diy {Monogram Paper Bag Album}

Was mid-April through most of May cray-cray-crazy at your house?

Here too.

Like time-hungry schedules got notice that the school-year smorgasbord was about to be put away and had to cram in as many more bites into its mouth as possible. 

Hardly time to savor. Hardy time to chew.

But now we are settling in with a big plate of summer relaxation in front of us and I hope you are too.

***

Amidst the scramble of recent weeks arose the sudden need for several gifts. 

Graduations. Mother's Day. Teacher thank-yous.

These paper bag albums were my go-to this year.

They are fun, simple, and easy to personalize.

Supplies and tools:

• Brown paper bags (I used the lunch variety you can buy in packs of 100 for a buck something at Walmart and such places) - the number needed depends on how many pages you want in your album. These were made with 8 bags.
• Double sided 12X12 scrapbook paper (mine was Beach House by Colorbok)
• Children's handwriting paper
• White cardstock
• Ribbon or lace
• Adhesive 
• Scissors 
• Papercutter 
• Large scalloped circle punch
• Hole punch (mine is the Crop-A-Dile Big Bite - I adore that thing)

Fold over the top of each bag about an inch. No exact measuring needed. Eyeball it.

Stack the bags all facing the same direction like pages of a book with the folded over ends as the binding.

 

Punch two holes through the whole stack at either end of the folded over 'binding'.

Tie lace or ribbon through the holes.

Cut patterned paper to 12" X 4 3/4" pieces. One piece for both sides of each bag except the back one - it only needs one piece since the back side doesn't have paper added to it.

Fold a 4" flap over on each piece showcasing the flip side of the paper design. Adhere the flaps down.

Adhere paper to pages and cover.

Cut circles from handwriting paper.

Adhere a handwriting circle to each page and to the cover.

 Cut large letters from patterned paper. I made these by drawing each letter in reverse on the backside of the paper and then cutting it out - a stencil could be used instead if free-hand isn't your style.



Adhere a letter to the circle on the cover to create a monogram effect. Graduate's first name initial, teacher's last name initial, "M" for mom. Take it and run where you wanna go.

 Cut white cardstock into mats for 4x6 photos. 4 1/2" by 4 1/2" gives a quarter inch border around pictures. I wasn't adding pictures to these but leaving them blank for the recipient to add their own photos so I added labels to mats to indicate their purpose. 

For a very special gift you could add photos... sky is the limit on ideas there.

Adhere mats to pages.

All done!
Happy little handmade gifts.
My favorite.

***

Happy summer Sunday to you!
Love,
Raimie

Earth Day Party

What do you think about on Earth Day?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle?
Save the trees?
Endangered species?

I like to think about The One who created it.
I wonder at the majesty of His design, the intricacies of each minuscule detail, the thought and love that went into making it as a place for us to live.

I think about taking care of it.
Not because that is what popular media says I should do but because if you are given a precious gift then it speaks to the way you care for the giver in the way that you take care and treasure what they gave you.

I want to care for this ole' earth like a traveler... Be happy while I'm here. Marvel at what I see. Think about how to spend each day wisely. Take advantage of the time. Take only pictures, leave only footprints. Leave it nice for the next folks traveling through. Remember we have somewhere to go to when the trip is over.

I am thankful for what He created.
I am thankful for all that I have been given.

{You Are My World Greeting Cards} - Globe crayons attached to the card-fronts were made by melting blue and green crayon pieces in an egg poacher and letting them set up before popping them out.

Happy Earth Day!

***

Head-gear for "Recycled Hat Day" at school

*** 

We had a little Earth Day party at my mom's house, just us, when the kids got home from school. Jeffrey and Prosper are still gone. I am missing my little boy.

Black and white construction paper triangles and basic globe print-outs became a fancy streamer for the occasion.

Old canning jar lids, more print-outs, and some fabric salvage strips became place-tags.

I kinda do thrive on the reuse-recycle thing, I guess!

The table was set with dishes and treasures I scavenged from all over in my mom's bungalow. I love her style. Any time we have a party or dinner there it is like browsing a great antique/thrift store for goodies to go with the theme.

An after-school snack that looked vaguely like the world with a heart around it. I was just satisfied it was obvious enough that the 1st grader got it.

Four stations to keep the kids busy while supper was cooking.

• Snack
• Newspaper flowers (pictured in the centerpieces)
• Animal coloring sheets
• You Are My World greeting cards (shown above)

They all loved it. Well, let's be real, the boys loved it for a while and then went to play with Legos. The girls loved it all the way through to the last drop of wax. That is close enough to perfect for me.

We ate a chunk of the world for Supper:

New York strip, Idaho potatoes, Brussels sprouts, Georgia peaches, Boston iced tea, and baked Alaska.

It was delicious.

Side notes: The dessert was a Paleo-hack triumph and was met with great pleasure by our kids who usually have to skip dessert due to food allergies! Also, we apparently don't name vegetables after places in the US so we had to hop across the pond to Belgium for our greens.

After supper we all exchanged our cards and showed a little Earth-Day love by writing down and sharing some of our favorite things in the world.

As idyllic as this sounds, I must burst your bubble with some more reality... 

