Canvas, please!

I just love the look of canvas...

Canvas People is offering their free canvas. It is a free 8 x 10 Canvas and I believe my shipping was $15. That is a steal!

My first one was this I love us print.


















You can find the prints here free to download and they come in 8 different colors so you are bound to find one that matches your decor! Or one for a Christmas present.... oh I love these colors!

My second purchase from Canvas People I upgraded to an 11 x 14. I did have a balance and I had it framed but it was well worth it!












I recently purchased this Groupon for a 16 x 20 canvas. It was $39 which included the shipping and then when you sign up with a new email address (and I guess not purchase for a while) Groupon sent me a $15 gift to use on my next purchase. So $125 value for.....$24 - SCORE! I just ordered it tonight so I will send you a pic when I get it and find a new home for it!

So what are you waiting for? Head over to Canvas People and score your own deal here! 

I heart coffee

That was the first thing I thought this morning. My son was up at 4:15 am this morning. How is it that he can be up from 4:15 - 6 am and then when we wake him up at 7 he is bright eyed and bushy tailed? And I feel like a freight train has hit me....ugh. Hence {I <3 coffee}

I have so many of the Starbucks huggies and I keep saving them because I just know I can make something out of them. I ran across this idea at eighteen25.

Thanks a Latte

Go visit their website for the download and the instructions. I love this because it is simple and they even have the printable for you! I make these and keep them on hand for last minute gifts. If you haven't figured it out yet, I am so game for anything that is easy peasy. With a 2 year old, I need quick and simple. This is right up my alley.

This weekend I was working on a project that I just have to put a couple of finishing touches on and then I will share it with you. Here is a tease for right now. Trust me you will want to see the finished product!

Come back soon! Have a great day!

97 Years Young

Well, today is my Grandma's 97th birthday. I am so lucky to have her in my life. She has taught me so much over the years. This has caused me to reflect on all the memories I have of her both as a child and as an adult. We have done lots of family mementos over the years in celebration of the Tallman's.




We had a Tallman Family Cookbook that took my dad 10 years to produce. Sorry Dad had to say it! We love it and use it ALL the time:)

  For my grandma's 95th birthday, I ordered a HUGE family tree poster and cut out leaves for each of the 75 aunts, uncles, cousins and their children. Emily, my sister-in-law, helped arrange and write the names on the leaves. All the birds are grandma's children (my aunts and uncles), the dark green leaves are her grandchildren (my cousins) and the light green leaves are her great-grandchildren. I used my bigshot to cut out all the birds and leaves.

Then, Emily took the handmade version and digitally recreated it for our entire family so they could have their own copies. I love it and have a copy hanging in my hallway.

My son passed out on the couch
 as I am writing this post....awww!

Also for her 95th, I compiled family memories and pics of each family. This was quite a task but well worth the effort. By far this is one of my favorite scrapbooks ever!

Click here to view this photo book larger

This is what I sent her for her birthday. I am working on a Reunion photobook so that will be a belated birthday present ;) Gotta love birthdays that never end. Lisa Bearnson has her own photobook collection and till September 30th they are on sale. Go check them out > click here.

This is what I sent her for the time being. I took all our professional photos and put them in a 4x6 album.

I used the tags from the post here & stapled
ribbon to the top and wrote sentiments
on the back to my grandma.

I love how the ribbons peak out at the top!

Since I didn't have exactly enough pictures, I printed quotes that I have downloaded from different blogs. I feel like the quotes bring added interest to the album and reflect feelings that are unsaid in the photos. 

Here are some of the blogs where I downloaded quotes: Becky Higgins, Hello, Good Gravy!. I will post more links as I find them !

Happy Birthday Grandma! I soo wish I was there with you to celebrate. We love you so much! 

Buddies 4 Ever

Lately, I have been reminded how quickly time flies. My son Kyle, who is 2 1/2, seems to change daily. Each day he learns new words and does new things. My hubby and I were just talking about how we couldn't wait for him to start talking.... now he goes a mile a minute. Too cute. I love you mummy. Oh he makes my heart melt. I just can't scrap it all fast enough!
He has his best bud, Dom that lives next door and surprisingly they don't ever get sick of each other. They are at daycare together all day and then they both come home and want to go to each other's houses. So I had to capture these moments in a mini album all about Dom and Kyle.

