Patriotic Mantel

Hi friends!  After we got back from the beach, I realized that my mantel was still decorated for Spring and Easter.  Oops . . . I had been so busy wrapping up the school year for me and both boys and then prepping for vacation that I just didn't have time to change out the mantel.  Well, it was way past due so I got right on it.  I decided that I would decorate it in a patriotic theme and leave it up until the end of July.  Here's what I came up with.

Patriotic Mantel

My inspiration for the entire mantel was this canvas I saw on Our Thrifted Nest.  She gives great directions on how to make it, too.  

I used a 16 x 20 canvas vertically because I wanted some height.  I also added some Mod Podge Sparkle on top of the red stripes.  LOVE that sparkly affect.  Then I cut a star from my Silhouette and the yellow word.  I added a Mason jar of flags that I bought in a pack at Hobby Lobby.  The printable came from The Crafting Chick's blog.  There are tons of them all over the Internet though.

While trolling the Internet for ideas for the canvas and the printable, I saw tons of different wooden block sets.  I sent my hubby out to the garage to cut up a 2x4 into three 4" blocks that I painted in red, white, and blue.  I cut out the yellow letters on my silhouette and used Mod Podge to adhere them to the blocks.  So easy and cute.  This picture really doesn't do them justice.

My last source of inspiration was this fabric bunting tutorial that I found at My Dreamy Party HERE.  Her directions were so easy.  And her photo is SO much more clear than mine.  LOL   

I used fabric squares that I already had on hand, so I don't have any patterns in my garland.  That's okay, though, I didn't spend a dime!  I hung my garland from my mirror and called it done.

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'll be back soon to share my Pintrest-inspired summer wreath.  Have a great day!

Project Life: Weeks 23 - 24

Hi there!  I'm back today to share the rest of my Project Life pages, along with a few tips and tricks to help make your albums come together a little easier.

Project Life: Week 23

As I mentioned in a previous post, I started a Disney album just for those pictures, especially since I have two years' worth to document.  However, in our regular Project Life album, I wanted to include something from Disney.  Mostly to explain the lack of pictures from June 2012.  And, to avoid repeating a lot of the pictures, I made Week 23 a one-pager.  There is no reason every week has to be two pages.  That little epiphany has made Project Life a whole lot easier.

The papers are mostly from The ScrapRoom's Project Life Add-On Kit, except for the blue patterned paper for the journaling card.  That is from the Carta Bella Summer Cool Summer kit.  

One last thing.  I only had family pictures from Epcot to include on this layout, but I really wanted to include one of the Castle or some other iconic spot.  However, I took those pictures when we went in 2011, so I went online and found the pictures of Walt and Mickey and the close-up of Mickey online.  I saved them with my regular pictures and had them printed at my local Wal-Mart.  Love that trick!

I bought a pack of bling Mickey heads and button Mickey heads from my local craft store, and I am including them on all my Disney pages.  It's sort of like hidden Mickeys for my family.  Fun!

The week after we got home from Disney, my oldest son went off to church camp for a week.  I had a lot of pictures of camp, and I wanted to include them all.  So I decided to create a one-page and a two-page layout.  You gotta love the flexibility of Project Life!

Project Life: Week 24

For this page, I used Basic Grey's Hipster, which is in the Flavors of the Month and Project Life kits.  My whole goal was to figure out a way to use the cute flags.  I ended up tucking them behind the chipboard star on my title card.

Project Life: RYC (Reformed Youth Camp)

I am so thankful to even have these photos since I didn't send my son to camp with a camera.  The pictures were taken by various campers and counselors and posted on the camp's Facebook page.    

The cards on this double-page spread are all from the Project Life Add-On kit.  This page went together pretty quickly due to the We R Memory Keepers precut cards.  All I added was some journaling and stickers. 

Here's a neat tip.  I had my son do the journaling for these two pages.  Even though it was like pulling teeth to get him to write a few sentences, I think he will appreciate this in a few years.  He wrote about his cabin, fellow campers, and favorite activities.  

I hope you enjoyed this month's Project Life pages and were able to find some inspiration for your own album.  And can you believe that we're halfway done with this year?  Having half the year documented and IN an album is thrilling to me!!!

Project Disney: Norway

Hiya!  Today I thought I'd share the last of my Project Disney pages that I created this month.  This one features the Norway Pavillion at Epcot.  My youngest son didn't get to see many of the Disney princesses on our first visit in 2011, so we booked a character meal at Akershaus.  The boys were so shy about talking to the characters, but Sleeping Beauty really livened things up by dancing with my oldest.  His face was so red.  Sweet!

Project Disney: Norway

These papers are from The ScrapRoom's Carta Bella Cool Summer kit.  I LOVE the colors in the chevron paper.  Too pretty!

As you can see from the above page, I cut apart the 5x7" picture of my boys with Belle.  This was the free picture that came with our meal, so I only had the one.  I was really hesitant to cut it in case I messed it up, but I am SO glad that I did.  I like that all my pictures are together on one page.

The "Once Upon A Time" card above was cut from the Picture Cover that came with our free 5" x 7" photo with Belle.  I don't have much memorabilia from the trip, so I was glad to be able to include that.

I was SO excited to be able to use the pink Mickey head button from my pack.  I almost didn't buy the pack of buttons because there were some colors in it that I didn't think I could use, but I'm already halfway finished with the pack.  

Thanks for stopping by today.  See you soon with my regular June Project Life pages!

Project Disney Title Page

As I mentioned in a previous post, I started a Project Disney album in order to document our 2011 and 2012 trips to Disney world.  Since I am currently working on Project Life 2012, I started the Disney album with our 2012 vacation.  I plan to go back and do 2011.  Backwards, eh?  Oh well, as long as the pictures get put into an album, I am happy.

Disney Title Page

I needed some general Disney pictures for this title page, but all I had was the topiaries of Mickey and Minnie.  Lucky for me, the Internet is full of Disney pics.  I am so glad that I can go online and find pictures of things we saw and did but that I didn't or couldn't catch a photo of.  It's all about the memories not the photography for me.

For this page, I used Simple Stories 24/7 paper and stickers and this cute Mickey Mouse paper that I got at Michael's.  The colors were perfect together.  The Simple Stories line came in my June kit from The ScrapRoom.

Here's another Project Life sketch that I made.  When I find a layout that works, I tend to repeat them over and over.  This one really worked for me, so I made a sketch for my notebook.  I thought I'd share with you.

I love this Mickey chipboard piece.  I bought a set of them at Michael's and they are all a great size for the Project Life divided page protectors.  I also plan to include Mickey heads throughout my Disney album.  Sort of like the hidden Mickeys at the park.  Here, I added a Mickey head button on top of the Lily Bee flair that came in my June ScrapRoom kit.  It's pretty bulky, so I put it on the outside of the sheet protector.  That seems to work pretty well.

I am loving working on my Disney pictures in Project Life style.  There is no way that I would scrap all of the photos traditionally.  There's just too many pics, 423 from 2012 alone.  But this method is so fast and easy for me!  See you soon.