Turn Your Scrapbook Pages into Wearable Art!!!

Good Afternoon! I am very blessed to be the mother of a beautiful daughter and wonderful son. It is easy to say that my kids are my world. With that blessing comes the challenge of raising two very different individuals and making their activities a family affair that everyone enjoys...

My son is the ultimate athlete. He loves all sports and baseball is his passion...We play baseball three days a week, 9 to 10 months out of the year and we are all involved. Mr. Bohlen, after a couple of seasons as Assistant Coach is now the Head Coach of our team. I am a busy dugout mom. This is how I spend so many of my days...

That being said, my daughter is the consumate girly girl. The princess. I have no idea where she gets it....lol. She dutifully, without ever complaining accompanies us to many nights of baseball...(don't feel sorry for her. She has a very full dance card of her own.) From the day she was born she was always happy to be wherever her brother was. She is his number one fan!

Being the fashionista that she is...she pointed out that we all had shirts for our team. Will had a Coaches jersey, I had a team t-shirt as the team mom. She wanted to have a Go Keaton shirt. This got my wheels turning....

Since I created the team's banner with a digital scrapbook page of the boys, blew it up at the local printer and laminated it and it worked out really well, why couldn't I do the same with a t-shirt????

So I got online and using a template from a local designer called Binty's Baseball Kit, I found my favorite pictures of Keaton playing baseball and added some beautiful pink paper and the message that she wanted to share with the world on her shirt on a 12x12 digital scrapbook page.

If you are a paper scrapper, you can scan the page you would like to use into a PDF or JPEG and create a digital image to use for your shirt. If you do not have a scanner that will scan 12x12, you local Office Max will scan it for you for about $1.00.

Then I went to my local Michaels and picked up Wilton's Photo Transfer Sheets for an Inkjet printer. It is important to know what your shirt you are going to use so that you can determine if you need to purchase a dark or light colored transfer.

Load your transfer paper into your printer with the dark blue line facing the proper direction. I then reduced my image to an 8x8 size of choose Fit to Paper in the printing menu so that your image fits on one sheet. For light colored shirts you need to click the Print in Reverse option on your print screen.

Heat your iron to the Cotton Setting without steam and place your shirt on a hard surface to iron. Do not use an ironing board. Peel the design from the backing paper and place the design on your shirt. Place the enclosed parchment paper between the iron and your design and place your iron on your desing and hold for 20 seconds on each section to adhere the design to your shirt.

Now, being that my little fashionista loves her clothes to sparkle as bright as her personality, I decided to girly it up by adding some bling...

So I was able to pick up a Rhinestone Heater setter for $12.00 and some lovely red and clear rhinestones and I embellished the frames of the photos on my page for dimension and gave it some sparkle.

This was a very simple process and I am excited by all of the endless possibilities for this tool. Simply pick the right size of tip for your tool depending on the size of your rhinestone. Let it heat up for 10 minutes and begin your application.

Using the enclosed tweezers I place each rhinestone where I wanted it on my design and then placed the heat tool gently on the stone to set it.

It took me about 30 to 45 minutes to adhere all 200 stones to the shirt. But in the end she was beyond happy with the final product.

And she found her perfect role on our team the first day she wore it...Ball Girl. Everyone loved watcheing her run across the field in her shirt to collect the bats after the boys hit.

I can only imagine the possibilties for this...family reunions, class trips, Girl Scouts....You can do it too!

Fantastic Easter Basket Cupcakes...I am going to use these as placecard holders

All I can say is FABULOUS! I found these on Disney's Family Fun Magazine. What a great way to dress up your Easter Dinner table and make each guest feel special. I have incorporated the whole natural element of the birds and the nest in my Spring Table decor that will take my table from Easter all the way through to Summer. These cupcakes are the perfect extra touch!

Ingredients


1 dozen cupcakes

1 bag jelly beans

2 cups white icing

Sweetened coconut, colored with green food coloring



Instructions

First, frost the cupcakes with white icing. Bend a pipe cleaner or a piece of red licorice into an arch and push the ends into the sides of each cupcake.



