Life in the Motherhood

I'm still here...

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:32:00 +0000

Hey all! I'm still here, but still without computer access. bummer, I know! For those that don't follow LITM on Facebook, my laptop died last week. Just stopped working. We've been having some issues with the battery and I stupidly put off getting a new battery. Hopefully getting a new battery will fix the problem, but I won't know that until the end of this week when the battery arrives. If not, we will be getting a new computer. If that happens though, i think I will cry. All of the designs and files I use for me Etsy shop are on the computer! Keep your fingers crossed that it will be a simple fix! Right now I'm using my phone to blog, but this is no way to blog, so you probably won't hear from me until I have a working computer again. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the break and getting ready for Christmas.

See you all soon!!

Shutterfly Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:59:00 +0000

I know I'm totally late in the day to be posting this, but I've have barely been home at all today! So, here are our winners!

The winners of the 3 Shutterfly packages (which includes codes for a calendar, holiday cards, and free shipping & a $10 Plum District gift card) are...

Winner #1: Katie

Winner #2: Mrs. Hokulani

and Winner #3: Lytles

The 2 winners for the additional Plum District Gift cards are

Winner #4: Salena

and Winner #5: Steph

Congrats to our winners!! Remember that the Shutterfly codes expire on December 15th, so I need to hear back from the Shutterfly winners so I can email you your codes. The Plum District gift cards don't expire until the end of January, so there's no huge rush - though it might be nice to have them to do some Christmas shopping! So ladies, be sure to get in touch with me soon! If you don't get an email from me by the end of the night, then please email me at lifeinthemotherhood@gmail.com or go to the Contact tab and use the contact form.

Our Christmas Card

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

In years past, I've gone to the trouble of creating a scrapbooked Christmas card to send out during the holidays. It involved cutting out about 30 Christmas trees and stars, a bunch more cute little ornaments, and a stamp. Then I still had to glue everything together. And this was before I owned my Silhouette, so everything was done by hand! Granted, this was also before Andyroo was born, so I had the time and energy. Not so much now. And that's why I love the idea and simplicity of photo cards! It's so easy to upload the pictures to their site, pick a card (the hardest part), drag and drop the photos onto the card, and submit the order. No fuss and NO mess! Yay!

Remember the Shutterfly Party that I hosted? Well, one of the freebies that they gave away was free holiday cards. Here's the card I finally ended up choosing. 'Eh, one of them. I couldn't decide so I ordered a few of a few different kinds!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

I can't get over that cute little guy! When we took these pictures in September, he was being silly and in almost every picture we took, he had this kooky Chandler-like smile.

It's not too late to get your cards ordered and sent. I ordered these on November 27th and I received them in the mail today. Super fast! And to top it off, the quality is amazing. I'm totally in love with each of the 5 kinds of cards I ordered! If you're a procrastinator like me, they can always be a generic holiday card or even a New Year's card. Shutterfly is my favorite photo printing site, so if you're still in the market for cards, definitely give them a try. Also, for an additional fee (around $0.50/card), you can give them all the addresses you want to send cards to and they'll mail them out for you. How easy is that!?

Also, the Shutterfly Giveway was extended due to low entries. You now have through December 2nd (that's TOMORROW) to enter the giveaway for free Shutterfly and Plum District Goodies!!!

Go check them out!!

Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I love, love, LOVE the Southwestern Egg Rolls from Chili's. In fact, that's the main reason I go there - to get those egg rolls. I've tried making copycat Southwestern Egg Rolls before and they've never turned out just right. I didn't want to put a lot of money into getting all the weird ingredients that the recipes called for. But that all changed...because of Pinterest! :)

About a week before my Shutterfly party, I was looking through Pinterest for some party food ideas and came across these Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls from Annie's Eats. They're made with simple enough ingredients and looked fairly easy to make.

The verdict? SOOOOOOO good! Seriously, if these could be considered a Thanksgiving food, I would have made these for Thanksgiving. And I've considered making these for dinner almost every night since the party too. It's too bad that I don't keep egg roll wrappers on hand! :)

So, since these are so absolutely delish, I just had to share the recipe with you! Pretty much everyone at the party agreed with me. I think the few who didn't don't quite share my love and enthusiasm for the real things.

Here is Annie's recipe with my variations. Annie made her's vegetarian, but I added chicken to mine. I also put out sour cream and ranch instead of salsa.

