My Memories Winner

Congratulations to Mb! You won the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking software. I will send you an email with the details for down loading the software. Thank you for entering.

My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software Giveaway

Hello Readers! I have a great giveaway for you - Digital Scrapbooking Software from My Memories. The software is valued at $40.00.  The winner will receive a code which can be used on the My Memories website upon checkout. 

Now, I should begin by telling you I am not a scrapbooker. I know...it is shocking! I am probably the craftiest person you will meet, but I do not scrapbook.  I have tried the traditional method. I just find it too time consuming and a bit overwhelming. I could spend all night on one layout. In the end I just have a bunch of supplies, a lot of half finished albums, and boxes of disorganized photos. I really wish I could commit to scrapbooking. I am always in awe of the beautiful albums and ideas I see on other blogs.

I didn't know anything about digital scrapbooking before I started using the My Memories digital scrapbooking software. I wasn't sure exactly how to use it, let alone install the software. I didn't have to worry at all. It was really intuitive.  The download was simple and starting my first album was as simple as choosing an album design I liked. 

Being the minimalist that I am, I chose a simple layout to start with.  I wanted to figure out how to upload, drag and drop and size the images. For me this was the easiest way to learn.  You can watch youtube videos on how to use the software (see below). 

I moved on to this adorable baby layout. Awww! Look at Lu. So sweet! You see now how behind I am in organizing my photos. 6 Years!

If you are like me and are seriously behind on your family photo albums, you have to try digital scrapbooking. It is a great option. Fast, easy and fun! Plus, once you get started you will see how many ways you can customize your layouts.

I included this layout to show you how simple the software is to use.  Areas are designated for journaling.  Everything is pretty self explanitory. You can move the frames around and adjust the sizes on the premade templates, or you can build your own pages from scratch. There really are so many cool features to this software. Next up I am going to try out the feature that allows you to create a photo dvd with music.

Are you interested in winning a copy of the My Memories Digital Software for yourself?

To enter: Please leave me a comment with your name and an email address by March 7th. I recommend using the following format:   

 emailname(at)carrier(dot)com

You have two more opportunities for additional entries:

 Additional entry #1: Goto the My Memories website and come back and tell me which album layout you like best.

Additional entry #2: Follow my blog and let me know in a seperate comment.

If you can't wait and want to purchase a copy of the software make sure you use coupon code, STMMMS6975. By using this code at MyMemories.com, you can get $10 off My Memories Suite (you get it for $29.95 instead of $39.95) AND you also get a $10 gift certificate to use in their online store!

Simply go to http://mymemories.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2db59f577e9668b002ca5c0af&id=869dd31ff1&e=ef93b9aaf1 and just copy and paste the code. Enter the Promotional Code field on the shopping cart page.
Coupon Code: STMMMS6975

My Memories provided me with a complimentary copy of My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Suite Software to review.

Dragon Crown Craft

Sorry, it is a bit late to be posting a Lunar New Year Craft.

Fortunately, dragon crafts are fun year round.

I volunteered in Em's class this week. I read a book and provided this craft.

I started with 4 packages of bulletin board border paper in red, silver and gold. 2 packs were wide and 2 were thin.  I was able to make 23 crowns with lots of paper left over.

Fold the thin border paper in half. Cut. This will be your dragon's body.

The top of the paper is already wavy. Mimic the wave on the body along the bottom. Notice the tail narrows. It was very quick to do. Don't worry about making them identical or perfect.

I stapled the body onto the premeasured (hold up to your child's head and wrap around their head allowing for overlap to accommodate kids with larger heads) wide border paper. Line up the end of the tail to the end of the wide paper and staple.

I used white coffee filters to give the dragon some flair. You can cut them to make them fancier or just fold them in half and glue them on. The head is made from the wider border paper scraps. Fold in half the long way. Cut out 8 shaped head adding as much or as little detail as you want. I glued all the heads onto the crowns since Em's preschool class was going to be making them. Older kids could do this step.

I also added curling ribbon for the whiskers.

Cut out and accordion fold strips for legs. Make sure you cut out extras. Several kids in Em's class glued on 8-10 legs on their dragons.

Make sure you have lots of gems, google eyes, pom poms, feathers, stickers, sequins and paper scraps for the kids to glue on.

Once dry staple crowns closed.

Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King

Another Cardboard Box...

Open for business!

We get very excited anytime a giant cardboard box comes our way! We've made houses and puppet theaters in the past. This time we needed (mom needed) to make something that gave the girls their (much needed) space.  The two window cafe solution worked beautifully.  They ended up playing harmoniously for hours. Got to love that!!

Lu's Menu

Em's Menu

"Stop taking pictures Mom! I want to play."

Pinterest

Hello all you crafty Mamas out there!

Do you use Pinterest?

I am still trying to figure it all out. I am behind the times and technically thick. My nearest and dearest are honestly amazed I even figured out how to create a blog. (There is a reason my blog layout is so simple!)

