Toddler ABC cricut book

So in the excitement of receiving my new cricut machine- OVER A YEAR AGO- I started making an ABC picture book for my little boy who was 10 months at the time. Now he's almost 2 and I finally am finishing! My problem is that I figure if I'm going to make one I might as well make 2 or 3 at the same time. Which actually adds that much more time. Time to cut, glue, arrange, etc. etc. But I finally finished 3 of these cute little ABC books and made covers for them. Good thing my little boy has 2 cousins who are almost the exact same age and they are getting them as late birthday presents.

I used smaller 3 ring binders because they are cuter for little hands to use. Turns out that just because they are smaller, doesn't mean they are cheaper. They are actually more expensive than regular size 3 ring binders, but I still go them because they are cute. I just browsed through the cricut cartridges I had and found pictures that worked for each letter. I like how they are not the typical pictures you find for ABC books- dog house rather than dog, fire hydrant rather than frog. Something a little different. I put the pages in smaller plastic covers (also more expensive than regular sized). I found some scrap fabric and made some covers for the books. I wanted to make handles so they could be carried around but I was going super simple and super fast so they don't have handles.

This was a great way to get me familiar with my cricut and learn how to do things faster and more streamlined. On to bigger and better projects with the cricut now!

Now we'll see if my little guy, and the cousins, likes it!

Early start on July 4th

I love the colors of July 4th and I have been particularly grateful to live in this country lately, so I have plans to make several more of these to hang around my kitchen area. I love stars and firework decorations and popsicles. Maybe even some sunshine and warmth would be good this summer (Wyoming has not reached 60 degrees yet this year). I think I'll add "Happy 4th of July" on another wall and maybe "Stars and Stripes" on another wall. My cricut will be busy!

Valentine's art

Hey- I won that giveaway I entered! That's the first thing I've won in a LONG TIME! So if anyone wants little vinyl families cut out, let me know. Now I can do it!

This is one of the first projects I've made up on my own for awhile. I knew I wanted something that looked like subway art and something for my very blank entry way for Valentine's day. So my friend brought some of her font cartridges for our cricut machines over and we spent a few hours crafting and this is what I ended up with. I'm thinking I want to spray the frame white and distress it. If I painted it black it would blend into the background mat. Now to make something to go with this....

Formula cans, Valentine's wreath, Menu Board

I have been saving my formula cans since my son changed over to formula at 8 months old. It's amazing how many accumulate and how excited I am to stop buying it in a month! I found a way to use those cans to organize some stuff. We organized our markers, crayons, foam stickers, and craft sticks on the hallway bookshelf. Then I made some 72 hour kit food jars. I'm planning on putting a strap end in each side of the can and tying it inside so it can be carried over the shoulder if needed. I have a list on the outside of what is inside (after I buy the stuff!). I have another can saved for an ABC game that I saw but that also includes saving juice can lids (26 of them) and we don't buy that much juice! So maybe when baby is ready to learn his ABC's I'll have enough juice lids. Or- if any of you people reading this blog want to save them for me, send them along!

There are Valentine wreaths like this all over blog land right now so I don't know where I actually got this idea. It's just felt circles, a straw wreath ($1 from a thrift store that my SIL found!) and straight pins. Very festive.


I usually scribble our week menu on a little scrap of paper so I thought I'd copy my cousin's project and make a menu board. The glass can be written on with a dry erase marker and the words are cut with vinyl on my cricut. I think I will still paint the frame black.

Valentine's banner

I've never had Valentine's decorations but now that I have my big bare new house, I gotta do something to spice up those bare windows and walls! I started with this paper Valentine's banner. I'm thinking of doing two more smaller ones that say "Hugs" and "XOXO" for the two other spaces in my dining room. I also want to do some paper hearts in different sizes and colors and string them onto a thin craft wire and wrap them around some lights. I'm going to search for some festive table decoration or table cloth. I want to do a "Wordle" of some sort with Valentine's words for my entry way.

Love my cricut... this took 15 sheets of cardstock with 2 cut outs on each sheet, then 2 sheets of black for the letters. Each oval background is about 5 inches tall. There was extra room so I could've made it a bit smaller and got three cuts on a sheet. Then I assembled and laminated each letter.

First attempt at a quiet book

I was so excited to make this "colors book" today! I pretty much copied the one I found on this blog. I changed mine a little bit and I spent ZERO dollars since I had all the materials at home. I got to try out my new cricut again, cutting the fabric letters this time. I discovered what types of fabric work well and which fabrics don't work well in the cricut. I depleted my wonder under stash and my interfacing stash making the pages a little more stiff. I also didn't have any orange or purple scraps so I'll have to make those pages as I get those colors of scraps or trims. I now need to find someone who can make grommets and put one in the corner and then put it all on a ring. I also realized that the white lettering on the cover and on the "black and white" page didn't show up very well so I'll get a fabric marker and outline the letters. After having had 6 kids I've never had a quiet book, so this last little boy is pretty lucky. (can't figure out why the computer flipped all of my pictures- they were the right direction before I started. Sorry)

New Cricut fun!

So I've been wanting a Cricut machine for a LONG time and I finally got a really cute green one for Christmas. It's gotten a lot of use already and I love it! I started out with birthday invitations for Camille's birthday next week. It was a lot of work but I learned some ways to use it and some ways to not use it. Camille said, "Aren't people just going to throw these away?" Probably! But I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have a new fun machine to use!

Then I made the little super hero girls to give as a party favor attached to a picture of the birthday girl and friend.

I made use of the black vinyl that came with my Cricut to make a cute saying on my laundry room wall. Grant is concerned that I'm going to label each room in the house. But, I won't. The laundry room just happens to have a blank wall and I liked the saying that I found!

Each of the kids chose a few pictures for me to practice for them. This is a cute train.

I found a possible way to hook the Cricut up to the computer and use some software that gives you endless possibilities. I'm excited to try it!