Easter Centerpiece honors Earth Day, too

In an effort to recycle, we got creative at our house this Easter.  The following centerpiece uses 10 empty toilet paper rolls to form the shape.  Each one is wrapped in beautiful floral paper I got as a door prize at the Scrapbook Expo.  The rims are edged with ribbon scraps.  The center of each roll is stuffed with left over tissue paper from a recent birthday.  I coated the tops of each roll with fast drying glue and sprinkled shredded paper pieces over the top. 

Then, using my Cricut, I cut multiple sizes of flowers and layered them on skewers.  I have never been fond of glitter, but I borrowed my daughter's Stickles glitter glue to give these flowers dimension and glitz.  With pictures of each child in half of the flowers, this centerpiece can be broken down and used in a wonderful scrapbook page after the season!

Jeremy Rocks

There are so many things for girls that sometimes I feel like my poor son is scrapbook-neglected.  So to show him that I love him and think he "Rocks", I made a 20"x24" canvas for his room.

I used chipboard letters, tags, transparencies, and lots of texture for this piece.  To add dimension and "grunge" it up "guy-style", I crumpled, rippedn and tore the paper and inked it for a distressed look.  I also used textured cardboard for backgrounds for pics and large paperclips to secure pics to the canvas.  Ribbon can be manly as long as you don't tie it in bows!
When I presented it to him, I wasn't sure what his reaction would be, but he proudly hangs it in his room!

Family Canvas

When Michael's has their canvases on sale, I like to buy them and create personal art work.  In this one, I used a 20"x24" canvas painted in green.  Then using scraps from a Quick Quotes grab bag I bought at the Scrapbook Expo, I went to work.

The nice thing about canvas art is that you can go beyond the edges of the frame and make things more dimensional.  I used large letters and let them hang over the top.  There are also textures of burlap, ribbon, and transparencies.
This piece now hangs in my living room and looks great!  When I need to change out the pictures, I just lift the transparency over each child's pic.  But I think I will just make another one with new pics!

Family 2 page layout

When the family gets together there are 17 grandchildren and many opportunities for memories to be made.

This second page of this layout actually uses the backside of the Rock On pocket page and the other half of the basket-weave to make this pocket.  I used ribbon to make a binding that secured the pockets to the front and back of the page.  This gives more room for the pocket to expand and fit the mini-accordian books that hold up to 6 pics and journaling.
Page 1 has a mini canvas with picture that lifts up to reveal another accordian pull-out book and additional journaling.

Here it is with the accordian pulled open.

Rock On layout

 

Hubby and I went to Harry Potter World at Universal and stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel for our 16th Anniversary. So many pictures!  

The page on the right is of Hubby and I @ Hard Rock Cafe. 

The page is a starburst from the right corner using 5 different but coordinating papers.  Picture is secured in a frame and held to the page with a ribbon.

This page has a basket-weave pocket to hold all of the pics.  

Pictures were sorted by landscape and portrait and then put on paper tabs layered from 12" to 7" in height.

Holds up to 24 pictures using front and back of tabs.

What's in a Name?

When people find out I have 6 kids, they often ask me how I do it.  I reply jokingly it is the 3 P's:  prayer, prozac, and pina coladas.  I didn't realize how much those sentiments really do define the spiritual, physical and emotional aspects of my life.

Prayer: a personal communication or petition addressed to God.  As a Christian, I want to be in communication with my loving Lord.  I need that opportunity to bring to Him my requests, thanks and praise.  Plus, since we are told to "pray without ceasing", I can just tell my family I am praying when they see me talking to myself.


Prozac:   I was diagnosed with depression in my 20's and take medication to keep me in a good mood.  I hate that I have to take a pill to make me nice, but that is the way my body works.  If I don't take it, my mood alters and my physical well-being is effected.  Just like a diabetic needs insulin to keep his body well, my body needs seratonin to keep me well.  It is as important as a healthy diet and excercise.  Moms set the speed of the family and if we slow down the family will, too.  So I take my pill everyday knowing I am doing it for my family.

Pina Coladas:  I drink mine without alcohol, so I think they are really smoothies, but I needed another P-word.  I use Pina Coladas as an example of taking time to have fun.  Fun is anything you find enjoyable or amusing.  I happen to find my children enjoyable and my husband amusing, so I am surrounded by fun.  But I think the spirit of the definition is to be active in your enjoyment and amusement.  Often as "Mom", I feel like I need to be supervising the "fun" to make sure it doesn't get out of hand.  As a result, I am missing out on making wonderful memories with my family.  So what if it gets out of hand once in a while...jump in and enjoy!

These are my "P's" of mind that give me peace of mind...K