Shake the shredded coconut in a stainless steel bowl. Sprinkle on food coloring bit by bit, mixing vigorously to distribute the color



Place a pinch of shredded coconut on each iced cupcake. Now place three jelly beans on the "nest" of coconut.



Tie a small ribbon bow on the pipe cleaner or licorice handle at a jaunty angle.

Put one cupcake basket by each place setting at Easter brunch or give them as gifts

Blog Hops and Parties....One Stop Sources for Inspiration

I am often asked, "Where did you get that idea?" or "How on earth did you do that?". Honestly, I am a serial recycler of all things creative. I learned through my fantastic Bethany Baptist MOPS mom friends that women are so diverse in their talents and when you bring a collective group of us together we can create amazing things. Whether it be a mood to a meeting, the vibe of a party, a great meal, a wonderful recipe. The year I was Coordinator my wonderful blessed friend Melissa politely suggested that I let her do all of the baking. She is a master! She is one of those rare beautiful souls that can both bake and cook mouth watering items. And she is right, she is far better than I in the culinary arts. It was her gift. My friend Stella, was the ambiance queen! She could make any room ooze with elegance and make any mother feel like she had escaped into a tranquil retreat for a couple of hours. My friend Heather has the gift of sweet presence. She loved you through cards, gifts, a good laugh. She was always looking out for the one who was in need of encouragement and came up with the most creative ways to do so.

When I moved overseas all of these fantastic women loved me in their special ways from afar. But I was missing the inspiration I drew from them through our chats over coffee. In this, I found the gift of Blogs.

I found myself drawn to the inspiration posted by these amazing women. I had a new source of inspiration for my creative recycling. I was drawn to those that hosted Link Up parties. It was one stop creative shopping. My favorite was the Weekend Wrap Up by Jen at Tatertots and Jello. It was huge. She often has several hundred creative projects posted to her party every week. I found great ideas and added them to my favorites and came back to them later.

Often I found that I was coming back to my new favorite blogs for inspiration and began "following" them. And now I have wonderful circle of creative women that I have seen transform their homes, families and make every Holiday special.

I would encourage you to look to the sidebar of my blog. I have buttons to my favorites ready for you to click on. Take a look at these great blogs for the chance to be inspired!!! This week I am adding a new one...check it out!

Happy St Patricks Day

This year we really got into the spirit of this fun holiday that often goes by in a flash. We decorated our table setting. Mr. Bohlen brought home a fresh shamrock plant for the kitchen. The Mom Squad, as I affectionately refer to the greatest group of moms in Katy, TX that I am blessed to call friends and I were having coffee the other morning and since our fearless Girl Scout Troop leader was going to be at the Rodeo for our meeting, we planned a St Patrick's Day themed meeting. We had the girls make the most adorable Blarney Stone and read the Legend of the Blarney to them. the girls were hooked. Jen collected some river rocks out of her garden and we had the girls dip their finger in glue and stamp out the shape of a shamrock. They coated their shamrock in green glitter and Bam! They had a cute Blarney Stone.

Next we had the girls make a Leprechaun Trap. We told the girls about the Legend of the Leprechaun. And since they are curious, we decided to build a trap to lure them to find the gold at the end of the rainbow. We found this fun idea here Disney Family Fun. The girls had such a great time putting together their traps and scheming ideas as to where to set them up.

We provided the moms with chocolate gold coins to place in the traps from time to time and on St Patricks Day. My daughter checked her trap constantly and was so excited whenever she found her gold coins.

Which brings us to this morning. I welcomed the family to get into the St Patricks Day spirit with rainbow pancakes that I found at Tablespoon.com. The recipe calls to place your rainbow fruit skewers across the top of your pancakes, but my skewers were too heavy to stand and I wanted to incorporate clouds and a Shamrock and gold Coin into my design. The kids LOVED them. These could really be used to brighten any day!

So I will incorporate these colorful rainbow skewers into our lunch or dinner to keep the celebration alive and read the Story of the Shamrock.

Are you short on time today? Are you on the run? Looking for a fun way to get out of the house on Spring Break? Chic Fil A is serving green ice cream and lemonade today! Happy St Patrick's Day!

Whoopdwhoop!!! It's Awesome!

