Getting Organized

I know my blog has been severely neglected- life just keeps going and blogging doesn't make it up the list- I think laundry has become a full time job in and of itself.... But I had this great idea (that has probably been had by a hundred other people) but it was new to me and so exciting I couldn't wait to share it here!  I saw this "hanging jewelry organizer" and since I own exactly 7 pieces of jewelry besides my wedding ring it looked like the perfect element & embellishment organizer!  It has 33 pockets on each side (that's 66 pockets!) and I was able to clear up so much shelf and desk top space by emptying out little bottles and boxes into the pretty clear pockets.  And the very best thing about it is it's portable!  I can hang it in my "cricut cupboard" (which is my old TV armoire) when I am working out there or haul it back to my bedroom desk when I'm working there.  So fun, it's changing my life already.  I have seen bigger ones (the kind for shoes I think) filled with punches and other tools and I think I need to get one of those now too- it can hang on the outside of my Cricut armoire, or behind my bedroom door.

Halloween Countdown block calendar

A couple weeks ago I got together with my sister-in-laws and we made these block calendars to countdown to Halloween and mine's finally finished!  You can find the instructions HERE.  My sister-in-law Jackie did hers a little different and I love them too:

I've started one for Christmas, and I can't wait to make a birthday one too!  Though that one might need 3 blocks because kids start counting down to their birthdays months in advance...

Kids Wall Art with the Cricut

I've been wanting to do this post for a long time- it's so simple to do and turns out really cute! 

I made this little guy for the boys room by cutting out the silhouette from the A Childs Year Cricut Cartridge and stuck it on some paisley paper and framed it.  Today I got out the Storybook Cricut Cartridge and cut out the owl and butterfly from some floral paper and stuck it on the solid purple and put them in Ribba frames from Ikea. 

Very simple and satisfying, and I can change out the shapes and papers at any time for the cost of the paper! I think it would be cute to do a big monogram too.  The girls were so excited when I hung them in their room. 

If you don't have a Cricut, (or even if you do!) head over to Little Birdie Secrets to get in the running for their Silhouette machine giveaway!  The Silhouette is like the Cricut except BETTER (gasp!) because you don't have to buy cartridges, it can cut any true type font on your computer, including all the fun shaped ones!  So if that interests you, hurry and click HERE because today is the last day to enter!

Tea Party Invites and kids crafting

Miss B is having a tea and swim party this year so we got to make some invitations today!  I cut the tea cup from the A Child's Year Cricut cartridge and then we stuck them to solid cardstock leaving the middle of the cup open so we could slide the "tea bag" card with the information inside.  I didn't want to make a trip to the scrapbook store so we used what I had, so they are all a little different but we love them!

It's way too hot to do anything outside except swim, so the kids have been getting creative- I went through my paper stash and collected scraps for them. Miss B wanted me to show the cards she made:

I especially like the "Be Happy" cards, how true, "be happy and you will have a better life!"  And the pop-ups too!

Miss G created some masterpieces on the Doodle Pro to share: