tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55760906657757257092024-03-13T06:03:46.339-04:00Sawyer Ford Driving ByTracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-89041482188218321192016-10-14T00:35:00.000-04:002016-10-14T00:35:01.499-04:00Sawyer's Gallery Wall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is the current view on Sawyer's gallery wall. I have one more giant chipboard S, but it needs to be painted, and I think I may put it on another wall.<br />
Everything on this wall is handmade, thrifted, or purchased on major sale.<br />
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The Imagine canvas came from the thrift store in brand new condition, but it was originally from Hobby Lobby. I think I paid $4.99 for it.<br />
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The moose and elephant were likewise from the thrift store, but originally from Target. I think they were $2.99 each.<br />
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The letters spelling his name were half off at Michael's and I added the scrapbook paper.<br />
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The wood slice S, the burlap S, the blue foam S, and the little orange S with the arrow were all clearanced at Hobby Lobby. All were between $1 and $2.<br />
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The owl painting I <i>think</i> came from Hobby Lobby on clearance, but I've had it for several years so I can't be sure.<br />
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The scratch art at the top was a VBS project this year with materials from Michael's. I laminated the scratch board before adhering it to the frame to preserve the picture.<br />
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The pinwheel I made with my We R Memory Keepers Pinwheel Punch Board. I just pinned it straight to the wall with a ball push pin. The paper was from the same stack I used to cover his name.<br />
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The woodburned pieces are all made by me. They were all wood blanks purchased at either Walmart or Hobby Lobby &1.47-$2.99 for 6-8 pieces. The very center round piece with father and son hunters was the part of a wooden spool that originally held the twine and clothes pins in Lily's room. The image was a stamp that I stamped in brown ink and then went over with my wood burning tool.<br />
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The truck on the Sawyer's Salvage Yard was also a stamped image that I burned over, although I did add the FORD to the tailgate.<br />
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The Sawyer the Brave piece is <a href="http://sawyerforddrivingby.blogspot.com/2016/08/clay-typography-wall-art.html">clay art made by me</a>.<br />
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The Oh Darling Let's Be Adventurers is my version of <a href="http://addicted2diy.com/2015/05/20/wood-burned-wall-art/">one done by Addicted to DIY</a>.<br />
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The white rectangle is impossible to photograph, but looks awesome in person and is a Heidi Swapp cardstock piece that says Be True and was foiled in silver using my Minc. It was part of a set I got on clearance at Joann.<br />
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The bear oval and fox oval were drawn by Nick from artwork available at Hobby Lobby. I burned over his drawings and painted the accents.<br />
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All of the other wood pieces were original pieces free handed by me. I'm so not an artist, but Sawyer loves that I made them for him.<br />
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Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-8612362443779190952016-10-13T00:32:00.000-04:002016-10-13T00:32:11.910-04:00Lily's Gallery Wall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In the old house Taylor and Lily shared a bedroom for sleeping. Lily and Sawyer shared a bedroom for clothes and toy storage. So none of them really had a space that belonged completely to them. I knew that in the new house I wanted to do some personalized decor for each of them, especially since for the year we were on the market the house had to be very neutral and generic. Taylor has decorated and redecorated her room a dozen times, and I'm happy to let her do that. At 15 she's old enough to know her own style. But in Lily and Sawyer's room I've done gallery walls. Sawyer's is pretty much done, and I'll show you his in another post, but this post is about Lily's. </div>
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It's still very much a work in progress. I need to spread it out a little more and raise her art display twine some. The roll of twine with mini clothes pins came from Target via Bargain Hunt, but it would obviously be very easy to DIY. She is very artistic and constantly drawing, painting, and crafting, and I wanted her to have a place to display her creations. She also has some of her school awards up there. </div>
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The Be Kind banner was made by me. Semi-tutorial <a href="http://sawyerforddrivingby.blogspot.com/2016/10/early-fall.html">here</a>.</div>
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Taylor did the pineapple painting, and the flamingo and party dress artwork are my very tentative forays into the world of watercolor. The dress is my very poorly executed version of a gorgeous free printable offered by Lisa at <a href="http://www.mabeyshemadeit.com/vintage-dress-watercolor-printable/">Mabey She Made It</a>. If you have mad watercolor skillz like me, well, you should probably go get hers. But I wanted a pink dress, plus our printer is still buried somewhere in a box, and Lily is ridiculously affectionate toward things that I make just for her, so for now anyway she gets my version. </div>
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The little orange L with arrows was a clearance find at Hobby Lobby that I painted. The floral pieces are all clay flowers Lily and I made using oven bake Sculpy and (mostly) Martha Stewart molds. I just hot glued them onto wood plaques and hung them with adhesive Velcro dots. The woodburned pieces are all made by me. The Lily the Lovely piece is <a href="http://sawyerforddrivingby.blogspot.com/2016/08/clay-typography-wall-art.html">clay art made by me</a>. </div>
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Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-11186256501692457832016-10-12T08:00:00.000-04:002016-10-12T08:00:29.797-04:00Scroll Saw BowlLast month Nick's cousin Katelyn got married, and we made this cool wood bowl for her wedding gift. The was our first time using a scroll saw, and we followed the tutorial over at <a href="http://www.thekimsixfix.com/2016/08/scroll-saw-wooden-basket-from-single-board.html?m=1">The Kim Six Fix</a>. I think it turned out so awesome, and we got tons of compliments on it! Nick did the sawing and gluing and I did the sanding and glue cleanup. I can't wait to make another one for us!<br />
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Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-73035181208604687862016-10-11T08:00:00.000-04:002016-10-11T08:00:02.152-04:00Custom Creighton TumblerMy brother-in-law Scott's birthday was last month. He's a proud Creighton University alumnus, so Nick and I sandblasted the Creighton logo along with his initials onto a 30 oz Rtic tumbler for his gift. I cut a vinyl stencil of the logo and monogram, and we masked off the rest of the cup with painter's tape. Nick did the etching in his blasting cabinet. I hope he likes it!<br />
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Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-40035053480455596202016-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:002016-10-10T08:00:22.802-04:00I Got A Heat Press!!Okay guys, I have big news! I got a heat press!!! I'm so excited! My mom and dad got it for me as a birthday/Christmas gift, and this has been such a game changer for me with shirt making! <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ShareProfit-Presses-Multifunctional-Transfer-Sublimation/dp/B01BUQ8JUU/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&colid=3UV4RQECO5VSU&coliid=I1O228CXW91GRM&ref_=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_1&vs=1">This</a> is the one I got:<br />
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It came with attachments to also do hats, 2 sizes of plates, and 2 sizes of mugs. This thing is so awesome! Not only is it crazy faster than applying heat transfer vinyl with an iron, the quality of the finished product is miles better! What really surprised me though was the fact that you can re-press old projects that have maybe started to peel a bit and fix them! I've been playing with htv for about a year now, and I've loved working with it, but I've always been a little disappointed that it didn't seem to hold up very well in the wash. Well this has been the answer to that for sure. My new projects as well as old ones that I repaired are now holding up perfectly in the washing machine! And I have LOVED being able to rescue some ragged favorites that seemed destined for the trash. I had just assumed that once an item had gone through the laundry there would be no way to make the htv stick. Not that every single project I did with an iron started to peel, but well, a good percentage of them eventually did. So if I've made you a gift with htv in the past and it's starting to come off, bring it back and I'll fix it right up!</div>
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My nephew Levi's birthday party is this Saturday. He's going to be four, and he looooves superheros, Batman especially. I made him this t-shirt, as well as a pillow with Superman fabric on one side and Batman fabric on the other. I also added his name to the pillow in htv. The Batman decal below is actually a 3D rubber applique that I found at Walmart for $3.97. The instructions included were for a household iron, but I took a chance and applied it with the heat press, and it turned out amazing!</div>
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Lily wanted a superhero shirt for her birthday to wear to Levi's party. She originally wanted a Wonder Woman shirt, but then she saw a pink and black Batman shirt online and wanted it instead. So what's a mama with a brand new heat press supposed to do besides make them both? The Batman shirt she saw had a matching bow, so I made one to match each shirt. I even used the heat press for the bows! I don't know why the Wonder Woman set looks pink in the picture below, but as you can see in the shot with her wearing them they are red. Both shirts were the basic $2.97 boys tees from Walmart, and I had the ribbon and htv on hand, so this was a really inexpensive gift.<br />
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The gold HTV on this shirt was in an Expressions Vinyl grab bag that arrived on her birthday, and it was perfect for this project. I mentioned when I shared this picture on Instagram, isn't it neat how God loves on us in little ways as well as big ways?</div>
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Sawyer wants a superhero shirt too, but he keeps going back and forth on what kind, so I will be making one or two for him as well. </div>
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I plan on offering some items in my shop soon too.</div>
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Heat press for the win!</div>
Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-49260472472570837102016-10-09T08:00:00.000-04:002016-10-09T08:00:16.717-04:00Teachers of Good Things Craft Meeting: Fall Blocks<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Our quarterly Ladies Craft Meeting at Church was last month, and we made these fun wood blocks with scrapbook paper and vinyl decals. We painted the blocks first and then added scrapbook paper to the front if we wanted. I precut the vinyl on my Cameo. The cut files for the decals were purchased from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/461088152/pumpkin-svg-file-set-of-8-cutting-files?ref=hp_rv">Etsy shop Lilly Ashley</a>. </div>
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There are 8 different designs in the set, and it comes with a commercial license! I also created a fun name block for one of the kids' teachers, and it was a big hit.<br />
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Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-37068651897280544962016-10-08T08:00:00.000-04:002016-10-08T08:00:17.445-04:00A Birthday Banner for the Birthday GirlSo this girl turned SEVEN on Wednesday! I can't even handle this. She <i>just</i> got out of diapers, I swear.<br />
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We had a simple family get together at the house on Tuesday, and I made this Happy Birthday Banner to hang in the dining room. I used 4 sheets of kraft cardstock and 2 sheets of scrapbook paper. I cut the cardstock in fourths (I had 3 extra fourths), and cut the scrapbook paper into 3"x 5" pieces to use in my Alphabet Punch Board. I ran the letters through my Xyron Creative Station to adhere them to the cardstock and strung it all on baker's twine. I think I'm going to take the BIRTH off now that we're done so that it just says Happy Day and hang it in her room.</div>
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Man, I love banners! This is one I made a couple of weeks ago for a baby shower at church. I cut the flags using my paper cutter, the letters using my Alphabet Punch Board, and the deer using a paper punch. I ran all the letters and the deer through my Xyron Creative Station to turn them into stickers which made the assembly super quick. Colton's mom is doing his nursery in an outdoorsy theme, so hopefully she can use it in there too. </div>
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Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-53834161038587912242016-10-07T08:00:00.000-04:002016-10-07T08:00:04.631-04:00My Craft Room Tanker Desk and One for RachaelThe tanker desk in my craft room is one of my favorite things ever. It came originally from my brother Cary and sister-in-law Rachael (who incidentally is Nick's sister). It was in their basement when they bought their house several years ago, and Cary didn't want it. It was in good shape, but it was old and kind of ugly, standard government gray, and it went into our garage for lack of a better place to put it. Nick told me that I could have it for a craft desk when I got a craft room, so this year for Mother's Day I told him I wanted him to paint it for me.<br />
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Guys! Isn't she gorgeous!! I love her so much! The thing is, every time Rachael came over and saw how amazing it turned out, she seemed a little wistful. Then Nick found a Craigslist ad offering free office furniture. We went to check it out, and we came home with FOUR tanker desks, a huge wooden desk, and a big kitchen table, all for free! </div>
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One tanker desk is at home in the garage for Nick, two are eventually destined for my craft room, the wooden one will be my cutting table, and the kitchen table will eventually replace the one we have now (once we refinish it). But the fourth tanker desk - that one was for Rachael. It was her birthday last week, and we've been working on this thing for a couple of months now. We cleaned it up, fixed a few dings, painted it her favorite color and cut a pretty monogram for the big drawer. We even found the key buried in the mound of debris stuck behind one of the drawers when we brought it home. We delivered it to her last Friday and she loved it!</div>
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Here it is in her craft room. Now I can't wait to get the other two painted for <i>my</i> craft room!<br />
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Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-65970715388105721352016-10-06T21:52:00.000-04:002016-10-06T21:52:41.183-04:00Early FallOkay, a reasonable person might be expected to believe that I had dropped off the face of the earth. In reality, the settling in to the school year along with various other unexpected occurrences has hit us like a freight train and blogging has gotten pushed to the back burner. But I'm here now! So I hope you're ready for some pictures, because I've got a few to share.<br />
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This is a little half octagon table Nick and I refinished. Okay, it was way more him than me, but I helped a little. I am so terribly sad that I didn't get a picture before he started tearing it apart, but trust me, it was UH-GLEE. Think sea foam crackle paint all over, and the veneer on two of the doors was badly damaged. That's where he really impressed me - he smoothed it all out with Wood Bondo, and you can't even tell it's not original. The top was in good condition, so we just stripped, sanded, and stained it. We used a Rustoleum stain in Kona.<br />
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I shared this image over on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BJLSro2hWMn/?taken-by=sawyerforddrivingby&hl=en">Instagram</a>. These lovely little banners were inspired by the one made by the adorable <a href="http://www.pitterandglink.com/2016/08/diy-be-kind-floral-drop-cloth-banner.html">Bethany at Pitter & Glink</a>. I made a cardstock template for my banners using my We R Memory Keepers Banner Punch Board, then cut two for each banner from dropcloth. I machine stitched them together with pink thread, then cut the words from htv using my Cameo. The font I used was Magnolia Sky, which is free for personal use. The flowers and bow are a variety of purchased and handmade pieces. I punched holes in the corners and added eyelets using my Crop-a-Dile Punch and Eyelet Setter, threaded in some random satin ribbon I had on hand, and knotted the ends on the front. On the back of each banner I hot glued a wooden skewer cut to size along the top to keep the banner hanging straight. The Create Beauty banner is hanging in my craft room (as pictured below), and the Be Kind is part of Lily's gallery wall.</div>
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So this happened in late August. Sawyer wasn't feeling well at all and we couldn't get a doctor's appointment, so I took him to the ER. By the time we got there he was having some breathing distress and they ended up keeping us for two days. We never did find out exactly what the problem was, but the best guess was that he had a virus combined with an allergic reaction to something that really hit him hard. Below is a picture of him hanging out with his buddy Chase, who brought him Play-Doh, cars, and snacks and spent some time looking suitably impressed with Sawyer's grand tour of his hospital room.<br />
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Nick works for Lexus and they sent him this amazing gift basket, which was such an awesome thing for them to do!<br />
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Nick's cousin got married last month, and we stayed at an amazing chalet near the wedding venue where they had this gorgeous handmade quilt on the bed. I'm in love!</div>
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We got to see Nick's sister Kristin and her family, which was awesome. They live in Texas, and it had been over a year since we'd seen most of them. It was so much fun to get the kids together with their cousins!<br />
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Our Lily girl got baptized a couple of weeks ago, and she couldn't have been more precious.</div>
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So those are a few of the things that have been keeping us busy lately. What have you been working on?</div>
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*<span style="font-size: x-small;">There are no affiliate links in this post. I have not been compensated for using any product mentioned in this post. I just like to share what I have used in case you might want to use it too!</span></div>
Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-14570948452206033382016-08-10T10:13:00.000-04:002016-08-10T10:13:28.919-04:00Veggie Chicken and Dumplins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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School started back for us this week, and it's a whole new routine here at our new house. We live close enough to the school to be disqualified for bus service, which in turn qualifies us to wait 30 minutes in the drop off/pick up line. Since it's a 10 minute walk, that's what we're going with, and I have loved it so far. One on one time with my middle kiddo, 10 minutes to myself on the way back, and easy exercise to boot!<div>
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But, it does mean I don't want to spend hours on dinner if I can help it, so last night I made one of our very favorite fast and easy meals. It might actually be my very very favorite. Lily especially can be very picky, and this is one where she will always ask for seconds. And bonus - you get to get some veggies in them!</div>
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Okay, a couple of disclaimers: I am not a food blogger, so I don't have amazing presentation pictures here. It's hard to stage things when you're trying not to eat your subject first. Second of all, this is the FAST MAMA version. Yes, this can absolutely be made healthier. You can use fresh chicken and fresh veggies and homemade cream of whatever soup mix and skim milk etc. etc. And it's very good that way. But it's amazing this way too, and it's not only quick, but cheap. So if you are looking for a way to get something yummy, hot, and comforting in their bellies between homework and bedtime, this is the ticket.</div>
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This recipe was adapted from a recipe my friend Rebecca gave me seven years ago, and it has never not been a hit. I added the veggies and adjusted the soup/milk ratio some to stretch it out and it is so very, very good! This amount feeds my family of five with just enough left over to send Nick lunch to work the next day (if we show great restraint and don't make poor decisions about how much is actually a reasonable amount to eat for one meal. This is not a single serve portion, even if you believe you can).</div>
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Start out with the following:</div>
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26 Ounce Can of Cream of Chicken Soup</div>
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29 Ounce Can of Veg-All/Mixed Vegetables</div>
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2 Cups Bisquick/Baking Mix</div>
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3 2/3 Cups of milk, divided</div>
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2 10 ounce Cans of Chicken/2-3 cooked chicken breasts, cut into chunks</div>
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Your milk will need to be divided into 3 cups and 2/3 cup<br />
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Add 3 cups milk, vegetables, soup, and chicken to large pot on high. My chicken was a tomato herb flavor, just because it's what I had on hand, but plain chicken is just fine. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While this heats, mix Bisquick and remaining 2/3 cup milk. </div>
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Form into small dumplins about the size of a heaping tablespoon and add to soup mixture.</div>
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Bring to a boil, then set heat on low. Simmer for 10 minutes, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes more. Stir occasionally. Before removing from heat check to make sure your dumplins are not gooey. If they are undercooked, leave it on the heat for another 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently.</div>
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And you're done! I love this with black pepper, which is weird, because I don't like black pepper on really anything, but it's SO good on this dish. Nick's papaw passed away a few years ago, and he put copious amounts of black pepper on everything he ate, so this dish always makes me think about him. </div>
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This stuff is so yummy! I'm super jealous that Nick got to take the rest of it for lunch today. Let me know if you try it!</div>
Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-46972434428499016352016-08-08T12:45:00.000-04:002016-08-08T12:45:49.151-04:00Easy Cardboard Rocket Craft<div style="text-align: center;">
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This year's Vacation Bible School curriculum was called To The Edge, and it was space themed. My sister-in-law Rachael was in charge of the decorations, and people, it was out of this world! (Bahahahaha! Snort. Okay, just ignore me) Seriously though, she did an amazing job. Check out a few of the pictures (Excuse the quality of some of them. The lighting wasn't the best in some areas. I plan to post some of the pictures from the actual event on a later post.):<br />
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The black light hallway was a huge hit.</div>
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My mom and dad put these rockets together, and Rachael made that awesome astronaut herself!</div>
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The "computer screens" at the control panels even lit up!</div>
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This robot. How amazing is this? Of course I think the guy standing next to him is pretty amazing too. :)</div>
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I can't believe how detailed everything was. Have I mentioned that she's five months pregnant and has two kids under four? Yeah, serious supermom stuff.</div>
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Anyway, I was really surprised at the lack of VBS friendly space themed crafts out there on Pinterest. There were a lot of space themed projects, but very little that could be done with multiple kids in 20 minutes. So I wanted to share these awesome rockets we made!</div>
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This is a super quick and simple craft, even for a group, especially if you have your paper pre-cut. Materials needed are as follows:</div>
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5 inch cardstock circle</div>
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Toilet paper roll or other cardboard tube about 4 inches in height</div>
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Scrapbook paper or plain white copy paper 4x8 inches</div>
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3-4 wood half circles</div>
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At VBS we used plain white paper to wrap the rockets and let the kids color on them. You can absolutely use toilet paper rolls, but a friend at church brought me a massive bag of these heavy duty cardboard shipping tubes from his job. They were already 4 inches long, and they were perfect for this craft!<br />
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First run a line of hot glue down the side of your cardboard tube.<br />
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Glue down your paper on the short edge, wrap all the way around the rocket and glue down the other end.<br />
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Cut a slit halfway across your 5 inch circle and form into a cone shape.</div>
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Glue the cone closed.</div>
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Run a thick line of hot glue around the rim of your tube and set the cone on top. Make sure to put it on straight, and make sure it touches the glue all the way around.<br />
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Glue on your wooden half circles as feet. (Or a stand maybe? thrusters? I don't know.) I found these in bags of 100 pieces at Hobby Lobby. However, they were in the clearance section for about $4, so I don't know if they stock them anymore, but if you are making a bunch of these and can't find the half circles, you could buy wood circles to cut in half. If you are just making one or two, you could use any number of things in their place - paper straws, popsicle sticks, short lengths of dowel rod, etc.<br />
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The kids had a blast (hehe) with these, and they were appealing to a wide age group. At VBS I had the kids glue on the paper around the side and glue the cones closed with glue sticks for safety reasons. I and another worker glued the cones to the top and glued the feet on with hot glue. I made some extras for our nursery age kids who didn't get to participate in craft time, and they were a universal hit (ha! I can't stop!).<br />
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<br />Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-12079214534026931012016-08-06T19:17:00.001-04:002016-08-06T19:17:57.028-04:00Clay Typography Wall ArtIt's honestly kind of rare for me to have a project turn out exactly how I envisioned it, but this one did just that. A few days ago the kids wanted to play with clay, so I got out my molds and Sculpey. I have a bunch of the Martha Stewart Clay Molds as well as a bunch of the Mod Molds. The great thing about all of these is that you can bake the clay right in them. I don't know if it's actually recommended, but I've done it many times and don't have any sort of damage to my molds. That said, the Sculpey I usually use bakes at 275° F, so I would be cautious baking the molds at any higher temperatures.<br />
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I've been making a lot of little wood burned pieces for Sawyer's and Lily's rooms, which I love, but I wanted something with a little more color. So I used various colors of Sculpey and my Mod Molds alphabet mold to make letters spelling out Sawyer the Brave and Lily the Lovely.<br />
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These were easy peasy, although they took a little over an hour to make because the mold has one of each letter and Lily had 4 L's on her piece and there were 5 E's between the two. Most of that time was bake time though. Actual working time was probably 10 minutes.<br />
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Materials needed(non affiliate links):<br />
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<a href="http://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-Hobbies/Clay-Molding-Sculpting/Clay/Bright-Sculpey-III-Multi-Pack/p/29216">Sculpey oven bake clay</a> in various colors (I think mine was Sculpey III)<br />
<a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/37662823?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227025346399&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=52481195471&wl4=pla-84043467191&wl5=9013452&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=37662823&wl13=&veh=sem">Mod Molds Alphabet Mold</a><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bulk-Buy-Unfinished-24-Pack-9189-37/dp/B00KO2DON4">Unfinished 3.5 inch wood circle</a> (Mine came in a 6 pack at Walmart for $1.47)<br />
Hot glue gun<br />
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Knead your clay until soft, then fill mold letters needed for your message.<br />
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Bake according to package directions. Allow to cool enough to remove from molds.<br />
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When you have all your letters baked, lay out your message as you want it to be on the finished piece.<br />
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Pick up one letter at a time and glue in place with hot glue.<br />
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Clean up any glue strings and you're done!<br />
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These pieces are so fun! I had to make Lily and Sawyer both bring them back so I could get pictures of them, because they took off with them as soon as they saw them! And they are easy enough that they would make a great kid craft just so long as you help with the hot gluing.<br />
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You can add a picture hanger to the back if you want, but the wood is thin, so I've found that sticky back velcro dots are a better option. Most of the items on Sawyer's gallery wall are hung with these, including his big letters, and I've had no problem with anything falling off. Yes, I know the clay piece isn't up there yet. Baby steps, people.<br />
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If you make a Sculpey art piece like this I'd love to see it!Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-67093782977309306832016-07-26T23:00:00.000-04:002016-07-27T03:51:48.238-04:00Showers of Blessings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Guys, I just had to pop in for a minute and tell you how God has blessed me over the last few days. And because every post needs a picture, I'm sharing a quick snap of Sawyer's gallery wall in progress. Everything on it was either thrifted, on clearance, or handmade. Sometime soon I plan to post about all that wood burned art.<br />