I got the Crayola mini album chipboard and paper from Michael's Craft store for $1 each. I used Scotch glue to adhere the paper. Then I sanded the edges and inked them up. I adhered the pics and the stickers and then Mod Podged the entire album. I knew little hands would be touching it so I wanted to make sure he couldn't peel off the stickers!

                      Click here to view these pictures larger

I used my Crop-o-dile to punch the holes for the ring and to punch holes through the chipboard Disney Mater and Lightening McQueen. The yellow "Laugh" is actually a flexible magnet that was $1 in the clearance bins at Michael's. I then raided my ribbon stash to tie around the binder ring. Ahhh I love the organization..........Roy G BIV Makes me happy ;) 

Hope you are having a great week!

Linked up to these other blogs. Check them out! 

Random Acts of Kindness

My son loves lollipops. He sticks out his tongue and puts the pop on his tongue to get a taste. It takes FOREVER for him to get through a Dum Dum pop because he hasn't learned to put the whole thing in his mouth. How come everything at this age is adorable?

So when I saw this download, I knew I had to make these for his daycare class.



All you need are:
- Lollipops (I used Dum-Dums because they are smaller for 2 year olds)
- Lollipop printable
- Scissors
- Pencil or some other thin tool like a water color paintbrush
- Basket
- Paper filler or tissue paper

1. First, print out the flowers and cut them out.
2. Then use the end of your scissors to poke a hole in the center and insert the pop.
3. Take your pencil or I used the end of a thin paintbrush and curl the ends of the petals. This just added a little interest for me. I made 20 multipled by 8 petals was 160 petal curls! UGH! But I do this in front of the TV as I watch shows so it isn't as painful as it sounds! 
4. Line your basket or pot with tissue paper or shredded stuffing. Green would have been predicable so I used white tissue paper and put pink shredded filler on top. 
5. Then I arranged the pops into a bouquet.

NOTE: I first tried to arrange them in a $1 rectangle pot with styrofoam ball cut in half. I found that the popsicle sticks were too short and since I had 20 pops the pot wasn't big enough once they were arranged. This would have been perfect if I had less.

I love this idea because it reinforces sharing and patience. My son wanted them NOW. I had to keep telling him it was for his friends at school and that he needed to share. No special occasion just a sweet surprise and cost me close to nothing. I had bought the bag of pops a while ago (under $3). The basket and tissue paper I had on hand. Can't beat that.

I hope this brings a glimmer of sunshine on this dreary rainy day to the little kids. Hopefully for the ladies at daycare sake, all the kids eat these way quicker than my son does! These little treats might last all day!

Spread some random acts of kindness today!

Tag Tuesday - Halloween

Sorry I have been MIA for the past week. Our sunroom progress is continuing and then just for fun our water heater leaked and needed to be repaired. Top that off with a tough week for my real job and I was capped. No worries! I am back and have tons of ideas to share thanks to my sister-in-law. Thanks Em!

So my hubby got all my fall/Halloween bins down from the attic. Can you believe that September is almost OVER? So happy for the colors and cooler weather it brings. Time is just flying by though and when you have a two and a half year old that makes you want to savor each moment.

I have been thinking about Halloween goodie bags for daycare. I can't wait till the last minute anymore since my time is occupied with my little munchkin. So I was all over these cute Halloween tags! I am going to incorporate these into my goodies. Will share the results of those later!

Anders ruff

I had these tags saved from Anders Ruff but when I went back to her blog to link to the location, I couldn't find them. If you want them they were free, just email me @ scrapnchic4@yahoo.com and I will send you the file. While I was perusing her site I found awesome ideas and door signs that match these tags - SCORE! Go check here and here. While you are there, click on the Free tab at the top of her blog. Tons of goodies there!

Good Gravy! Designs

Good Gravy! is one of my favs. I have linked to her before.  Some of the things she posts about her kids cracks me up! She has a DIY printables button also. Check it out!

Great stuff coming this week. Check back often....ENJOY!

Thrift Store Treasures

I love going to the thrift store and finding hidden treasures with potential. On a recent trip I found this beauty >>>

I paid $4.97 for something that was $29.95 at Target and the price tag is still on it! So much potential here! I envision this with butterflies all over it! Still deciding if I should spray paint it. I am addicted to spray paint!

I also like to pick up glass vases to have on hand for impromptu presents. These are the same vases that you pay $10+ when you have flowers delivered. I pay $.25 each, go to the grocery store to buy flowers and add a ribbon on the vase - DONE. So much better than handing someone store bought flowers. They won't know the difference and I have found that people don't like to arrange flowers - MOM. ;) So help them out by doing it for them!

