Confessions of an Ex-Scrapbooker #26

What to do with all my junk? I have endless piles of paper and embellishments from my SB-day's. Even though I don't scrapbook anymore, I still like crafting with my hands and glue and getting it in my hair and such. So I've been trying to think of ways to use all junk up. So here's my latest project....

(sorry about the ugly photography, but my camera decided to break! only got 2 pics UGH!)

This is a cute little 4x6 recipe collection. Easy-Peasy!

Ingredients:

• One pack of 4x6 recipe cards/index cards
  
• One metal ring (can't remember the name of them...but they open and close)
• Scrapbook paper and embellishments
• Glue stick

All I did was gather a collection of favorite recipes. You can print directly onto the cards or you can print on paper and glue to cards. You can get as creative as you want with any clip art or pictures on the actual recipes. Sorry, no picture...camera Ka-pood on me! GRRR!

I then divided them up into the following categories:

Appetizers

Soups & Salads

Main Dishes

Side Dishes

Desserts

You can see my little "Sweet" divider for the Dessert section....I've had that little embellishment FOR YEARS! It finally found a home!

You can make dividers using the 4x6 cards. Then punch holes in the top corner, put the ring through it and then I tied little pieces of ribbon around the ring....had that ribbon for years too!

The cover was a piece of the scrapbook paper that I cut out in the same measurements as the card and I glued it onto the 4x6 card. I found the cute little metal tag and then printed out the Title "Secret Ingredients" and just laid and glued them down. Nothin' special ladies.

So I'm going to start making these for my FRIENDS for their birthdays. It's free, easy, and personal. You can design and create ANYTHING you want....my ideas are flowing right now as I type. I'll save it for next week. ;O) Oh, yeah....they ship in a little envelopes or wrap up really cute!

If you have any ideas or projects you've done using your old scrapbooking stuff, email me at tarabrown at cherishbound dot com so we can share it with everyone.

Happy Crafting!!

Calling all Team Moms and Room Moms!

Is that you? Are you in charge of gift ideas for coaches and teachers? Are you sick of the dreaded dust-collecting trophies and metals or boring apple-themed gifts? If you answered yes, sort of, maybe or no...Keep Reading.

From my personal experience I can tell you that what I'm about to share with you is valuable information...seriously. It will change you. You will no longer be the mediocre mom or dad who collects $20 per family for gifts that are somewhat mundane and meaningless...that pretty much does nothing for the soul. So if you're ready to be popular...possibly famous...Keep Reading.

It's time to up the ante ladies (& gents)...it's time to raise the bar of team, coach and teacher gifts. With a little prep and some help from me you'll be the talk of the town and so will your gifts. So what am I talking about?

These....

Yes, you can put together gorgeous photo/story books for those important people. I've done MANY of them and have yet to encounter a recipient that doesn't tear up, thank me on a daily basis, show EVERYONE that walks within 25 feet of them. These books will have more of an impact than you know. Here are some of the books and stories behind them.

Teacher Books:

This book was done for a 4th grade teacher. Each child drew a picture and/or submitted a photo along with a story or thank you note. The hand written letters and pictures were scanned into the book. I saw the teacher receive this book and it's now been 4 years since she received it. To this day she still thanks us for putting together her "most prized possession" ever!

This is a book I just did for my son's kindergarten teacher for Christmas. We collected favorite recipes from all the kids in her class, along with a drawn picture or photo from each child. We put together an entire collection of recipes...over 50 pages! The name "Secret Ingredients" came from the inspiration of the children...one of the mom's interviewed each kid and asked them what their favorite recipe was and what the ingredients were...hysterical! It's a good thing those little ones aren't cooking! She has expressed her appreciation over and over again. She said she had never received anything more spectacular as a teacher.

Team/Coaches Books:

These team/sports books are becoming the replacement for cheap trophies and metals. This first set of books are soccer-style "yearbooks" that recap a season for the players and coaches. Players can give their two-cents, what they learned, greatest moment, etc. Action shots of the kids can be placed right into the book giving each player a spread or two.

This is one of my favorite coach books I've ever done. This was a big season for these girls, lots of long hours and hard work. Each girl took the time to write the coaches letters of appreciation and what they learned. We put all their letters and photos in this book and gave it to the coaches for their end of the season gift. Little did the girls know that they too were getting a book....but theirs had personal messages from the coach. Everyone was touched by the words, photos, and grateful to have this treasure.

This is a players book that we did for each child's end of the year gift. These took a little more time because they were all individually customized for each kid. We even interviewed the little guys and asked them questions about their season. The answers were priceless!

