatever you want to do. Don’t feel you will be giving up anything by giving Digital Scrapbooking a try because digital scrapbook kits and elements are just as beautiful as some that you’d find in traditional scrapbooking shops.

Nancy is a closet crafter; one who doesn't craft on a regular basis, but likes to try new things. Her crafting website is at: http://www.creativecrafting4-1-1.com

Scrapbooking - 5 Fast and Easy Zoo 12x12 Scrapbook Layouts

When it comes to scrapbooking, I am all about fast and easy pages. All 5 of these Zoo Theme'd Layouts were done in the 12x12 format. The pictures were from a trip we took to the Cape May, New Jersey Zoo back in the fall of 2007. I will give a brief overview of what I did for each page but won't go into full details as this post would end up book length LOL

Page 1: Shown Above

This page was done on preprinted pink flamingo 12x12 paper. I had 2 nice photo's of flamingos so used them in the layout and mounted them onto green cardstock. I used a palm tree sticker, tropical paradise sticker and a summer fun sticker to accent my layout.
Page 2: Toucan Theme

I did this on a piece of 12x12 white cardstock. I used 2 photos of Toucans for my page and mounted them onto black cardstock. I had a palm leaf border sticker that I ran across the lower edge of my layout and then mounted my letters Z-O-O onto green cardstock and placed them on top. I had a 3-d embellishment of a toucan and placed him on the page. I printed out my little journaling block and double mounted it onto green and black cardstock.
Page 3: Alligator Theme

I used a piece of white cardstock for my background and from alligator printed paper I cut two 6x6 squares and mounted them on top. I had one photo for the page of a gator and mounted that photo onto yellow cardstock. I had a poem about zoo animals that I cut out and mounted onto green and yellow cardstock and placed in the top right corner. I placed the photo of my gator in the bottom right corner. I had a Zoo-Pendous round tag sticker that I added a green fiber to and mounted that to the bottom left corner and in the top right corner is a sticker of a gator and the words Tanning Salon. LOL the gators were sunning themselves in the photo.
Page 4: Turtles

I used a light green piece of paper that has tiny dark green dots on it for my background. I used 2 photos of turtles in the layout which I mounted onto dark green cardstock & rounded the corners. I had a sticker that said "It's a Zoo in here" which I mounted onto dark green cardstock. I had 2 turtle 3-d embellishments that I also used. Above the top photo is a metal plate that says COOL that I mounted onto dark green cardstock.

Page 5: Zebras

I used a piece of white cardstock for my background. For my design, I ripped about 5" off each edge of zebra printed paper. From black cardstock, I ripped off about 4" from each edge. I then glued down the black piece first & the zebra print paper on top. I used 2 photos for the layout which I mounted onto black cardstock & rounded the corners. For my Zebra Title (bottom left) I used white chipboard letters which I chalked in black. For my journaling block, I used white paper mounted onto black cardstock. I had a piece of zebra print furry ribbon which I mounted across the top of the block and then solid black ribbon for the hanger. I had a zebra sticker that I mounted onto a piece of white paper, inked around the edges and mounted it onto black cardstock. See photo for placement of items.

There you have it! 5 Easy, Fast and Cheap Zoo Theme'd Page Layouts!

Happy Scrapbooking!

Scrapbooking | Easy Baby Girl Scrapbook Layout In Neutral Tones

For the past couple of weeks I have been getting caught up on my scrapbooking and most of the pictures I have been scrapbooking are ones of my little granddaughter Lil Gia. The 2 photo's I used in this layout were from Feb. 2010 when I was fortunate enough to capture her first attempt at crawling! In the photo's she was wearing khaki colored pants with a red top & red socks so I used those colors as my inspiration for the layout.

I did this layout on a piece of tan colored weathered 12x12 scrapbooking paper. When I say weathered, it has crackles in it and meant to look like a piece of vintage paper. I took a piece of light brown paper with brown dots on it and ripped it into 2 uneven strips and glued them to my background paper. (see photo). I then cropped down my 2 photo's, rounded the corners, mounted them onto red cardstock, cropped them again so they have a 1/4" wide border and rounded the corners again. I then placed them onto my layout with glue dots.

