Feelin the love!!

Just a quick post.. I just finished the cupcakes I had to make for my daughter's first grade Valentine party.. Phew!! I do like the heart candies on top of that yummy buttercream!!Today are the class parties at school and I have to say, I'm glad it's over! Just thought I'd share some of the Valentines I made for the kids.. Just some scrapbook paper and I cut out felt hearts, sewed and stuffed them with a saftey pin on the back so the kids can wear them at school.. they turned out pretty cute and like I said, I am GLAD they are done!! :)

A quickie!!

Just popping in to share a quick Christmas project I finished last night.. Grabbed one of my old windows and some scrap paper and along with my Cricut machine, I put a simple design in each pane and viola!! Quick christmas decor!! I just adhered the paper with glue dots, so I can take them off if I want to use the window for something else later!!

Phew.... Finally!!!

Phew!! Finally school is finished today and teacher gifts are finished!!! Next weekend is my girls dance recital and then I can finally take a breath and summer can begin!!! I have been so busy with end of school events and gift crafting, I have not been the best blogger or homemaker.. now I am excited to have some time to tackle my "to do" list!! Last night I made some banana cupcakes for the teacher and bus drivers in these cute cupcake holder boxes. It took some time, but I am pleased with how they turned out. The pictures aren't the best quality, but I was rushing to take pics this morning and the light was not very good!!

I also made some altered notebooks for the teachers... here is a sample!!

I will be posting on a more regular basis now that my teacher gifts are done and school is out!!

Summer Scrappin!!

I am so excited!! Today is the first day that the summer idea book from Close To My Heart is available!! As you may know, I am a Close To My Heart consultant and this idea book as well as any Close To My Heart scrapbooking and stamping supplies can be purchased through me here.

Here is a sample of the great new products and ideas featured in the new idea book!!

This is the new animal ccokies line of papers and stamps. I just got mine in the mail and can't wait to scrap my baby's first birthday with these cute papers!! I even got the cute memory cube to alter!! I'll share what I came up with when the project is completed!!

This is a sample of the new line, Moondoggie!!

And the baby boy line, Tinkerin!!

I also ordered the new alterable board books as pictured above and can't wait to try them out!! If you have never heard of or are interested in Close To My Heart products.. visit my website at www.rachelmiller.myctmh.com or you can email me at : rachelmiller@myctmh.com

We have a winner!!

We have a winner in my mom's blog party travel mug giveaway!! The winner is Melanie of Whimisical Creations!! Check out her blog it is adorable and she has a wonderful Etsy Shop!! Melanie.. and email will be going out to you to get your mailing info!!

I have had a busy weekend and haven't been able to post. I cleaned up my basement scraproom a bit as well as worked on some scrap projects. I got this cute Orange frame for $1.00 at Michaels last week and spruced it up a little with scraps in my scraproom.
I have started painting my guest bathroom downstairs and it is taking me a bit more time than painting used to with three kids in the house. Thank Goodness spring break is over and school is back in session. Now during the day I only have one little one at home during the day and maybe I can finish that bathroom!! Before and after pics are soon to come, I promise!! I DID repaint and distress a dresser I have in my upstairs hallway. Once the hallway is painted I think it will pop. It wasn't painted before and I bought it last year at a garage sale for $2.00 to hold all of my towels since this house doesn't have a linen closet. It works well. I painted it and distressed it and I think it turned out well.

Last week I was on a mission and completely scrubbed and cleaned the girls room and the toy room. Needless to say, one week later both rooms look like I never even touched them!! I did manage to sew some curtains for the toy room and I scrapped some ABC wall decorations to give the room a little style. Maybe one day it will be picked up enough to actually post pics of the WHOLE room!!! A girl can dream, can't she??
I did also hang some curtains in the baby's room. I had been looking for SOMETHING for his room ( we have terrible windows.. the more coverings over them the better! ) I found this curtain for $ 4.99 at Goodwill. Not my first choice for a window covering, but it works and it was cheap. believe it or not I chose the colors of red and blue for his room and it is getting hard to find stuff for little boys rooms in those colors!! Huh... Anyway, I also got these cute camping lanterns for Jayson's room at Goodwill for $1.99 each. I grabbed both, one was red and one was green. For now they are on a shelf in his room, but they may move. Once I get Jayson's dresser painted, his room wil basically be done for now... but nothing is EVER finished, really, is it???

I'm in the Zone..

the crafting zone, that is!! I have been a busy bee finishing some long overdue projects and sprucing up some items I've had around the house. I did this cute little recipe box / organizer last night and I will be listing it on Etsy soon..

I was also very annoyed at all of the magnet clutter on my refrigerator, so I dug out this old wall basket, painted it a light blue and spruced it up to corral all of my magnets on the fridge. I think it looks kinda cute, and much cleaner!!

