Chicago was a Blast!!

Wow, what a weekend! I left for Chicago on Thursday morning and got back Sunday afternoon. Yesterday was somewhat a day of recovery from the "vacation hangover."

I {heart} Chicago! This was such a fun trip, and I LOVED seeing my HYWWP girls again! The sites, the entertainment, the condo, the shopping, the food....oh my....the food. Let me just say -- I will never be able to love regular pizza again after having Chicago deep-dish pizza!

We took HUNDREDS (literally, I think the last count of all the pics we took was over 900) of photos to share, but that will have to wait for another time. The one here was taken at Buckingham Fountain when we went to Taste of Chicago.

I already miss my girls. :( I wouldn't have traded my time with them this past weekend for anything....I enjoyed every minute of it. Can't wait for next year!! :)

Super Early Sneak Peek! :)

This week at The Scrap Room, we were asked to use Sketch #129 from Sketch Inspiration. I received my July kit and busted out this layout in no time. The sketch made it super easy, and the products are just FABULOUS!!

This particular part of the monthly kit is the Pink Paislee Starlight Collection. These papers were just PERFECT for this picture from last year's Fourth of July (yes, I am very far behind in scrapping, but who cares...every picture scrapped is a piece of history documented!).

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I got this layout done early because I am leaving tomorrow for my Chicago trip with my HYWWP girls! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. I've had butterflies in my stomach every time I think about it. I don't know if the butterflies are for the excitement of seeing these girls again, or the anxiety over having to leave my family and fly in an airplane....probably both.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll blog soon about our trip and have TONS of pics to share. Take care! :) (and please say a prayer for my hubby...he has the boys all by himself for the next 4 days!!)

Hahahaha!

8 days and counting, girls.....only 8 days!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Exactly Two Weeks....

I'll be here with my girlfriends from Have Your Way With Paper for our 2nd Annual Get Together!!!!!

Chicago....prepare yourself! ;)

Summer Boredom Buster

Okay, summer break officially started on last Friday, and my oldest is already complaining of being bored!! Seriously?!

Does anyone have any cute projects or fun things to do for kiddos that are inexpensive and can be done quietly? I found one today on the Scrapbook Trends Blog. We made our own crayons! It was easy, resourceful, and lots of fun. This morning, we went through the boys' coloring box and picked out all the broken crayons. We peeled off all the paper, and then lined a metal muffin tin with cupcake liners. We broke the already broken crayons into little pieces, and the boys picked out what colors they wanted in their cupcake liners. Each boy got 3 liners since the muffin tin held 6 total.

First, we tried going "all-naturale" and letting the hot Texas sun melt our crayons out on the concrete on the back patio. The bottoms melted really well, but the tops still needed a little help, so we brought the muffin tin in and stuck it in the oven for a little while. Once everything was melted, we took the tin out and let everything solidfy once again. Then, we peeled off the cupcake liners, and voila! Our own rainbow crayons! The boys were sooo excited to see their creations.

I got out some old computer printer paper, strung it out all over the kitchen floor, and let them have at it with their "new" crayons. Fun, fun!

Here are the instructions as found on the Scrapbook Trends blog:



And here are the boys....still coloring! :)



We plan on making some of these in the winter using metal cookie cutters for shaped crayons. :) I'd love to hear your ideas on some more summertime boredom busters for the kiddos!

June Scrap Room Kit - FULL Reveal! :)

The full reveal for the June Scrap Room kit has been up on the website for a while now, but I'm just now getting time to sit down and blog about it. This past weekend, my sister and I went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention, and I returned home with a nasty stomach bug. :( Just now fully recovering from that, so here is the reveal! :)

Here is what you will receive in the kit:


And did I mention...this kit comes with gourmet COFFEE every month?!?! How cool is that? This month's flavor: Blueberry Streusel...mmmm!

Okay, so here's what I made:






And there is a 2-pager coming soon! :) Thanks for looking!!!!!!!