Ingredients for the Mixture:2 cups corn, thawed I (I used 1 can of corn because I was out of the frozen kind)
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (I used about half of a 16oz package of frozen spinach. I was really tired of squeezing and chopping it, lol)
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend (I just used colby jack - it's what I had on hand)
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cups chicken (I used some pre-cooked on clearance chicken breasts from the store)
Also Need:
1 package egg roll wrappers
1 slightly beaten egg - used to seal the wrappers

Mix everything together and start rolling your egg rolls! If you've never used egg roll wrappers, you want to place them so one of the points is pointed at you (so you see a diamond rather than a square). This is where my 3 years of rolling tacos at Taco Time came in handy! Add a couple spoonfulls (I used about 1/4 cup of the mixture in each rolls) of the mixture to the middle of the wrapper. Take the corner closest to you and fold it over the misture then pull back slightly around the mixture. Fold the side corners over and then start rolling towards the top corner. After rolling almost completely, dip your fingers or a brush into the egg and rub onto the corner of the wrapper to seal it. Bake for about 10-15 minutes at 425 degrees.

You could potentially fry these, but I wasn't about to attempt that right before the party. I don't have a deep fryer and baking was much simpler. And much healthier! :)

I didn't want the rolls getting soggy or sticking together, so made the mixture the night before and let it sit in the fridge. Then about an hour before the party I rolled them all and put them in the oven about 10 minutes before the party started so that they would be nice and warm when the party started.
There were a few leftover after the party, so I put them in the fridge and then reheated them the next day by putting them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Crispy and tasty just like the day before.

Share The Memories Freebie #2

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I've got another fun digital scrapbooking freebie from My Memories! Remember that these freebies come with all of the elements, papers, etc that are used to create them. I just downloaded it myself and there were 22 pieces that came in this freebie. How awesome is that!

Also, remember that you don't need to have the My Memories software in order to use these freebies. The elements of the freebie pack come as .jpg and .png files so they're compatible with other scrapbooking and photo editing software.

However, if you're interested in using the My Memories software, you should know that they just released Version 3! I haven't had too much time to play around with it, but so far I'm loving it. If you want to give it a try, you can download a free trial of the software. As far as I know, you don't need to have a previous version in order to use this trial. If you want to go ahead and purchase the full version of the software, remember to use the code STMMMS51889 at checkout to receive $10 off the price of the software and $10 in free product from the MyMemories.com store.

Now, here's the freebie. Click the link to the left or the picture below to be taken to the download page.

This freebie will be available for 1 week - through December 4th. So don't wait to download it!

Also, if you have any questions about the software or freebies, don't hesitate to ask. I'm not a pro, but I can either get your question answered for you or point you in the direction of someone who can help you!

Christmas Galore Link Party

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:00:00 +0000

Thanksgiving is over and it's time to start pulling out the Christmas decor and getting serious about the upcoming holiday. I thought it would be fun to host a Christmas link party so that we could all share ideas about decor, holiday goodies, gifts, and everything else that comes with this wonderful holiday.

*Cue Holiday music*

There are 2 categories to add your links to: Christmas Gift Ideas (for gift ideas - handmade or otherwise) and Christmas Galore (for everything else - decor, yumminess, parties, etc). Please be sure to link up to the appropriate category.

Just a few suggestions before joining the party...

1. We'd love it if you would be a LITM follower. You can join us through GFC, Facebook, Feedburner, or Pinterest!
2. We'd also really appreciate it if you would link back to us so that others can join the fun too. If you really loved us, you'd grab one of the awesome buttons from the sidebar :)
3. Remember to link to your specific post and not just to your blog. And please, no etsy shops or giveaways. However, Pinterest boards are permitted :)

Now, it's party time. Go on and get down with your bad self. (Could I be any whiter??)

Christmas Gift Ideas

Christmas Galore

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I just wanted to wish all of you out there a Happy Thanksgiving. No matter how you're celebrating or what you're eating, I hope you have a wonderful, blessed day! If you're hosting Thanksgiving, then I wish you all the patience and multitasking abilities in the world! We'll be enjoying some yummy food and fun family time at my Sister-in-Law's house.

Also, I just wanted to take the opportunity to express my gratitude for some things. I hope no one minds. If anyone else wants to join in, I'd love to read what you're grateful for also! So, in no particular order....

