Home Made Christmas Gifts

We did some home made Christmas gifts this year. Not many, but a couple for the people we knew would appreciate it.

This way it was economical and includes lots of love! For the grandparents and an aunt and uncle, I made apple butter. It turned out delicious, so I decided to make more for gifts. The recipe I used is here (as are the printable circles).

I added a bit of fabric I had and some ribbon (which is actually harder to tie than it looks) and wola! A cute and yummy gift! The only thing I ended up buying for these gifts were cloves, and I had been meaning to get some anyhow :}

Christmas Cards

I decided to make my Christmas cards this year without purchasing paper. Tammy, if you are reading this, you are not getting a sneak peak at your card~I made one special for you. It was a challenge, but I did it! I did get the stamp I used on the inside, but it was at a used stamp sale and was super cheap. So I used the paper I had on hand and went to work on a design. I came up with the cards below (well, this is a sampling, as I didn't include them all). The poinsetta is from Penny Duncan of Penny Duncan's Creations (yes, it's free). I did use less petals than she has in the file, because I liked the simplistic look (and I was making lots of them). There is a close up below. All of the flowers were cut in white and I inked and glimmer misted them myself (something newish for me, so I was kinda surprised at how much I liked them). It took forever for the bows to look half way decent, I hope they don't untie in the mail!

Simple and sweet, but I like them!

Different Kind of Creative

My creativity of late has been more trying to work, sleep, clean the house and have dinners on the table every other night or so. It takes a little bit of creativity to get that all going :)

A large part of the hassel has been relieved by a wonderful site: www.moneysavingmom.com While I am not a mother, this site posts deals from various stores, freebie alerta, great coupon links, recipes and frugal ways to do just about anything! I made apple butter a couple of weeks ago following the crockpot recipe on the site and my was it good (and frugal!) Just last night I saved $51 on my groceries by using techniques learned on her blog. Couponing isn't rocket science, you just have to understand how it works!

Crystal has a book she wrote called The Money Saving Mom®’s Budget, right now it is just for preorder, I think it comes out mid January. It is only $11, so it won't break the bank. If saving money is something you are striving for, I definately reccomend getting this book! And by letting others know about it, you can get a free ebook about freezer cooking. What a great deal, right?!

Quick Thanks

A quick thank you to all who entered the Satin Hands Giveaway. Tanya was the winner, congrats!

New Blog

I've found a new blog to follow, Kaysi is awesome at all things crafty! Her blog is awesome and she has agreed to do a Mary Kay giveaway with me on her blog, so be sure to hop over for a chance to win a free Satin Hands Set by Mary Kay. It's awesome-trust me!

Recipes 2

If you are thinking, mmm, this looks familiar, then you saw my Recipes 1 post back in spring. My husband and I have our last wedding of the year (this will be #5, 3 that he has been in) coming up next week. This is a part of their gift (I'm still contemplating the other part). The colors are much more 'true' on the second picture.


The light pink and green in the patterned paper are very close to her wedding colors--I guess their wedding colors, but I'm pretty sure he didn't choose them :)


Since I've done this project before, please see my previous post for all the details on how it was made and who's free SVG files I used~because they were all free :) Really the only thing I did differently was used a VersaMark Pen to wet emboss (rather than a VersaMark Ink Pad), it just made it less 'messy' and I put rhinestones on the letters. For those of you without a cutting machine, you can replicate this easily. Follow the above link, click on the tutorial. I only used my cricut to decorate, so it can easily be done without!



One of the neat things about this is I share one or two of our favorite recipes for each section, so the newlyweds get tried and true (and easy!) recipes.

Its been awhile since I've done any challenges but here goes:
All Sorts- anything but a card
Do You Stack Up- Emboss it- I wet and dry embossed!

A different type

A different type of creativity. This summer I've been being creative in coming up with things for the family I nannied for. This is one of the activities we did that was super fun. Edible Playdough! Yes, I know, not typically what you see here. But it was loads of fun and when the kids ate it, I didn't have to worry about it (and it is quite yummy, actually)!

