My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software {GIVEAWAY & Free Printable!}

I have never really gotten into scrapbooking, but I have recently been interested in digital scrapbooking.  It seems so much easier and more practical when all my photos are digital, and there is no mess to clean up (I have plenty of other crafting messes to deal with!). 

I was so excited when My Memories contacted me about trying out their digital scrapbooking software!  It was so easy to download the software (you can download it or have it shipped) and get started!  My Memories offers lots of free and paid kits that you can download to get papers and embellishments.  You can also use any other digital scrapbooking kits you may have downloaded elsewhere!

In no time at all I had made this Christmas printable (that you can download for free! Just right click and save.) and page with my husband and I from last Christmas.   The software is very easy to use and doesn't take long to get used to!  They even have templates to use so all you have to do is add pictures (the snowflake page was a template)!

And in the Christmas spirit, My Memories is letting me giveaway a copy of their software to one of you all!  To enter you first need to be a follower of this blog (just click "Join This Site" on the right side).  And then leave a comment for each one of the following (for one entry each):

1. Visit the My Memories website and comment which digital scrapbooking pack you would download first!
2. Have a friend enter the giveaway (just have them comment who sent them)
3. Share the giveaway/blog post on Facebook
4. Follow the My Memories blog
5. Follow My Memories on Facebook

The giveaway will close on Saturday December 3rd, 2011 at midnight CST.  If you don't win the giveaway, you can still get the My Memories Suite software for a discounted price!  Just be sure to watch for the announcement of the winner...the code will be given then!   Just a tip..the My Memories software would be a great Christmas gift for the scrapbooker or crafty person in your life! 

Thanksgiving Recap

Wow! It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is now gone and Christmas is fast approaching!  We went back to KY for about a week and a half for the holiday.  It was a great trip back and we were quite busy!  We spent most of our time looking for a rental house (and we found one!), spending time with family and friends and eating lots of yummy food!  I also acquired a cold, so lots of rest was involved too.  I had planned on posting and crafting while we were there, but that didn't happen.  But I have some exciting things to share...including a giveaway tomorrow!!  So be sure to come back and enter (and share with your friends)!!

Pinterest Recipes I've Tried

Although I have a lot of recipe pins on Pinterest, I haven't made most of them (yet!).  But I thought I would share the ones I have and let you know what I thought.

Mexican Crock Pot Soup
The Pin: can of rotel, can of corn, can of black beans (drained & rinsed), 2 frozen chicken breasts, 8 oz cream cheese, 1 packet dry ranch dressing, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon chili powder. Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook 6-8 hours. Shred chicken, and enjoy!
My Take: Delicious!  I topped with sour cream and ate with tortilla chips.  It is pretty thick so I would recommend filling an empty can from the recipe of water (or milk) and adding that while it cooks.  Also, if you aren't big on spicy food, either omit the chili powder or use just a dash.

Crock Pot Potato Soup
My Take: It was pretty good!  I didn't have the exact amount of the ingredients so I improvised a bit and it still turned out pretty well.  I also added the bacon and green onions (chives actually) and let it cook for about 30-60 minutes before serving so the flavors mixed well.  I would definitely recommend this recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
I was craving something pumpkin and this seemed easy enough!
My Take:  Absolutely delicious!  But it makes too much for 2 people (it makes a 9x13 worth).  We are still eating it!  It would be perfect for Thanksgiving.

Reese Cup Bars
My all time favorite candy is Reese's, so anything peanut butter and chocolate catches my eye! 
My Take:  Very easy and delicious!  But again, made too much for Brett and I.  They also dried out quickly (we kept them in the fridge as they were best cold). I would recommend them for a gathering or to cut the recipe in half (or even half again).

Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Brett loves anything buffalo flavored so I thought these would be a big hit.
My Take:  They were pretty delicious, but way too spicy for me (thanks to pregnancy)!  I could only eat one so Brett used the leftovers on pita bread to make a pizza.  That I tolerated a little better, but only a small piece!  I think it was too spicy because we used hot sauce instead of buffalo sauce though...oops!  So don't make the mistake I did!