For the title of my page "Go Gianna" (we were cheering her on that day), I used dark red colored chipboard letters and used glue dots to attach them at the top of my page. I added a 3-D embellishment onto the page that has a little saying about little girls (top right) and another one that says crawling with some foam dots to give dimension. I then had a little metal plate that has the words so sweet on it and tacked it on under the top left photo. I did my journaling on the back of the page but signed & dated the page on the front bottom.

This page took me about 40 minutes to make. I think it turned out great and really pulls out the color of her clothing!

Happy Scrapbooking!

Scrapbooking - Easy 2 Page Mini Golf Scrapbooking Layout

If you are a beginner scrapbooker or you just like clean and easy 12x12 scrapbooking pages, I have 2 to share with you today that feature a miniature golf theme. Both of these pages were done on 12x12 solid white scrapbook cardstock.

For both of these pages, I used a purchased pack of mini golf clear backed stickers that fit 12x12 page layouts. For the first page (shown above) I placed the big mini golf course sticker at the bottom of my page. I decided to use only 2 verticle photos for the layout since the sticker took up 1/3 of my page. I cropped photos and mounted them onto grass green colored cardstock and rounded all corners. (see photo for placement). I used the Hole In One sticker for my title.



For the second page I used the stickers for the score card, 2 golf clubs and the golf balls. I used black letter stickers that I had and spelled out mini golf and putt and fun and applied them to the page. I used 2 photos and accented those with corner stickers instead of mounting them onto cardstock. On the score card sticker I wrote all of our names and our scores so we could remember our game of mini golf.

Super Fast and Easy and they look great!

Scrapbooking - 3 Hershey Chocolate World Scrapbooking Page Layouts

Back in 2007 my hubby and I decided to take our 2 nephews and my mother down to Hershey Chocolate World in Hershey Pennsylvania for some fun time. I didn't get a whole lot of photo's but I did have enough good ones to make three 12x12 scrapbooking page layouts.

I was fortunate enough to stop into the Hershey Scrapbooking Store before we left and pick up some Hershey & Chocolate themed items for my scrapbook layout.

Page 1:

Brown, Black & White Pennsylvania 12x12 piece of paper
I Love Chocolate die-cut for my title
dark chocolate brown cardstock
Hershey word rub-on
brown Hershey Kiss die-cut
Yum - word rub-on
2-sided scrapbooking tape and glue dots

I took a pic of my mother and my 2 nephews standing at the sign that leads into Hershey Chocolate World and the photo came out fantastic. I decided to use that photo on the page and cropped it down and mounted it onto chocolate brown cardstock with a 1/4" edge. I placed that photo in the middle of my page using 2-sided tape. Using glue dots, I tacked the I Love Chocolate Die-cut at the top for my page title. To the right side of my photo, I attached a chocolate hershey kiss die-cut that measures about 1 1/2" in size to the page and underneath it, I rubbed on the word YUM. At the bottom of my page is the preprinted word Pennsylvania and right above that I decided to rub on the word Hershey. I then dated the bottom right corner with the date.

Page 2:

1 sheet of cardstock in solid white and chocolate brown 12x12 size
1 1/2 sheets of cardstock in tan 12x12 size
1 sheet of preprinted Hershey Pennsylvania 12x12 paper
various Hershey and Hershey Kiss Stickers
1 sheet of chocolate brown letters that measure 1 1/4" tall