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Anyway, I just wanted to share how good to me God has been this week. I've been kind of stressed the last few days. We just finished up Vacation Bible School at our church (which was awesome - eight kids saved!). I'm in charge of the crafts every year, which I love, but it's always exhausting. And this month it just seems like the bills have been rolling in and I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that school starts back in less than two weeks and it didn't look like Sawyer was going to be able to get into the preschool program we were hoping for and I was trying to figure out the school clothes situation for these kiddos that are growing like weeds, etc. etc. etc.<br />
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Man, I tell you what - God has got us <i>covered</i>! A few days ago a friend at church shared a link to <a href="https://www.schoola.com/?ref=cp-3Xb1w1001">Schoola</a>. Full disclosure, that is my referral link, but this is not a compensated post. I'm sharing it because I got some amazing deals and I want to share the love. Schoola is a program that collects gently used clothing and resells them at awesome prices to benefit schools. When you sign up (for<br />
free) through a referral link like mine you get a $20 credit. Then if you create a collection (also free),<br />
you get another $10 credit. They also immediately email you a 50% off coupon which makes your $30 in credit worth $60. And shipping is free! And if you go through my link, I get a $20 credit too.<br />
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So let me tell you what I've gotten with my sign up credits and referral credits so far: for Taylor I got 3 shirts, 2 sweaters, one pair of jeans, one pair of shorts, and a hoodie. For Lily I got 2 shirts, 7 pairs of pants, 3 dresses, 2 skirts, and a coat. For Sawyer I got 6 shirts, one pair of pants, one pair of shorts, and a pair of shoes. And I even got a shirt for me! That's $351.50 worth of clothes, and I've spent $3.30 out of pocket. I've gotten to use a coupon on every order so far, and I'm hoping to get a few more referrals to round out a few more pairs of pants for Sawyer, so if you want to sign up and get<br />
some awesome name brand clothes for your kids or yourself for free, I would really appreciate you using my link above.<br />
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And speaking of Sawyer and school, I got a call today that Sawyer is going to be able to participate in the preschool program we wanted after all! Guys, this is a HUGE blessing, and a very direct answer to a specific prayer!<br />
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I also got a couple of surprise cards earlier this week - one from a sweet lady at church that was just a very precious and encouraging note that really brightened my day, and one from my secret sister with a gift card in it! That's going to be the start of my fund for my Workbox 2.0!<br />
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<a href="http://www.theoriginalscrapbox.com/">Source</a></div>
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Kind of the icing on the cake today was this little reminder I got when I was fixing dinner:</div>
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This was on the back of the bag of chicken I was baking, and it is my very favorite verse! Isn't it neat how God loves on us?<br />
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Happy Tuesday, guys!Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-81244344240054274282016-07-09T04:50:00.000-04:002016-07-09T04:50:07.982-04:00Handmade GiftsGuys, the craft room is coming together! I've still got a little organizing to do, but I'm getting there. So anyway, I wanted to show you some of the handmade gifts I've made and given over the last few months. Fair warning, a lot of these are quick cell phone pictures I grabbed on my way out the door rather than pretty staged shots, but I'm going on the theory that done is better than perfect.<br />
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Let's start with a few things I made for Christmas gifts.<br />
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I made paracord fishing flies for the dads and brothers in my life, and I really liked the way they turned out. They were quick and easy, and you can find the tutorial I followed <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Paracord-Fishing-Lure/">here</a>. I wrapped mine with fishing line instead of an interior filament of the paracord and sealed it with super glue, and I was really pleased with the way they looked. I made some from bright colors and some from muted shades, which made them good for different applications.<br />
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I also made several of these paracord lanyards that hang from the straps of waders and hold the tools used in fly fishing.<br />
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I made this shirt for my cousin. You can buy a similar one <a href="https://www.spreadshirt.com/national+sarcasm+society+t-shirts-A13025500">here</a> if you don't want to DIY your own. (Not an affiliate link)<br />
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I made Taylor and her best friend Lexye each a Taco Bell Is Life pillow from hand dyed drop cloth.<br />
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These were various bracelets I made for moms, aunts, and sisters.<br />
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(I might have kept this one for myself. Shhhh!)</div>
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This was the shirt I made Lily for Valentines Day. It was her very specific design.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvL3djSZARXuzZf1scdvPw5yaYdTFIm9GHUT0TRzwgJUyZipOLoZ-jTHDEXcfUj1jdqyj03DdOxHzyeyUIE03SJEktygsBkWRt3GDMOTNISQFESvy_d6ugtExDfraXSIP6i7X3zPuUxM5/s1600/IMG_4027-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvL3djSZARXuzZf1scdvPw5yaYdTFIm9GHUT0TRzwgJUyZipOLoZ-jTHDEXcfUj1jdqyj03DdOxHzyeyUIE03SJEktygsBkWRt3GDMOTNISQFESvy_d6ugtExDfraXSIP6i7X3zPuUxM5/s640/IMG_4027-001.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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This was the shirt I made for Levi, which matched the one I made for Sawyer, although Sawyer's said Heartbreaker.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbog1yJj2bZ3WT67SX3Na8Si-Q6EAbxSOwksHgwxKfYyhXU11FMbnLjfcsOojcLECB2rnPIfIZ2DStWPGQE82gaUPo6798KMn1TgnnKDX5EObeB7exeEF_51k8tcZM0RcjdU7ElK6pEkIy/s1600/IMG_4072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbog1yJj2bZ3WT67SX3Na8Si-Q6EAbxSOwksHgwxKfYyhXU11FMbnLjfcsOojcLECB2rnPIfIZ2DStWPGQE82gaUPo6798KMn1TgnnKDX5EObeB7exeEF_51k8tcZM0RcjdU7ElK6pEkIy/s640/IMG_4072.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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(No, I have no idea why he was wearing a helmet)</div>
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They also got matching Plex shirts.They're both big Yo Gabba Gabba fans.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUlyjolBTDgxu1ySMp0pDX8RU_zB6AI9xSx_zXlqseANMZrjdop4OiKasEfH1F9OlGm4rReMqTmLyActi9Smt5pXqx1wrSWQrDA4Szw5Xj-N2Q9b0eOOSy2_pL2GYSPICD_c-f6FSd5Ix/s1600/IMG_4399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUlyjolBTDgxu1ySMp0pDX8RU_zB6AI9xSx_zXlqseANMZrjdop4OiKasEfH1F9OlGm4rReMqTmLyActi9Smt5pXqx1wrSWQrDA4Szw5Xj-N2Q9b0eOOSy2_pL2GYSPICD_c-f6FSd5Ix/s400/IMG_4399.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Speaking of Yo Gabba Gabba, I made Sawyer this Brobee shirt. I passed this little green striped shirt at the thrift store 4 or 5 times before I bought it. I really liked the stripes, but I couldn't think what I wanted to do with it, and Sawyer has a ton of t-shirts. Then one day it just clicked what a perfect Brobee shirt it would make, so into my cart it went. It's one of his favorites.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif80R4tFPyr1slcXhZnuJ3poNl7w0Sm-X6GRrvcVmlNmg6k91wNV0bSTfE8S0eJHvcfIctjOhiBf-q5Q3aYkD3ThBjQoJgwpN-3hwkbNyl5Fs7HsrZlUpVVAC9_qhkEx_vllq4qPleaDBg/s1600/IMG_4351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif80R4tFPyr1slcXhZnuJ3poNl7w0Sm-X6GRrvcVmlNmg6k91wNV0bSTfE8S0eJHvcfIctjOhiBf-q5Q3aYkD3ThBjQoJgwpN-3hwkbNyl5Fs7HsrZlUpVVAC9_qhkEx_vllq4qPleaDBg/s640/IMG_4351.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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These little Jesus Loves Me shirts for Lily and my niece Adelaide were made at the request of Adelaide's mom Rachael. You can buy a similar one <a href="https://thetalkingshirt.com/products/dark-heather-gray-jesus-loves-me-unisex-fit-tee">here</a>. (Not an affiliate link)</div>
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This was Lily's St. Patrick's Day shirt.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAqgtBPVPXxTShcQsOPAqktepjBYRSfcwq9orRNecSt8JYTtvwPn362Bb2a0tqGYqNcLUnojOTrNaqPyNSRGimGj_IPi-dDVYSU8qB9AwnVTlHunfkT7B7-52I_QTg6c8dAAHGWvqPRqg8/s1600/IMG_4026-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAqgtBPVPXxTShcQsOPAqktepjBYRSfcwq9orRNecSt8JYTtvwPn362Bb2a0tqGYqNcLUnojOTrNaqPyNSRGimGj_IPi-dDVYSU8qB9AwnVTlHunfkT7B7-52I_QTg6c8dAAHGWvqPRqg8/s640/IMG_4026-001.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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This little shirt was for my nephew Lawrence who looooves his little guitar!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZZblPCatbLtP2kBEPc4vq1GEsQFX0Uou68sYZtMnSnHI7RUehsItW465y2UKSHxMEH9ppg4rrk2igg3zSFuX36WDI51tIlT-NED1xp89yoYmOSbKo5M90E1bMDqgB79gXRVVFW9O3BsK/s1600/IMG_4060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZZblPCatbLtP2kBEPc4vq1GEsQFX0Uou68sYZtMnSnHI7RUehsItW465y2UKSHxMEH9ppg4rrk2igg3zSFuX36WDI51tIlT-NED1xp89yoYmOSbKo5M90E1bMDqgB79gXRVVFW9O3BsK/s640/IMG_4060.JPG" width="636" /></a></div>
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My brother Cary is a huge duck hunter, so as part of his birthday gift Nick and I made him this duck hunting themed key fob. It was a metal tag from the Target Dollar Spot. I cut a stencil out of vinyl, and Nick sand blasted it. The quote on the back is a scripture reference. We also sand blasted his favorite sports logo into a metal tumbler, but I didn't get a picture of it. (I know, lame.)</div>
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This was Lily's shirt for Dr. Seuss Day at school.</div>
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This coral earrings and bracelet set was for my sister-in-law Leah's birthday.</div>
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Just before we moved into the new house we had the biggest blessing! A lovely lady from our church got some new furniture for her living room and gifted us her previous couch, chair, and recliner. They were in pristine condition - she just wanted some smaller pieces, and they were perfect for our living room! She is a pilot, and I made her this bracelet as a thank you.</div>
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This Minnie shirt was for my niece Adelaide's 2nd birthday.</div>
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I also found these sweet leggings and made shirts to match them.</div>
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For Mother's Day I made a few of these fun potholder purse organizers. The floral one came from Walmart and the quatrefoil one came from Target.</div>
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On Mother's Day our church gives a small gift to every woman and girl there. This year we gave these lovely fancy paper clips. My mom, Taylor, her friend Lexye, and I added the buttons to the clips, and I cut, punched, and stamped all the cards.</div>
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I added vinyl to these cups as thank you gifts for our realty team and they loved them! FYI, these are the Ozark Trail brand from Walmart. I have the same cup in the 30 ounce, and it is <i>identical</i> in looks and performance to Nick's 30 ounce Yeti tumbler for oh, 1/4 of the price. Seriously. Get one.</div>
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My friend Melissa's birthday was a few weeks ago, and I made her this sweet little cross stitch necklace. </div>
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This wreath was for Lily's room. It has been on my to do list since I saw it on <a href="http://pattyschaffer.typepad.com/capture_the_details/2010/03/monday-make-it-spring-baby-grass-wreath.html">Capture the Details</a> like six years ago, but I couldn't ever seem to find the fun fur yarn in this shade of green. Then when we were "in storage" as I refer to the time of our life when we were on the market and everything fun that I own was in a storage unit, I found a couple of skeins at a thrift store. I finally got to put it together a couple of weeks ago. </div>
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These were gifts for Nick's grandmother for Mother's Day (the yellow set) and her birthday (the red white and blue set and the cards).</div>
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The cards are blank inside and were hand embroidered. I made them using this <a href="http://www.americancrafts.com/default.aspx?PageID=69&CategoryID=739&ProductID=9989&RootCatCode=01000">Amy Tangerine Stitched set</a> I found at Tuesday Morning. They were actually pretty time consuming to make, but also kind of a soothing activity, and I hope she likes them.<br />
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These were the cards I made her to give her with the gifts, and I am SO excited with how they turned out. Okay, here's the deal. As I was going through all the mountains of stuff I was putting away in my craft room I came across a couple of sheets of 4x6 photo paper. I have tons of this stuff. Tons of it. But I never print my own pictures. I have a photo lab that I love, and I just couldn't begin to touch their quality on a home printer. But several people have given me boxes of the paper, and I was always at kind of a loss what to do with it. I was on the verge of tossing the couple of loose sheets in the trash when my eyes fell on the box housing my ridiculously large collection of embossing folders. I grabbed my Big Shot and some dies and cranked out the coolest paper elements ever! Okay, maybe not really, but I love, love, LOVE the way the photo paper looks with some embossing!</div>
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Anyway, that's some of what I've been up to. What have you been making?</div>
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Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-10037752584351790512016-05-16T14:11:00.000-04:002016-05-16T14:11:04.098-04:00Home. FinallyHello. Remember me? So the blog has been on hiatus for a few months, but I'm just about ready to start up regular posting again. Here's what's been going on: we bought a house!<br />
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Here is a somewhat condensed version of the whole long, painful process: when I last posted about the house situation at the end of the year, we were still on the market and had had two contracts fall through. This was...disheartening to say the least. Then in February we finally had another buyer! Our closing date was set for March 24, and the race was on to find a new house.<br />
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We. Looked. At. So. Many. Houses. Our realtor <a href="https://www.facebook.com/buyknoxvillehomes/?fref=ts">Matt Cupp of the Derek Maples Team at Keller Williams Realty</a> was soooo incredibly patient with us. We were looking for 4 bedrooms, 2+ baths, a 2 car garage, roughly the area we were already in, with a still reasonable commute to work for Nick, fenced in back yard, AND a bonus room/5th bedroom for a craft room. It was the craft room that was a killer for us. There were 4 bedroom houses galore, but very little with a space for me.<br />
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Then we found this amazing house that we fell in love with. It had everything we wanted. Everything. And the craft space was a detached space the size of an extra long single car garage, with its own bathroom and huge closet. It was a foreclosure, bank owned, and bidding was open. So we put in our very best, maybe even stretched a little too far bid. But we felt pretty confident that we would get it. Our bid was solid, we had a closing date already set for the sale of our old house, and had already been through inspection on it. Nick's dad has years of construction experience, and he checked out the new property for us, so we were even submitting our bid with no inspection contingency.<br />