Using everyday cooking items to enhance the fun!
Looking for a recipe? It is super easy! 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 cup of peanut butter, 1/2 cup honey. Mix together. More powdered sugar can be added if it isn't "doughy" enough (I think I added a bit more).

The only downfall to this recipe is that it becomes sticky if played with too long. I recommend chilling in the fridge for a half hour before letting the kids play, they could play much longer this way :)

New Challenge

There is a New Challenge over at Paper This and That-perfect theme for August-Back to School. Check it out HERE!

Giveaway Like non Other

This giveaway is BIG I want to win, but I want it to be fair, so I'm letting others know about it too. A peek of the prize, then hop on over for details and a pleasant surprise :)
What's in the bag? Hop over to Creative Diva to see!

Link Pink

Linkup for Pink! Check out Yolie's site where she has digital freebies and a chance at some "tactile" scraping stuff as well!

PT&T July Challenge

Paper This and That's July Challenge has been posted. This month has room for quite a bit of interpretation: slice of summer. What does that bring to mind? Watermelon, pie, swimming pools, sand castles, bonfires? Hop over to the blog to see the design team's interpretation and to enter. Oh and what will you win? The prize is pretty awesome: a mini album for all of your summer pictures!

New Challenge

Thanks to all who participated in Paper This and That's May challenge! We got some awesome patriotic creations!!


June's challenge is Father's Day theme! Click here to go to the page and see some amazing examples! Due to my being on vacation, I did not submit one this month. I know you want to know what the prize is :)

Here is a picture:
Yep, its a mini album chipboard kit. Oh the things you could make with it!!!

So stop on by and enter your card or project!

A couple of Things...

Alright, they both aren't crafty, but one of them is! I want to remind you of the Paper This and That Challenge- Memorial Day. It closes soon, there is a great prize and only 7 entries (so your chances of winning are great!)

Now for the other thing. Some of you know I became a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant in April. I am loving each and every time I get to pamper ladies and share with them the amazing products! Currently I have a website promotion going on. I am doing a drawing for a FREE mineral eye shadow (color is your choice) for every 10 entries. Shipping on all products is free. I will draw the evening of June 10th, so be sure to get your entries in before then! How do you enter? <--great question :)
1. Go to www.marykay.com/bcriminger
2. Browse amazing products
3. Purchase something
4. For a second entry go to the Virtual Makeover and find your favorite look. Email the link to me at bcriminger@marykay.com

NOTE: You are not eligible to win if you already have a Mary Kay consultant. Go to her website and buy from her instead :)

May Challenge

Paper This and That has posted May's Challenge..... SUPPORT OUR TROOPS! Memorial Day is at the end of the month, so make a card or layout for that, send a few cards to Operation Write Home (make sure they are military themed), or send something to your favorite soldier. Before I show you my project, I want to show you the prize, and it is a fabulous one at that!Yes, it is digital paper. To be used with digital scrapbooking or can be printed for "real" scrapbook pages/cards etc. They are loads of fun because they are dotted (I love dots!). They are 8x11in in size.

Ok, here is my project:
It is a popcorn bag holder. The file is Denise's and can be found in her scrapbook room, the tag was one I had. The heart and star stamps are Stampin' Up and the Thank You (see picture below) is See Dees. Inks are all Stampin' Up.

Now head on over to Paper This and That to upload your project!

Anticipate This!

Did the title get you to read this post? I hope so! I'm just letting all my readers know that I will be posting my DT project for Paper this and That within the next week. Now there weren't very many challenge entries last month, so your chances of winning are excellent! It would be a wonderful challenge for scrappers who haven't entered many challenges or for those who are more seasoned. Be on the lookout here, and I will be sure to link you there, or you could hop over there now and see what's happening!

More embellishments

Still posting embellishments for the swap. I tried to do a variety of different things and styles, so the diva on the receiving end gets an assortment (we did 12 in the swap).

