Happy 11th

Here's the layout from Trevor's pizza-themed 11th birthday party. 

Happy 11th (affiliate link)

As usual, there were a zillion photos to choose from. I kept it simple: a picture of Trevor in the party room along with a group photo from the party room, then a picture of Trevor on the ice and a group photo on the ice. A title, journaling, and a few strips of paper and into the album!

Salads and Crafting

I'm on a weight loss journey to rid myself of the weight that came with the migraine and anxiety medications (... ok, and ice cream). So far, so good. I'm down about 7 pounds and the goal is in sight. Anyway, there have been a lot of salads in my life recently, both on the dinner table and on the craft table.

Mine isn't the first salad craft out there (this might be) but it's the first I've made and I love it. It has pretty much all of the things I like to put in my salads - greens, carrots, tomatoes, nuts, eggs, and croutons. And, of course, the fork is on the left side so you know it's mine.

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Paper Plate Salad Craft

Materials:

• Sponge
• Wax paper
• Scissors
• Tan paint
• Paper plate
• Tissue paper (shades of green)
• Craft glue
• Construction paper or cardstock scraps
• Plastic fork

Steps:

Cut the sponge into cubes that are the size of croutons. Squirt some paint onto the wax paper and roll the sponge bits in the paint. Set them aside to dry. 

Tear the tissue paper into irregular bits and glue them to the plate. I squirted glue all over the plate so I could rip and stick, rip and stick. 

When the plate is covered, add dots of glue randomly. Rip and stick the second shade of green.

Now add your toppings! I started with white ovals and yellow circles, because hard boiled eggs are one of my favorite salad toppers. 

Be creative! You can add whatever veggies, fruits, nuts, meats, or seeds to your salad. Just cut out the shape, add glue, and stick it in place. Finally, wedge the fork into the salad. You can glue it if you want, but mine stays in place just fine without glue, even when I display the salad vertically. 

Wouldn't this be fun to make with kids at a big salad-themed potluck?! Or anytime, really.

Olympics: Ski Jump Craft

The Winter Olympics open Friday in Pyeongchang and I'm so excited! My favorite sports are the ones that seem impossible, because I enjoy thinking about the physics behind what looks impossible but obviously isn't. I also like imagining what it must be like to try some of these sports for the first time. I'm thinking that a person doesn't forget their first attempt at ski jumping, for example.

The closest I'll ever get to ski jumping, besides watching the Olympics, is this ski jump craft. I'm excited to add this to my growing collection of Olympics crafts!

If you follow Fun Family Crafts (and you should), this project might seem familiar. Long story short, the site owner (Amanda Formaro) made a ski jump project years ago for a site that is now closed down. When that happens, we host the project directly on FFC so that it's not gone forever. I'm the one who takes the image and instructions and writes them up using our format. 

The completed tutorial for Amanda's project is here. It includes a pattern, which is something I generally avoid. But in this case, I printed out Amanda's pattern and decided to make my own version of her craft, using different materials than she did. My goal would be to stay 100% true to the pattern (very hard for me). 

Step 1 was digging through my scraps of patterned papers. I found a green plaid and used it to cut out triangles. I fit them directly on her pattern before gluing them together to make trees. 

I found a glittery blue and some smooth white. By holding the papers and the pattern up against the window, I was able to trace and get the exact same angles. 

Here's Amanda's pattern on the left and my version on the right (minus the skier). So far, it's a perfect match. (So rare for me!)

I did end up deviating ever-so-slightly with the skier. I cut two skis from silver paper rather than the one shown on the pattern. I removed the scarf from the pattern and added an arm, held low next to the body. I put goggles on the face, mostly to avoid having to draw facial features. 

Make this fun craft by following Amanda's directions, using my instructions, or by creating your own version! If you make one, I'd love to see it!

So what are your favorite sports at the Winter Olympics?

Cousins

I snapped some cute photos of Trevor's cousin, Allison, crawling into his lap during her brother's birthday party. She sure loves her Big Cousin! 

Cousins (affiliate link)

I chose a radically different color scheme from the last time I scrapped photos of these two. It was fun to combine warm and cool greys with creams, not something I'd usually do. But it works and I think the neutrals really make the photos pop. 

Wild Hare Kits

If you're a scrapbooker, you've probably heard about Wild Hare Kits. They are a new kit company with a really fun concept. And an adorable logo.

Unlike a traditional kit where every person who orders one receives the same thing, Wild Hare Kits are completely customized. You start by completing a Style Profile, then your curated kit is assembled and shipped! What fun!

I told Steve and Trevor that I would love to receive a Wild Hare Kit for Christmas (HINT HINT). I knew it would be a bit of a risk having them fill out my Style Profile rather than doing it myself, but they know me well and did an outstanding job. Here's how the kit looked before I opened it, complete with a note telling Steve that they'd removed the branding on the exterior of the package so I wouldn't know what it was. Totally unnecessary since I'd asked for the kit AND there's still plenty of surprise about what's inside, but a very thoughtful touch. 

And here's what I got:

While there are a few items I wouldn't necessarily have bought on my own, there isn't a single thing that I dislike. My stylist did a great job of picking things that are similar to my style. I'm looking forward to playing!

So would I order from Wild Hare Kits again? Yes! I'll continue to do the bulk of my shopping at Scrapbook.com (affiliate link), but I could definitely see treating myself to a Wild Hare Kit once in a while. And a Wild Hare Kit makes a great gift!