It was those boys again and it went something like this:

"Hey, Latham, I'm gonna put down Legos as my favorite thing."

"Oh, me too!"

"Boys, this is about Earth Day. You need to put down something that came with the Earth; animals, events in nature, weather, plants, things like that." 

"Ok. Plastic, to make Legos!"

"No, Plastic is man-made."

"What is it made with?"

"Chemicals."

"Then chemicals are my favorite."

"YOU CANNOT WRITE CHEMICALS ON OUR GLOBE FOR HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!"

"Ummm... OK?!"

"Hey, Jax, Let's go finish our Lego plane!"

"Yeah!"

[Boys exit]

[Moms shake their heads]

[Girls giggle]

[Moms start to giggle too]

Jax: What are you laughing at?

Kat: "Nothing. Happy Earth Day, Chemical-breath!"

And on that note I'll leave you.

Love,

Raimie Lu

Easter freak session and our non-traditional traditions

As the sun rose on Easter morning I should have been thinking something meaningful about the glory of the new day, but I was mostly thinking, So soon? Five more minutes. Three drowsy children got prodded out of bed and ten sleepy feet began tapping out their wake-up-wake-up shuffle. Jeffrey started making breakfast. The sun kept rising and soon it was poking timid strands of light into our windows and into the corners of my muddled mind. My attitude started adjusting to the light, the smell of scrambled eggs and the sound of the coffeemaker. I gave thanks for sunshine, caffeine and protein. Whenever we need to refocus, thankfulness is a really good place to start.

The gratefulness and sustenance put my head got back on the track it should have been the moment it left the pillow. Blessings. Thanksgiving. Rejoicing. Good Sunday thoughts. A chiming clock called me to hurry up. Getting five people ready and presentable usually requires a hunk of patience and a lot of "Hurry-up!" But today the hungry hoard made their eggs disappear with no need for speed reminders. Daddy makes the seriously best scrambled eggs ever. Amen.

The day was shaping up to be a lot like most of our Sundays. I hadn't planned a lot for Easter. We usually do whatever feels right that particular year. Occasionally that is a blow-out, no-holds-barred, go-for-broke extravaganza. More often I think of 40-hundred fun new things to try but thinking is all I get around to doing so I end up pulling together something spontaneous according to our mood that day... [Insert mental freak out session here]

Am I ok with our lack of plans?
Should I make a bigger deal out of it?
What about Easter traditions?
I guess I pretty much stink at traditions.
We almost never do the same thing twice on holidays.
I am probably hurting my kids by raising them this way.
Look at the enjoyment other people get from their traditional holidays.
Look at how they have the forethought and dedication to pull off those time-honored ceremonies year after year.
What is my problem?
Is something wrong with me?
I better get my act together before I screw up our lives...

These wrinkly thoughts needed straightening out even more than Felicity's dress. The youngest climbed out of the shower and started shouting for his towel. Latham wandered through the livingroom looking for his shoes.

Just like every Sunday.

And there it was, like a sudden burst of steam from the iron.

We do keep traditions in our house. 

They might not look like other people's. They might just be simple little things we do on a daily or weekly basis instead of yearly, but they tell a lot about who we are as individuals and as a family unit and they are infinity important to our well-being. And 

So maybe the true issue was never my haphazard, slap-happy, observance of this or that holiday. Maybe the true problem lies in taking for granted the time I am given every day to celebrate our basic family-life for the treasure that it is. Maybe the key is being very intentional about the way we spend out time, the routines we pick up and the actions and words we repeat.

"Habit is a poor substitute for conviction."

"What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while."

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Ps 118:24

Those are all words I need to repeat to myself frequently. They are true and have the power to change my way of thinking and therefore, my day.

And my Easter was changed. No, I wasnt suddenly inspired to deck the halls, dress as the Easter bunny or color eggs. I just saw our Sunday for what it truly is, a beautiful tradition. I  found a sense of peace and contentment in where we are at this time of our lives.

I fell in love with the first day of the week all over again.
And it just so happened to be Easter.

I hope your Easter was just the way you like it!

*****
What does our Sunday look like? Here is a nibble...

Coffee

Makes the birds sing sweeter.

Eggs

Sunday go-to-meetin' clothes

Helping in the kitchen

They worry me a little when they are so excited to use knives. Little savages.

Setting the table

Sit down dinner

Funny papers

We fought terribly over these as kids... Why didn't we figure out we could sit three in a row and see just fine?

Somewhere in there I had a nap; a pregnancy custom that I observe almost daily with great satisfaction and downright selfishness.

*****

Because it was Easter: a few last-minute whip-ups in my typical spur-of-the-moment style.

Cotton-tail treat bags

Paper lunch bags, cardstock-ears, cupcake papers, cotton-ball tails. Inspired by Katherine Marie

Brown eggs

Nice of the hens to pre-color our eggs for us!

Fresh reads

Thank goodness for my stash of go-to gifts and its usual inclusion of books that I picked up in a rare preparatory moment. These are tied up with thrift store lace and unfinished quilt-blocks.

*****

P.S. If you came over here from The Prairie Hen's Nest, welcome to our new blog-home! I hope you will follow along. Stay tuned for a giveaway in the very near future. I'm excited to share with you.

*****

Have a happy day!