Read Across America

So this post isn't necessarily a craft post......but here goes!

I always loved Read Across America day as a teacher.  It was always fun to break out Dr. Seuss and use him in the classroom.  I always used Hooray for Diffendoofer Day prior to MSA testing and The Lorax around Earth Day, but RAA gave me a reason to use all of his others for fun activities and crafts.

My last year as a classroom teacher....good ol' 2007.....I taught fourth grade.  Our school in honor of Read Across America was having a Decorate your Door Contest.  Each classroom had to decorate their door with their favorite story.  Well I didn't have a door so I decorated the wall at the entrance to my room.

The kids voted on their favorite story, they chose Oh the Places You Will Go!  Then we decided to make mini hot air balloons for each child.  I took their photos behind a chair and then had them developed....good old 35 mm film days.  Each child cut out their photo and put it in their balloon basket and decorated their balloon to their liking.  We added cotton balls for clouds and string and used cups and strings to make our balloons more realistic and 3-Dimensional.

Then as a class we created a remake of the story using my students as the characters in the story.

Our Door Won!  The kids were so pleased!  I have to say this is one of those teacher projects that I'm most proud of.

So why am I posting this......well I'm addicted to Pinterest and I keep seeing all these great Dr. Seuss ideas and I have to share! =)  It was fun reminiscing and hopefully you enjoyed reading about it. 

More Hair Candy!

I'm really enjoying and getting into making Taylor "bows."  She is loving them too!  Every morning she points to her head and says "Bow."  It's too cute!  I got some more ribbon from the Target Dollar Spot and some more barrettes.  Armed with my hot glue gun, I have really gotten to work!  Here are some of the barrettes I have finished.  There is even a special St. Patrick's Day one!

Supplies

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

St. Patrick's Bow!

From another Angle

Learn how to make your own St. Patrick's Day bow!

Valentine's Treats!

For Valentine's Day I made some treats for all of Taylor's friends at day care and Ms. Karyn!  While they didn't turn out exactly as I had planned they were somewhat cute.  =)    I used Rainbow Goldfish and Peanut M&M's to fill the treats!  I got both of the ideas from Pinterest!  Love that site!

 Tags for Valentine's

Fishing Rods!

Another view!

I Dig You Bag of M&M's for Ms. Karyn!

Original Ideas

Source: thefryfamilyblog.blogspot.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Source: jaihartjustlovelydesigns.blogspot.com via Carrie on Pinterest

I {heart} Pinterest!

So I've been on Pinterest for several months now.  But it seems that in the last 6 weeks it has really taken off.  I simply can't get enough of the website!!!  It's addicting!  I suffer from Pinsomnia quite often.....

Carrie's Simple Definition: Instead of bookmarking a website to a list in your browser, you are making a bookmark (i.e. pin) using an image from that page as a visual bookmark in a gallery (i.e. boards).

I now have over 1,000 pins!  YOWZA!

First time user?  Request an invite or get a friend to invite you......I guarantee if you are on Facebook or Twitter and you put out a message asking to be invited you will have an invite from a friend before too long.  Or you can always go directly to Pinterest and request an invite (this takes a little longer).

Start Small!  I began by following everyone in my friends list.  What my friends were "pinning" would show up when I logged in and if I liked something I would repin.  Occasionally, I would search in the Everything Menu for more.

Branch Out ~ Before you know it, you will be hooked....Now I find myself looking at strangers boards who are pinning things that I am interested in and following those boards.  When you get really comfortable, start pinning things you find online in your travels.  If you download the "Pin It" tool, it makes it so easy!

Don't be afraid to Unfollow!  It's Not Personal!  I unfollow boards all the time.  I know several people who post pictures of "hot guys, fashion, makeup, etc." These are things I won't be repinning so why clog my feed with it, I simply unfollow these particular boards and move along my merry way.

I'm a visual person so Pinterest works well for me, especially as a crafter.  It provides me with a visually appealing way to keep track of all of those FABULOUS craft ideas I come across in my travels online for later use.


Case in Point - Back in October, my daycare provider bought a new home.  I wanted to give her a housewarming gift but money was really tight.  Armed with Pinterest, I found an idea!

And then I implemented it........

I think it turned out pretty well!  =)

It has really helped with keeping track of all of the beautiful card ideas that I find blog hopping TOO!


Pinterest + Google Reader = 1 Very Happy Carrie

If you haven't checked out Pinterest, I strongly urge you to!  But proceed with caution, it is easy to get sucked into!  =)   Pretty soon this will be you!