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Nick's parents loved it, my parents loved it, we loved it, the kids loved it. This was it. THE HOUSE. And then...<br />
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A cash offer came in. They went with the other buyers. We were devastated. But we knew God had a reason. And the old house was sold, so we had to pick ourselves up and start looking again. Nothing we saw appealed to us. Everything looked so unsuitable next to the house we had lost. We ran poor Matt all over Knoxville and Powell and Maynardville and Clinton. There were a couple of houses that would have technically worked, but our heart just wasn't in them. We actually signed a contract on one, but were relieved when the inspection came back with issues that allowed us to back out of it, because we just didn't love it like the one we had lost.<br />
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Then Matt showed us the newly listed house on Cartmill Dr. And we loved it. And we bought it. We closed on April 22 and moved in the same day. Right now there are still a lot of boxes in sight, but we are making progress. And there's even a craft room!<br />
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Here's a quick recap of the journey over the last year with selling and buying: 136 showings, 3 contracts, foundation damage and repair, 5 (FIVE!) extensions on the closing date, 4 weeks living with my parents, and 1 contract extension on the contract for the new house (because of the 5th extension for the buyer on the old house). This was the 5th house we had made an offer on, and the 3rd one we had had a contract on.<br />
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I have to give a shout out to our whole realty team. <a href="http://www.derekmaples.com/">Derek Maples</a> of the Derek Maples Team of Keller Williams listed our house for us last year in a very slow market and kept a constant stream of buyers coming through. As I mentioned, we had 136 showings. And he was a serious rock star when it came to getting us through closing. Unfortunately our buyer's finance company dropped the ball a number of times, causing the 5 extensions, which resulted in our closing getting delayed 29 days. Derek really advocated for us and ended up getting that finance company to reimburse us for the expenses we incurred due to those delays, which was a huge lifesaver for us.<br />
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Matt Cupp showed us house after house, and often checking listings out in person without us beforehand when we were unavailable for showings. He showed us houses as early as 7AM and as late as 9PM, every day of the week. He worked hard to get us the price we needed on the house we bought, and he showed up at closing with a lovely etched glass casserole dish as a housewarming gift. He was almost always available to take my call, and he was awesome about getting back to me quickly if he was unable to answer. Even though we went through way more listings that most of his clients, he never got impatient or tried to push us into buying a house that we wouldn't be happy with. We always felt safe in his care, and we could tell that his goal was our happiness, not his commission.<br />
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Brandon White is the Director of Operations for the Derek Maples Team, and he really is the glue that holds it all together. I could always call him if I had a question, and he was there to hold my hand at closing on the old house. He followed up on a lot of items for me, especially during the drawn out closing process.<br />
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This was a really long process for all of us, through no fault at all of anyone (except maybe our buyer's finance company, but that was only the last few weeks), and they never gave up on us or lost patience with us. I can't say enough about how much we love them. If we ever decide to sell this house (not that I can even imagine that at this point), we will definitely go with them again.<br />
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Most important to us was the fact that this is a team that puts God first. Their motto is God, Family, Real Estate, in that order, and they have a weekly prayer meeting for their clients every Thursday morning.<br />
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So anyway, that is what the last 5 months have looked like. Now that we are finally home, we can start settling in, and I can start sharing a few of the crafty things I've managed to squeeze in!<br />
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Since right now we're not quite ready for pictures, I'm going to leave you with the listing photos, courtesy of <a href="http://www.zillow.com/">Zillow</a>. We have put up a fan in the master bedroom, but otherwise we've not done much else.<br />
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LOVE all the wainscoting!</div>
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My new Craft Room!</div>
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A laundry room! No more laundry in the garage!</div>
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This closet. I die!</div>
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Secret pass through door between Sawyer's and Lily's room.</div>
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<br />Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-90593200930546546312016-01-02T00:51:00.000-05:002016-01-02T00:51:31.250-05:00Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange Winter 2015For several years now I've participated in the Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange, and it's always a blast! This round I was paired with the lovely Lisa Hickey of <a href="http://www.carondesigns.com/">Caron Designs</a>. She sent me such neat things! This was round one (yes, round one).<br />
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First was this gorgeous flattened wine bottle cheese tray. I've been fascinated with flattened glassware for years, but as I'm lacking a kiln it's not really a craft I can do, so I was thrilled with it. Unfortunately this beautiful piece got cracked in shipping. However, it worked out, as you will see.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6GC8E-Wv56ENKSoWGUoR42jkSr4-SiU0o5sdaPlkxe2R5ffv352UcTCBzheEQbtygHjbCPVnHUeyBJ1J6q2RxAtJQhbRfVhXwdjeIcRICRKtyPHZjGsBJ9-3Cc97QcUNHasJ-MZqhLK2/s1600/IMG_3301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6GC8E-Wv56ENKSoWGUoR42jkSr4-SiU0o5sdaPlkxe2R5ffv352UcTCBzheEQbtygHjbCPVnHUeyBJ1J6q2RxAtJQhbRfVhXwdjeIcRICRKtyPHZjGsBJ9-3Cc97QcUNHasJ-MZqhLK2/s400/IMG_3301.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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She also sent this adorable handpainted flattened jar soap dish which currently lives beside my kitchen sink.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY69ceKC75oWptvEuO5ED70hToiq37xuRPI0kcpDin5pGBhMEFreDk8a8zXjGxOfQZyFooZBwB532VR6k_rGcuPaG2el6JarT7idatu2LGlWIqdqFlSu_xLFEOHS2sCSH5Qr4jeOz13Lt_/s1600/IMG_3298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY69ceKC75oWptvEuO5ED70hToiq37xuRPI0kcpDin5pGBhMEFreDk8a8zXjGxOfQZyFooZBwB532VR6k_rGcuPaG2el6JarT7idatu2LGlWIqdqFlSu_xLFEOHS2sCSH5Qr4jeOz13Lt_/s640/IMG_3298.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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There were also these two delicious smelling soaps, one of which is in the above soap dish in my kitchen and the other of which is in our downstairs bath.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvPcQGyW0TnXIDStaz7Z8JwCxfc7HYJZB1SwXTOyIW8yhFdLdAVFVLs8SpH_a_SkWnoDYZ4FLDFN-c3wHL9lG-PkwXjKMHbpfaviQ9x-CWlqg-9lQiufujsrNvS_l2Yghn3DhjhLxAHVA/s1600/IMG_3299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvPcQGyW0TnXIDStaz7Z8JwCxfc7HYJZB1SwXTOyIW8yhFdLdAVFVLs8SpH_a_SkWnoDYZ4FLDFN-c3wHL9lG-PkwXjKMHbpfaviQ9x-CWlqg-9lQiufujsrNvS_l2Yghn3DhjhLxAHVA/s640/IMG_3299.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLurFHa20PeyuSy8-SZRWHFK7dx1r_ee1rNKEzS38xOikPJQGObTx6tOuNomavdD0ZxE3JXdkXns5VgyV7bvA_oDsQRR2ZJP6PeTBHFTsxmbc1KoGkXgROSEaIQxcG0oF7sf1_8mlvgym6/s1600/IMG_3304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLurFHa20PeyuSy8-SZRWHFK7dx1r_ee1rNKEzS38xOikPJQGObTx6tOuNomavdD0ZxE3JXdkXns5VgyV7bvA_oDsQRR2ZJP6PeTBHFTsxmbc1KoGkXgROSEaIQxcG0oF7sf1_8mlvgym6/s640/IMG_3304.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Last were these awesome original artwork greeting cards.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUxZD38Igt0uX5QhW_N5uxEBomMjxFj8YMv2-4vXsVUdOeXcd1sfn-0ZvrnDPKXM67elZ9CUq-fKWSc7124uMZwE3TmI2WjcFesX8Q4FiqAKRe4ooX5kdEUwo_eDq2jWDrhoxwuNClezG/s1600/IMG_3300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUxZD38Igt0uX5QhW_N5uxEBomMjxFj8YMv2-4vXsVUdOeXcd1sfn-0ZvrnDPKXM67elZ9CUq-fKWSc7124uMZwE3TmI2WjcFesX8Q4FiqAKRe4ooX5kdEUwo_eDq2jWDrhoxwuNClezG/s640/IMG_3300.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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I contacted Lisa to let her know how much I loved everything, and I mentioned that the cheese platter had been cracked in shipping. The break was a very clean one, and I wanted to ask her advice on the best glue to use to repair it. I also wanted to let her know in case she wanted to contact her shipping company to be reimbursed for this damage. She generously told me that she would take care of it and that I should expect a new one later in the week! I promise I was not trying to wrangle a new one from her, but I was so touched by her generosity!</div>
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So a few days later I got another package in the mail, and sure enough there was another gorgeous platter, this one clear.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOnTAKXbFS__ZkLzFJXeSBJJzUqkeQZUI87xB0ghaXtp5RgPwZD7gS9rm8KkaFBtMrSlvV9e51beMA9TjPDbSPl7RLaCPbzGKESU1Hb-FRwBUkUn8CfNR8hQimLgsr5aLfTJQ-lc3SY_mL/s1600/IMG_3745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOnTAKXbFS__ZkLzFJXeSBJJzUqkeQZUI87xB0ghaXtp5RgPwZD7gS9rm8KkaFBtMrSlvV9e51beMA9TjPDbSPl7RLaCPbzGKESU1Hb-FRwBUkUn8CfNR8hQimLgsr5aLfTJQ-lc3SY_mL/s640/IMG_3745.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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But also included was this lovely pair of glass bead earrings.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSN1-y52g26Cj1o_lsUXMi0c-w7LbW7EscIA3Wa7LVBSDNaVgADd6In-fAKP2SVE7rmahHc83lYQpytDphF7JimJBiHbGPBvhu3rhqQK-E8xTSgc3OONi79xNBRNSYxgyJ5WTYq1WZyc_o/s1600/IMG_3744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSN1-y52g26Cj1o_lsUXMi0c-w7LbW7EscIA3Wa7LVBSDNaVgADd6In-fAKP2SVE7rmahHc83lYQpytDphF7JimJBiHbGPBvhu3rhqQK-E8xTSgc3OONi79xNBRNSYxgyJ5WTYq1WZyc_o/s640/IMG_3744.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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And this beautiful fused glass star ornament. When I was getting to know her work online these stars were one of the creations that really caught my eye, so I was thrilled to get one! It went waaaaay up high on my Christmas tree to keep it away from the grabby hands of the short people in my house.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xSY0NCkQprygA7iDtrYP6gHWIZnc-vVviLcJIDU0vUUP2h372nFhO-1RqOdCJRnxShWuJ-4U-8Sya7O2BQmA4UUegCSuD7215G3Bc4R7J7JU9LsHelFIouGBjnLJVxlxV0m9-3O1oNmP/s1600/IMG_3743+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xSY0NCkQprygA7iDtrYP6gHWIZnc-vVviLcJIDU0vUUP2h372nFhO-1RqOdCJRnxShWuJ-4U-8Sya7O2BQmA4UUegCSuD7215G3Bc4R7J7JU9LsHelFIouGBjnLJVxlxV0m9-3O1oNmP/s640/IMG_3743+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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So here's what I sent Lisa:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdRhXvqh9Fk0Yq4ysLyzneEdY2zNJMqgcVmrhP8z3XsVGGpw7chVnGqdjw19Y0aUTPYDOdWvSBprC5mFQ50hodHStDknUdOoYb0ooTmtnCjK8-_WmWeBji6t0FI2bWq93vq-QzqETUqtJ/s1600/IMG_3275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdRhXvqh9Fk0Yq4ysLyzneEdY2zNJMqgcVmrhP8z3XsVGGpw7chVnGqdjw19Y0aUTPYDOdWvSBprC5mFQ50hodHStDknUdOoYb0ooTmtnCjK8-_WmWeBji6t0FI2bWq93vq-QzqETUqtJ/s400/IMG_3275.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I made her these two little Christmas pillows from drop cloth and heat transfer vinyl. This one was made from drop cloth I hand dyed a deep cranberry red. The bell shape was purchased from the Silhouette Design Store. My favorite part of it is the tiny bell dotting the i in Jingle.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig_HjFU5Bil45VlOc6j2YrnPLkGZsjc51_r6JmMBINVsz10HQ8iKUpiFSmqlvhbfKXyN-ATbUGCe3iDj4cKgA8xwo_GQrA6F9JeDK-WwSZJ7D6nqvhQoCJWxV7yoVq610V8kQxxDmXI6bP/s1600/IMG_3269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig_HjFU5Bil45VlOc6j2YrnPLkGZsjc51_r6JmMBINVsz10HQ8iKUpiFSmqlvhbfKXyN-ATbUGCe3iDj4cKgA8xwo_GQrA6F9JeDK-WwSZJ7D6nqvhQoCJWxV7yoVq610V8kQxxDmXI6bP/s400/IMG_3269.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This one was left the natural color, and the heat transfer vinyl was cut from a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tulip-Twilight-Shimmer-Transfer-Sheets/dp/B004W90K46">Tulip Twilight Shimmer Transfer Sheet</a>. (Not an affiliate link) I actually found these on clearance at one of the discount stores (Ross? Burkes? TJ Maxx? I can't remember). I was a little nervous cutting it with my Cameo, but it worked great.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyH980SstZy487KqWc-ZohKuUz0CVyUa1UALQsGJanPRdfPzkOk9x3GuufdbS4BpyDAaRSvapg_jgQyzmTiaBg0FuO38QvU02V5UA57EqVBHohlct5eIklmh5MH-4PwU2MNU798l39YjVq/s1600/IMG_3268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyH980SstZy487KqWc-ZohKuUz0CVyUa1UALQsGJanPRdfPzkOk9x3GuufdbS4BpyDAaRSvapg_jgQyzmTiaBg0FuO38QvU02V5UA57EqVBHohlct5eIklmh5MH-4PwU2MNU798l39YjVq/s400/IMG_3268.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Next I made her three memory wire bracelets. I love these as gifts because they work for any size wrist and are easy to put on and take off for little hands that can't manage clasps well yet and older hands that struggle with arthritis and everybody in between. I wanted them to work well for Christmas yet still be versatile enough to wear the rest of the year, so I chose the colors accordingly.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQs-0wK4UUbwsiQbKoWQpgl97gcq1W3pjvTpN3nqA7Mj0H-nVljOb4jutGuzJffKZSuSJ1cZ5zHwdu-f2qvRJHz3auImvLklk7pZIvmQA6sGy0N_N0dmfzq4SEBj60DOAWPNbntZAkVfK8/s1600/IMG_3271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQs-0wK4UUbwsiQbKoWQpgl97gcq1W3pjvTpN3nqA7Mj0H-nVljOb4jutGuzJffKZSuSJ1cZ5zHwdu-f2qvRJHz3auImvLklk7pZIvmQA6sGy0N_N0dmfzq4SEBj60DOAWPNbntZAkVfK8/s400/IMG_3271.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYQtC8HCQcYyTfoIsDEJXf7sCCNsAe4yAXelx4qjcau2IF_GzF_h8KdeITdXKwTnhFr52JvW_NcEMnetocR3Q8DCRoEGRA5Pw6FmSYf5GK-jhNTuid-6pkSqY7jwt0UcGF5LKT5AjrucK/s1600/IMG_3272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYQtC8HCQcYyTfoIsDEJXf7sCCNsAe4yAXelx4qjcau2IF_GzF_h8KdeITdXKwTnhFr52JvW_NcEMnetocR3Q8DCRoEGRA5Pw6FmSYf5GK-jhNTuid-6pkSqY7jwt0UcGF5LKT5AjrucK/s640/IMG_3272.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gprRzjty6oYfSiatYOt2P6TkOZkmOkHW5dNRBen7tWTJ6rEbVrL3DcEWFr0fK-H4SYToqETvF_cbtM9hKyMKtdkXiUz046Famyv8yloIt9cospWm2LtV5ImoEkTfZOq4Odcr1dy4Ogbf/s1600/IMG_3273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gprRzjty6oYfSiatYOt2P6TkOZkmOkHW5dNRBen7tWTJ6rEbVrL3DcEWFr0fK-H4SYToqETvF_cbtM9hKyMKtdkXiUz046Famyv8yloIt9cospWm2LtV5ImoEkTfZOq4Odcr1dy4Ogbf/s400/IMG_3273.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoxlEUlQLr56cT4PA3zWsO0vS34MGb2pbsSJarj_xBOceYZpcrO3jqLUuJ8nSMIAK8asuXSuYtzbXjaaKELZgC-Y9dvEN_F0gwNjl6cSvS_1bCSqCwi2M5bS3-RGIIVnvoizlM2mmiQa-/s1600/IMG_3274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoxlEUlQLr56cT4PA3zWsO0vS34MGb2pbsSJarj_xBOceYZpcrO3jqLUuJ8nSMIAK8asuXSuYtzbXjaaKELZgC-Y9dvEN_F0gwNjl6cSvS_1bCSqCwi2M5bS3-RGIIVnvoizlM2mmiQa-/s400/IMG_3274.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I also made these fun snowman earrings, and they were embarrassingly easy to put together. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjE5AlThU0YnD166yOkPc4RGF4_wGJ7LsHu9nGgE6aeN-B7rxBn035NR3h4p0Rkcha2dDaP8tEZFcVQ3-7H1UOX75V9Z2l3wPiK70XApuAY7aLJacbGNtKhQmUXyDQCEEh3Fm-p1Wa8hwg/s1600/IMG_3270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjE5AlThU0YnD166yOkPc4RGF4_wGJ7LsHu9nGgE6aeN-B7rxBn035NR3h4p0Rkcha2dDaP8tEZFcVQ3-7H1UOX75V9Z2l3wPiK70XApuAY7aLJacbGNtKhQmUXyDQCEEh3Fm-p1Wa8hwg/s640/IMG_3270.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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They started out like this, so all I did was literally add the ear wires and backings.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiAgYRb6EwPuHaqGyL9_qAjqaWDrKO1SPMQRZl-MfeMDZQusLPNUdAnZ_ugMHiG3xbYoOmrGDsqAqJlzxmAoWazSm7xdFEPhGpPQyRz-Thde7Jx_M2qP3m88zo2GOv8KxvX_zGu2FKZ9b/s1600/IMG_3278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiAgYRb6EwPuHaqGyL9_qAjqaWDrKO1SPMQRZl-MfeMDZQusLPNUdAnZ_ugMHiG3xbYoOmrGDsqAqJlzxmAoWazSm7xdFEPhGpPQyRz-Thde7Jx_M2qP3m88zo2GOv8KxvX_zGu2FKZ9b/s640/IMG_3278.JPG" width="478" /></a></div>
