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Tips for Catching up on Project Life

December 1, 2015 By Taylor 9 Comments

If you are anything like me you have thousands and thousands of photos just sitting on your phone/camera/memory stick. What are you doing with them? Guys… print them and get those precious photos into a book!! You can do it! I was super behind when I started so today I have a few tips to share along with a GIVEAWAY so a lucky reader can make it happen too!!

It’s no secret that I am a huge Project Lifer because it’s the quickest and easiest way for me to save all of our memories but still get to “scrapbook”. I got to try out some Project Life for Stamping’ Up (which was so exciting because you can’t just buy these kits anywhere!). Just like all of the other PL products I have tried the quality and designs of these cards were no exception! I was also super geeked out that I got to try their exclusive plastic page protectors!

TIP: ORGANIZE! I print my pictures out online a few times a year (I usually wait for a snapfish or shutterfly sale) and then when they come in I organize them by month. I use plastic page protectors and a post it note. We have a drawer where “memorabilia” lives like receipts, to-go menus, programs and artwork. I organize all of that into the same page protector and put those into a box. And honestly that is the hardest and most time consuming part, which after a few months takes me under an hour.

TIP: KEEP THE JOURNALING SIMPLE! I’ve noticed when I look at my books (or when I show them off :) no one really reads the long journaling. To save time, I only jot a few words about each picture if any at all. I’m such a sucker for a weekly card! These are my favorites because I can just slip in seven pics, one for each day of the week and then add a card like this with a few descriptions and there you have a page! I also love number stickers for this reason. These are from the “This Is The Life Project Life Card Collection”.

TIP: EASY EMBELLISHMENTS! Spend a few dollars on some good quality stickers, veneer embellishments, stamps and washi tape. These are my go-to for extra “wow” factor. It really takes no time at all to add stuff like this but it makes your album look unique. I love these skinny washi tapes from Stampinn’ Up! I also highly recommend month/days of the week stamps. Trust me, it makes Project Life even easier. Speaking of embellishments I usually go for fun colors that are generic except for one thing… I have so many photos from the Holidays each year I usually get a few packs of Holiday extras! I am LOVING this years “Hello December 2015” from Stampin’ Up.

TIP: DO WHAT YOU CAN WHEN YOU CAN! I leave my stuff out for a few weeks at a time, which is hard for people like me who can’t stand clutter haha! But think of it as a pretty mess. If you leave this stuff out, you can walk by, add a few embellishments, write a sentence for two and before you know it you have finished a few pages.

TIP: KEEP IT SIMPLE, VERY SIMPLE. While I do love stickers and stamps etc. sometimes, I just slap my photos in and let them speak for themselves. It helps break up the album (and it helps you catch up faster).

If you work on your album when you can and keep it simple, before you know it you have a beautiful family yearbook! I’m working on my 5th one and Im still hooked!

Stamping’ Up carries a ton of exclusive Project Life products as well as a ton of other stuff for scrapbooking and paper crafting! Their new catalog comes out on January 5th so be sure to check that out! Now for the best part!! One lucky reader is going to win the “This is the Life” bundle, which includes: the card collection, accessory pack and stamp set. More than enough to get you started on your scrapbook “journey”!! Good Luck guys :)

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Easy DIY Lizard Costume

November 7, 2015 By Taylor 3 Comments

OK, so keeping with our “bug” Halloween theme (you can read about the creepy, crawly Roach Costume HERE) I present the Lizard. And yes, I know a lizard isn’t actually a bug. But like I said in my last post, when your four year old finally decides on something and is super excited about it… don’t burst his bubble haha.

This costume is so easy that I can hardy call it a costume! I love sewing and making elaborate clothing but on Halloween I usually go the “semi-handmade” route. It’s only one night right? My kids do love playing dress up so they get plenty of love but usually not outside of the house after Halloween so I try to use what I have.