The first is a tag made from a scrap outline of a cougar SVG from Nicolas Gomez, I added some embossing, ribbon and a stamp (friends, stampin up).
The next two go together. The stamp set is from Inkadinkado (how fun is that to say?). I colored it, inked the edges, added lace and a brad (hard to tell, but it is inked dark red).
I used the same stamp as above. The charm I got ages ago at Walmart (a quarter for 4) in the clearance isle. At the time I couldn't pass it up, but honestly, I just used the first one a month ago! Anyways, I stamped and colored, used stickles to glitter glue it to the back of the charm (the glitter is hard to see in the picture).

Pretty in Pink!

Those of you who do not know me personally are out of the loop. On what? My new Mary Kay business! I have been a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant for 9 days now! I have held 2 parties and I love spending time teaching women the essentials of skin care and sharing with them wonderful Mary Kay products. I, personally, have been using Mary Kay products for a little over 3 years and wholeheartedly believe in the products. The only thing on my face on my wedding day was Mary Kay. Only the best for such a special day, and every other day, for that matter. Now, on to my project! While talking with my sales director (a wonderful, beautiful, Godly woman, by the way) she mentioned that I will want a 3 subject notebook to track 3 aspects on the business end of Mary Kay. 3 subject notebooks are so blah, so I prettied mine up!

This is the front. The black and white paper was from Joann's, not sure what brand. The pink was from I RAK, I only had a 5x5 sheet of it, yet I think it went pretty far. The punches were both Mavy.
The lace was a RAK, the rhinestones from Michaels, the buttons, off old clothing. Here is the back. The ribbon from my stash, buckles off a pair of old jeans.
A close-up of quite a few things.
The corner and the dividing tabs (to make 3 sections). Our unit is the Royal Rockstars, so I had to include a star somewhere!
Should you wish to shop, there is a link here and on the sidebar.

Challenge:
Digi Doodle Shop's Best- Glimmer and Glitz

Alcohol Inks

I got some alcohol inks on sale for a great price and have been playing with them. These are some of the tags I did for a swap at Creative Scrapbook Divas.
What you see as white is heat embossed, then I inked and reheated it to bring the white forward again. I'm learning all kinds of new tricks :)

Inchies/Twinchies

The April Swap at Creative Scrapbook Divas (see badge on right side of blog) was make your own embellishments. So I tried my hand at inchies and twinchies (I think I like ATCs better, cause they are bigger). I had a hard time keeping within the measurements. The tree is a "true inchie" and the one with a brad a "true twinchie", the other is me not liking limitations :)I used scraps for all of these! That was an additional challenge I gave myself. Yes, the Thinking of You is from a box of Mary Kay thinking of you lotion, my new favorite scent!

Just wanted to keep you up to date on what I've been up to lately. Will post more later.

Boy Fun

I have been creating the past couple of weeks, and I've even taken pictures of most of it. I just haven't gotten around to putting them up here to share. Sorry about that. Here is a layout I did for the baby scrapbook. I have 1 more made to post and one more double layout to make before I give it away. As is typical with me, the first layout goes on the left.
The mud puddles (free-handed) are a bit darker in person, the perfect 'murky' color! Both of the sentiments I printed for the background are from Ginger's House. One reads: Trucks and dirt and shades of blue, but little boys are angels too. And the other: Blue jeans and trucks, scrapes on his knees and running in the dirt and being a tease. I couldn't choose, so I used them both! The title is a font on SCAL2, the pockets are Penny Duncan's and the sock monkey Lea's. All of the files were free!Challenges-
Sentimental Sundays- Treasured Memories

Paper This and That April Challenge

I know I already posted my DT card for Paper This and That's April Challenge: April Showers bring May Flowers. I had it auto set so I wouldn't forget. The challenge was just posted a couple of days ago (guess I should have waited, will do better next month). You can see my card here. And be sure to head over and join in the fun-there is a fabulous sponsor this month (and I will only say that when I really know the sponsor is fab, I promise, Glitterbabe is AWESOME!). The prize is 2 of her images!