I'm grateful that my husband has a job. It may not pay so great, but it's a job and he works hard so that I can stay home with Andyroo.
I'm so very grateful for my sweet little boy. He brings so much fun and laughter into my life. He's so caring and loving - full of hugs and kisses. I can't even imagine my life without that little guy.
I'm also very grateful for my husband. He's always there to support me no matter what it is I want to do. He believes in me and loves me, even when I feel unlovable. I can't imagine my life without him either.
I'm grateful that my mom lives 5 blocks away. She really has become my best friend and I can't bear the thought of having to move away (which we will have to do eventually) and not seeing her every week for our Sunday dinners and grocery shopping trips. I'm not gonna lie. It's going to be tough.
I'm grateful for our little apartment. Yes, it's little. And it's cold. And there are spiders and other various bugs. And it's in the basement so we don't get lots of sunshine. But it is a wonderful place to live. We have wonderful friends and neighbors because of where we live. It may not be a house, but it's our home.
I am grate extremely grateful for all of our friends. We're not very social people (it's sad, really), but we love each and every one of our friends. We're grateful for the support and love that each of you give us.
I'm grateful for this blog. Writing is very therapeutic for me. It always has been. It's the only way I can truly express myself. I just end up stumbling all over myself and rambling on when I try and talk. I love the connection I have with other wonderful women in the world and the inspiration I receive each and every day from the awesomeness I see from each of you. Blogging provides not only an outlet for me, but it also pushes me to be better, to think bigger, and to create more!
I'm grateful for all of our extended family - our brothers and sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews, and all of the grandparents. We have such a strong family bond and they provide such a good network of support for us.
I'm grateful for Facebook. This might sound weird, but it's true. Through Facebook I was able to reconnect with my best friend (love you, Heather!) and I can now keep in touch with all of our friends and family spread across the world. I know it's not as personal as phone calls or letters, but for someone as socially awkward (yes, I'll admit it) as I am, it's a wonderful way to keep in touch!
I am grateful for all the modern conveniences that I have access to - the washer and dryer, running water, microwave, heating, plumbing, cell phones, etc. I would go crazy without them. There's no way I could have survived as a pioneer (or at any other time)!
I'm grateful for my membership and calling in the LDS Church. It provides so much for us that I can't even put into words. I'm so glad to know that there is a God, that he loves us, and that he wants us to be happy. I so grateful for prayer and for the ability to be in communication with God and to know that he has a plan for us.

There's so many more little things that I 'm grateful for, but that will do for now. I also wanted to leave you with a few Thanksgiving funnies :) Enjoy!

Also, we'll be starting our Christmas link up party on Saturday the 26th after all the Thanksgiving and shopping madness have died down. Be sure to check back so you can link up all your fun projects!

Yummy Dinner Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

These rolls are perfect for your Thanksgiving dinner - or any other dinner, for that matter! They turn out soft, a little sweet, and just melt in your mouth. The dough is very easy to work with and the recipe is pretty simple!

I came across this recipe on a message board that I used to frequent over on iVillage. Around Thanksgiving, we would all post our favorite recipes and this one happened to be posted. I was looking for a yummy roll recipe one day and remembered this one, so I tried it. It's now my go-to roll recipe. I made these for a Relief Society Enrichment one time and they were such a hit that I was asked specifically to bring these to the next 3 activities!

Unfortunately I don't have a picture right now. I made them for our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday with my mom, but totally forgot to snap a picture. I'm making them again on Thursday for Thanksgiving at my Sister-in-Laws, so I'll try and remember to get a pic then. I'm also going to attempt making the dough ahead of time, freezing it, then driving an hour and half with them to dinner, then baking them. We'll see how that goes!

Ingredients:
1/2 c. warm water (for the yeast)
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 c. milk, scalded
1/4 c. shortening
1 tsp. salt
1/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
4-5 c. flour

Directions:
1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let it proof for a few minutes (but it really doesn't need to double in size)

2. Scald your milk. You can do this by microwaving it for about 2 minutes. I saw a tip somewhere (sorry, I don't have the source) that said to save part of the milk - about 1/4 c of it - before scalding. Microwave the 3/4 cup and then after it comes out of the microwave, add the remaining 1/4 cup of cold milk. This will help it cool down faster so that it doesn't ruin the eggs, melt the shortening, or ruin the yeast.

3. While the milk is cooling down, add the rest of your ingredients to a mixing bowl. Add the milk and yeast to the rest of the ingredients and mix slightly. Then add the flour, 1 cup at a time. Do NOT add too much flour otherwise your rolls will be chewy and dense. 5 cups is the most I will ever add. I made the mistake of trying to make the dough resemble bread and added about 6 cups one time. Not a good thing. The dough will still be pretty sticky, but that's okay!

4. Let the dough raise for 1 hour. Be sure to cover the bowl with a warm towel.

5. Shape into balls and put into muffin pans. The dough will be sticky, but just use some flour (the extra here won't hurt) to keep them from getting too sticky. Instead of kneading, just work them a bit as you shape them. I also prefer to cook mine in muffin tins. I find they cook better and more evenly. When I tried placing them in pans, the outside rolls would get really crispy and the ones in the middle were still doughy. In muffin tins, they each cook perfectly! Also, these really get big both while they raise and when they start to cook. So don't feel like you have to make them big when you shape them.

6. Let them raise again. My notes say to let them raise again for 1 hour, but I never let them go that long. I've let them go for as little as 20 minutes and they still bake perfectly.

7. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown.

8. Remove from the oven and spread some butter across the tops (Either paint melted butter on the top or rub a stick of butter across the tops). Enjoy!

