Cupid Came Early...

Okay... don't judge me.  I really love decorating for holidays.  And it's only 22 days until Valentine's Day... and I bought the decorations like a month ago...  I just couldn't hold out any longer--I had to decorate!  Here is my mini-labor of love:

So, this is my entertainment center.  It's pretty much the only thing in our apartment that is worthy of being decorated.  Not too much room for anything else.  I got everything from Target, except the Valentine garland which I got from Joann's. 

Red Glitter LOVE!!

I'm obsessed!!!

I saw these little glass birds at Target (only $2.99 each!!) and fell head over heels in love.  They have such a vintage, shabby chic look to them.  They definitely belong in my future daughter's nursery... 

Well, the Next Great Baker is about to come on. 

Happy Monday! 

xoxo

Terrific Tuesday!!

I'm in a good mood today.  Why?  Let's see...

1) Today was the first day of the second semester of school.  Meaning... I got all new students in two of my six classes, and I can tell they are going to be some great kiddos!

2) Patrick and I have crunched numbers and agreed that we will officially be able to buy a house as soon as our apartment lease is up in April. (God willing!)  This will make House #2 for us, so I am fully prepared for the whole "house buying" process again.  I am sooo excited!!

3)  I found some adorable (and FREE) Valentine subway art printables online.  Talk about *super* easy craft projects!!  The first one is all Valentine phrases and words. I got it from Eighteen25's blog.  All you do is download the picture (they have a link you can click) and print whatever size you want on photo paper. If you don't have photo paper or a printer, you can always order it from CVS, Walgreens, etc.  After it finished printing, I just stuck it in a picture frame I already had from my wedding a few years back.  Super quick!

The second one I printed out is the 1 Corinthians 13:4 verse over love.  I, personally, think it can be displayed throughout the whole year--not just Valentine's Day.  I found this one at The Girl Creative blog.  She has adorable ideas!

Well, I hope everyone else has a Happy Tuesday, too!  :)

Favorite Fonts

     One of my favorite aspects of the Silhouette Cameo is the fact that I can download my own *free* fonts to use on it. There are TONS of great websites that offer free fonts; however, I always end up at Dafont.com.Here are my most recent (and favorite) downloads I got from them for free ninety-free!

1)  Jenna Sue

2)  Words of Love

3)  Where Stars Shine the Brightest 

4)  MoxyRoxie

    

Like what you see?  Then simply type the font name (ex: Jenna Sue) in the search box on Dafont.com and you can instantly download your free font.  Happy Font-ing! :)

Personalize Your Silhouette Cameo

Words can't express how much I LOVE my Silhouette Cameo!  It is so user-friendly, and the possibilities are literally endless.  One of the MILLION things I really like about it is the fact that you can personalize it and make it your own.  I made a quick little picture tutorial on how to customize the control panel.  Here is what you need to do:

Step One:  Go to the Silhouette Software (must download to use) and double click on the Control Panel icon in your library.  It is one of the free 51 designs that comes with the Cameo, so it will automatically show up in the software library.  Also, do not re-size... it will fit perfect!

Drag the design to the top left corner so you don't waste as much paper.

Step Two:  Choose the paper, cardstock, fabric, vinyl, etc. that you want your control panel to be made out of.  I chose a polka-dot cardstock because it can be displayed anytime of the year.  I do plan to change it out soon for Valentine's Day, though. 
     Next, click on "Send to Silhouette" button (6th icon from left at top of software screen).  Follow the prompted steps and adjust blade settings as needed for the material you chose.  Place material on mat, load mat into the Silhouette, and press "Cut page". 



Cut out pattern for Control Panel



Step Three:  Remove the plastic covering from the Control Panel.  I was really nervous to do this at first, but using a small craft spatula helps to get it out of its little "grooves". 

Step Four:  Simply place your cut out material into the control panel slot.  Place the plastic covering back onto the control panel.  Congrats!!  You now have your own customized Silhouette Cameo. :)

                                      

Back to the Real World...

   Well, school started back this week, which means I had absolutely NO time to craft! *Sigh*  However, I did stay true to my work out resolution and attended TWO Zumba classes this week.  That means I worked out two solid hours and burned off hundreds of calories.  Yay! 
    So, the Wednesday Zumba class I attended had an instructor I have never Zumba-ed with before (meaning I knew NONE of the dances), and let's just say I made myself look like a complete fool for an entire hour trying to keep up with this chick.  I am definitely NOT a natural-born dancer, but I can at least fake keeping up with the hip hop routines.  However, this instructor loved salsa dances (which I am horrible at) so I ended up completely embarassing myself for an hour straight.  Oh well, at least I worked out, right?

Moving on to crafts...
    
I went to Hobby Lobby and Michaels today (with a 40% off coupon to each store) and got the following products for $29.00.  The coasters were already on sale, so I ended up saving $16 total.  I love bargain shopping! 

CRAFT HAUL = Armour Etch, White and Pink Acrylic Craft Paint, and 4-Piece Glass Coaster Set.  I have a few projects in mind for each of these items, but nothing official yet.  We shall see...

Guess what?  I got my first craft "order" from a friend!  She wanted an established name tile with a dark red monogrammed "H" and black lettering for the name and date.  Here is a picture of the "H":

And here a picture of the completed project:

I am pretty pleased with the end result.  And the good news is it only took me HALF the time compared to the first tile I made. 

Alright, off to bed for me.  Hopefully, I will have some more craft-time in between lesson planning tomorrow. Good night :)

Happy 2012!

Well, a new year has officially begun, and I have made a few resolutions:

1.  Have a daily devotional time with God.  (I tend to make this WAY harder than it truly is...)

2.  Go to the gym AT LEAST twice a week.  Especially since I have an actual gym membership now and all the Zumba classes I could wish for!

3.  BLOG!!  I definitely got out of the blogging-loop as soon as my teaching career got super busy, but I truly miss blogging.  Hopefully I can stick with it this time around.

4.  Establish a craft business.  Advantageous (I know), but I have always dreamed of having my own business, so why not give it a try with my crafts?

Speaking of crafts... here are a few of my projects I just completed: 




Gold vinyl monogramed "C" on tile.  *Ignore my shadows!*

 


I made this for my sister.  Customized name and est. sign on tile.

  

Before - Krafty Blok with Valentine's Day in pink vinyl.

  

After - I filled the block with Conversation Hearts.  Tulle and mini lights could have worked, too.

 

Side view.

Well, that's all for now, but I plan to post many more projects to come.  I hope everyone has a safe and blessed 2012!