Corn Cakes with Tomato Avocado Relish
I love crab cakes (and Tuna Cakes) so I thought we would give these a try. 
My Take: Ehhh, these were okay.  I didn't make the tomato avocado relish though, I just put avocado on top.  The cake by itself was too bland so it needs something on top and definitely the ranch to moisten them up.  We probably won't be making these again.

What's your favorite pinterest recipe?

Fall Mantel {DIY Projects}

So this is a tad late, considering I am taking down my fall decorations this week and replacing them with Christmas decor!!  But better late then never, right?  Since we are only in this apartment for six months (less than two left!!) I haven't been big on decorating.  To me there's no point in pulling out all of my decorations (that I packed up reallllly well) to have to pack them up again.  But since we actually have a mantel (that doesn't have a TV on it) I can't leave that bare!  Here's what I did with the decor I have year round (that the movers packed up and unpacked).  I also added two DIY projects-the yarn wreath and fabric pumpkins.

To make the pumpkins I loosely followed this tutorial. But they are very simple to make.  Take a roll of toilet paper, wrap a piece of newspaper around that, stuffing the edges in the roll opening.  Take a fat quarter sized (18"x21") piece of fabric and wrap that around the roll the same way you did the newspaper.  There's no right way to do this, I just made sure to keep the fabric folds tighter so it kept a round-ish shape.  I did have to trim some of the corners of fabric off to get it all into the roll.  Now for the stem.  You could use a real stick, but I didn't feel like wandering around our apartment complex looking for sticks so i improvised!  I took 3 q-tips, hot glued them together and wrapped brown felt around that.  Then I finished them off with a green felt leaf!

Cost: $.88 (or FREE if you have everything!)  I had the fabric and felt on hand and picked up a 4 pack of cheap toilet paper at Kroger for $.88 (we use more expensive toilet paper so I wasn't about to use that for a craft project! haha!). 

To make the wreath I wrapped a wreath form with yarn, securing it with hot glue every few wraps around.  To cover up the wreath form I did some overlapping too.  Then I made some fall flowers out of felt and hot glued those on.   To hang it I wrapped some brown satin ribbon around the wreath.

Cost: yarn - $2.50 at Joann's + wreath form - $1.80 (normally $2.99 and used a 40% coupon at Joann's) = about $4.30  (I had the felt and ribbon on hand, and have yarn left over).

Up next, Christmas decorations!!

Book Page Canvas {Tutorial}

Book Page Canvas {Tutorial}

Like many other bloggers, I love book page projects!  Here's on that I made using a Goodwill canvas and a tutorial to make your own!

Supplies:
Canvas, any size (mine was $3 from Goodwill)
Book pages ($.50 for a book from Goodwill)
Tape
Mod Podge
Paint brush
Scissors

Total Cost: $3 (give or take $1-2 depending on what you have on hand)


Time to Make: 30-60 minutes

Now the fun part...
 1. Gather your supplies.  This is the canvas and books that I used.  I have nothing against the National Cathedral, but it just isn't quite my style!

2. Next, tear out the book pages.  I used dictionary pages and some from the paperback on the stack above.  The smaller and lighter pages are from the paperback and have dates on them (from a diary).  I decided to use dates that were special to Brett and I (birthdays, anniversary) to make it  more personalized.  Arrange your book pages on the canvas however you would like.  There really is no right way!  Just make sure that the edges are covered.

3. The tricky part of this project is getting the book pages adhered to the canvas.  I knew that once I arranged them I didn't want to have to try and lift the pages to get under them to the canvas.  So I used double sided tape to tape the pages together to make one big piece of paper.  This way you can get to the whole canvas.

4.  Next, cover the canvas with mod podge.  I took the easy route and just poured it on and spread it out with a foam brush.