These are soooooo good! If you try them, let me know what you think!

Shutterfly Party Recap + Giveaway (5 winners!)

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Winners have been announced! Be sure to see if you won!!

**UPDATE: Since there are so few entries, I've decided to extend the giveaway through December 2nd. Since all Shutterfly codes need to be used by December 15th, all the winners will receive their codes by email so they will be available for instant use! Also, I discovered that I have 2 extra Plum District gift cards instead of just 1, so we will have 5 winners!**

I had the opportunity to host a Shutterfly House Party last weekend (Nov. 12th) and it was so much fun! I absolutely love Shutterfly. For those who don't know about Shutterfly, they're an online photo company that does not only photo prints (in all sizes), but they also do photo cards, photo books, personalized calendars, and virtually any kind of gift that you could imagine that would use a photo. I really do love them. Their products are very high quality and their prices are very reasonable (especially since they're always running sales and emailing out discount codes)! I first came across Shutterfly about 6 years ago, shortly before I got married. The first Shutterfly project I ever made was a photo book of our wedding pictures - that pinkish linen book in the back of this picture.

I was hooked. I've since made all the other books above, plus a whole handful more that I've given away as gifts to grandparents. Photo books are, quite literally, the only way I've been able to keep up with scrapbooking Andyroo's pictures!

My favorite book to make was one that we gave to my hubby's Grandma. For her 80th birthday, her daughters (my hubby's mom) came up with the awesome idea to collect pictures of everyone and have all the kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids send in a memory about Grandma. Of course, knowing that I've put all these books together, my Mother-in-Law nominated me to collect everything and put it together. It was such a fun project and Shutterfly made it SOOOOO easy! And it turned out beautiful - the large 12x12 size with a sleek, black leather cover. The pages were all very sophisticated and classy. Needless to say, it was a very special present and she absolutely loved it!

The photo calendars also make great gifts for grandparents. Especially since grandparents always seem to have everything they need. Why not make something personalized that they will actually use and enjoy! When you make the calendar, you can add in as many birthdays, anniversaries, and any other important dates that you want, plus you can personalize those days with a picture!

Besides photo books and calendars, they also have an amazing selection of photo cards. You probably can't see them all so great, but these are some samples that Shutterfly sent me to display during the party.

The photo cards come in all different shapes and sizes - 4x8, 5x5, 5x7, etc. And most can be done in flat or folded! My favorite card had pictures on the front and a shortened family letter on the back. What a great way to let everyone know what's happened and get out Christmas cards. It's like a 2-for-1, but much simpler than sending out a whole letter!

What's so awesome - or may not, because I'm having a hard time deciding - is that they have an amazing selection of cards! 1,004 Christmas cards, to be exact! There's a huge selection of cards for Christmas, but you can also make photo cards for invitations, announcements, and virtually any other holiday!

I love doing the Shutterfly parties because these aren't your typical house parties. There's no rep there to try and sell you on anything or push you into buying things. They're simply trying to spread the word about their awesome products! To do this, they find folks who love their products (like me!) and ask them to host a party featuring their products - and giveaway freebies during the party!!! How awesome is that - no one trying to sell anything and everyone gets a freebie?! That's my kind of party! I hosted a Shutterfly party last year and it was so much fun. When I saw that Shutterfly was doing the same thing again this year, I jumped at the chance to host one again.

So unfortunately for me, it was snowing that day and a few people weren't able to make it to the party, so I have some freebies left over. However, it's good for you because I don't want to keep them to myself and thought it would be so fun to use them as a giveaway here on the blog to help spread the word about Shutterfly.

Here are the little "prize packs" that I put together with the goodies they sent me.

3 lucky readers will receive one of these little packs that contain the following:

A code for 1 free personalized photo calendar
A code for 15 free holiday photo cards
Instructions to get free shipping (you have to tell 5 friends by submitting their email address - your friends also get free photo cards too!)
A Plum District gift card worth $10

I also have 2 extra Plum District gift cards, so two more winners will each receive a $10 Plum District gift card!

That makes 4 5 winners! How awesome is that!? The Shutterfly codes have to be used by December 15th, so this will be a fairly quick giveaway because I want you to have plenty of time to get your goodies created.

We'll keep this simple. In order to enter, you need to do the following:

Be a follower of Life in the Motherhood - you can do this on our sidebar!
Like Life in the Motherhood on Facebook
Share this giveaway through your blog, Facebook, twitter, etc (enter once per day!)

That's up to 9 chances to win! If you're already a follower or liker, then just leave a comment saying so. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and be sure to either leave your email address in your comment or enable email through your profile.

This giveaway will be open from Tuesday, November 22nd through midnight on ~~Sunday, November 27th~~ Saturday, December 2nd. Winners will be announced the morning of ~~Monday, November 28th~~ Sunday, December 3rd.

