We Love Our Elf on the Shelf

Do you have an Elf of the Shelf?  I bought one several years ago before all of the fun online elf ideas became so popular. I must admit that I love looking at Elf on the Shelf ideas on Pinterest and hope that our elf will be creative this December.   The first few years we had our elf, he would just move around the house each night, but he didn't really get into much mischief. That all changed last year and it was fun to document some of his adventures.

Our elf wasn't always super creative last year, but he did do some fun things like writing notes to the kids on their bathroom mirror with a dry erase marker, toilet papered our tree and painted the kids a picture.

Sometimes if seems like we have so many traditions to keep up with in December, but the elf is not one that we will be giving up anytime soon.

Here are a few of my recent favorite elf ideas that I've found on Pinterest:

Source: Uploaded by user via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: elfontheshelfideas.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: thatscountryliving.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Thinking about starting your own Elf on the Shelf Tradition?

Here's a link to the book + the elf gift set:

The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition

Plus, I just spotted the book, but with a girl elf. How fun is that?

The Elf on the Shelf - Girl Elf Edition

Only 5 more days until our elf will *hopefully* be making his appearance!

Layout Supplies /// Scrapbook Circle December Kit

Around Here /// November 2012

Can you believe that November will be over next week?  Time is flying and I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it. Here's a look at what I've been up to this week.

Shopping for Thanksgiving. I must say that I love that we have a holiday that is all about sharing good food with family.

Setting things out so I can start my December Daily album. I plan on building the base of the album before December and then adding photos + words each day in December. Here's a look at my December Daily Albums from 2011 and 2010.

Planning Thanksgiving recipes. My husband's birthday is on Thanksgiving and let's just say turkey isn't his favorite food. We'll be having all of the usual Thanksgiving food, but I'll be making this roast, this cheesecake and this mac & cheese.

Going through paper samples sent to me for our January Scrapbook Circle kit. Just placed all of the orders and can't wait to share what's in store.

Excited about my new collection of Heidi Swapp Color Shine mists. Can't wait to make a mess with them.

Loving my new Toms. So comfortable and they go with everything!

Finishing up the final touches for the December Scrapbook Circle kit. Can't seem to get enough of these little striped envelope pockets.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Project Life: October 16 - 22

Have I mentioned that I am really enjoying putting this Project Life album together? My favotite thing about it is that I now have a place for birthday cards, ticket stubs, programs, napkins and all of the cool things that I've always wanted to save, but didn't have a place to put them. Now they have a home.

This was another busy week for us. We spent the first couple of days in New York plus our daughter was baptized at the end of the week.

Race Car Driving /// Video Chat for My Sister's Mission Call /// On the Boat /// NYC Stuff

Hannah's Baptism Day

I used another one of these pocket coin holders for more NYC photos this week just like I did last week. The protectors come ready to hold 20 photos per side (40 total), but I've found that I don't ever need that many photo slots, so I just cut the protector down to whatever size I need.

Here's a look at the full spread with inserts. In addition to the coin holder with photos, I also used this page protector which perfectly hold all of the cards Hannah received at her baptism.

Another week is in the books!

Project Life: October 7 - 13

This week for my project life album was really fun to put together because there were a lot of things to include besides pictures.

This week covered a few days at home and then three days in NYC. Plus is was also Max's birthday. There were two inserts for this week: one was this 6 X 12 page protector that held Max's birthday cards and the other was these coin holders with pockets that holds a bunch of small 2 X 2 photos.

Video Chat with Cousins /// Lego Building /// Soccer Dinner Date /// Haircut /// Birthday @ JFG

NYC Boarding Pass /// 911 Memorial /// Carlo's Bakery /// Tickets

I think these photo pockets are my favorite way to document vacations in the PL album because they allow me to use a lot of photos in a little space. The little NY themed papers mixed in with the photos are sticky notes I picked up at the MOMA gift shop. I knew they would come in handy!

We are up in Salt Lake City today enjoying time together with my siblings and parents. My youngest sister is leaving on a mission for our church in less than two week and we wanted to get together before she leaves. We are trying to keep warm. My thin AZ blood is not used to this cold weather!

Project Life: September 30 - October 6

This week in October was a fun week to document because it was the first week of the kids' fall break.  I had quite a bit of things to work on at home the first couple of days of the week, but then I was able to focus my efforts on the kids and doing fun things.

We also celebrated Hannah's 8th birthday this week and did two different birthday parties. Max's birthday was the following week, but we were going to be out of town. So, we got to do back to back parties.

In-n-Out Milkshake /// Earning $ for NYC /// At the Zoo

Pizza /// Turning 8 /// Hannah's Birthday /// Max's Party @ Golfland

There are also a couple of inserts for this week. One of them is a collection of birthday cards and the other is a few of the pictures from the birthday parties. Since they are photos of Hannah's friends from school and I don't know their families really well, I'm not posting them to keep them private.

Such a fun and exhausting week! I love this album because now I have a place for the mini golf score cards that I want to keep, but would not have a place to put them otherwise.