5.  While the mod podge is still wet, put the book pages on the canvas.  Make sure it is even with the edges before you put it down because once you do, you could rip the pages if you try to move it (yes, I figured this out the hard way!).  Press down lightly on the pages to make sure it's stuck on there good.

6.  Now start to put mod podge under all of the pages that are on top of other pages.  While you are doing this you will also put a layer over the pages on the top. 

 

7.  Make sure you put mod podge on the edges too.  When you get the edges covered fold the edges down like you would when wrapping a present.

When you are done with the edges, let it dry and trim any excess book pages off the back.  You are done!!  If you want you could add embellishments to the front...rosettes, glitter silhouettes, text, etc.  Get creative with it!  I haven't added anything yet in case I decide to use it in the nursery! 

If you make your own, let me know!!  I'd love to see!

Link parties I'm participating in:  (go check them out!)
The Home Stories of A to Z Tutorials and Tips
Craft-O-Maniac
Tatertots & Jello

Spinach Artichoke Dip {Recipe}

Spinach and artichoke dip is possibly one of my favorite dips/appetizers.  Who wouldn't like melted cheesy yumminess?!  I have found that the best spinach artichoke dips are homemade so I thought I would share my go-to recipe.  Brett and I actually had this for dinner the other night as neither of us were motivated to make something else (and I forgot to thaw some meat, oops!). Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (by sitting out or microwave)
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup Romano cheese (I didn't have this so I just added more Parmesan)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt (I don't have this so I used garlic powder and a dash of salt)
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (more or less depending on how you like this flavor...it doesn't add much spice because of all the dairy, but it adds a nice flavor)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup spinach (I just took about half of a frozen bag of spinach and thawed it so I'm not sure exactly how much I had, but 1/2 to 3/4 cup is good)
• 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained (cut into smaller pieces if you so choose)
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella (I didn't have this and it was fine with out, but would be extra yum with!)

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease a small baking dish.
2. In a bowl mix cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, Parmesan & Romano cheeses, garlic, basil, garlic salt, chili powder, and salt & pepper.  
3. Gently stir in artichokes and spinach.
4. Transfer mixture to baking dish and top with mozzarella cheese.  
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until bubbly and slightly browned on top. 
6. Serve warm with tortilla chips, pita chips, slices of bread, veggies, etc!

Linking up to these parties: (go check 'em out!)
Craft-O-Maniac
Tatertots & Jello
The Home Stories of A to Z
33 Shades of Green
Remodelaholic 

November Birchbox

Have you all have heard of Birchbox?  I hadn't until I read about it on The Small Things Blog.  For $10 a month you get a box of 4-5 beauty product samples.  It's a great way to try different products and have someone else do the shopping for you!  I just got my first box the other day, yay!  Here's what was inside.

The blue one on the left is chocolate...with chipotle, salt and popping candy!  Crazy!

As soon as I opened the box I was excited...it smelled so good! ha!  In my opinion the best part is that the products are personalized!  When you sign up you take a beauty survey and they base what they send you on that!  As you can see from Kate's November Birchbox, hers is different than mine.  Very cool!  And a fun way to spend some of my monthly "allowance"! 

If you want to sign up for your own, go to this link.  I've only tried the body butter so far (because it was what smelled so good) and it's already worth the $10!!  They also offer gift subscriptions in 3, 6 or 12 months.  Perfect if you need a last minute gift for the holidays!!

*Birchbox is not paying me or sponsoring this post...I just wanted to share!*

My To-Do List

Image Source

Although I'm not posting every day I am usually working on a project every day (I promise I haven't forgotten about you all!).  So I thought I would share what is on my to-do list for the next few months (probably until Peyton comes).  It is ever changing, but here it goes!

1. Finish purse into camera bag transformation
2. Make iPad case
3. Make countdown board (and tutorial to share!)
4. Refinish thrifted bedside table for guest room
5. Make potholder clutch(es)
6. Make baby blankets for Peyton
7. Make boppy covers
8. Make Christmas gifts
9. Plan Peyton's nursery (lots more projects with this!)
10. Make diaper bag and changing pad
11. Make items to sell in my etsy shop (that is to be opened...soon!)