Please note that if you attended a Shutterfly House Party and received these freebies already, then you won't be able to use these codes. The codes were specific for the House Parties and you won't be able to use them again in your account.

What are you waiting for?! Go get entered!!!

The opinions in this post are completely my own. I was not told how to write this post or what to say. I really do love Shutterfly and wanted to share some of their awesomeness with you! Because I hosted this party, I also received the same freebies - a free calendar, holiday cards, and a Plum District gift card.

An Awesome CHRIST{mas} Book

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I found a spectacular idea that I wanted to share with you all - and you might need some time to prepare it. A couple months ago I was surfing around on Pinterest and found this really neat book to help us put Christ back in Christmas. You've got to head over to Sew Dang Cute to check it out for yourself!

It's an awesome project called "The Christ Book" that is meant to use in the days leading up to Christmas. The songs are more Christmassy, but you could use the topics and different songs for Easter or anytime you think your family needs to become a little closer to Christ.

This book is complete with pictures, songs, scriptures, etc. Everything you need to help your family have a more peaceful, Christ-centered Christmas. Go check it out!

A Handmade Christmas: Gift Ideas for Neighbors & Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Alrighty folks. Here it is. The last installment of our Handmade Gift series. Today we're looking at gifts for friends, neighbors, coworkers, teachers, etc. Be sure to check out the rest of the series - Gifts for Infants, Gifts for Toddlers & Preschoolers, Gifts for Big Kids thru Teenagers, Gifts for the Husband or Significant Other, and Gifts for Grandparents.

First up is something that comes from our very own Heather here on this little blog - Homemade Facial Scrubs. Mix it up, put it in a small glass jar, and give it to all the women on your list. All of the ingredients are simple and natural - which is awesome!

I'm drooling over this Cookie Cutter Fudge, which comes straight from the Betty Crocker Website. Fudge is a fairly simple to make and so yummy. I love how they decorated it with other candies and goodies. It really ups the wow factor for this simple little gift.

This next idea is especially useful for teachers, but I'm honestly thinking about making this for myself. I use sticky notes all the time! Go check out Paper Wings to see how she made these adorable Post-It Stands.

Who doesn't love Hostess Ding-Dongs and Ho-Hos? I know I do! I would be thrilled to get this adorable little package of goodies from One of a Kind. Such a fun idea!

As a family (when I was little), we used to make up goodies and take to our neighbors for Christmas. And that's fun an all, but after you're on the receiving end of a couple of those plates, you find yourself swamped with treats. That's exactly why I'm thrilled with the idea of giving mixes or doughs so that the receiver can make and eat the treats whenever they're ready. Then the goodies stay fresh and can be eaten warm...instead of old and stale. :) Check out Blue Cricket Designs to see how she added a personal touch to store bought cookie dough! You could also mix and wrap your own cookie dough instead.

These Grinch Pills would be great to pass out to co-workers! Custom Creations by Tamara Bennet is offering the cut file for the box. However, even if you don't have a cutting machine, you could just cut the front of the box and either tape or tie it onto some tic tacs.

How about a gift that won't make your neighbor think about the calories? Today's Fabulous Finds has a plethora of gift ideas (under $2 - sahweet!), but I really got a kick out of this Dishtowel and Dishcloth gift!

This next gift is a little more labor intensive as it requires a little more work, but it is sure to be enjoyed by the whole family! Check out Family Bites to see how to put together this Ice Cream Sundae Kit!

Here are a couple of ideas that are more useful than yummy! Crafts re-Designed is offering a free printable to personalize hand soap and wrapping paper. Adorable!

I can't stay away from the yummy treats. How about Chocolate Covered Pretzels? Mmmmm :) Check out How Does She for a link to a tutorial and printable tag!

Thanks for joining us this week to take a look at some fun handmade Christmas ideas. As we get past Thanksgiving, I'll be putting up some tutorials for handmade gifts that I've made. But I'm a big believer in keeping Thanksgiving and Christmas separate. Be sure to come back next week for some Thanksgiving inspiration!

A Homemade Christmas: Gift Idea for Grandparents

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

This is the 5th post in our Homemade Christmas series. Be sure to check out the previous posts in this series: Gift Ideas for Infants, Gift Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers, Gift Ideas for Big Kids, Tweens & Teenagers, and Gift Ideas for a Husband or Significant Other.

In my opinion, Grandparents are the funnest to give gifts to. It seems to me that grandparents and great-grandparents, at least in our family, are always so excited to get gifts that revolve around their grandchildren. Makes gift giving super easy!

So, first up are a few ideas of projects that I've done in the past.