Enjoy your day.

Sugar Cookies

Last month I shared my mom's sugar cookie recipe and a few photos of us making the cookies. Of course, they photos also needed to be scrapbooked!

This layout was a lot of fun to put together. The vellum envelope was the perfect place for the recipe. I didn't really need to have the recipe showing on the page, but I figured it would be fun to have it on the page. The recipe easily slips right behind the photos and into the envelope.

I've loving that little "thankful for" tag that was sewn to the top of the recipe. The Scrapbook Circle printable this month has a bunch of those tags in different colors and I plan on using them all up!

After spending time on this page, I think I need a sugar cookie. Good thing I stuck a few in the freezer for moments like this.

Hope you are having a fantastic day!

Layout Supplies /// Harvest Moon Kit

Project Life: September 23 - 29

Hopefully you aren't too tired of my recent Project Life pages. I got pretty far behind on sharing and I'm doing my best to get caught up. The pages in my album are almost current and that is a great feeling.

This last week in September was filled with regular life goodness. One of my favorite things on this week's pages is the food packaging. I need to remember to save more things like that to use on the pages.

At the Library /// Audrey & Lizzie /// Fav Drink /// State Capitol Field Trip /// Chocolate Chips

Max & His Weekly School Reflection Sheet /// Ivy & Hannah /// On the Boat /// Playing Soccer

Lots of bits and pieces are now documented. Thankful for this project!

Thanksgiving Dinner

We are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with our family next week. I love Thanksgiving!  It's all about food, family and gratitude. Sounds perfect to me.

I recently did a layout with photos from last Thanksgiving. It seems like during holiday time, I tend to print and use photos from the previous year. Soon I'll probably be printing off photos from Christmas last year so I can use all of my new holiday papers!

When we get together with my dad's side of the family for Thanksgiving we need to have the dinner at a park because there are too many people to fit at a house. I feel pretty lucky to have so much family around. The sad thing is that we only really see each other on holidays.

One of the best things about having dinner with so many people is that it takes at least 4 long tables to hold all of the food. Lots of delicious options! Plus, no one has to do too much cooking since everyone brings a couple of dishes.

Happy Veteran's Day to my USA friends!  I am so grateful for all those who serve to keep our country safe and strong.

Project Life: September 16 - 22

I had so much fun putting these pages together for my Project Life Album. My husband and I traveled to Portland during this week and we took a bunch of pictures. It's always fun when a trip is mixed into a normal week because it adds something to look forward to and a lot of fun.

I didn't want the entire focus of the pages to be on the Portland trip because it was only 3 days of the week and the kids were at home doing things too.

One thing that I was most excited to include this week was screenshots showing that the kids had reached their AR goals for the quarter. AR is a reading program where they read and have to take tests on the books that earn them points. It's kind of a thorn in my side, but it does keep them reading.

Celebrating our Bro-in-Law's Bday @ Joe's Farm Grill /// Baggage Claim /// Notes from the Kids

AR Goals Reached /// Dinner in the Backyard with Gramps and Charlotte /// Portland

Portland Photo Inserts

I love using these coin holder pockets when I have trip photos to include. It's a perfect way to get a bunch of photos in the album and has a fun tiled effect too.

Pressing forward with Project Life and loving it!

Birthday Tag Card

Today I'd like to share a project with you that takes the idea of an ordinary birthday card and makes it more meaningful and interactive by adding pages, pockets and tags.

I put this interactive birthday card together for my daughter to fill out and give to a friend for her birthday. Here's a look at how it was put together.

1. Cut 3 sheets of patterned paper cut to 8" by 8.5".

2. With the 8" side facing you, fold the bottom of the paper up 2" to form a place for the pocket. Then for the paper in half. Repeat for each of the three pages.

3. Use a sewing machine to sew up the sides of the pockets on the three pages. You could use staples if you don't want to sew.

4. Stack the three pages in the order you want them to be in the album. Sew the pages together down the center of the pages on the crease. Instead of sewing, you could punch holes and tie the pages together with ribbon.

5. Now the pages are assembled and ready to embellish.

6. Create six tags to fit in each of the pockets. I used a combination of cardstock, transparencies and paper layers. The tags are each approximately 5" X 4".

7. Embellish each of the pages with stickers, crepe paper, patterned paper and paper layers.

8. Now the album is embellished and ready for my daughter to write notes to her friend on each of the tags.

This is an easy interactive card that would work well for lots of occasions like graduations, Mother's Day, Father's Day and birthdays. You could even replace one of the tags with a gift card.

Hope you enjoyed this interactive card idea and you will try making one on your own!

Lisa

Project Supplies
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" Patterned Paper: Bokeh, Polka, Stripe
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" Glitzers
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" Puffy Words
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend"Peek a Boos
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" Paper Layers
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" Title Stickers
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" Whatnots
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" Puffy Stickers
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" 6 X 6 Paper Pad
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" Giant Rhinestones
Glitz Designs "Hello Friend" Crepe Trim