I have used (and LOVE) the Bimaa Pattern several times. So I knew it would make a perfect Lizard Hoodie! Here is my secret Bimaa hack: Once you have the pattern, you can line the shirt pattern piece up with an existing or store bought shirt and cut the neck hole to match the pattern. I always buy two matching shirts from the boys section and with the extra shirt I make the hood part using the pattern, then sew them together just like in the instructions… this just saves you from having the sew a whole shirt! So in the lizards case, I bought two green boys tees. I used an olive green knit for the interior of the hoodie, the lizard belly and the eyelids. Then I used black and white felt for the eyes and nose holes and sewed them right on the hoodie exterior before adding the lining. I added a tail to the back of the lizard (using the scraps from the second boys t-shirt).

Then he just wore some green shorts he already had, ideally I wanted to make green leggings but again… I ran out of time haha. Story of my life!

He was super happy with it so thats all that matters :) Here is his best “lizard face”. Stay tuned for the Bee later this week!

DIY Roach Costume

November 3, 2015 By Taylor 5 Comments

Yes, you read that right! My son wanted to be a roach for Halloween and I said yes :)

A few months ago I was throwing around group costume ideas for the three kids. Nothing was sticking then my oldest said, “what about bugs”? I immediately liked the idea because my daughters name is Bee so naturally she could dress as a Bee. Then my four year old got super excited cause he wanted to be a lizard. Who am I to crush his dreams and tell him that a lizard isn’t actually a bug? A Bee and a Lizard, done. But then my oldest son said he wanted to dress up as a roach?! I tried to talk him out of it because how does one even go about sewing a roach suit?? But he was determined and I like a good sewing challenge so I said let’s go for it!

There is very little roach costume inspiration out there, which is good and bad haha. I didn’t have anything to live up to in the era of Pinterest expectations but I also didn’t have a clue how to make it! After a good ol’ google search, I did find one awesome “cape” that a legit costume designer made and I pinned it HERE. After I saw that I knew a cape was the way to go. I found some brown jeans and a brown tee from the mens section so I just cut it down and sewed up the sides) for the body and got to work on the roach cape.

I bought brown suiting for the legs and ironed a very stiff fusible interfacing to the wrong side so they would be extra stiff. I used hot glue to attach a thin strip of brown faux fur to each leg… creepy right? For the antenna I used the suiting with some jewelry wire inside and a little brown pom-pom glued at the end.

Then I freehanded roach-shape-wings on to some brown satin. I used quilt batting inside them and sandwiched it between. I also sandwiched the legs between the wing layers before sewing right sides together. Then I flipped them right side out and top-stitched. The wings are two separate pieces but sewn together at the top where they connect. Then I added a neck hood/cape part with double batting and a layer of felt in between so it would stand up a little more. It was so thick that I really would have liked to hand-sew it so there wasn’t a huge line down the middle but, it was the day before Halloween and mama only has so much time.

I added a neck piece made from the suiting and used velcro to attach it.

Overall I’m really happy with the way it turned out, and he was super excited about it! I also learned that some people have quite the aversion to roaches… even when the model is a cute six year old haha! Stay tuned for the lizard and bee later this week :)

Tissue Paper Pom Pom Flower Kit

October 6, 2015 By Taylor 1 Comment

UPDATE: You can find the whole/cream flower kits HEREand the pink kit HERE!

If you know me you know that I can’t leave a blank wall alone for long :) Well… here is our “nook wall” as we call it the day we moved in to our house two years ago, such a sad little nook. About a year later my talented husband built some nook shelves (that I still need to post about). But I felt like it needed a little something more. When I saw this Tissue Paper Pom-Pom Flower kit from Martha Stewart Crafts in these colors I knew they were perfect for our nook wall!

We just had our kitchen remodeled this past summer and because we have a pretty open floor plan, that turned into remodeling the breakfast room and all redoing all of the flooring. The living room to the left has a lot of color and the breakfast room to the right has some amazing new wallpaper. I didn’t want to go too wild so the mix of pinks and whites were perfect for this space!

I have made a few versions of these flowers before for showers but these turned out way better! I obviously never added enough layers of tissue. These actually took me longer than I expected because there are so many layers haha!