I did this layout on solid white 12x12 white cardstock. I ripped approximately 2 1/2" off each end of the chocolate brown cardstock and glued the big piece of the brown cardstock onto the center of my layout. I then ripped approximately 4" off each end of the tan colored cardstock and glued that on top of the brown cardstock. I ripped approximately 5" off each end of my preprinted Hershey Pennsylvania 12x12 piece of paper and centered that onto the tan cardstocked and glued it into place. My background was now completed. I used 2 photo's for this layout which I cropped down, rounded the corners and then mounted them onto tan cardstock and rounded the corners again. See photo for placement. I decided I wanted the title of my page at the bottom and used brown stickers to put the title of "I'm A Kissable Kid!" For my journaling block, I simply cut from tan cardstock a block that measures 2 1/2 by 3 1/2" in size, rounded the corners, mounted it to brown cardstock, cropped it with a 1/4" border and rounded the corners again. I tacked it to the right side of my page and did my journaling. I then finished up the layout with various Hershey Kiss themed stickers I had purchased. I dated my page in the bottom right corner.

Page 3:

1 sheet of 12x12 scrapbooking paper that was preprinted with camel and brown design
1 sheet of 12x12 brown cardstock
1 piece of dark brown gross-grain ribbon measuring 12" long
Various Hershey Candy Stickers
Brown Sticker Letters

I used a preprinted piece of 12x12 paper for this layout. I decided to use 3 photos which I cropped down, rounded the corners and mounted them onto brown cardstock and rounded the corners again. (see photo for placement of photos). If desired, you can add some ribbon to section off your layout, mine is running across the bottom 1/3 of the paper and tacked down with glue dots. In the center of my layout is my page title which is SWEET THING spelled out with brown letter stickers. I then finished up by putting on a few Hershey Candy stickers.

These layouts were inexpensive to do and very fast. Great for a beginner!

Happy Scrapbooking!

FREE Crochet Plarn Granny Square Coaster Pattern

Here is another fast and easy crochet project that you can make in less than 1 hour and it won't cost you a dime because it is made by recycling plastic store bags into plarn...you will then crochet your plarn in a granny square pattern to make your free plarn beverage coaster!

This project only takes 2 grocery store bags to make...fast and easy! I used a size H crochet hook and did a simple granny square to make my beverage coaster.

If you don't know how to make a granny square, you can:

Watch this fantastic You Tube Video
Print out and check out this picture guide on how to make a granny square.

Please Note: For a beverage coaster, you will only need to crochet 3 rounds!


If you are not sure how to make plarn, you can find directions on that at:

Click Here for a you tube video on how to make plarn.
Click Here for a web site that will teach you how to make plarn.

You can find more FREE Plarn crochet patterns here on my web site by clicking --> HERE

Happy Crocheting!

How to Find Free Cross Stitching Patterns Online

How to Find Free Cross Stitching Patterns Online by Loretta Oliver

If you're a fan of free cross stitch patterns but you're not all exactly an online guru or a technical computer genius, then there's no need to worry. The internet is a wonderful place and literally you can find anything you want on there if you know where to look and how to look for it. You must also be careful though, because a lot of websites out there were designed to harm your computer or steal information from you, but they're not hard to spot.

When you're looking for free cross stitch patterns, one of the first places you probably thought of was Google. This is what's called a search engine and there are plenty of these to go around, but the number one search engine is without a doubt is Google. A nice searching tip is to ask the search engines questions such as "Where can I find free cross stitching patterns?" or "Where is the best place to find free cross stitching patterns?" Of course those are just examples, but try to broaden your searches and you'll find much more results in what you're looking for.

The second way to find something you want online is by word of mouth or by links on a website. Say your checking your e-mail and on the right side of your screen on the website happens to be a link that interests you, and while there is nothing wrong with this, you're still not sure whether it's exactly what you want or not since you didn't search for it.

There are billions of websites online and probably thousands for finding free cross stitching patterns, you just have to know where to look and not to click on any old link you see because some websites are quite dangerous to your computer. Just remember that one helpful tip and to search in the form of questions such as "Where can I find some free cross stitching patterns" when you're doing you're searching and you will find much better results!

Loretta Oliver of Stitching the Night Away is a firm believer that everyone needs a hobby and is striving to help make cross stitch supplies and information easily accessible to everyone that wants to stitch.

You can find free cross stitch patterns at Stitching the Night Away along with a wealth of cross stitch information and resources. Including a free guide to stitching on evenweave and linen fabrics.