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Like always, this was so much fun, and I'm so grateful to Linda of <a href="http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/">Craftaholics Anonymous</a> for hosting again and Lisa for partnering with me! I'll be linking up at the <a href="http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/handmade-gift-exchange-link-party-winter-2015">Handmade Gift Exchange Linky Party</a>.</div>
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Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-15606320980632436662015-12-31T15:06:00.000-05:002015-12-31T15:06:30.313-05:00Hodge Podge End of Year UpdateGuys. Come on now. You didn't really think I was going to go the whole rest of 2015 without blogging again, did you? Okay, okay, so I'm cutting it close, but I've been a little busy. Here's all that's been happening:<br />
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First of all, the house. We got the foundation work all completed, and it is now completely steady and under a transferable lifetime warranty. Unfortunately, the buyer ended up backing out with no real explanation the very day we were having the work done. So that was disappointing, but the foundation repair needed to be done either way, so we are more prepared than ever for when the right buyer comes along. We also put in new kitchen counter tops and new backsplash along the sink wall, so it went from this:<br />
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to this:</div>
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Halloween was definitely better this year than <a href="http://sawyerforddrivingby.blogspot.com/2014/11/halloween-2014.html">last</a>, but I didn't do anything crafty in the costume department. Or take really any pictures, apparently. This seems to be the sole picture I have of the two littles who trick or treated. Lily was either Rapunzel or Sophia the First, depending on her mood and whether or not she wanted to wear the wig. Sawyer was a little more put together as a pirate. But seriously, what was the deal with this picture? Mom/photographer/blogger fail.<br />
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We also had a couple of things going on with the ladies ministries at church. Our Teachers of Good Things group had their quarterly craft meeting, and this time around we made easy burlap wreaths. Nick came up with a pile of wire coat hangers and helped me (mostly just did it for me) shape them into wreath forms. Then we just unhooked the top, accordion folded burlap ribbon, threaded it on, and rehooked the top. My awesome mom, who is a licensed florist, whipped up burlap bows for everyone.</div>
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My SIL Leah the wreath model.</div>
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We used basically <a href="http://justcallmehomegirl.com/easiest-burlap-wreath-ever/">this tutorial</a> on <a href="http://justcallmehomegirl.com/">Just Call Me Homegirl</a> although as I mentioned, we accordion folded the burlap instead of zigzagging/twisting to save on time because our church life center had a second event happening after ours. In retrospect, I wish we had followed Homegirl's tutorial more exactly, because folding it the way we did required more burlap (about 15 yards a wreath) and I found that over time it tends to compress and sag down to the bottom. I think it would work well this way if you were to first use a fabric stiffener on the ribbon.</div>
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We also did a fun Christmas Sock Exchange/Cookie Party. Everyone brought a fun pair of new Christmas socks filled with goodies and we all baked cookies and exchanged socks. So fun!</div>
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In other news, I finally got to upgrade to a Cameo, and I did a lot of fun projects for Christmas with it, I made a couple of cool guy gifts out of paracord, I made some awesome drop cloth Christmas stockings, and I participated in the Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange again, all of which deserve their own post. Happy New Year, guys!</div>
Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-59925824721622961472015-10-24T04:27:00.000-04:002015-10-24T04:27:47.580-04:00The Tale of the Happiest BirthdayPeople, I had the best birthday I've had in <i>years</i>! I don't know why, but historically, my birthday has usually been a bad day. Not the sort of I-can't-believe-I'm-so-oooolllllldddd sort of bad day. Just the kind of day where you have to work and it's raining and you get in a fight with your mom and the bank account is empty and it's hot dogs again for dinner and you get stuck in traffic and you get bleach on your favorite shirt...you get the idea. Oddly enough, the day after is usually much better. But this year my birthday was on a Saturday and the whole weekend was awesome!<br />
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Friday Nick was off, and we had dinner with my brother and his wife and son in their new house, so I <i>didn't have to cook</i> and the meal was <i>awesome</i>! This was our first visit to their house since they moved in, and it was really neat to see them settled after a long struggle to find the right home. Before we stopped there we swung by my parents' house to drop something off, and my mom gave me my gift - a gift certificate for a massage! I've never had a professional massage, and I can't wait to use it!<br />
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Even though Nick had to work on my actual birthday, he got to come home early which never happens. But before he came home he called me with some good news about the house situation. Then when he got home he took us out to dinner and then dropped me off at Tuesday Morning and Joann and Michael's while he watched the kids. I found some great stuff at Tuesday Morning, including a couple of Christmas gifts that I saw last time and was afraid would get gone before I could get back and buy them. I had a gift card at Joann from Nick, so I got to go crazy in there. I came out with some AWESOME clearance stuff and still only spent half the gift card! Then at Michael's I had three coupons which allowed me to knock two things off my longtime Amazon wish list as well as buy a jewelry tool I didn't even realize how bad I needed until I found out it existed (hello, one step ear wire maker!). And I had a couple gift cards there from my awesome in laws that brought my out of pocket total to under $1! Then I got to go home and hop on Joann.com and use the rest of my Joann gift card on some more cool stuff, including the We R Memory Keepers Banner Punch Board, which I can't wait to get! I'm a total sucker for craft tools.<br />
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The next morning I got to go to church, and my mother and father in law handed me a card with some birthday money. The message was great, and after the service we went to lunch with my brother and his wife, after which they gave me my birthday gift from them, which was an Amazon gift card (yay!!). I'm still debating what I'm going to buy with it, but I'm thinking a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012D6KX2I?colid=18E8500V63PMO&coliid=I1SAA93GD2B0PL&psc=1&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl">Pick Punch</a> (not an affiliate link).<br />
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But here is one of the coolest things that happened. There was recently a store opened near our house called Bargain Hunt. Now I had never heard of them before they opened a location here, but they're a pretty awesome store. They get random merchandise from other stores and mark it down to a great price. If it hasn't sold after a month, they mark it down 10% every day until it's 90% off <i>their </i>price. Sort of like Big Lots and an Easter egg hunt had a baby. My mom has found Lily a few dresses there that retailed originally for around $50.00 each and paid $1.49 for them. So anyway, Friday I was looked for a gift for someone there, and I walked down the craft aisle, and out of the corner of my eye I spied, way back under a shelf...a Minc Machine! The big one!<br />
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The box was a little battered, but it was still sealed up, and I almost hurt myself getting it in my buggy so fast. I looked at the price, and it was $61! That's 60% off retail! I've wanted one since they came out, but I just couldn't spend $150 on one when we're trying to buy a new house. Now granted, you can find them for around $100 now, but I've never seen one priced that low. I'm so excited! I try not to buy anything that's technically unnecessary that costs very much without asking Nick first, just out of respect for him as my husband and also the guy who works so I can stay home with the kids. So I actually saved the receipt just in case he wanted me to take it back, but then I got birthday money, which mostly paid for it anyway. Not that he was likely to tell me to return it in the face of the starry look in my eyes, haha!<br />
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I actually already had some accessories for it that I had gotten on clearance at Joann months ago, some foil and tags and scrapbook/journal embellishments. I had grabbed them because I wanted to try foiling with my laminator, and it worked <i>okay</i>, but I saved most of them in case I ever did get a Minc. And I'm glad I did, because it does a much better job with foiling than just a plain laminator because of all the different temperature settings. Not that I don't love my laminator. I might have laminated the first three papers Lily brought home from kindergarten. #thatleeeeetlebitcrazymom When I get my craft room I'm going to go nuts with the foiled prints for my walls. I've already got a strong start on a Minc themed Pinterest board. And I have big plans for the kids' rooms too!<br />
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In the meantime, I wanted to try it on something run on a copier, so I may or may not have foiled the church bulletin from last month that was hanging out in my car. Fancy!<br />
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Anyway, that's the amazing tale of how Tracy turned 38 in crafty/shopping mostly for free/no cooking/awesome family/really blessed style! I want to do this every year!Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-7506804806987211862015-10-24T02:03:00.000-04:002015-10-24T02:03:34.265-04:00Teachers of Good Things Fabric PumpkinsSo clearly I'm making up for lost time with the posting tonight, but it's about to get CA-RAZY up in here, so I'm doing it while I can. I mentioned a couple posts ago that we did another Walridge Baptist Church Teachers of Good Things Quarterly Craft Meeting. You know, the WBCToGTQCM for short. This month was so fun! We made fabric pumpkins, and they turned out SO CUTE!<br />
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We took our inspiration and general game plan from <a href="http://www.coastalfarmhouse.com/2014/09/24/make-fabric-pumpkins/">this post at Coastal Farmhouse</a>, and if I can ever get my hands on some of that gorgeous snowy vintage chenille I'm going to make some just like hers!</div>
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Rachael and I hit Joann's for supplies and went a little nuts (within the budget of course). I'm so pleased with the fabrics we ended up with! Rachael graciously took on the task of cutting all the circles out because, hello, have you met my scissor skills? She cut 2 sizes, 18 inches and 9 inches, which made roughly 12 and 6 inch pumpkins. The tutorial linked very helpfully gives you measurements for a lot more sizes. We also cut freehand leaves out of all the fabric.</div>
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This is more of a list tutorial than a photo tutorial, because I was so busy making pumpkins that I mostly got photos of finished items. But here are the basics:<br />
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Supplies:<br />
Fabric circles in various sizes<br />
Polyfil<br />
Needles and thread<br />
Deer corn<br />
Stems/short sticks<br />
Various embellishments like buttons and twine<br />
Hot glue guns<br />
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Start by threading your needle, tying a large knot in the end, and sewing a loose running stitch all the away around your circle, about a half inch from the edge. Loosely gather the circle into a pouch, right side out.<br />
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Add between 1/2-1 cup of deer corn in the pouch, then fill the rest with Polyfil. Carefully pull the thread tight to close the circle at the top. Tie the thread off, then choose a stem.<br />
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Squirt a good glob of hot glue down into the top of the pumpkin, then push the stem in all the way to the bottom and twist. Hold it there for a second to let the glue set.<br />
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Add embellishments of your choice like fabric leaves, buttons, and twine.<br />
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About our supplies:<br />
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The deer corn came in a 40 pound bag from Walmart for something like $6. We had plenty left of course, but we also play cornhole at church camp every year, and the bags have to be repaired about once a year, so any excess will be used for that. Funny detail - the first bag we bought was actually half deer kibble, which we didn't realize until we opened it up right before the event. Fortunately Walmart is about 5 minutes from the church. :)<br />
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You will need lots of Polyfil for this project. If you're doing this for a group, you will probably need more than a 3lb bag.<br />
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While we did have a few real pumpkin stems, most of our stems were just short sticks Rachael gathered from around her home, and I liked them even better than the real stems. Before using, you will want to bake any natural items like this in your oven for a couple of hours at 175 degrees or so, checking every 15 minutes to make sure they don't catch fire. This will kill any little creepy crawlies that may be hiding in the bark. Another awesome (but more expensive) option is to use a small bundle of cinnamon sticks as a stem.<br />
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The twine was just basic $1.97 a spool stuff from Walmart. We bought a 1/2 inch wooden dowel at Hobby Lobby, and I wrapped it tightly with the twine, then coated it with fabric stiffener and let it dry for 24 hours. The dowel was 36" long, and we cut it in small sections when it was dry, but we still ran out, so I would recommend making more than you think you'll need.<br />
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We got our buttons in <a href="http://www.hobbylobby.com/Scrapbook-%26-Paper-Crafts/Embellishments/Buttons/Grandma%27s-Grab-Bag-Dress-it-Up-Buttons/p/13494">big bags at Hobby Lobby for $5.99</a> minus the coupon savings, and I couldn't get enough of them! (Not an affiliate link)</div>
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This craft was a huge hit, and most ladies made more than one. My mom and my sister-in-law Leah, who is the pastor's wife, were on vacation with my dad and my brother and nephew, so I made some for them too.</div>
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These were my Mom's.</div>
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And these were Leah's. When she got back from vacation, she made a couple as a thank you gift for the neighbor who got their mail while they were gone.</div>
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I made these for the sweet lady who did the cooking for the event and for a dear church sister who unfortunately lost her husband the morning of the event and of course was not able to attend.</div>