I know so many talented creative people that really have their niche and maybe admirethe creative vision of others in other mediums. I have found the perfect answer. Whoopdwhoop

What is the Whoopdwhoop about Whoopdwhoop....well it was the creators vision to create a community where artisans could share their talents, creativeness and creations with others not through money, but through swapping. We wanted a place where people could list their handiwork (photography, paper crafts, jewelry, art, sewn items, basically anything that they have handmade) and then swap them for other's handmade items- completely eliminating the need for money.


It was this idea that sparked the life of whoopdwhoop.com. Whoopdwhoop is a unique, currency free marketplace where individuals can both list their creative endeavors and 'shop' for other's creative endeavors- all without the use of money. Points (whoops) are earned by both listing and swapping your handiwork. You can then take the whoops that you have earned and 'shop' within the whoopdwhoop community. It's the perfect way to partake in some retail therapy and not feel guilty! It's free, it's easy, and it's fun.

Whoop it up with whoopdwhoop!

Becoming Obsessed with Molding

Since taking some time off of work, I have been finally inspired to turn our beautiful house into a home. Mr. Bohlen worked with the builder to pull together all of the big picture elements of our home and together we poured through catalogs and websites to add the finishes. When it was all pulled togther we moved in...and it sat as it was...and sat, and sat...for almost four years...

Mr Bohlen was perplexed, we have remodeled two homes in the Seattle Area and turned what once had good bones and in need of lots of love into masterpieces. Like the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding who thought that everything could be fixed with a good squirt of Windex, I thought that all of the world's problems could be solved with a good coat of paint. So why wasn't I painting?

I had this beautiful home and wanted to do it just right...perfect and could not commit to the perfect design plan. Well the time came that my son needed a new bed and so I emptied his room and the painting began. Mr. Bohlen rejoiced!!! More on that to come.

Now that I have his room in motion, I am thinking about what to do next. I think my new mantra is nothing makes a space more grand than molding. I have been gushing over my friend Jen's recessed full panel walls that she has painted a celery green in her restored tutor. And it got me looking through Blogland for some inspriration and I thought I would share these wonderful ideas with all of you!

I am still looking for inspiration. Please share your ideas on how to use molding or spaces that you have decoarted and I will feature your ideas here!

Here is the Accidental Molding Masterpiece from Ladybird Lane
 

My next stop was Tidbits from Treymane...all  I can say is wow!!! I had to read through all of her archives. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! I am actually going to attempt her pantry redo in my home as my pantry sits out in the middle of the walkway in plain view and could use some wow factor.

Here is her inspiration from AD...


Here is her pantry before. It is alot like mine where it sits in the main through fare. They say the hearth is the heart of the home...but I am thinking that the pantry really is, given where they are built.



And viola!!! Here is the after...



Next stop is a great example of the Bead and Batten style with It's the Little Things that Make a House a Home


Isn't her family room so welcoming and gorgeous!!! Here is a couple of detail shots of the same room.


And another...
And here is some inspiration from a focal wall turned into an Alphabet Wall by Girl in the Air
Before



And after...

St Patrick's Day Fun!

 

I think that creating traditions in your home is a great way to enhance the connectivity and balance in your family especially when you are trying to juggle the fine line of work/life balance. Days seem to fade into weeks and time flies by.

Decorating for holidays is a great way to start. Many of us decorate for the major holidays, but there are some fun ones in between. This year since there is such a gap between Valentine's Day and Easter, I decided to take on a little St Patrick's Day fun to pay homage to my Celtic heritage.

So, start small. pick one room that is seen and enjoyed. For my house that is my formal dining room. This room is visible from the street throught he window and is the first room that you see in my home when you enter along with my husbands office. They say your home makes a statement about your life. What do I want my home to say about the Bohlens.

Well if you look in Mr. Bohlen's office it is very obvious that we enjoy sports and the outdoors and that he works, very, very hard. If you look to our dining room you see our St. Patricks Day setting. It says this is a family that celebrates life's forgotten moments, that knows how to have fun, has a sense of tradition and whimsy....what are you doing to celebrate St Patricks? What traditions do you mark with your family? What does your house say about you?