Happy Stitching!

Easy Plastic Canvas Beverage Coaster Pattern

If you are just learning how to make crafts with plastic canvas then this easy pattern is just for you! In a matter of less than 1 hour, you can complete a beverage coaster.

Materials:

7 ct. plastic canvas
3 or 4 ply. yarn
plastic canvas needle
scissors

Pattern: 22 holes by 22 holes squared

For this beverage coaster, you will simply do a Scotch Stitch Pattern and you can read about that ---> HERE Once you have the center of your coaster stitched, you will want to go around all 4 edges and with a simple overcast stitch so that no raw edges of the plastic canvas are showing. You can line the underside of your coaster with matching colored felt or just leave the underside unfinished.

Happy Stitching!

Scrapbooking 101 For Beginners By Lara Velez

Scrapbooking 101 For Beginners by Lara Velez

Scrapbooking is a great way to preserve your family memories. It gives you the opportunity to not only put the pictures in one place, but journal about the event or picture as well. Journaling is what makes the story come alive. My oldest daughter LOVES to look through and read the scrapbook I made for her first 10 years of life.

Anyone can scrapbook. You do not need to be this overly creative guru to scrapbook. You just need to be able to write and express love. :) There are PLENTY of idea books out there to help with the "creative" part!

This article is for traditional scrap booking. I have nothing against the digital, I just prefer the old fashioned way where I can sit on the couch and flip through the pages with my family.

Let's get you started in scrapbooking

Must Haves
NOTE: You should always use ACID free products on your pages so your pictures are protected.

Scrapbook and Pages. You can find these at any craft store or even walmart. You can also go the fancy way and go to a scrapbooking consultant.

Pens, markers, and stickers. Make sure that you have writing material for journaling and stickers to decorate your pages.

Cloth Material. If you have old baby clothes that are worn or mildly stained, you can use them for your layouts. You could also use old blankets, dish towels, etc.

Old Jewelry. If you have old earings you do not wear or earings without matches they can be used in one of your pages.

Decorations. Wrapping paper, bags, bows, ribbons, and other decorations.

Memorabilia. Movie stubs, tickets, match books, cards, brochures. Whatever you can find that would fit on a layout page when you are on or trip or doing something special with your family.

Magazines and Books. These are filled with ideas to help you be creative. You can copy other's ideas. You do not have to have all the creativity. You just need to have the pen and tell the tale!

Scrap booking Creativity Finders

Online. There are TONS of sites all over the Internet with scrapbooking ideas, layouts and products. Even if they are only for digital scrap booking, you can still use the idea!.

Amazon or bookstores. Magazines and books will help you. Go to your local book store or visit amazon.com to find the ones you think would be most helpful to you.

Look around. Everywhere you go there are ideas. Pay attention to patterns and details. You may get some ideas...or at the very least inspiration.

Scrapbookers Events. Many cities have cropping days for scrapbookers. They even have weekends dedicated to this. many Creative Memory consultants have them weekly. Find one near you and go. You will find ideas from pro and you may win a prize. Plus, you will find some Mommy friends with the same interests as you!

Keep in mind, there is NO wrong way to scrapbook. You do not need to be perfect. The IMperfection is what your family WILL appreciate most! I have made so many "mistakes." However, those are the pages that are loved the most!

You do not need to break the bank to scrapbook.

If you have a husband like mine, you do not have a huge scrapbook budget! LOL! Guess what? You do not need one!!

Online. There are a lot of sites you can find products for scrapbooking. Do a google search. Look for sales.

Target and Discount stores. Target has a dollar section that almost always has SOMETHING a scrapbooker can use and they are usually acid free. Target and walmart also have craft sections. Look around and find clearance items.

Sunday Paper. Look for sales. There are MANY craft stores. Most of them have sales every week, or coupons. Keep your eyes open and go when there are scrapbook sales.

There is NO limit to what you can find. Just look around and keep your eyes open for potential layout helpers. You may even find them under your very own roof!