Happy Pinning!

Barrettes

So normally my crafts are cards.....but tonight I branched out after making two cards, which I will post tomorrow.  My daughter Taylor has grown more hair recently and she loves putting bows in her hair.  She can even say Bow.  It is too cute.  Every morning after she gets dressed she points to her head where her bow goes and says "Bow."

I have always found that they get lost easily and are $4 for 6 of them.  I found an online tutorial and short ribbon spools at the Target Dollar Spot and figured I would give them a try.  They turned out super cute.  I even got the alligator clips in a 25 count bag super cheap and on sale at Hobby Lobby last week!

I have enough ribbon to make 18 more clips.  So for $6 I have 24 bows for T.  Wahoo!

More Valentine's!

Today I worked on two more Valentine's for my special friends who purchased some for their friends/family.  Below are two new designs.  I still have two or three more to work on before I'm through!

Ink:  Real Red, Black Staz On

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red DSP

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, P.S. I Love You

Other: Hearts Embossing Folder, Circle Punch, Scalloped Circle Punch, Rhinestones

Cased from Debra Currier

Ink: Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Black Staz On

Paper: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise DSP, Crumb Cake

Stamps: P.S. I Love You

Other: Border Punch, Heart Punch, Scalloped Circle Punch, Rhinestones

Cased from Jill Hilliard

Valentines & Thank You's

Last night I needed to craft some more since I had an unproductive night the previous evening. I made another Valentine and then I needed 2 thank you's so I made those as well. I'm pretty happy with the results.  I'll  come back and update with stamp supplies later tonight but for now I wanted to get the pictures out.  

Ink: Calypso Coral

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, P.S. I Love you

Paper: Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Other: Hearts Embossing Folder, In Color Brads

Cased from: Debra Currier

Ink: Not Quite Navy

Paper: Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Everyday Enchantment DSP

Punches: Blossom Punch

Other: Polka Dot & Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folders, Framelits

Cased and Modified from Jill Hilliard

Ink: Island Indigo, Pool Party

Paper: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Pool Party

Stamps: Perfectly Penned, Mixed Bunch

Other: In Color Brad, Ribbon, Stripes Embossing Folder, Blossom Punch

Cased from Shari Dudek

Will You Be My Valentine?

So I've been stamping some Valentine's cards using ideas that I have pinned on Pinterest.....my new favorite site.  Last night was great!  I made two cards that turned out so cute, that I didn't vary the original design at all!  Tonight, well scroll down, because that is a different story.

To View This Card's Inspiration Click Here

Ink: Real Read, Black Staz On, Baja Breeze

Stamps: Outlined Expressions, P.S. I Love You

Punches, Heart, Border Punch

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, Real Red, Whisper White

To View This Card's Inspiration Click Here

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White

Punches: Heart

Embellishments: Stitched Ribbon, Bakers Twine

So tonight, I was all excited to stamp again.  I saw this really cute idea and saw it as a great opportunity to use some of my new items I just got in my recent order.

Cute Right?  Yes!!  I don't have the little heart embosslit, but I had a plan.  And I was off!

I cut my paper, started do use my new edgelit and embossing folders.....and that is where it went downhill quickly.  The edgelits kept sliding before I could get them into the Big Shot, My paper wouldn't line up, I embossed them in the wrong directions.....you name it, it happened.  This is how it ended......

Stamp Smudged!

Edge of paper torn up by Bakers Twine.

From a distance, it looks ok......

When I stamp I always make two cards.  This is the other one, not even going to try again.

So onward I went to make another card.  This one turned out much better.  Different flavor then your traditional valentines, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

To View This Card's Inspiration Click Here

Ink: Basic Black, Pool Party, Lucky Limade, Calypso Coral, Regal Rose

Stamps: P.S. I Love You, I {Heart} Hearts

Punches: Word Window, Label

Paper, Lucky Limade, Crumb Cake, Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DSP

Embellishment: Knockoff Pool Party Ribbon, Everyday Enchantment DSP Brad

So apparently, I was a little off.....now that I look at the pictures I see that I used the wrong color paper for the Be My Valentine sentiment on the card.....so I'll be fixing that sometime soon!

Hopefully tomorrow night I'll get two more card designs done and not have more frustrations.  I did learn a good bit about some of my new tools this evening.  Hopefully this new knowledge will help me to make better progress tomorrow night.