I actually made these photo blocks as Mother's Day gifts for my Mother-in-Law and myself last year. This is a picture of my own blocks. Obviously the blocks for my Mother-in-Law revolved around her family, rather than just our family. But the idea is still the same. Choose your photos and either print then crop or crop then print. Make sure to print on photo paper so that the ink doesn't run or smear. Cut to the size of the block, then use mod podge to put the photos on the blocks. Really, quite easy. I also painted my blocks black. The blocks were just cut down from a piece of lumber from Home Depot for around $4 or $5.

Another easy and simple idea is Photo Glass Magnets. I made these 2 years ago for Christmas for all the grandparents and great grandparents. Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures of the ones I made. So instead I found a tutorial from The Creative Place that has great pictures to show you what I'm talking about. I would recommend heavy duty magnets and heavy duty glue - something like E6000. I tried hot glue and the first time one fell off the fridge the magnet popped off. All the grandmas loved them - and in fact they're still on all of their fridges!

Here's another cute block idea from I {Heart} Nap Time - Grandma Blocks! As she says at the bottom of her post, these can also be altered for a mom, dad, grandpa, etc.

Here's another super cute photo idea - Photo Key Chains! My Crazy Life as a Farmer's Wife has a fun little tutorial to make these. Pretty stinking easy and I know grandparents would just adore these!

I'm starting to send a trend here. For now, I'll stick with the trend and show you these Photo Coasters from Oopsey Daisy. Tiles, photos, and resin will make these cute and useful gifts!

I know this is a pretty short post, but most of the grandparent gifts that I'm coming up with or can find revolve around photos - and most are just variations of the above ideas. I would feel repetitive if I posted them all.

I'd love to hear any ideas that don't center around photos. Please feel free to share any other ideas. And come back tomorrow for the last installment of A Homemade Christmas. Tomorrow we'll be featuring ideas for neighbors and friends.

Extraordinary Women: Heather & Pleural Mesothelioma

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I was contacted by Heather about a month ago asking if we would be willing to add some links to our sidebar or find some other way to help share her struggles with Mesothelioma. I had been considering starting a series about women who have a story to tell - women who have endured through and overcome great struggles. I guess I was looking for something inspirational that would connect us as all women. That was when this series was born.

So as the start to this series, I'd like to welcome Heather Von St James - a Mesothelioma survivor. Check out Heather's blog to find out more about her struggles. Without further adieu, here's Heather.

We All Need A Village

It takes a village. The saying is heard, quoted, and spouted all the time, but unlike other frequently used quips, this saying is no cliché. And I should know. My pregnancy would be considered textbook. Morning sickness wasn’t an issue, and everything was going along as planned. Yet when it was time for me to meet this new little person face to face, we found out the baby was breach. The decision came swiftly to opt for C-section. Minutes later, on August 4th, 2005, we met our beautiful, healthy baby girl. My parents, family, in-laws, and friends began showing up to meet Lily and see how I was doing. Life was great at that moment, but I had no idea what was coming. And I had no idea that I would suddenly view these well-wishers in my life as the village I needed.

Before Lily, I spent my days running one of three salons that I co-owned. With over 20 employees, I not only worked as a hairdresser myself, but I also managed the place. As a brand new mom, I found out that I would need to start managing a different salon. The workload would be easier but the initial logistical nightmare and the time away from Lily broke my heart.

A few weeks after returning to the full-time labor force, my health took a dive. I had no energy, I was out of breath, and my weight fell off at a frightening pace. By November, the doctor wanted a full work up. They discovered fluid around my lung, but worst of all they discovered cancer. Plueral Mesothelioma was the diagnosis, a cancer from being exposed to asbestos when I was a child. The prognosis was 15 months to live unless I did something drastic.

I flew across the country and went under the knife. Extrapleural pneumenectomy took out my left lung as well as the surrounding tissues, lymph nodes and diaphragm. Surgical Gore-Tex replaced my diaphragm and the surrounding tissues around my heart. While the doctor worked, a heated chemo wash was used to help my chances followed by two weeks of recuperating in the hospital and a mere two months rest before chemo and radiation.

Without our “village” surrounding us with love and support, it wouldn’t have been possible. Lily stayed with my parents while I was in Boston undergoing surgery and treatment. Without a “village” surrounding my parents, they wouldn’t have been able to continue their jobs and still take care of our little baby.

After those rough days, I chose to stay at home with Lily. Knowing first-hand the impact of generosity, giving to others is now part of our life. Because of the village, Lily is growing up to be a person with a kind heart. So despite the horrors of cancer, I now embrace life and the village around me. And for that, I am thankful.

Thank you so much, Heather, for sharing your story with us. I'm so glad that you have such a great support system - your very own village. Your words are inspirational! We wish you all the best!

If you'd like to share your story with the readers of Life in the Motherhood, please submit your information. And even though this series is called "Extraordinary Women," you don't have to be struggling with something as serious as cancer to featured. Don't be shy - I'd love to hear from and feature you!!