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I also made some for Lily's teachers at school for Teacher Appreciation Week, and when I went for a parent teacher meeting this week with her main teacher she had them proudly displayed on her desk and told me how much she loved them!</div>
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This was a craft that was doable for everyone, and even Lily made a couple.</div>
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We all had a great time, and they were all so different, yet all so adorable! I just couldn't quit with them. I think I made 15 in all. The five at the top were the ones I took home, and they make me smile every time I see them. </div>
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A few tips:</div>
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More corn means a heavier pumpkin that is going to stay put, but if your fabric is light and thin (like the muslin one above), it may show through if you add too much. Also, if your pumpkin is heavy, you will need to leave it sitting on the table while you're pulling the thread closed at the top so you don't break the thread. If you are making your pumpkin from burlap, it helps to tie the end of the thread to the burlap before running your stitch so that it doesn't just pull through. Also, burlap will tend to poke out around the stem if you stitch too close to the edge, so it's best to make your stitching line about an inch from the edge and tuck the raw edges into the top of the pumpkin before inserting your stem.</div>
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This was such a great craft, easy and inexpensive, especially if you are doing it for a group. Of course if you are just making a few for yourself and don't want to buy a 40 pound bag of corn, you can weight them with rice, dried beans, dried pasta, or poly pellets. Or you can leave them unweighted and just stuff them with Polyfil or scrap fabric. Rachael made a few from old sweaters as a test run that were unweighted and they turned out amazing!</div>
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Hopefully we will be in a new house next Thanksgiving, and I just want to make these and put them everywhere! And I love that they can be made to match or complement any color scheme. Make up a few for your holiday decor or to take as a thank you gift for your host on Thanksgiving - there's still plenty of time!</div>
Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-76725573917291528422015-10-23T23:55:00.000-04:002015-10-23T23:55:47.497-04:00Lily's Birthday Skates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My Lily girl turned 6 on October 5. S-I-X! I never gave permission for this growing up business. Hmph!<br />
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Anyway, last year I made most of her gifts, and we did the whole awesome <a href="http://sawyerforddrivingby.blogspot.com/2014/10/lilys-5th-birthday-party.html">Adopt-A-Baby Party</a>. We decided not to do big friend birthday parties for the kids this year because of the house being on the market, and with most of my craft supplies in storage, I didn't do much with handmade gifts.<br />
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We did have a small family gathering at the house though, and I did do a bit of upcycling on one gift, which turned out to be her favorite. A month or so ago she was invited to her first school friend birthday party. Have I mentioned that this girl started kindergarten in August? I didn't? Oh that's right, it's because I'm still in denial. But pushing onward, this birthday party was held at the skating rink. Let me just inject a hard earned word of wisdom for you here: don't wear flip-flops to a 6 year old's skating party, and no I don't care to discuss it further. Lesson learned. Anyway, she started out very scared of the whole concept of skating, but by the end of the party I had to dodge speeding skaters to make my way out to the center of the rink to rescue her where she had ventured out and ended up on the floor with no nearby rails on which to pull herself up. She was sold on the wheeled lifestyle.<br />
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A few days before her birthday I was at the thrift store and came across these well loved Barbie skates in her size for $3.99.<br />
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As you can see, they had some major scuffing on the toes.</div>
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So I headed to Walmart where I grabbed a 75 cent clearance fat quarter and a $1 roll of pompom trim from their Halloween ribbon selection. I used a piece of scrap fabric to lay over the toe of one skate to trace around and get a rough idea of the shape I would need to cover the damage, then used that as a template to cut the pieces out of my fat quarter. Then I used Aleene's Original Tacky Glue to adhere the fabric to the toe, and carefully trimmed away any excess with my Xacto knife. I cut two pieces of trim for each skate, one to go across the top edge of the fabric and one to go around the base of the toe, then hot glued them down using my glue gun on the high setting. Then I snipped off the bows and made new ones using the fat quarter, although I did reuse the center bands since they were in good shape. I just hot glued these back on using the high setting again.</div>
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If I do this again, I will seal the fabric with Mod Podge to make them easier to wipe down, but this was completed just a little while before she got home from school, so there wasn't really time to let it dry.</div>
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As you can see, she was pretty excited about them. In fact, she stopped everything to go find a pair of socks and put them on immediately. Her Nana and Papaw bought her knee and elbow pads and a helmet a few days later, and she's been skating her heart out in the garage ever since. She's gotten really steady on them, and I'm excited to get to take her back to the skating rink.</div>
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<br />Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-50180117924934276682015-10-23T22:37:00.000-04:002015-10-24T02:08:01.087-04:00Poking my head up...I've been trying to post for like a week now, but I'm sick, and it just seems like by the time I finish all the necessary tasks like feeding the kids and putting on pants, I have nothing left in me. It's nothing terribly serious, just a sore throat, but I'm on antibiotics now, so hopefully it's on its way out.<br />
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So here's what's happening. We have a contract on the house. Yay us! Actually, we had a contract before this one, but the buyer backed out because the inspection turned up some foundation damage. Boo! BUT, we are getting it fixed in 10 days, with a lifetime transferable warranty, so it shouldn't be an issue. Even with that, the first buyer didn't want to stay on board. Fortunately, he'd been in a bit of a bidding war with another buyer, and they were happy to take his place with the assurance that the foundation work is being done.<br />
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So now the race is on to find our next house. We found one that we really liked, but it sold the day before the contract went on ours. And we've since found one that we really love, but there are some issues with it that would have to be resolved for it to be an actual option for us. It's all very much up in the air from our viewpoint, but God has definitely been moving and providing, so we will see what happens.<br />
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So as far as crafting goes, there's been a little bit. Not much, but a little. And I don't have any tutorials for you right now, but here are a few things I've made.<br />
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Back in July a little girl at our church had a birthday, and I made her this fun candy colored paracord bracelet and earrings set. The bracelet actually ended up being a little small for her, so I made her a bigger one and she sent this one back to Lily.<br />
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My friend Melissa just had her gorgeous baby girl MacKenzie. Her nursery is done in gray and yellow with accents of teal in an elephant motif. So back in August for her baby shower I made her a few gifts. First was this paper banner with bows made using my Sizzix Bow Die.<br />
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I found this yellow and gray photo box at Hobby Lobby to put it in for gifting, and she can use the box in baby girl's room.<br />
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I made her a couple of curved burp cloths out of white terry cloth and this super soft cuddle minky.</div>
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And I also made her a faux chenille blanket. I'll be honest, I wasn't entirely happy with how the blanket turned out. The blue looked more teal in the store, and I should have used it as the one of the chenille layers and not the base fabric on the back. I should have sewn the lines half as far apart so the chenille strips would have been more even and stuck out less from the blanket. But it's still super cuddly, and she said she loves it.</div>
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My mother-in-law Brenda's birthday was also in August, and I made her this card.</div>
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It's very simple, but I like it. I'd really like to get into making cards on a more regular basis. I've got stamps, stamp pads, and embossing folders for days, but not much of a place to do it right now. And most of my stamps and ink pads are in storage right now anyway. When I get a craft room one of these days I plan on making up a bunch of different elements and having my girlfriends/sisters in law over for a card making party.<br />
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I also made Brenda this pretty patchwork zipper pouch.<br />
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The mint fabric was a duck cloth remnant from Hobby Lobby I think, and the coral polka dot fabric was from a pair of pants in the giveaway pile. I made my Mom a very similar one for her birthday in July.</div>
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Inside the pouch for Brenda I included this simple bead and chain set I made with these awesome metal filigree beads I got on clearance at Hobby Lobby.</div>
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We also had another Walridge Baptist Church Ladies Craft Meeting last month, but that one deserves a post of its own.</div>
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We could really use your prayers that God will show us to the house He has for us and that everything will go smoothly with the sale/closing on our own house. It looks like the timing may end up pretty tight on it - for us to close on the new home the same day as we close on the old home we will have to find the right house and have an offer accepted in the next week or so. Exciting times, people!</div>
Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-50938214519713380962015-07-20T17:51:00.000-04:002015-07-20T17:51:34.450-04:00Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift ExchangeA couple of times a year Linda at <a href="http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/">Craftaholics Anonymous</a> hosts a Handmade Gift Exchange. This is always so much fun! I've participated several times now, and I love getting to know new crafty people! My partner this time was a very cool lady named Laura, and she really nailed it with my gift! She sent me this amazing twine wrapped letter, and she captured my style perfectly!<br />
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Isn't it gorgeous? And with most of our decorative things packed away in storage, it was awesome to get something like this right now.<br />
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I sent her a sort of motley assortment of things. She's a pretty free form pinner, interested in a lot of different things, so it was hard for me to decide what to do. But she did tell me that she does some mixed media art pieces, and I recently discovered something pretty awesome with my Sizzix machine and some embossing folders, so I decided to send her some materials she can hopefully incorporate into her own creations.<br />
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Hobby Lobby sells 12" x 30" rolls of 36 gauge <a href="http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/36-gauge-copper-roll-864686/">copper</a> and <a href="http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/36-gauge-aluminum-roll-864678/">aluminum</a> and 40 gauge <a href="http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/42-gauge-copper-roll-425272/">copper</a>. For church camp this year we used copper and leather to make stamped bracelets like these that I made for a friend's daughter last year.<br />
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That worked pretty well for camp, but we had 3 hours a day to work with crafts, and I was looking for a way to adapt the concept to the 20 minute craft times we would have at Vacation Bible School this month. So I pulled out my Sizzix machine and my embossing folders and played around a bit, and I sent my crafty sisters these cell phone photos in the wee hours of the morning:<br />
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The coffee cups! I swoon!<br />
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Success! I was addicted! And it went very well at VBS. But anyway, I decided to send Laura some embossed sheets of copper and aluminum.<br />
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I also made her a leather cuff.<br />
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I even embossed some patent leather, and the effect is subtle, but I like it.<br />
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I also made her some note cards with coordinating envelopes.<br />
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Lastly, I sent her this pair of fun dangly earrings that I made. I hope to do a tutorial on them soon.</div>
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Of course I neglected to take a good picture of the whole gift, but Laura kindly took one when she got it, so I'm stealing it from her Facebook. It kind of looks like she has the same kitchen table as me.<br />
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As always, this was a blast, and I can't wait till the next one in December!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*This post did not contain any affiliate links.</span>Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-84601755979550015252015-07-20T03:53:00.000-04:002015-07-20T03:53:48.254-04:00Where We AreI know I've been absent here. I've kind of had the blog on hiatus while we were dealing with selling the house, and while we're still dealing with that, this seems like a good time to update.<br />
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So here's what's been happening since my last post. Both of our families came together on a couple of days to help with the final push getting our house to market. And they (and we) worked HARD! And we got it all finished. A few days later a very sweet photographer showed up to take listing photos, and <a href="http://www.kw.com/homes-for-sale/37918/TN/Knoxville/7153-Periwinkle-Rd/3yd-KAARMLSTN-923698.html">we went live</a> a few days later on May 2.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKxCgRoy9wzm4FwMrF5_14vyWzZTk2RMv8QzuMCyfG0ttdHtYw5ofSC1f_7bbE404rPe3fmJNtq750N2lcJ1KlNDzJU4YjxI0z3L_kqnwlgtOTjZRiZFngE2LEvH_aHbCnIPbZONgBu4V/s1600/Front+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKxCgRoy9wzm4FwMrF5_14vyWzZTk2RMv8QzuMCyfG0ttdHtYw5ofSC1f_7bbE404rPe3fmJNtq750N2lcJ1KlNDzJU4YjxI0z3L_kqnwlgtOTjZRiZFngE2LEvH_aHbCnIPbZONgBu4V/s400/Front+view.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We started getting showings right away, 5 in the first couple of days. And though it eventually slowed down some, it's been very steady. But we've not found the right buyer yet. And the contingency contract we signed on the home we wanted to buy ran out 6 days ago. We contacted the home owners, and they agreed to renew if we wanted, but we wanted to go see the home again. So we went to see it 3 days ago, and we noticed a few things that hadn't really stood out to us before. We still love the home, but basically there are too many things that would need to be taken care of as soon as we move in for us to be able to afford with the combination of their asking price and the profit we're likely to get from selling our current home. So after much prayer and discussion, we opted not to renew our contract with them. And we've not ruled it out completely, but there are a few things that would have to change if we do buy it. And of course it may sell before ours does, so we're just trusting God to work things according to His plan. </div>