I hope this encourages you to make the most of your memories with scrap booking, and some time for YOU. This is a GREAT way to love your family.

Copyright © Lara Velez, All Rights Reserved

About the Author: Lara Velez is a Christian wife and homeschooling Mother of two. She is a published writer, web designer (http://designedbylara.com), and Mom of Faith (http://momsoffaith.com). She enjoys cooking, writing, scrapbooking, and web design.

FREE Plarn Crochet Barbie Doll Beach Mat and Tote Bag Patterns

As part of my Barbie Doll (Fashion Doll) and Plarn series of patterns & projects, I have come up with a very simple crochet pattern to make a Barbie Doll Beach Mat and Tote Bag.

You will need a size H Crochet Hook and 8-10 plastic shopping bags. This is a quick and easy project to use up some of your bags & to save them from our landfills.

Click Here for a you tube video on how to make plarn.
Click Here for a web site that will teach you how to make plarn.

To Make The Plarn Beach Mat

You will want to chain 44 stitches, SC in the 2nd chain from the hook and in each chain across. Chain 1, turn and SC in each stitch across. You will continue this pattern until you have 11 rows.

To Make The Plarn Beach Tote Bag

This tote bag is made by crocheting 5 rectangular blocks and then simply slant stitching all of the rectangles together to make the tote bag. I made the tote bag larger than a purse because I want it to hold barbies plastic suntan lotion bottle, her towel, hat, sunglasses, etc. You know...barbies come with a bunch of beach themed accessories!

I used a size G crochet hook to make the tote bag and used all simple SC stitches.

You will need to make 2 long side panels:

Chain 8, SC in 2nd chain from hook and in each chain across. Chain 1 and turn, SC in each stitch across, chain 1 and turn. Repeat until you have 4 rows, fasten off, weave in ends.

You will need to make 2 short side panels:

Chain 5, SC in 2nd chain from hook and in each chain across. Chain 1, turn, SC in each stitch across, chain 1 and turn. Repeat until you have 4 rows, fasten off, weave in ends.

You will need to make 1 bottom panel:

Chain 8, SC in 2nd chain from hook, SC in each chain across, Chain 1, turn, SC in each stitch across, chain 1, turn. Repeat until you have 2 rows.

Assembly:

You will simply slip stitch all 4 side panels to the bottom panel of the tote bag and then slip stich up each of the 4 sides to connect them to one another. Fasten off, weave in your ends. For the handle, I just chained 10 and slip stitched each side of the handle to the top of the tote bag.

You can find more FREE Plarn crochet patterns here on my web site by clicking --> HERE

Scrapbooking - Black and White Page Layout with Black & White Photos

Last Summer was a very special summer for my hubby and I because we finally became grandparents to a beautiful little girl. Every summer we spend a lot of time with our family's and last summer was no exception. Since we have a new grandchild, I went nuts with taking a slew of photographs and have been busy getting caught up on my scrapbooking.

While we were at the Jersey Shore, we got into one of those small photo booths on the boardwalk with our little 3 month old granddaughter and got pics! Once I sat down to scrapbook them, I wasn't sure what kind of layout I wanted to do with them. After some thought, I decided to do a simple black and white layout. Everything that is on this 12x12 page is black or white with the exception of the 3 silvertoned brads. Here is how I made my layout page.

I used a solid white 12x12 piece of cardstock for my background and used solid black cardstock to mount my photos. I decided to not cut apart my photo strips and mounted each strip onto the black cardstock and then trimmed it down until I had a 5/8" boarder around both sides and the bottom. For the top boarder on each strip, I made that a 1" boarder so that there would be room for me to punch a hole.

I used a rub-on for my title that says "What I Did This Summer" and stuck that at the top of my page. I then trimmed down black cardstock to 1/4" by 12" and mounted a piece on the top and bottom of my title.