There are 100's of options, 1000's of sports & Millions of stories to be shared and given at the end of each sporting season. From Cheer Squads to Hockey Teams, Swimmers to Golfers...every athlete and coach has a story to tell. If you'd like more information on getting started just drop me a comment or email me at tarabrown at cherishbound dot com. I have an entire "workshop" I'll email you so you can have direction and steps to follow. Don't wait!

Wordless Wednesday ♥ Happy Birthday Babies!

♥♥Happy 2nd Birthday Little Ones♥♥

For more Wordless Wednesday visit the amazing www.5minutesfromom.com

Tuesday Tradition #39

Valentine's Day Family Breakfast

Tonight on twitter at our "Girl's Nite Out" April from Sweet Life in the Valley shared a great family tradition that you can do on Valentine's Day with your family...and V-day is on SATURDAY this year so this will be perfect!

She said, "Each year we always do a Valentines day breakfast in reds & pinks like heart shaped waffles with strawberries & raspberries."

How cute is that?

We also have made Sunnyside Eggs and Toast with a ♥ cut out.

Yummy & Cute

So in my search for more ideas I came across Design Mom's post about her amazing Valentine's Breakfast traditions and many other V-day traditions listed as well. You must check out this post! Her ideas are adorable! And Amazing!

Photo Tag

I've been tagged by Peggy! This is a photo challenge. I've never done this before so I thought I'd try it out. Seemed like fun! You are supposed to go to your 6th folder in your pictures and pick the 6th pic in that folder and post it. I had to play. It's was exciting to see what photo I would find.

This is a picture of me and my twins about a year ago. I don't remember why I was taking those pictures....but it was for something...hum....can't remember. Oh, I know, for Cherish Bound's video and website stuff. Showing that I can be a mommy and work too! :O)

I have to tag 6 friends now.....

Melissa, Heather, Lolli, Sarah, Rae, Brenda

Bloggy Giveaway! Tribute Story/Photo Book Package

More bloggy Giveaways @ www.bloggygiveaway.com

Celebrate the life of your parents with this amazing giveaway. This package contains a variety of items to help you find, capture and share your parent's story. Retail Value of this gift package is over $60! To learn more about Cherish Bound click Here.

Tribute Story Starter: Use the Story Starter as a guide to help you remember and collect the stories, lessons, and moments that you remember about your parents.

$29 Cherish Bound publishing credit**: Use on any project you publish in Cherish Bound's publishing center or to use towards publishing a Tribute Book. **The full cost of a Tribute book is more than the $29. This is an actual "credit" that can be used towards that book or any other Cherish Bound project. If the book cost goes over the $29 you are required to pay the balance via credit card upon check out.

Sassy Binder & Story Pockets: Help you organize and keep your story, memorabilia and photos all in one place.

This is a sample of the books I made my parents using Cherish Bound's Tribute Story Starter. I collected my thoughts and published the book. The credit is good for $29** in publishing towards ANY project you create and submit in the publishing center. **The full cost of a Tribute book is more than the $29. This is an actual "credit" that can be used towards that book or any other Cherish Bound project. If the book cost goes over the $29 you are required to pay the balance via credit card upon check out.

Here's how YOU can win it:

Leave a comment

Follow me on twitter

Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter

Follow me here at my blog

US residents only. Please make sure you leave your email!!! No email-no prize :O( Last time I had a hard time getting a hold of people that didn't leave their emails. So please-please-please leave your emails! Leave a separate comment for each entry to win! Giveaway ends on Sunday, February 1 @ noon.

Click here for other giveaways!

Bloggy Giveaway! Handmade Wipe Case

MORE Bloggy giveaways!!
Visit www.bloggygiveaways.com for TONS and TONS more giveaways!

I was recently"browsing" a cute little boutique and bought this adorable wipe case because....I don't know....I liked the colors and I thought it was such a cute idea...and....hum...I wanted to give it to you! So here it is.....

Here's how YOU can win it:

Leave a comment

Follow me on twitter

Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter

Follow me here at my blog

US residents only. Please make sure you leave your email!!! No email-no prize :O( Last time I had a hard time getting a hold of people that didn't leave their emails. So please-please-please leave your emails! Leave a separate comment for each entry to win! Giveaway ends on Sunday, February 1 @ noon.

Click here for other giveaways!

Bloggy Giveaway! Cookbook and Apron

First off...I'm so excited about the Bloggy Giveaway week! You must check out this list! Click here to see the 100's and 100's of giveaways!

I attended the Mt. Timpanogos Storytelling Festival this past Labor Day. It's where we held our Cherish Bound convention. It was amazing, spectacular, wonderful....just perfect. I was shopping around the store there and found this adorable cookbook and apron set. It has awesome recipes from st orytellers and a very cool black apron to match. I loved it so much I bought 2 sets, hoping to give one away on my blog. Well, I put it up in the closet and forgot about the second copy....but this weekend I found it!! So Here It Is! Just in time for Bloggy Giveaway!

