Bryson City: My Creative Scrapbook

I love this time of year with all the sights and sounds and smells of Christmas. One special treat for us this holiday season was a trip on the Polar Express. We took the train in Bryson City, NC, and enjoyed walking around the quaint town while there. 

My parents with with us on this trip. I love to watch the relationship between my Dad and my son and wanted to document it here.  I made this layout with the new December kit at My Creative Scrapbook, which featured Crate Paper. 

I loved the cute little tags and die cuts in the kit.  They made it so easy to put together this simple page, allowing the focus on the photos. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I'll be back this week with more holiday projects. 

Elf on the Shelf Alternatives: A New Elf In Town

We love the general idea of Elf on the Shelf, but didn't have the original elf from the book.  So we searched around for a suitable alternative.  We wanted something about the same size, appproximately 10 - 12 inches tall, bendy, if possible, and friendly. 

A cute, small, bendy elf was surprisingly hard to find. Finally, we found one meant as an ornament. He's 11 inches tall and has bendy arms and legs.  If you find a similar elf and he isn't bendy, you could make a small slit in his arms and legs, insert a pipe cleaner or jewelry wire, and stitch him back up. 

We are generally using the elf as in the story, but ours in a friendlier, gentler elf.  Some days he hides just for fun.  

Other days, elf suggests acts of kindness such donating toys to the Children's Hospital or making cookies for the neighbors. He just leaves a note next to him as he hides. 

We love our elf and will miss him when he leaves.  Wishing you the happiest of holidays!

December Kit Reveal: My Creative Scrapbook

Eat, drink and be merry.  Even if - or especially if - it's hot chocolate!

I had so much fun with the December kit from My Creative Scrapbook.  I worked with the Creative Kit, which featured Crate Paper's Bundled Up collection. 

My family recently took the Polar Express train to the North Pole. My four year old loved everything about the trip. The highlight for him - other than meeting Santa - was the big mug of hot chocolate they served on the train. 

The winter theme of the kit was perfect for these photos. The kit included a pack of sequins, which made a fun addition to the tree die cut for a little sparkle and dimension. 

Here's a photo of the kit I used. 

You can see the full reveal of all the December kits on the My Creative Scrapbook website.

December Sneak Peeks: My Creative Scrapbook

December is here!  It's the most wonderful time of the year. Bring on the holidays.

With a new month comes a new reveal from My Creative Scrapbook kit club. Here are peeks at four winter projects I made with the Creative kit this month.

The full reveal is December 5th. Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Wine Tags: Fancy Pants Designs

It's over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go - for Thanksgiving, that is.  We are making a few side dishes to take along and, of course, I also wanted to bring a little hostess gift.

The one of the left is for Mom.  She is certainly fabulous!  The one on the right, I am saving for a Christmas party.  While I was making one wine tag, I figured I might as well make another. 

These tags are easy to make. I cut each tag 3 inches wide by 10 inches long. I scored the tag 2.5 inches from the top to make the fold. I used a circle punch for the wine bottle hole. All paper and embellishments are from Fancy Pants Designs, the cute new Fall and Winter lines. 

For the holiday bottle of cheer, I used a patterned paper frame and filled the inside with subway art style paper from the Timbergrove collection. I'm thinking a bottle of red would be perfect for curling up in front of the fireplace on a cold night. 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.  To all my US friends: wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

DIY Chalkboard Train Table

For Christmas last year, I wanted to get my son a train table but quickly discovered that nice ones were quite expensive. 

After looking around, we thought it would be easy enough to make our own. And it was.  We decided to make a versatile table with a chalkboard top for drawing and writing when it wasn't used for trains. 

The total cost for this table was less than $15, which gave us plenty of money leftover for wood tracks, trains and accessories.

We happened to have this table base, which we had purchased at a yard sale for $5.  It has a wood insert (not shown) to make a table. The trouble was that there wasn't enough room inside the confines of the table for a figure 8 train track.

With some basic woodworking skills, we were able to make a table to fit on top of the base. We made it a rectangle, measuring approximately 40 x 48 inches. 

After we put together the tabletop, we gave it a couple of coats of chalkboard paint and we were ready for the train set. 

We purchased the Figure 8 Train Track at Target. It is the Circo brand and is interchangeable with other brands of wood track. The trains and accessories are a mixture of Thomas, Brio and Circo. 

The table and trains are hands down my son's favorite toy.

If you have any questions about how to make the table, feel free to post questions in the comments. Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Crafted Christmas Ornaments: Fancy Pants

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  It's so chilly here too. Really has me in the mood for the holidays. I decided to the Christmas line from Fancy Pants Designs and make some tree ornaments.

I don't have a tree up yet, so I took a quick snap on a young pine outside. 

I have a tutorial on how to make these ornaments up on the Fancy Pants Designs blog. Would love for you to take a peek!

Have a wonderful weekend.