I then mounted my 2 photo strips on the sides. For the center, I made a matching sized black cardstock block and in the center of that is a piece of white cardstock. I decided to make this my journaling block and mounted that strip in the center of my page. At the top of the 2 photo strip blocks, I attached a silvertoned metal brad. I attached another one to the journaling block but at the bottom of it. At the top of the journaling block I used black fiber and just made a bow.

On my journaling block I had a black & silver 3-d camera embellishment and tacked that on. I then did my journaling in my own handwriting and at the bottom of my journaling I rubbed on the word "Enjoy" because we totally enjoyed our summer!

As you can see...its a very simple and clean layout all down in black and white. I was stumped on how to scrap those photo booth pics but I think I solved that problem with this layout and that it turned out beautifully.



Happy Scrapbooking!
Shelly

FREE Plastic Canvas Barbie Doll Table and Rug Patterns

A few days ago I shared my plastic canvas pattern on how to make a Barbie Doll sized chair. Today I am sharing how I made the side table and square rug with you. Both of these projects were made with 14 ct. plastic canvas and Red Heart 4ply yarn.

Plastic Canvas Table Directions:

table top - 19 holes by 19 holes squared
8 legs - 3 holes wide by 18 holes tall

Stitching: I simply used a tent stitch and stitched the top of the table and then the 8 legs. Once done I stitched all 8 legs to my table by joining 2 leg pieces at each of the table's corners. After they are attached using a simple whip stitch, just go around and whip stitch all of your unfinished edges.

Plastic Canvas Accent Rug Directions:

rug piece measures 22 holes by 22 holes squared

Stitching: You can do the stitching in any pattern that you would like but I decided to use a Scotch Stitch. You can find directions on that ---> HERE Once I had the center portion completed, I whip stitched around my unfinished edges.

You can make both of these pieces in just one afternoon.

You can find more free plastic canvas patterns --> HERE

Happy Stitching!

16 Creative Ideas For Repurposing Baby Food Jars Into Crafts

16 Creative Ideas For Repurposing Baby Food Jars Into Crafts

When it comes to frugal crafting, I like to repurpose regular household trash into new craft projects. One of the items I like to use are empty baby food jars. These little jars can be repurposed into many different types of craft projects.

In My Example Project: I simply glued 1/4" wide ribbon around the jar's rim in a animal paw print pattern. I then glued an animal print powder puff to the top along with a black satin ribbon bow.

You can paint them or leave them plain. One of my quick and easy ways of decorating them is to just glue 1/4" wide ribbon around the lids rim and then glue a powder puff or fabric pillow on top. You can accent your powder puff with a satin ribbon bow or leave it plain.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Bath Salt Containers (fill with your favorite homemade bath salts)
2. Bubble Bath and Bath Oils
3. Hold Desk Supplies (staples, paper clips, rubberbands, pencil leads, etc.)
4. Craft them into a pin cushion
5. Hold Sewing Supplies (needles, bobbins, buttons, snaps, etc.)
6. Hold Craft Supplies (buttons, beads, brads, eyelets, etc.)
7. Hold Loose Tea and give it as a gift
8. Candle Holder (pour candle wax into them or just sit a tea light candle inside it)
9. Tooth Pick Holder
10. Party Favors (decorate them for party favors and fill with candy)
11. Blowing Bubbles Solution (make homemade bubble solution for the kids)
12. Mini Candy Dish (fill with small candies like M&M's, Jelly Beans or Tic Tacs)
13. Sand Art (purchase colored sand and let the kids make sand art inside the jars)
14. Homemade Body Butter Containers (fill with homemade body butter and body lotions
15. Lip Balm Tubes Organizer (You can fit 4-5 standard lip balm tubes inside)
16. Gift Jar Container (all kinds of jewelry will fit inside for gift-giving)

Repurposing your empty and clean baby food jars into useful and pretty crafts is a great way to save them from your local landfill. So, the next time you are getting ready to trash an empty baby food jar, think of all of the crafty things you can create with it.

Happy Crafting!

Shelly

This article was written by Shelly Hill and is copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved. You can not reprint this article unless you contact Shelly for permission. Thanks!