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So anyway, here are a few pics of our current home. You know, if you're in the market.</div>
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The Kitchen. We painted the cabinets white a few months ago, and I couldn't believe how much it brightened up the whole space. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRHn1s51ubnjN3IaGDQOicAiPlvH_ahVYsE7jOIGN0oSXfr7KUcsJGPaK515wXsNneKtQ-rPxPgUJ7KYNc_NXb5CuIroMC1V-1UjtNmmFlvDXLIyITpEGKyxwoU3VP1TF2jiYrly959xR/s1600/Kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRHn1s51ubnjN3IaGDQOicAiPlvH_ahVYsE7jOIGN0oSXfr7KUcsJGPaK515wXsNneKtQ-rPxPgUJ7KYNc_NXb5CuIroMC1V-1UjtNmmFlvDXLIyITpEGKyxwoU3VP1TF2jiYrly959xR/s400/Kitchen.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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That pantry cabinet holds a TON.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MW_HJpvl4xRDll54DeitNfE-e54aIE9ijK7WmctpqRY0egweurYbtS8rc2hNzWdcJ1m9YgcYIlKkaffbVUn7RPkR0M7oXIVWkB23iLHxQaTCjgH543kHIP9kZLk42dz3rBkFfUVGevbt/s1600/Kitchen+View+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MW_HJpvl4xRDll54DeitNfE-e54aIE9ijK7WmctpqRY0egweurYbtS8rc2hNzWdcJ1m9YgcYIlKkaffbVUn7RPkR0M7oXIVWkB23iLHxQaTCjgH543kHIP9kZLk42dz3rBkFfUVGevbt/s400/Kitchen+View+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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That hallways leads down to a bathroom and two bedrooms, plus a linen closet. And that door you see just down the hall is a pretty roomy under-stairs storage closet.<br />
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The Living Room. First of all, I feel that I should point out that the stuffed fish, deer head, and ducks on the walls are not actually part of the building structure. This might seem obvious, but we did in fact have one viewer that left feedback that they didn't like the house because of the taxidermy. Those are, uh, ours. Fear not, they will be moving with us.<br />
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I realize that the couches and chair we chose are a maybe bit large for the room, but frankly we spend most of our time in this room, and it's nice with a family of 5 to have space to comfortably seat 8 so that we can all sit with some space around us. Assuming I can untangle Sawyer from my hair and get Lily off my shoulder.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5w-gfksOkT10r8z0dJpS6_AwEQZ-yRJQHRhZROtUOMiXa6BgDcYxvkIJYEmIqDf21wIqMMGGaBBrMznQIWloY0BUm9F9FjBlS-7iEc9vscFnznzA_Y8fghDjojjifh_NyzZPNzCPnew_x/s1600/Living+Room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5w-gfksOkT10r8z0dJpS6_AwEQZ-yRJQHRhZROtUOMiXa6BgDcYxvkIJYEmIqDf21wIqMMGGaBBrMznQIWloY0BUm9F9FjBlS-7iEc9vscFnznzA_Y8fghDjojjifh_NyzZPNzCPnew_x/s400/Living+Room.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Downstairs Bedrooms. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZfnTkbdYQ6nQtXlcA3dzEcFJJvSWEtRl8fdKcpEgZXjI853oy2zX0NullOoisMrxle93Btky1IastsW4-qnjPz8C4jGN82AtrNrevC6fhAg3QzNpOc25zSKnVeYaoT44yYqtFvcp30jy/s1600/Bedroom+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZfnTkbdYQ6nQtXlcA3dzEcFJJvSWEtRl8fdKcpEgZXjI853oy2zX0NullOoisMrxle93Btky1IastsW4-qnjPz8C4jGN82AtrNrevC6fhAg3QzNpOc25zSKnVeYaoT44yYqtFvcp30jy/s400/Bedroom+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Bonus picture of Sawyer helping paint before the new carpet went in.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPe5VgHs4voSGt_sLmxG9jXJhxVLqn-G_Llnc-kRDddAJZ95pbcNw9yf8AwWpPiX-zV-f2HZCWDJX8bVow-m4OJPPkbxv79IWdaHTomNwQY7voryj0aacY3UCsLLohqodpRxS2mKVFHuZ/s1600/Sawyer+painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPe5VgHs4voSGt_sLmxG9jXJhxVLqn-G_Llnc-kRDddAJZ95pbcNw9yf8AwWpPiX-zV-f2HZCWDJX8bVow-m4OJPPkbxv79IWdaHTomNwQY7voryj0aacY3UCsLLohqodpRxS2mKVFHuZ/s400/Sawyer+painting.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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When we just had Taylor, this one was our family room/den. It's very roomy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1_PofARMT9ew8fqls6ZIusZBW0D8GAWWkeZcJpCMnSmxN0tvAa960kaj6UEwQiKziL8SzubO2fwkSJxSwvlA_okqWWCv5Lg0YmIK9jlDx1152dWFkdDI_9g2Uthwsg1Rnh5FK7IrAwnf/s1600/Bedroom+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1_PofARMT9ew8fqls6ZIusZBW0D8GAWWkeZcJpCMnSmxN0tvAa960kaj6UEwQiKziL8SzubO2fwkSJxSwvlA_okqWWCv5Lg0YmIK9jlDx1152dWFkdDI_9g2Uthwsg1Rnh5FK7IrAwnf/s400/Bedroom+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Downstairs Bath. I hate trying to get pictures of bathrooms, don't you? Anyway, it's a full bath.<br />
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The Master Bedroom. This is where all the magic happens.*</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42n6Dgo7btG9zaiDnXpUWdOLv4c605i4xoSN5ncMdMXzss41fcDzZGGhhoKZLNLfwUuauC5CHj1gsnbl1jq-R2gQx26htN2t0LHkDK3w8a0G4bm2zlm4lsOYRgyCpZ-09vf9w3-bRUwUu/s1600/Master+Bedroom+View+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42n6Dgo7btG9zaiDnXpUWdOLv4c605i4xoSN5ncMdMXzss41fcDzZGGhhoKZLNLfwUuauC5CHj1gsnbl1jq-R2gQx26htN2t0LHkDK3w8a0G4bm2zlm4lsOYRgyCpZ-09vf9w3-bRUwUu/s400/Master+Bedroom+View+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I can't quit staring at my crooked bedspread. What happened? Anyway, lots of room and his and hers closets.<br />
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The En Suite Bathroom. Also a full bath.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8sdzUNAlAjoeR1a8bUbeOigsPgqxcQ5oV_qTiFm15QTn5ie7S2l-iiTu2IXpUH498Roqr6wg6i9pYySmC1atn94G8hmzT1trMv5FOYf9v7j3Ll2yVq8SVo7xMyTRWRnocKLMS4DdrbcW/s1600/Master+Bathroom+En+Suite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8sdzUNAlAjoeR1a8bUbeOigsPgqxcQ5oV_qTiFm15QTn5ie7S2l-iiTu2IXpUH498Roqr6wg6i9pYySmC1atn94G8hmzT1trMv5FOYf9v7j3Ll2yVq8SVo7xMyTRWRnocKLMS4DdrbcW/s400/Master+Bathroom+En+Suite.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The Great Outdoors. This deck has a fresh paint job here. And by fresh paint job, I mean we decided the night before the photographer came to go ahead and paint it, and we did much of this by...flashlight. Fortunately it proved quite passable by the light of day.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4bc9IFlMAcsbYeTGt9A4EamXxXT3DanMIXrvoguLNd509nr5egzJKsmVDrj5MI-PFDe_3i3OJQy3rKflmIoDGSCGSp3ck_-wAmaeM67HdooDXLlz2mIWJmAJNeRQFm4sGPj7V0P2sOhC_/s1600/Back+Deck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4bc9IFlMAcsbYeTGt9A4EamXxXT3DanMIXrvoguLNd509nr5egzJKsmVDrj5MI-PFDe_3i3OJQy3rKflmIoDGSCGSp3ck_-wAmaeM67HdooDXLlz2mIWJmAJNeRQFm4sGPj7V0P2sOhC_/s400/Back+Deck.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Back Yard.<br />
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One last shot of the outside. The roof is 3 years old, and the HVAC unit with air purifier is 5 years old.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLbyglEr0YzRRAha6Z_XUnbDJ_5D51PCbSKjBdUwaj3SgPFlCCGFDoTNtRcK-O36uYq-Fq-CkFCTW2Yks1DDSz5h1kyrQ1o4jZSWxg-DeuTLAoyh2wO2mKJnzJ6httRVDRkrV-F4_TzCy/s1600/Exterior+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLbyglEr0YzRRAha6Z_XUnbDJ_5D51PCbSKjBdUwaj3SgPFlCCGFDoTNtRcK-O36uYq-Fq-CkFCTW2Yks1DDSz5h1kyrQ1o4jZSWxg-DeuTLAoyh2wO2mKJnzJ6httRVDRkrV-F4_TzCy/s400/Exterior+View.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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If you or anyone you know in the area is interested in a great starter home in a quiet older neighborhood, please feel free to contact our Realtor using the form on the <a href="http://www.kw.com/homes-for-sale/37918/TN/Knoxville/7153-Periwinkle-Rd/3yd-KAARMLSTN-923698.html">listing page</a>.</div>
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So anyway, that's la casa. Meanwhile, we're still planning and praying (but praying more than planning). The really excellent news is that all this waiting and showing is getting the whole family in excellent practice for keeping a neat and tidy house, and with so much of our stuff in storage, we're really finding out just how much we can live without. Except for my craft stuff. I need all of that. All of it.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*I just ruined this post, and possibly this whole blog for my mom. Sorry, Mom. Mystery of the grandkids revealed.</span>Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-49004963051655740542015-04-21T01:43:00.000-04:002015-04-21T01:43:36.430-04:00Home<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gratuitous shot of my cute kiddos, because what's a post without a picture?</td></tr>
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Okay, so I'm still here. I even have projects to blog about. It's just that there have been such big things going on in my life that I can't seem to put them all into words. It seems hard to post about small things without talking about big things. But God has been moving here, and it is important that I talk about that.<br />
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So I've mentioned that we've been getting our house ready to list. And it's a process that has stretched out longer than we've wanted, but God's timing is in everything. There is a house that we had been looking at since January. We really liked it, and it had many, many of the things we want/need in a new home. A big garage for Nick, bedrooms for all the kids, a space for a craft room for me, even a bit of extra room for a play room. And it was close to the price we were looking for. We had been to view it inside a couple of times, and we were just waiting to get our own house on the market before we made an offer.<br />
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Finally, after talking to our Realtor (who was also their Realtor), he indicated that the homeowners would be open to a contingency offer since we were so close to listing. So we made an offer. And we waited. And they had another offer from another buyer. And they came back to both of us and asked us both to submit our very best offers. So we gave them our walk-away price, and we waited and prayed. And finally they decided - on the other offer.<br />
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And while we had prayed and prayed that God's will would be done here, whether or not that meant us getting this particular house, it was hard for me for a bit. Because I'm silly and human and imperfect and <i>eventhoughIknowbetter</i>, sometimes I get impatient with God. And this feeling sad and a little teary went on for about an hour.<br />
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Then Nick found a listing online that we had never seen before, mostly, I'm sure, because it had only been on the market for 9 days, and we were concentrating on the other house. It looked very interesting to say the least, and we decided to see if we could go see it the next day. As luck would have it, the owners were happy to let us come by.<br />
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The home is partially renovated, with most of the major work done, but there is still a lot to do. Most of it is relatively minor, tile installation, painting, etc, all things we can do ourselves, although there are a few bigger things still to be done too. A lot of work. A lot.<br />
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We fell head over heels in love. In. Love. We prayed about it, and we felt liberty to put in an offer. So I texted the homeowners to thank them for letting us look and tell them that we would like to make an offer. Then we called our Realtor to let him know. I think he was caught off guard, because this was just a day or two after he had to deliver the news that our offer on the other house had been rejected, but he was happy to contact the owners of this new listing for us.<br />
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Longish story shortish, the owners decided to accept our offer, even though we've not officially listed our house yet, and we have a signed contract! We also have 90 days (a bit less now) to sell our own home. We go to market next Monday, ready or not, and tomorrow we've got (hopefully) lots of help coming to knock out the last bit that we have left to do. Guys, I don't want to share too many details about the new house at this point, but I just have to say that it has things I never in my wildest dreams believed we would have. God is SO very good to us, ALL THE TIME, and He constantly amazes me with how He blesses us.<br />
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He's already moving us through this process, starting with the homeowners accepting an offer from us when we didn't even have our own house listed yet (and yes, they knew this). And today brought another big answer to prayer. One of the biggest things about the first house we were looking at that was not ideal for us was the high school it would have Taylor zoned for. It's not a <i>bad </i>school, but it's also not our first choice, or even our second or third. Our first choice is the high school attached to (like in the same parking lot as) the middle school she's in now, but due to the crazy zoning in our area, even if we stayed right where we are, next year she would go to a high school in the next community.<br />
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So a few months ago we put in a request for a transfer to our first choice high school. And to be honest, I wasn't holding out great hope that we would be approved. Transfers around here are notoriously hard to get unless you are a teacher zoned outside of your school of employment or your kid is highly involved in a school specific program. But we submitted the transfer request and prayed for the best. And it turns out that this house we have an offer in on now is zoned for the same high school as the first house we tried to buy. But we felt God telling us to put in the offer, so we were trusting that He had a plan for that too, whether that meant that He wanted Taylor there for a reason or whether He had another plan.<br />
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Today we got a letter in the mail telling us that Taylor has been approved to attend the high school we want her to attend! There are still hurdles to overcome, the biggest of which is going to be selling our house in the next two and a half months for the right price, but I believe that God's hand is in this as well, and we want to give Him all the glory for whatever comes out of this situation.<br />
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I can't see the whole picture yet, but I can see some of the ways He has been blessing us, guiding things with His hand and timing even when we've been impatient. If we had been able to get our house listed when we wanted to, we would have doubtless made an earlier offer on that first house. And it probably would have been accepted. That home was on the market for over a year before it sold, and the offers from us and the buyer they sold it to were the first offers they had gotten on it. When we lost it, I thought "Man! If we hadn't waited so long we would have gotten it!" And that's probably true. But that was not the house God had for us.<br />
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The house we have a contract on now is so much more perfect for us in so many ways, and it offers things I never imagined. And if we had gotten an earlier answer on that first house, we would have completely missed seeing this house, because they didn't even list it until the day after we decided to finally submit an offer on the first house. He kept us interested in and mentally committed to that first house until this one was ready. Even if we had been told no on the first house earlier, we might have tried to buy another house before this one became available, and we might have missed out! God always knows what's best for us, and, something that I think I sometimes forget, He always <i>wants </i>what's best for us.<br />