Here's how YOU can win it:

Leave a comment

Follow me on twitter

Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter

Follow me here at my blog

US residents only. Please make sure you leave your email!!! No email-no prize :O( Last time I had a hard time getting a hold of people that didn't leave their emails. So please-please-please leave your emails! Leave a separate comment for each entry to win! Giveaway ends on Sunday, February 1 @ noon.

Click here for other giveaways!

Family Yearbook Challenge 2009 - Week 2

Happy Monday! If you're just joining in for the first time, Click HERE to see how this all began. Below is a link to see Week 1 if you'd like to get started and catch up. Hope your FYC when well this week. If you didn't get all the way done with your homework don't stress.....just keep plugging away at it. Plan to set aside 10 minutes a day to answer the questions and writing prompts and always get your family involved. While you're waiting in carpool, dentist office, or just before you go to bed, find a few minutes to keep track of your stories.

Week One

FIRST GIVEAWAY!! Family Celebrations from Cherish Bound! A pocket-size booklet full of questions and space to jot down daily thoughts and reminders from the year. They slide easily into a diaper bag pocket, purse or day planner. Enter to win by doing the following:

1. Leave a comment
2. Post about the Family Yearbook Challenge on your blog (separate comment)
   
3. Tweet about it on twitter and leave me your link (separate comment)
   

Make sure you comment for "Attendance/Roll Call"...that's how I'll keep track for the big Family Yearbook Publishing Drawing at the end of the year!!

Homework: January 26-31

1. What collections or hobbies do the members of your family have?

2. Describe your home and any changes that have taken place over the past year.

3. What school activities have your children participated in? What grades are they in?

4. What are your family's favorite dinners, places to dine out, treats, recipes, etc.?

Let these questions prompt you into writing whatever comes to your mind. For example: #2 for me, brought me to the thoughts of our family moving in 2008, again, and finally feeling settled in our new home and neighborhood. It reminded me of the new friends that we've made in our new town, new friends my kids have made, our friends at church, and some of the new places we've discovered....let your mind take you to the story. Be creative!

After you're done collecting this information and it's typed into a Word doc, save it in your FYB_2009 folder under January and name it Jan 26-31.

Now COPY and paste any photos that you have that go with these events and questions into the January folder. If you'd like to rename the photos you can with Jan 1, Jan 2, Jan 3, and so on and so on. If you have any memorabilia that is NOT digital, scan and save as a jpg. minimum 300 dpi to your January folder, named and labeled.

Sorry the button isn't ready yet.....Next Monday (I hope) I'll have a button for you to grab and share on your blog so we can get more and more friends to join in. Please feel free to contact me any time at tarabrown {at} cherishbound {dot} com.

100 Things I've Done...or Not Done

I LOVE lists, and when I found this over at Peggy's, I thought I'd play along. Everything that is in BOLD I've done. If you decide to post this, please comment so I can check your list out!

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you're not sick.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagra Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to truly be satisfied.
38. Seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo's David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served in a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Been to the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the paper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had Chicken pox.
89. Saved someone's life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a lawsuit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

Offspring Babble

Meet my offspring....

Darling, huh? I know...I'm particularly fond of my offspring. They are the reason my heart pumps @ 300 BPM. They are the reason we are nicknamed "Kingdom Chaos". I have a "private" blog that I post pictures and maybe 3 or 4 words a month on. It gives my family a place to check in and see what our kids look like, if they've had baths, if i'm still feeding them, and if I've taken a shower myself. Well, I just hate having 2 blogs....I can't keep the other one up because I have way too much fun over here. So I'm going to be bringing a little Kingdom Chaos over here once a week just so I can keep track of my own chaos a little bit better.

I'll probably unleash the furry on the weekends so I can let the hammer loose! So here's some "Offspring Babble" for you...

Grocery Store - 11 am today

2 Year old twins and Me

Wrestle them into the buggy that hasthe big ol' car on the front....mind you, it's cold, they have these adorable vests on that they can only wear 3 times a year here in FL....Got one in...caugth the other just in time to toss in there. Buckle up. And begin shopping....so picture these cute faces right here...

except a little dirtier, static hair is standing up on end touching the roof of the little car....and they sort of talk....girl speaks better than boy, but they can get some words out and I can totally understand them.

Minding my own biz, grabbing some apples, bananas, and little girl says, "I poop." I ignore. A little louder, "I POOP! I POOP!"