Next week I will be putting out our Christmas decorations (woo hoo!)  Since I will not be back to Alabama after Christmas (we are spending 2 weeks in KY for Christmas/New Year's and I will be staying since travel after then wouldn't be the best for me) I would rather take the decorations down myself before Christmas than have the movers pack them up with the rest of our stuff.  And we will be in KY for Thanksgiving so hubby agreed to let me decorate before we leave!  I love this time of year!

Baby Bump

I haven't talked much about my pregnancy yet, so I thought I would share how our little girl Peyton has grown so far!  I am 24 weeks, 3 days today and feeling pretty good.  Nothing really to complain about, just some heartburn with anything I eat (I got it after eating oatmeal this morning!).  My most favorite part so far is feeling her move.  I love it!  It is the best feeling in the world!

8 weeks

12 Weeks

16 weeks

20 weeks

24 weeks

The bump grew a lot from weeks 20-24...hence the shock on the scale at the doctor's today! (But I blame it on a post-lunch appointment time and full bladder :)  haha  Time to pop in my prenatal exercise DVD! 

Taggie Blankie {Tutorial}

As more and more of my friends have babies I am realizing that there are so many gifts that you can make!  On Day 28 of 31 Days of Handmade Gifts I shared some blanket tutorials and a preview of a taggie blankie I made for a baby gift. Here is the tutorial!

Taggie Blankie Tutorial

Time to Make: 30-60 minutes
Sewing Skill Level: Any (this would be a good first project!)
Cost: FREE!  (I had everything on hand, but it wouldn't cost more than $5 to make!)
Supplies:
13 in. x 13 in. fabric (quilter's cotton)
13 in. x 13 in. flannel or other soft fabric
Ribbon scraps (2.5-4 inches in length, various textures)
Sewing machine, thread and scissors

You could make this out of any fabric.  I have seen ones in the store made out of fleece, minky, etc.

1. Cut out fabric and ribbon scraps. You might want to iron your fabric (especially cotton) to ensure it's flat.

2. Fold ribbon pieces in half and pin to the right side of one of the fabric squares (it doesn't matter which one).  Make sure the raw edges of the ribbon and fabric line up.  Placement doesn't matter, just where ever you think looks good.  Just fight that OCD and place them different distances apart.  Yes it will be hard to do, but it doesn't matter!  Baby doesn't care. :)

3. Stitch ribbon pieces to right side of fabric (using 1/4 in seam allowance) removing pins as you go.  Back stitch with each ribbon piece to ensure they're on there good!

(Tip: To save some time/thread you don't have to clip the threads between sewing each ribbon, just move the needle to the next ribbon piece making sure the other threads are out of the way!)

4. Once you finish sewing the ribbons on, clip all the threads.  Also, make sure all the ribbons are sewn on good, you don't want a baby pulling any of them out!

5. Pin the other piece of fabric to the piece you just sewed the ribbons to (leaving the ribbons folded in and flat) right sides together.

6. Sew the fabric pieces together using a 1/4 in seam allowance, leaving about a 4 inch opening to turn, removing pins as you go.  To get this seam allowance I just used the edge of the foot.

(Tip: Start at one edge of your opening, not at the corner.  Then sew around and end at the other edge of your opening.  At the corners leave the needle in the fabric and just turn the fabric pieces).

7. Clip the corners and turn inside out.  Poke out corners (using your finger, knitting/crochet needle or something similar).

8. Iron your blankie, making sure to flatten the edges of the opening.  Almost done!!

9. Topstitch around the whole blankie, making sure that you close the opening.  And you're finished!  If you like the look of two lines of stitching, go for it.  (I just wanted to finish!)

 Let me know if you all have any questions or make one too!  I'd love to see!

Linking up with Christina's Adventures for $20 Below Thursdays, Creation Corner for a Handmade Christmas, Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap Up Party and The Home Stories of A to Z's Tutorials and Tips Party!