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So I can't say 100% for sure at this point that our house will sell in our time frame, but I can say that if it does not, if for some reason the path we are on suddenly veers to the left, God's hand will be on it. It won't be because it was just too big of an obstacle for Him to handle. He loves us, and He has a plan for our lives, and if He doesn't put us in that home, it's because He has something for us to do somewhere else, or even right where we are. And if we are where He wants us to be, wherever that is, it will be Home.Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576090665775725709.post-71086410366068909342015-03-11T00:43:00.000-04:002015-03-11T01:03:00.667-04:00We R Memory Keepers Gift Box Punch BoardHi, guys. It's been...busy...around here. Obviously by "around here" I mean around my house and not around here on the blog, because, well, I've had a few other things going on. Like putting down the last of the new flooring (in the kitchen) and painting ceilings (also the kitchen), and more painting, painting, painting, PAINTING (like, everywhere). We are slowly but surely getting there though. Just a few more little things and we will be ready to list.<br />
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So between that and the soul freezing winter weather Tennessee has been hit with lately, things have been a little uncrafty. But last night I finally had a chance to sit down and put together a post about one of my favorite crafty tools, the We R Memory Keepers Gift Box Punch Board.<br />
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First of all, I want to make a disclaimer - these pictures, guys, they're not my favorite. Late night crafting with incandescent lighting is almost always a bad combo, but we work with what we've got here. And my poor, poor kitchen table that is (somewhere) on the to-do list to get a makeover makes for a pretty lame backdrop. What's really sad is that my mom passed this table on to us several years back, and when she did she had just refinished it. Three kids, one crafting momma, and all the abuse of being a staging area during our house revamp has left it looking a bit worse for the wear. No judgment though, someday she'll have a fresh white coat of paint (if I have anything to do with it), and all will be redeemed.<br />
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So anyway, that out of the way, here's the Gift Box Punch Board.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJWZlY9rA2pN4AMHEGq67X6iPtMJvwfK48xqfgod8Xz0rB4QyJoF2RjSC4VkayGAz6foKkgDslWKy3Uc8gwmxfiT32ewPYYr8GnvlXDhh9L4b7dDqKKI0VQ38dpBiUXWrcWul0SWHkztO/s1600/Gift+Box+Punch+Board.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJWZlY9rA2pN4AMHEGq67X6iPtMJvwfK48xqfgod8Xz0rB4QyJoF2RjSC4VkayGAz6foKkgDslWKy3Uc8gwmxfiT32ewPYYr8GnvlXDhh9L4b7dDqKKI0VQ38dpBiUXWrcWul0SWHkztO/s1600/Gift+Box+Punch+Board.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.weronthenet.com/Punch_Boards">Source</a></div>
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My mom bought me this board for my birthday, and I love it! In fact, I bought my SIL Leah one for Christmas. Basically it makes a self closing box (no separate lid!) with one square of paper. And they can be made in a variety of sizes of course, depending on your starting paper size and the shape instructions you choose.<br />
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I started out with a 6x6 sheet I cut down from this fun Disney paper. I scored the whole 24 sheet pad at a local dry goods store for $1.99!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnixO7lEDoykr4JrGUs1jiUxbpADcM1P-fhA8MEKkcVFADksK35bQGobOk2XZR3EYcz0_BPg1bsFySIPk4jPNZBBd3uGFCivvXJQfyBIxL7oTP-Fs9P_hxF__US3W8sPVh-eHRbJMlD8D/s1600/DSC_0691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnixO7lEDoykr4JrGUs1jiUxbpADcM1P-fhA8MEKkcVFADksK35bQGobOk2XZR3EYcz0_BPg1bsFySIPk4jPNZBBd3uGFCivvXJQfyBIxL7oTP-Fs9P_hxF__US3W8sPVh-eHRbJMlD8D/s1600/DSC_0691.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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As always with the WRMK punch boards, the instructions are printed right on the board, and the score tool stores in a slot on the underside of the board, so there's nothing to keep track of.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGi_4JYgDSdqYgiB6V-r9fs0QHjyqDhU7JywRN5mXCPuwD_Tn1ULzvCgxOXwZNJlFdecwhnr4FUSWJdVlHtnjvku6taTW29wFiY9IYNCQBY21asgCNlaKPkIQAEWZoRksAIQlHsXSrkpBP/s1600/DSC_0695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGi_4JYgDSdqYgiB6V-r9fs0QHjyqDhU7JywRN5mXCPuwD_Tn1ULzvCgxOXwZNJlFdecwhnr4FUSWJdVlHtnjvku6taTW29wFiY9IYNCQBY21asgCNlaKPkIQAEWZoRksAIQlHsXSrkpBP/s1600/DSC_0695.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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I chose to make a 1.75 x 1.75 x 1.75 inch box. Based on that, here are the measurement instructions to follow.<br />
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Using this board is a lot like using the <a href="http://sawyerforddrivingby.blogspot.com/2014/09/wrmk-envelope-punch-board.html">Envelope Punch Board</a> - just punch and score. It's important to pay attention to the line instructions, because they may not both be the same depending on your box size. If your box is taller or shorter than it is wide, your start and diagonal lines will be different.<br />
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Start out by lining the left edge of your paper up with the appropriate start line, in this case the small (S) line.<br />
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Punch using the button.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDYo1VXnsHRCUPLLL-jAtgZESu9pa1rWwY1dtVsuWj9TloCRtf4xEd15Pp_m7PgecfopZWfDL5WviVLO6iQMWPkr1h2ac68MQzdq1Zxz4lN3lpvCg-AxIhwAOyiDsUL1grfYt-LZQxmRT/s1600/DSC_0700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDYo1VXnsHRCUPLLL-jAtgZESu9pa1rWwY1dtVsuWj9TloCRtf4xEd15Pp_m7PgecfopZWfDL5WviVLO6iQMWPkr1h2ac68MQzdq1Zxz4lN3lpvCg-AxIhwAOyiDsUL1grfYt-LZQxmRT/s1600/DSC_0700.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now score using the tool along all three score lines, the two lines leading off the button (follow the little guides trailing off the button to find the grooves) and the diagonal line.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidu6wsBXTLibiJQrqAqwnX6Ry62CCOI0vF3YRRDTW5pg4KUmkuWK9Cxt1QJSO7FIf199D2FBXOTGOL8uyA1wXX-xJMCHKzeoUV9z9j505-XHMMEdDe-wCriiuwUeV8tqzvRinykD9pENIW/s1600/DSC_0704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidu6wsBXTLibiJQrqAqwnX6Ry62CCOI0vF3YRRDTW5pg4KUmkuWK9Cxt1QJSO7FIf199D2FBXOTGOL8uyA1wXX-xJMCHKzeoUV9z9j505-XHMMEdDe-wCriiuwUeV8tqzvRinykD9pENIW/s1600/DSC_0704.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThyphenhyphenxIJBvn3JXcH8E9-gNe8YRh-yHNePofZ5QyPFw7kyv8Nt3tkWYwQAxoU0uOkmXwhX_fAo_pTinZ3uWUAfLhQCMEzO0tXHwgcmBpZ-FSXGpUCLCzhNZMhAEftH-NV3sVw9KZfWOkzL0I/s1600/DSC_0707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThyphenhyphenxIJBvn3JXcH8E9-gNe8YRh-yHNePofZ5QyPFw7kyv8Nt3tkWYwQAxoU0uOkmXwhX_fAo_pTinZ3uWUAfLhQCMEzO0tXHwgcmBpZ-FSXGpUCLCzhNZMhAEftH-NV3sVw9KZfWOkzL0I/s1600/DSC_0707.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOEvWx6kfUZdgcTfNDW6MWDLUJgl6vx33ZXl8HqR6WRF417U840laUCRoGJ0KQgW3koLdxWqbUQsPOSMEJdWuGD4zW5HEreaORvTg-HkBYOkwmhyphenhypheng8eXqjDxlE0qMmRbfD7SqDrQSqnLc/s1600/DSC_0719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOEvWx6kfUZdgcTfNDW6MWDLUJgl6vx33ZXl8HqR6WRF417U840laUCRoGJ0KQgW3koLdxWqbUQsPOSMEJdWuGD4zW5HEreaORvTg-HkBYOkwmhyphenhypheng8eXqjDxlE0qMmRbfD7SqDrQSqnLc/s1600/DSC_0719.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now rotate your paper 90 degrees to the left and repeat all steps.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX388tYlEY_5IVBUFTxVSPnvCIgQfBByX_Zy-BsduGBy6mMhY61KZflr8h30hUiCNeVBKnmw9tLGOew4QrcMlnvWpJkiyUdxJqQwpmU6R-h-z2ap0VL0ck53QZJoy-lDcj2mHPbOjFLGhC/s1600/DSC_0713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX388tYlEY_5IVBUFTxVSPnvCIgQfBByX_Zy-BsduGBy6mMhY61KZflr8h30hUiCNeVBKnmw9tLGOew4QrcMlnvWpJkiyUdxJqQwpmU6R-h-z2ap0VL0ck53QZJoy-lDcj2mHPbOjFLGhC/s1600/DSC_0713.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is what your paper will look like at this point.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9x8scLj5VZfDeh2ibNDA23rxIlq8B_y40ZfUWI6BmWbSRdYkDuN46Co3ublO2LxEp0GYFfQO8r7XwkX4iPg_NQ0zxI3uneNS1QxYQYsW8M_i1P7r1hTFF2J_YL4_WNulwJ_L0JFIgfQb1/s1600/DSC_0714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9x8scLj5VZfDeh2ibNDA23rxIlq8B_y40ZfUWI6BmWbSRdYkDuN46Co3ublO2LxEp0GYFfQO8r7XwkX4iPg_NQ0zxI3uneNS1QxYQYsW8M_i1P7r1hTFF2J_YL4_WNulwJ_L0JFIgfQb1/s1600/DSC_0714.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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Also, our paper is small enough to fit entirely on the punch board, but if you're making a bigger box, there is an arm that swings out to extend your score line surface.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZZhv7KPkTQ994-UQaDSKxMpS8ue66l7Gn5OexqhYYZlUxv_RJgU4S2uJMg2WIlDCHL8UJV7SriFTEJgSTHWvSxRQKYZSF16SwkGjQjMP15UtTuBJXd2v3DGTpNZJiRP01RKUzkHOY-nS/s1600/DSC_0747.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZZhv7KPkTQ994-UQaDSKxMpS8ue66l7Gn5OexqhYYZlUxv_RJgU4S2uJMg2WIlDCHL8UJV7SriFTEJgSTHWvSxRQKYZSF16SwkGjQjMP15UtTuBJXd2v3DGTpNZJiRP01RKUzkHOY-nS/s1600/DSC_0747.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now, flip it over and do all the punching and scoring again.<br />
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Now you have two notches on each side.<br />
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Here you can see the score lines a little better.</div>
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Now insert each corner into the punch at the top of the button and punch again to cut the curved slits you will need to lock the box flaps together. It's very important to make sure your corner is well seated into the corner of the punch before punching, otherwise your slits will be off and the corner will not round well.</div>
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Just make sure you have the same side of the paper facing up during the punching of each corner. This is what it should look like at this point.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WLf7Uq9qRQkXFKw-BPjNOkqE40fKwsOXLneNremagnwy07rSIgS3OCl3ySj41p7vSJaW8uJQS987bpfIU8m8EBZ5cTYlqcsApBs1J6jwGJQ-5yo2QtwmEhXU9pSztADZmKR5tDPyHbZ7/s1600/DSC_0729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WLf7Uq9qRQkXFKw-BPjNOkqE40fKwsOXLneNremagnwy07rSIgS3OCl3ySj41p7vSJaW8uJQS987bpfIU8m8EBZ5cTYlqcsApBs1J6jwGJQ-5yo2QtwmEhXU9pSztADZmKR5tDPyHbZ7/s1600/DSC_0729.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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Go ahead and crease your scored lines, starting with the longest ones.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFUCTjtDLSoQC2eBOe1a9xhA7qD1ecUL_WQgQMRtKL5Yq6oZ_X8mbbgDp-8t-wXHr4hrI2HWSlE0KqmdZnvN91cGU1rSXkRKdW6IAddd8E1OZcvHUvDpI7eec4D3SqYcFHlBnuOmKKl_E/s1600/DSC_0732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFUCTjtDLSoQC2eBOe1a9xhA7qD1ecUL_WQgQMRtKL5Yq6oZ_X8mbbgDp-8t-wXHr4hrI2HWSlE0KqmdZnvN91cGU1rSXkRKdW6IAddd8E1OZcvHUvDpI7eec4D3SqYcFHlBnuOmKKl_E/s1600/DSC_0732.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now bring your sides up and crease the diagonal lines inward so they are toward the inside of the box.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbIHvroDZh1IfkOmo8KbHGlUaYfx8mJHfJx2Odpr_nD4UryxNBT0EYWjGy0rKv1TgBkfqFsoLGwKgosbfPatxEjw16dLV8Wd1xJp_oOfaOd8LUc8XQC7UYQ2GNv4cpI2gtTGN7d0fl8uF/s1600/DSC_0735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbIHvroDZh1IfkOmo8KbHGlUaYfx8mJHfJx2Odpr_nD4UryxNBT0EYWjGy0rKv1TgBkfqFsoLGwKgosbfPatxEjw16dLV8Wd1xJp_oOfaOd8LUc8XQC7UYQ2GNv4cpI2gtTGN7d0fl8uF/s1600/DSC_0735.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj83DN6s_BOjYW2pd_shjzligzk6cPqnH-FWsXs471mn-hRAcfhFRIRJ0kLImde8fdxzRw_kBS0ZaBwJsyzmRTGI4wW4XrTj6uYEYwEdzn6hhlhpcdQU_jwTTKKBNwiXhlkIztuLwL8Se6/s1600/DSC_0736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj83DN6s_BOjYW2pd_shjzligzk6cPqnH-FWsXs471mn-hRAcfhFRIRJ0kLImde8fdxzRw_kBS0ZaBwJsyzmRTGI4wW4XrTj6uYEYwEdzn6hhlhpcdQU_jwTTKKBNwiXhlkIztuLwL8Se6/s1600/DSC_0736.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can leave these interior flaps as is if you would like the box to be able to be flattened back out when opened, but I like to adhere them with either glue or an adhesive runner. I find it easiest to go ahead and add the adhesive to all 4 sides before folding up the box.</div>
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If you look closely, you can see the lines of adhesive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiceMraLdRPyfZly5OCf1ZwMYw6-f_Xhtx9BbAcsYNCVzPS99b3IBbjDW4yO_BDV8fvNajb5uCjDtshJ1DcxbVWaB8GjXRTa6BY256EulcziR_pnDM2xdktPczl2boW4nFesgjAqSJuVbp8/s1600/DSC_0738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiceMraLdRPyfZly5OCf1ZwMYw6-f_Xhtx9BbAcsYNCVzPS99b3IBbjDW4yO_BDV8fvNajb5uCjDtshJ1DcxbVWaB8GjXRTa6BY256EulcziR_pnDM2xdktPczl2boW4nFesgjAqSJuVbp8/s1600/DSC_0738.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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When folded up, they will adhere the interior flaps to the sides of the box.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZSlaL8YcKEQarI5FDWGixvUwFeSbJKeR6W41VeEvVVE8fmoHmqru9h4vgqZAt3UuzA1z4EAhq8sXdecROR4g0Lpn_hVq7kkJuYAzKUW7zeDqIRf_rPyKedpssIeamLkNKmk5D18nnzOEV/s1600/DSC_0736-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZSlaL8YcKEQarI5FDWGixvUwFeSbJKeR6W41VeEvVVE8fmoHmqru9h4vgqZAt3UuzA1z4EAhq8sXdecROR4g0Lpn_hVq7kkJuYAzKUW7zeDqIRf_rPyKedpssIeamLkNKmk5D18nnzOEV/s1600/DSC_0736-001.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now you will gently hook the opposite flaps together using the curved slits we punched earlier. Be careful here as these can be easy to tear, especially if you used thinner paper.</div>
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All done! Isn't it cute? This size is perfect for gifting jewelry, or it would be just right for holding a cake ball or truffle at a wedding or baby shower. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6klNom4kR2faeyDNS27bL70owkfHoAVEPQgdXgiYtGnMMaIHMQEt0lFoCwSD8DnNf_kbtG5FdWXcXs4egQPAC949asYuuHjGeLTH4WrVuQmycpAZKUMUOxQNS3yZlr6t9UmMwh5277Ivb/s1600/DSC_0745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6klNom4kR2faeyDNS27bL70owkfHoAVEPQgdXgiYtGnMMaIHMQEt0lFoCwSD8DnNf_kbtG5FdWXcXs4egQPAC949asYuuHjGeLTH4WrVuQmycpAZKUMUOxQNS3yZlr6t9UmMwh5277Ivb/s1600/DSC_0745.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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Since you can't see the date on that ring, we're going to say I graduated 5 years ago.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6CxLf8W_7TfUfTpwG7EztF7GzA2YODF1YFqsNjWJ4dZz4eU1WlYVNvVTsJgfV04wfvK7Ve7pKf_dcnl-1XQk9ZW_M-83Qq-SLh_MT5f-VFwUUZTcYbDu50boloPu5k1w95owwbWZF-bdT/s1600/DSC_0746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6CxLf8W_7TfUfTpwG7EztF7GzA2YODF1YFqsNjWJ4dZz4eU1WlYVNvVTsJgfV04wfvK7Ve7pKf_dcnl-1XQk9ZW_M-83Qq-SLh_MT5f-VFwUUZTcYbDu50boloPu5k1w95owwbWZF-bdT/s1600/DSC_0746.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's one I didn't adhere the sides on. Okay, <i>fine</i>, I graduated in '95. Whatever.</div>
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I made a whole stack of these for Lily, who loves anything Disney. And now I'm kicking myself for not buying up all the cheapo paper stacks!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQr6CNeTLbLS4u0a4D73JoEoiU2-3HEgpUwwrlojvXyL4YN8msFbMwM4YaQjdYxMmIcWbnIHlgdyBK-O_hPudSydajcZXeCgl5LsaGJYniEiB4wOhlKN5gGe0-_elnHezaK7-EMOgs2W6/s1600/DSC_0748.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQr6CNeTLbLS4u0a4D73JoEoiU2-3HEgpUwwrlojvXyL4YN8msFbMwM4YaQjdYxMmIcWbnIHlgdyBK-O_hPudSydajcZXeCgl5LsaGJYniEiB4wOhlKN5gGe0-_elnHezaK7-EMOgs2W6/s1600/DSC_0748.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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These are really cute using just about any paper. Here's one I made using some cool printed vellum I found at Tuesday Morning.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQnkKVIyAfH_qqxwHuRn6S1d5-pM4HBDAAXWz1hZvKxLA1e2smkPOJWLFfuKdyMVlV0m80Y61CUIXQY6dyNdBbBeHL6gXmpwU7d2-A-b303cDBUkDFeoWoCv7mcIB2SED2jTVeiHTyrRhF/s1600/DSC_1113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQnkKVIyAfH_qqxwHuRn6S1d5-pM4HBDAAXWz1hZvKxLA1e2smkPOJWLFfuKdyMVlV0m80Y61CUIXQY6dyNdBbBeHL6gXmpwU7d2-A-b303cDBUkDFeoWoCv7mcIB2SED2jTVeiHTyrRhF/s1600/DSC_1113.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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Oh, and how cute would these be in craft paper for a gender reveal party, with a pink or blue cupcake inside? So many possibilities! I can't get enough of these punch boards, and I can't wait to see if they come out with any more!</div>
Tracy Roachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17344017356445340970noreply@blogger.com0