I had leftover scrap paper from my recipe box and decided to cover an old red Matted pic that was in my closet. I still may paint the frame, but it already looks better. Sorry about the pics, I left the glass in the pic because I was too lazy to take it out to take the pics!!

I just love this paper... it's glittered.. I know you can't see it in the pics. Yesterday I made a trip to town and hit Joann's and Michaels and I struck out at JoAnn's, but hit the jackpot at Michaels!! I was looking for plastic Easter eggs for a craft project and JoAnn's was completely out!! So the kids and I hit the burger King drive through and drove on to Michaels. They had some GREAT deals and their dollar section was loaded with things I needed. I got these cute magnets in the dollar section and later I will post some pics of the other clearance items I got.. UNBELIEVABLE!!! I am going to head back there this weekend to get some gifts for upcoming birthday gifts.

Now I am anxiously awaiting my UPS man for a large Close to My Heart scrapbooking delivery!! Ya HOOOOO!!!! Remember.. tonight I will be drawing a name in the travel mug giveaway, so leave a comment to be entered to win a cute travel mug!!

Found my Memory..

Well, I have been MIA the last couple of days because my 4 year old decided to hide my memory card in her red vinyl spiderman wallet.... I have been searching high and low so that I could take some pics and post on my blog!! Thank Goodness she remembered ( finally) where the wallet was!! The girls and I painted some wood easter eggs this weekend and had a blast, so now I have to hit the stores this weekend to get more for them to paint. I did the chick and ladybug egg, and I have to admit it was a lot of fun! I did get some work done this weekend, some scrapbooking and sewing and now today I will be working on cleaning the toy room... heaven help me!! I did finish this good will find for my scrapbook room. I haven't put anything in it, but I got this mail holder for .99 and her is the before and after..
Before...

And after....

I love how it turned out... helps me feel so creative!! I made some tuna noodle casserole this morning for dinner tonight and for thoae of you who enjoy tuna noodle casserole, I thought I'd share my recipe for it. The recipe was one my mom always made, so the exact measurements are long gone, so I am going to give you an approximation and you can change it to suit your taste!! I have tried many recipes ( this has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid ) and so far I believe nothing beats this simple recipe!!

Mom's Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 bag egg noodles, 1/4 c. Mayo, 2 C. Cheddar Cheese, 1 can cream of celery soup, Milk, Celery, onion, 1 can or envelope of tuna

Cook noodles until al dente.. in a large casserole mix the cooked noodles, 1 can of tuna, and your veggies with a large scoop or about 1/4 c. Mayo. I use celery and onion, but you can also add peas, chopped pimento.. whatever suits your taste. In a small saucepan, combine your can of soup and 1 can of milk. heat this up until combined and then add your cheese to make a cheese sauce. once the cheese has melted, pour over your noodles and mix well. Heat on a 350 degree oven for about 30 min or until heated through. Casserole can be topped with crushed potato chips, bread crumbs, french fried can onions... I leave mine plain but it turnes out well with topping as well!! Enjoy!!

It's a Spring Thing!!

Today I have been trying to get some spring cleaning started... I've only tackled behind the refrigerator...lol. I did find some large dust bunnies back there, but they weren't the kind of bunnies I think of when I think of spring. Definitely not for cuddling with!! Last night I was working on my craft room in the basement, that may take a month to organize in itself!! I found this cute spring dress of my daughter's, she wore it the easter that she was two, and I've never been able to part with it, so I hung it from this shelf. I think it looks ok for now! I also put up this old shelf that has lost it's pegs and was destined for the garbage pile, but I figured I'd give it one more chance in my craft room. I need to fill in all of the holes, or get new pegs, but we'll worry about that later. I hung a baby quilt from my daughter, Natalia that I also have never been able to part with and I think all of these colors add such a girly touch to my girly room!
It's nowhere near finished, but I thought I'd share my progress!! I did get started on a spring banner I may or may not keep for myself. I need to string some ribbon and add a few embellishments, but for now it sits on my piano waiting for my inspiration!! I may add it to my etsy store... but I just love banners, so we'll see!

I would've taken pics of the spring dust bunnies, but I may just save that for later... stay tuned!!

I'm Jumping in...

Christmas / Winter 12x12 pages...

Baby Boy Album using Cosmo Cricket Happy Days Paper and embellishments!!

Turned out very cute, I must admit!!

Well.. here goes nothing!! My first blog entry..so bear with me!! Just thought I'd share what Iworked on all day. I have to raise money for Christmas for the three kids and so I've jumped back into selling on Ebay. Tonight I worked on scrapbooking items and basically ignored the rest of my home!! Hope to get more done tomorrow. Hope you like!!