You're fine....just hang tihgt. I open a box of crackers and start handing htem through the roof so they'll hang tihgt. "I POOP! Stinky!" Boy thinks it's funny....starts the most adorable toddler chuckle. Girls thinks it's funny and proceeds to yell louder and louder, "I POOP! I POOP! I POOP!" Over and over and over and over again....and Boy laughs louder and louder and louder....

Poop, chuckle, poop, chuckle.....lots of stares, paid $3 for an empty box of crackers, but dang it they're so cute. Except for when you lift them out of the shopping cart and.......uh-huh! Just imagine the surprise I found! Moral of the story....listen to my offspring's babble. She wasn't kidding!

Storytime ♥ Guest Blogger - Heidi Rosenburg

I'm so excited to announce my newest guest blogger Heidi Rosenburg. She's going to sharing her thoughts, ideas, and expertise with us geared towards children's books and reading every other Thursday. Here's a little bit more about Heidi....

My name is Heidi Rosenberg. I am a proud wife and Mom of two very active and charming young children. I was born and raised in Liverpool , United Kingdom . I, with my husband and kids now live in Arizona . I earned both my degree and PhD in the United Kingdom before moving to the States. Just before having my first child I decided I wanted to stay home with my children during their early years. Since I love to read to my children I decided to sell Barefoot Children's books. I love sharing stories with little children, I love seeing the joy of delight on their faces as they discover new things through words and pictures.

My husband and I love to travel. Before having children we traveled to many countries, experiencing lots of different cultures. Nowadays with 2 children under the age of 4 we have been concentrating with great success on long road trips across America and exploring this great country. One thing that really attracts me to the Barefoot Book series is how they represent many different countries. I will be writing some articles about books and reading and reviewing some of the books in this blog.

Welcome Heidi! Read her first post How to Choose Books for Children right here!

Storytime ♥ How to Choose Books for Children

When purchasing books for the children in our lives the highest priority should be to seek out books with meaningful content. Try to avoid poor quality and commercialism.

Go back in time when my generation (children of the 70's) and older were growing up. Almost all the books were good quality books, with great content. I am sure you still remember some to this day. In the 80's two things happened, big publishing houses and mass retailers! Because of this profit margins became the driving force for the production of books. All of a sudden books became based on TV cartoons, video games and general commercialism.

So getting back to the question, how do you choose good quality books for children when there are so many books out there?

1. Seek out books that you remember from your childhood. (House that Jack built, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Hen, Three Billy Goats Gruff and many more)
2. Look for new books that will build on important values for your family.
3. Avoid books that will take the child back to the television or computer.
4. Give your child good quality books.
5. Read to your child and enjoy good quality time together. Books with music CDs are a great way to enjoy a story.

Barefoot Books, a small independent company that started in 1993 by two working mothers, Nancy Traversy and Tessa Strickland has the vision and goals to publish and share books, gifts and arts that promote childrenʼs love for learning, independence of the spirit, multiculturalism and protection of the environment. Barefoot Books products include award-winning books, music cds and colorful artworks that appeal to children and all children at heart.

By: Heidi Rosenberg

For Heidi's Website Click Here

Barefoot Books

Wordless Wednesday...Tire Swing Giggles

Don't forget to join in my Family Yearbook Challenge 2009!!!

For more Wordless Wednesday visit www.5minutesformom.com

Tuesday Tradition #38 Sports

We're are one hyped up family....Super Bowl is coming home to Tampa so of course we're getting ready for all the festivities and fun that will begin flooding Tampa. We all love sports...some of us love different ones, but we're all sports fans! We collect "Sports" movies of every kind, we get into EVERY playoff of anything that has to do with winning and losing. So yeah, I guess you could say we're true "Fan"atics of sports!

With Super Bowl less than 2 weeks away, March Madness right around the corner, NASCAR kicking off this coming weekend, we're looking for some family fun to begin. If you're a sports family OR if "dad" is and he would like to maybe get some of his family into a little bit more here are some great ideas!

My husband originally started this tradition in our home to get our daughters into football. I'm a HUGE NFL fan, so he expected them to jump right in with us....but I'm not so sure I was a die hard at 13 and 15 years old. But he wasn't going to wait for them....they were jumping on the bandwagon right now.

As a family we do Monday Night FB squares, Super Bowl Squares, Fantasy Football, NCAA Bowl game brackets, March Madness Brackets....pretty much squares and brackets of every kind for every sporting event. But we don't use money....

Everyone has a list of things that are pretty much FREE. No dishes for a week, no chores for 2 weeks, chocolate cake, bike ride every day after school for a week, etc. Whoever wins gets their wish granted and the other people in the family have to pull together to give the winner their "prize". It's been a lot of fun to see our entire family get involved and have some passion about the same thing and it's always fun to win and/or give the winner their prizes. We usually all benefit from it and it's just one more tradition that we can enjoy as a family.