Gift card holder tutorial

***Please scroll down for Bella Blvd. blog hop***

If you're in the same boat I'm in, then you're running a tad bit behind this holiday season. The quick and easy gift that's sure to please is a gift card, and we're giving several this year. The only problem is that ours didn't come with an envelope. SO, I saw some really cute gift card holders that my friend (and cousin) Gretchen made, and thought I'd make my own. The only problem is that I wish I'd had some specific dimensions to go with them so there wouldn't be any "thinking" to it. SO, I've provided you with some just to keep your holiday as easy and stress free as possible.

And seriously? The great thing about these gift card holders is that they took me MAYBE 5 minutes to make. And that's with all my little interruptions who are all home from school now. ;) So here ya go.

To start you'll need one 12x12 sheet,
your trimmer, a score board (or you could
just measure), a corner rounder, some adhesive and stickers

First start off by cutting a 4 x 12" paper strip
then on your scoreboard, score the following lines.

At the 7 1/4 line, cut your paper.

Then round the 2 corners of the shortest side
(the side you just trimmed).

Use some adhesive to attach your gift card.

Folder your card holder at the scored lines.
Then cut a 1" strip of coordinating paper.
In this case, I just used the opposite side.

Wrap the strip around your card holder,
and use a sticker to "seal" the ends.
Voila! A super quick gift card holder.

And if you use double-sided paper, then you can
always make one from the opposite side as well. ;)

So there you have it. Maybe that will help simplify life a little for you. I hope it will. Now to go take that pile of laundry that needs to be folded!

Happy Tuesday!

Hi everyone! Welcome to the surprise Birthday Blog Hop for Stephanie Hunt, the wonderful owner/creator of Bella Blvd.

You should have arrived here from my dear friend STACEY's blog. If not, then those that are just joining in will want to go to start of the hop at the Bella Blvd blog.

To create my card I used the "Hello Beautiful" collection, which I still love, along with the aqua sheet from Sophisticates, and the sentiment is found on the Sophisticates miniature stickers.

Even though it's Stephanie's birthday, Bella Blvd. has some gifts for a few of you lucky readers as well! We all know how generous and giving Stephanie is, and she would never have a fun blog hop without a few giveaways up for grabs too. All you need to do to be entered to win is leave Stephanie your birthday wishes in my comment section. We'll pick TEN winners from TEN different blogs, and we'll announce the lucky winners on Friday on the Bella Blvd. blog!

Now hop on over to Katherine McElvain's blog, your next stop on our blog hop!

And again, Happy Birthday Stephanie!

Our family rules--DIY Subway Art

Hmmm...I'll be honest here. With the holidays coming up I'm finding that my scrap time has considerably taken a backseat to all the other activities of the season. But still wanting to blog and post something creative, y'all may be getting tired of seeing my little ones, I realized that I never posted this. It's one of my favorite Cricut Circle projects/assignments that I created back in September. BUT, the good news is, it's a great time to share it with you now. Soooo...I give you my version of the popular Family Rules subway art.


The first time I saw the Family Rules subway art, I knew immediately that I wanted to make one for our family. The many, MANY fonts that I have with all the Cricut cartridges I've collected help me make just that. And while the order of importance isn't necessarily the same, these ARE values and sayings we DO say around our house (ahem..."Obey Right Away" gets said almost if not daily. ;) ), and we DO act silly and most definitely dance crazy. So it's a fun little token that hangs in our kitchen so I can see it everyday.

To make it, I layered strips of paper on top of the canvas in an attempt to distress it a little. In retrospect I would've skipped this step. Then I cut LOTS of phrases and fonts in many many sizes then fit them onto the canvas. It was a lot like working a puzzle. When it was finally the way I wanted it, I spray-painted it black. Once dry, I peeled off the letters and was left with my very own subway art. And I love it, imperfections and all. So glad I ran across it in my old picture files.

Thanks for letting me share! Hope you all are enjoying your holiday season!