A Handmade Christmas: Gift Ideas for your Husband or Significant Other

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Here's the fourth installation of our Homemade Gifts series! Today we'll be focusing on our spouse/significant other. And, since most of the people who read this blog are women, these gifts will be focused mainly on the menfolk. Looking for other ideas? Take a look at our gift ideas for Infants, Toddlers & Preschoolers, and Big Kids through Teenagers.

Does anyone else find it incredibly hard to make homemade gifts for the men? They definitely don't appreciate it as much as the ladies. Hopefully at least one of the ideas here will be something that would make him happy!

I don't know about you, but we don't go on dates nearly often enough. Despite the fact that Grandma lives about 5 blocks away and we have awesome friends who would babysit, we still don't go out on dates. Our "dates" are usually taking Andyroo with us to do something fun (for a 3-year-old). Bowling, kids movie, etc. To eliminate part of the reason for not going out, why not come up with 12 dates (or however many you want), get them all planned, and give that as a gift! My Mix of Six gave her hubby a Date Package complete with 12 dates planned and paid for. So easy! It reminds me of once a month cooking!

Are you always losing remotes like we are in our house? The most common place that we find them is tucked in the cushions of the couch. End the madness with this Remote Caddy from Sew 4 Home!

This picture for this next idea might say "Father's Day" but I think this would also work for Christmas! What a cute Father's Photo Collage from the kiddos that would let their daddy know that he's loved. Positively Splendid even has a printable to make it easier!

Is your significant other a coffee (or hot chocolate) lover? How about a cute little Reusable Coffee Cup Sleeve? The Cottage Home has a great tutorial on how to make your own.

Here's a twist on the remote caddy - a Remote Control Pocket Pillow! Check out how Blessings Overflowing created this handy dandy caddy. I think the hubs is definitely getting some kind of remote caddy this year (shhh, don't tell him that)!

Are you more of a gift card giver? How about sprucing up that gift card with a fun card? Holiday Crafts and Creations has a couple different versions for these Shirt Pocket Cards - a Shirt and Tie version (for an Office Max gift card) and a flannel work shirt (for a Home Depot gift card).

Looking for a way to show your hubby how much you appreciate him? How about an All About You Basket? The Dating Divas have some great ideas for making your own!

Does anyone else have any superb gift ideas for the men in their life? I'm always looking for ideas (besides video games) for the hubby! Please share!

Tomorrow we will be focusing on Grandparents, so make sure to check back for some fabulous ideas!

A Homemade Christmas: Gift Ideas for Big Kids & Teenagers

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:45:00 +0000

So I've decided to change things up a bit and combine days for Big Kids and Teenagers and open a spot for Grandparents. I hope everyone's okay with that! :) Don't forget to check out the posts about Handmade Gifts for Infants and Handmade Gifts for Toddlers and Preschoolers!

Here's one that appeals to each of these age groups - personalized shirts. How about using Bleach to Create a Personalized Shirt? The Next Bird will show you how. Not sure what the picky teen would want? Give them a bleach pen, some shirts, and the directions and let them create their own!

How about a Marshmallow Gun? Create Studio shows us how to use PVC Pipe and joints to create some marshmallow fun. She made one for her little boy, but these would appeal to any age! Heck, even my husband would love one of these!

A fun one, probably more for girls, is a magnet board! This one is pretty girls, but you could definitely make it for a boy. A Girl and a Glue Gun used some leftover metal pieces, but you can buy metal sheets to do this with.

Another fun one that any girl is sure to love? Personalized Notebooks! Take a notebook, add some paper and embellishments, and it will be instant love! So much better than those plain spiral or composition books. This particular notebook comes from Sew Woodsy. Want to make it a gift set? Add some fun colored pens and you'll be set!

Are you more comfortable with fabric than paper? Then you can still create a customized notebook! Essentially, you're creating a fabric cover for a notebook - which can be reused on a different notebook. Stay Calm and Sew Something has a great tutorial - and I love the zebra print and polka dots together!

This next idea would be great for girls of all ages, but Washer Necklaces are easy (and cheap) enough to make for all the girls on your gift-giving list. Seriously. I'm thinking that every girl on my list will be getting two or three of these this year!

Here's another idea that would work for more than just tweens and teens. A Laptop (also iPad/iPod/Kindle/Netbook) Sleeve! The Cottage Home has a great tutorial for making this fun little sleeve - just use the dimensions of whatever electronic device you need to cover!

Know someone who likes to skateboard? Why not make it easier for them to pack it around with this Skateboard Sling? This great tutorial was posted by The Boy Trifecta over on Kojo Designs.

Any other brilliant ideas for those hard-to-make-for kids and teens? Please feel free to share with us! Also, be sure to check back tomorrow for more gift giving ideas for the spouse/significant other!