Here is another project I picked up at the Thrift store. I paid $1.97 and in Michael's I saw these for $5+ depending on size. My vision was to paint something on it to add to my display shelves. I was perusing Michael's and found the stencil "Home". Though I don't like jumping on the Chinese symbol bandwagon, it was a perfect fit and interesting. Add to cart. $3.29 and I will use this again. The spray paint I had on hand of course! {Claret Wine}

I had to be careful when spray painting because the force of the air moved the stencil. I also found that even though I used a dark spray it just wasn't crisp or bold enough for me. So I took a black Sharpie and traced the stencil to give it definition. Here is my finished product.

I just love the natural elements of nature. Viola! What treasures are you finding?

Also in the picture > The frames were on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond for less than $5 each. The ladder is old school Potterybarn (also clearance and I worked there so 40% off SCORE!). The glass vase and flowers - The Dollar Tree. 

Tag Tuesday

So here is Tag Tuesday on Wednesday! Is anyone else a day off? Having a holiday in the work week throws my whole schedule off. The good part is that I was able to sneak away and chip away at my Christmas list. Yes, I am working on my Christmas gifts already! I am on a mission to have them all bought/made and wrapped by Thanksgiving. Ok, well how about all bought/made not wrapped :}. I am trying to make all my gifts this year. I feel that it means so much more because of all the time and thought that goes into it. So since I have been planning for gift giving, these tags really caught my eye. I am a sucker for anything that says handmade....rub-ons, stamps, stickers, tags. 

Personalize these @ Creative Mamma

http://tipjunkie.com/ is a great place to go to get free printables and gift ideas. She links to other blogs so you can easily find other blogs that will peak your interest. I get lost in blog world........

Handmade Tags

So print these out, grab your scissors, punch holes and wrap some twine around them and you have them all ready to attach to a special gift. One thing I have learned is to always have a stockpile of gifts on hand for a last minute gift.
Go get lost and Enjoy! 

Scrabble Family Frames

Well, the one benefit of the hurricane was that my cabin fever was kept at bay with my long wish list of craft projects. One quick project that anyone {and I do mean ANYONE} can do! These make great gifts - or you just might want to keep it for yourself.

Here is what you need:

• 8" x 10" frame
• a piece of scrapbook cut to 8" x 10"
• Scrabble tiles {I purchased mine on eBay}
• Glue - I used Zip Dry Glue or Scotch Glue - you could use a hot clue gun but I am allergic to those things!
• Any embellishments you have on hand

Take the glass out of the frame and assemble your frame with the scrapbook paper where your picture would be.

Select your tiles for your family's names - Don't forget the last name!

So the hardest part was linking all the names together so that they fit in the 8x10 frame. It amazed me how many ways I could rearrange them!

One of my frames I actually spray painted white to match my neighbor's theme. I liked the fact that the frame had letters also. That really tied into the Scrabble theme.

Once you have them arranged and centered where you want them to appear, it is time to glue. Glue each tile down. All of the recommended glues dry clear so you don't need to worry about leakage.

Once they are dry you can either add your embellishments for a 3D effect or simply reassemble with your glass in the front. If you do this, you will need to take out one of the cardboard fillers since the scrabble tiles are bulkier than a picture.

Viola!

Linked up here > > 

Tag Tuesday - Library Tags

Hello there! What a week! Earthquake, hurricane and all the drama that comes with both of those.....I have to admit that normalcy is underrated. My hubby and I were more exhausted on vacation! Since I was confined to the indoors, I did catch up on some craft and scrapbooking projects...can't wait to share.

www.tortagialla.com

Library tag, pocket and card template

Print these for your kids to play library with their books or print them on patterned paper to use on scrapbook layouts. Kyle's first trip to the library needs to be scrapped and I will be printing one of these for the page!
Enjoy!

Tag Tuesday - Summer

Cannot believe that it is the end of summer! Where did it go? And I am not even tan! Sorry for the lack of posts: not only am I soaking up the last rays of summer but the beach house didn't have internet until today - how have I survived???? Probably a good thing to be unplugged for a couple of days.
In celebration (or mourning) of summer coming to a close, I thought I would post some summer tags. I already have some ideas brewing on how I can use these on scrapbook layouts for our beach vacation :)

freeprettythingsforyou

chickabug

shabbychiccrafts

living locurto

Please keep your fingers crossed that Irene doesn't ruin the end of my family's and friend's summer plans!