The December Bella Buzz

The Bella Buzz Newsletter is up and ready. Check it out here. And here's a sneak peek of what's in store. Looks wonderful, doesn't it?

Saturday Sketch and a girls day away

This past Saturday was Sketch time over at the Bella Blvd. blog, and I made a project with it.

Here's the sketch:

And my card:

I was really drawn to the title portion of the sketch and the way the tags were positioned, half-hidden and staggered, so I used that as the inspiration for my card. I cut out 2 mini flashcards from the "Petite Pieces" paper, then added the chipboard "merry"on top to complete my sentiment. And to give my card a little added oomph, I used strips of miniature heart pattern (found on the "Quadrants" sheet) to make a bow like a Christmas present. It's really fun taking layout sketches and turning them in to cards. I should challenge myself to do it more often, because I really like it!

Also on Saturday, the girls and I got away from the boys a bit and went and saw a production of Beauty and the Beast. It was really fun because we knew kids in the cast, and they were amazing performers.

Me and the girls before we left for the show.

A shot after they're human again. We knew Chip, and 2 girls who were in the ensemble.

And then of course Caroline with Belle. She goes back and forth between Mulan and Belle as her favorite princesses. I love that gap-toothed smile.

And THAT is how we spent our Saturday. Lots of fun! :D

16 months

I know I haven't been entirely faithful about blogging McClain's milestones each month, but it IS a way (the only way) I'll remember later on so I'm going to continue to post them when I remember to.

So here's what he's up to at 16 months:
--eating us completely out of house and home. And here I thought the girls were big eaters. But Little Man can put down 8 silver dollar-sized pancakes easily.
--Nilla wafers are the best bribe around. He loves them. I mean, L.O.V.E.S. them. Totally recognizes the box, insists on holding it throughout the grocery shopping trip, and pounds his chest (saying Please) for me to open them.
--is definitely able to make his wants, wishes, and needs known. I'm always amazed at how well little ones can speak without actually knowing how to talk yet.


--loves balls and dogs. Those are his two biggies. So what's he getting for Christmas? More balls and perhaps another stuffed dog. He's taken Sarah Kate's stuffed Barbie dog and claimed it as his own already.
--loves playing ball and fetch. He'd play it all day. Peek-a-boo is up there too, but not as much as it used to be.
--loves to read books. He's found one in particular that has a ball on one page and a dog on the next that are the only 2 pages he likes to read! lol!


--he's turned in to a Daddy's boy. Why, oh why, do they all like him more?! (j/k) But what's totally cute is that he's confused and calls Josh "mama" too. All day long while Josh's at work, McClain will say "dada". But then once he's in his sights it's "mama" all the way. TOTALLY makes me laugh.
--besides ball, dog, mama and dada, he also says "mo" for more, hot, hat, and I think he said what sounded like book this afternoon. But not going to count that one yet. ;)

That pretty much sums him up--balls, books, Nilla wafers, and of course that smile I can't resist!

You are my sunshine

Hi friends! I've got a real quick scrappy share with you today, because if you must know today's Dec. 2nd and I'm already feeling overwhelmed. There are still pumpkins on my front porch, and no sign of Christmas is anywhere in sight. We've attempted 3 different times to go get a tree and that hasn't worked out either. And if I'm being REALLY honest, I'll admit that I feel like I'm failing in almost all areas of my life right now--mother, wife, caretaker, housekeeper, cook, friend...the list could go on and on...

SO, it's no surprise to me that I'm still working on and blogging my projects from the November My Scrapbook Nook kit. Here's the most recent project.

You are My Sunshine

Yes, I've already scrapped one of these pics. But I just really love them. That, and the colors match the kit so well, couldn't NOT scrap them.

Well, I need to get back to what I should, if only I knew what to tackle first! At least it's Friday! Can you tell that I'm in need of some sunshine? perhaps some SON-shine. Not necessarily from my son but from The Son.

Have a good one!