After 5 years of being a stay-at-home mom, I found the wonder of mothering slowly starting to get crowded out by the mundane feeling. I realized our world seems to surround people with the negative, and complaining about blessings seems totally acceptable. So I decided to fight against that "normalcy" and focus only on the positive. I look back to my first year as a mom when everything was new and keeping house was fun and I aim to have that attitude again. This blog is my outlet to showcase the daily miracles that surround me in my blessed life as a stay-at-home mom so that I will never forget the wonder of it all.



Saturday, July 21, 2012

Paper Crafting

I've been experimenting with paper crafting since late Winter.  Let me tell you, it sure is relaxing!  It's also easy and cheap. 

My friend had seen a "book mobile" on Etsy a while ago and shared it with me.  I took a mental note because I thought, if I could figure it out, I'd really like to make her one.  Later, when she announced she was pregnant, I knew I must get busy!  So I went to the thrift store, spent a few bucks on some old books with neat covers, good intact spines, and fun pages, and just started experimenting.  My first one didn't work out too well.  My second was a success though, so I used that method on the book I'd especially picked out for my friend.


Try number 2.
This went to my sister in law Rachael for her birthday.


 And here's try number 3, which went to my friend Kim.  The pictures are horrible, but it looks like try number 2 in person.  I just slacked on mailing it and so didn't take pictures until late one night when I MADE myself package it up so I could take it to the post office the next morning.

Some more tweaking needs to be done to my method though because try number 1, which hangs in my sewing area, kind of melted one hot day.   Well, rather, the double sided tape holding the pages together melted.  I think I'll try glue on the next one even though that will increase the time it takes to make one by a LOT, due to the drying factor.


I also whipped up my friend's baby a quick taggie, and some cloth wipes to throw in to the package.
Again, horrible midnight photos.

4 comments:

  1. Such great gifts...we've loved them all.
    D commemted right away how much better the flannel wipes worked vs the disposables.
    With plaster walls/ceilings, I've thought long and hard about where to hang the book, so once it's up I'll post to simplybythe.
    I wonder if both tape and glue would be a way to make them quickly and securely.

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    1. We think they work better too. It took us a while to make the switch but when we did, we regretted not switching earlier. I'm glad your book is still in tact and hope it stays that way!

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  2. Glad you have found time to be creative! The book mobile is really neat.

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  3. I love the paper crafting, that is just amazing! The gifts are wonderful as well. I always loved handmade wipes for my babe. So soft and wonderful.

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