I am trying to decide if I need to go back and place pin it buttons on old posts? If you use Pinterest can you please leave a comment and let me know if you prefer the pin it button on each post? Any advice is welcome. Thanks so much, Mama King



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Kids Craft: How to Make a Quick Doll Closet

This Christmas, Lulu's Grandma bought her an American Girl Doll.  Needless to say, she has been obsessed with her doll Kanani. Just when life couldn't get any better for this 6 year old her Auntie in Hawaii sends her a "real Hawaiian" outfit. Those are her words. The icing on the cake...the outfit came with a doll hanger. This prompted the question, "Where am I going to hang her new dress?!" Followed by, "I need an American Girl Doll Closet."

After I finished laughing in my head knowing there was no chance we would be buying a $$ AGD closet. I told her we could make one. So...I had to think quick. This is what I came up with on the fly. I used an old box but am thinking that we would eventually upgrade to a nice new white box and a dowel.

I used the inside heavy craft paper found at the end of some wrapping paper rolls. Trim the paper roll. Make sure the rod is longer than the width of the box. Wind the paper roll tightly to make it smaller in diameter and stronger.Tape in place (use packing tape) to make sure it doesn't unroll.

Next measure and cut openings on the sides of your box for the rod. I just made an * (like an X shape but with a few more cuts) with a kitchen knife and bent the tabs in. Thread your rod through the openings. Use rubber bands on either side to secure into place.  Lu likes to use these side bits to hang her doll's beach bag and bathing suit from.

Here is the outfit that started the whole thing. Adorable! By the way, Lu is a stickler for rules and once she found out that Friday is Aloha Friday in Hawaii...well, Kuhnani is dressed every Friday in her Aloha wear.

The top is the hanger that came with the dress. Below is one that I fashioned from a metal hanger. You just need a heavy duty set of pliers and a metal snipper thing (can you tell I know my way around a tool box!)

My American Girl loves her new closet and even spent a good part of an afternoon decorating it with stickers and gluing pictures of animals and flowers on the outside.

Of course you can decoupage or paint your box. So many possibilities!

All and all, another crafting emergency averted! Have fun crafting with your kids, Mama King

Girl Scouts: Daisy Flower Garden

For Lulu's Girl Scout Daisy Investiture Ceremony I made a flower box with the GS Promise on the side. Each girl decorated a craft foam flower to "plant" in our troop garden. They "planted" the flower before they recieved their vests.

The stems were made from a bamboo skewer wrapped with green pipe cleaners. I added a foam leafe by unching the leaf onto the skewer then wrapping securely in place with the pipe cleaner.

The flowers were precut flower shapes bought from Michael's. I sandwiched the two together on the end of the skewer using hot glue to secure them in place. 

We took photos of the girls with their vests on. I will add their pictures to the other side of the flowers using my circle punch.

This would be a fun activity for a classroom garden theme as well.

Fancy Valentine Pencils

It is so easy to add a little ooh la la to a holiday pencil! All you need is a pack of holiday pencils, a feather boa* from the craft or party store, a glue gun and some craft gems (optional.)

*Make sure you use the fuzzier boa style not the long feather kind.

Wrap the boa around your pencil 2x loosely - cut. This will be your measurement. Before you cut the whole boa up glue down using hot glue to see if you like the look. Adjust the measurement to your liking.  I placed glue just under the metal eraser collar then took one end of the boa and held it down until secure.  Next wrap the rest of the boa bit around 2x loosely - glue end in place.

I made 14 pencils with one boa.

Optional: glue a gem on eraser. My daughter felt this made it extra fancy!

Perfect for any holiday, birthday party favor, Fancy Nancy themed party...

XOXO Mama King

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Doing Art Together: Family Hand Portrait

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This was a homework assignment for Lu. She had to count everyone in the families hands then trace their fingers on a page and number them.  I thought it would be fun to take it a step further.  I had Lu use watercolor paper. She traced every ones hands, overlapping each hand as she went along. I traced them with a Sharpie and Lu numbered them. Then I gave her some watercolors and let her paint them any way she wanted. I think it came out beautiful! What a great family "portrait." I am definitely framing this one!

This would make a great gift for a Mom, Dad or Grandparent!

Tip: I highly recommend you use water color paper. Water color paper won't buckle as much and will hold up better. Also outlining the hands using a permanent marker will make sure the hands don't get lost under all the paint.  You don't need to have your little one number each finger unless you want to reinforce counting.

Dairy Free Spritz

As many of you know, my eldest daughter, Lu, is allergic to milk and tree nuts. I have never attempted baking Spritz Cookies until this Christmas. I was so pleased the Fleischman's Unsalted Margarine worked as an excellent substitute for butter. I was worried it would either jam up the spritz gun and/or taste odd. Luckily they came out beautifully! Chilling the dough a bit helped.  I used the America's Test Kitchen Recipe substituting 1 tbs. Soy Creamer for Cream and 2 sticks Fleischman's Unsalted Margarine for butter. I did one batch using vanilla extract and one with orange extract. The adults preferred the orange extract batch and the kids preferred the vanilla.