If you have a cat, you'll crack up at this......

Check this out......ha ha ha larious!



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Home Made Note Cards, perfect for the holidays!

A project you and your kids can do!

Take the beautiful finger paintings from your kids and copy them and cut them to fit a note card. Here is my tutorial on a Tuesday tip jar that you can follow to make your own.
The tutorial is from Feb. for my daughters bday cards.


Supplies:
1.Pack of Blank Cards w/envelopes (50 pack for 5.00)

2.Wallet size prints from Costco: 13 cents each(4 on each page) (for 50qty)=$1.25
(added note about costco: you can upload your pics online to the warehouse and pic it up in the hour.....time saver!!!!I do this before every Costco trip.)and of course you can get this done at any photo print place like W-Mart, but I like Costco better, better service, cheaper, and better quality prints.
Or......you can take those fingerpaintings and have them copied in color at your local printer for 29 cents a page cut those into smaller unique croppings.

3. Glue stick (50 cents for 1 stick) this is a regular craft glue stick the one I got said
"Really Sticky Glue Stick" and is Non-toxic

4. Scissors or Paper cutter(you should already have this) to cut the wallet pics for the front of each card=free or cost of scissors....but you really should have this in your home anyway. =)

Total time to cut, and stick the pictures to the cards: 30 minutes
(because I have a slide cutter, add probably another 30 minutes for scissors)


Total cost for 50 personal cards: $6.75!!!!!
I also spent an additional 2.95 on getting personal stickers with Violets picture on it to seal the envelope(I hate licking the backs....due to an episode of Seinfeld....).
The stickers are super cute and make a nice touch.

*There is additional time in making your special messages for the inside of the card:
* You can print on special paper, cut and paste to inside of card
*Write your own special messages on the inside(this is what I did)
*You can also glue little bows and confetti pieces if you want......(to be honest: its cute, but people who aren't prepared for it when they open the card, hate the clean up if you don't glue it down....I hate glitter myself, so I won't do that either.)


I went to a craft store called Pat Catans in Pittsburgh, but you can find these items in most craft stores. I also used these same blank cards to make my daughters Gifts from the Charity Blog for Cancer back in December using color printed copies of her artwork.

*I found that after I did this with the wallet print pictures that people peeled them from the cards and put them on their fridge, so it made some use after the event.


Ta Da!!!!! My first Tip...of my own
You may have a better faster cheaper Tip on Creating your own cards...share it in a tip jar and don't forget to let me know about it.

Thanks, and Your Welcome!
Antibloggedy

P.S. It really is pretty fast and cheap
I keep a bunch of the blank cards w/envelopes on hand all the time so when an unexpected or expected occassion comes up I can whip up a card without carting the kids off to the store to buy one!

Unfinished Project #1 Monkey, Tulips, and a Tree Branch

Monkey's and Tulips. I have been working on this project for at least a year. Most of that time was not devoted to the project but to the procrastination in me. I find that I have been much more motivated since I left my job. Yes, I left. No, they didn't fire me, or lay me off. That's all I will say. Either way, I have had a lot of opportunities to make the right decisions and finish some things I have been meaning to complete, but "did not have the time to do it". What I have learned from all this time is that, I had the time to do it all along, I just did not have the motivation. Procrastination keeps me from completing the really important things and now I have no excuse (except money.....haha, don't we all).

So now. With help from the Motivation Station as one of my inspirations. I am cleaning up my life, my house and my unfinished projects. I think I will have to note the unfinished projects in my life, share them with you, and learn along the way. Maybe on Tuesdays.......Cause today is Tuesday and I am posting today. =)....."probably once a week on a non specific day".....(says the procrastinator in me).

Unfinished project #1. The Tapestry of Monkey over Tulips.
To Heather and Sophie with Love!

The Tulips and the Tree:

I used Blanket stitching through out the piece and am considering going over it all again with a machine stitch to give it strength. Tell me what you think. I didn't use a pattern, just my imagination and some scissors. I had a lot of scrap material and decided to use it this way. I started with the tulips and then I wanted to add more. I had no idea what I would do with it or what I would add to it. After makin the tulips, I wanted more. I added the tree branch the circles for the leaves and than found a large empty space between the two. If I dedicated time, this probably would have only taken about 20 total hours.

The Monkey:

I made a pattern that started from this picture of the monkey I drew. I did this by selecting a proportionate size to the amount of space left in my tapestry. I drew this image larger on a piece of thick brown paper I had in the house and made sure to make each part of the monkey very simple. Cut out each piece of the monkey in parts (tail, arms, hands, legs, feet, bottom half of head, top half of head, ears, body making sur to lable the top side and also noting ends like right arm, top side, this side attached to hand, or this side attached to body.) Than I pinned the paper parts to the tapestry to make sure it looked right. Once that was done, I pinned the parts to the fabrics that were going to be used for the final piece. Once all were cut, pin the cloth parts back onto the Tapestry and place all the paper pattern parts in a plastic ziploc, in case I wanna do this again.....But lets finish one project at a time, right Martha? =)

Violet and Hummus

You will need:

1. $4 mini food processor bought during black friday sales at Walmart in 2008.
2. bread that will be going bad any day now from "sitting too long on the shelf disease"
3. Toaster Oven for #2 Bread
4. A Daughter named Violet
5. Knife to cut toast
6. About 10-25 minutes (depending on distractions from small children)Recipe Like this one taken from here.

• 1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
• 3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.

Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).

She Loves It!


Antibloggedy