A Homemade Christmas: Gifts for Toddlers & Preschoolers

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Thanks for checking in for day two of the Homemade Christmas series. In case you missed it, you can check out yesterday's post focused on homemade gifts for Infants. Today is all about toddlers and preschoolers!

One of my personal favorite toddler gifts are quiet books. Whether you make it, buy it, or buy a kit to make it yourself, kiddos really do love them - especially if you can tailor them to your child! I made a quiet book for Andyroo about a year ago. I made it for our drive out to Iowa, but it would definitely make a good Christmas gift. Mine took me a long time to make, but only because I took a pretty long hiatus while I didn't have a sewing machine. If you're looking for more quiet book ideas, then you should check out How to Make a Quiet Book - which is a blog dedicated to making quiet books!

How about an I-Spy Bag? This is another project that I made for Andyroo for our loooooong drive to Iowa. Andyroo has had so much fun with this one! However, I think I would have made it smaller. Mine ended up being about 8"x8" which is pretty big for those little hands. I'm contemplating making it into a smaller bag that will be easier for him to us. Also, this can be a pretty expensive project - even with coupons and sales (which I, of course, took advantage of)! I spent probably around $30 to make Andyroo's I-Spy Bag. But it is fun - even for adults!

I'm also in love with the whole Dry Erase Quiet Book idea. I made one for my niece last year for Christmas - and it was so fun. I wish Andyroo had been older so I could have made his at the same time. However, this is totally on my gift list for Andyroo this year. Somewhat Simple has a great tutorial and even shares the pages in her book. What's so great about this kind of book is that you can customize this book to be exactly what your child needs - it can totally grow with them! What I love even more is that you don't have to worry about dry erase markers anymore because Crayola has dry erase crayons - that of course are washable. No caps to lose and no mess to worry about. And they're less than $5 at Walmart. So worth it!

Want a fun and simple idea that can be used so many different ways? How about bean bags!? Chez Beeper Bebe has a tutorial for some adorable Counting Bean Bags with appliqued numbers. Younger kids can use them for counting and older kids can use them to practice simple math. I also love how she used colorful fabric on the backs. You could easily do solid colors and use the other side for learning colors!

Here's another twist on the I-Spy bag. This one is easier for toddler to figure out alone. Check out Disney Family Fun for an easy tutorial to make a Discovery Bottle. If you wanted to make it more of a challenge, you can make a picture list of the objects and have your toddler try to find them.

How about some fun DIY Lacing Cards? All you need is some craft foam and a hole punch to make these cute little cards. Check out Tot School for a great tutorial!

Another fun idea? How about a tutorial for a Chalk Mat with a Storage Pocket. Check out Craftaholics Anonymous for this great tutorial from Maggie Muggins Designs. I know Andyroo would LOVE this!

Little ones love stickers, but if yours are anything like my Andyroo, he wants to peel them off and use them again. That's why The Creative Homemaker's Magnetic Tin with Magnet Stickers is perfect. Turn stickers into magnets and then they can be reusable on any magnetic surface!

And, if you're feeling a little adventurous, you could always go for something like a Felt Playhouse. I made Andyroo's when he was about 18 months old and he loved it. He still plays with it now! What's great is that as we have more kids, they'll be able to enjoy it too! I also love that I can keep adding to it by making other things like felt food.

Do you have any other fabulous ideas for the Toddler and Preschooler set? Feel free to share them with all of us! Also, be sure to check back tomorrow for more ideas for Homemade Gifts for the bigger kids!

Winner for the My Memories Software

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:45:00 +0000

Hey ladies! Sorry it's taken me so long to get this posted. I've been swamped this weekend with Primary Program stuff and I've had about 5 custom orders come in since Saturday. It's great, but insane. So you all will have to forgive me if things slow down a little bit - especially on the crafty side. I'm creating, just stuff that you're probably not interested in!

Anyway, on to the winner. I'm happy to announce (and no, this wasn't planned), the winner of the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software is...

Comment #6! Heidi Elder! Heidi just so happens to be my husband's cousin. How fun is that?! Heidi says...

Heidi, I'll be getting in touch with you to get you hooked up with your goodies!

Disappointed you didn't win and want to get in on the digital scrapbooking fun? Then don't forget that you can still use the code STMMMS51889 on MyMemories.com to get $10 off the software and an extra $10 to spend in the MyMemories.com store to start your digital scrapbooking supply. Also, don't forget that we'll be offering a freebie from My Memories every week. You can, of course, use the freebies in the My Memories Suite, but you actually get them as .png and .jpg files so you can use them in any photo editing software!

A Handmade Christmas: Gift Ideas for Infants

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Thanks for joining the Handmade Christmas series here on Life in the Motherhood! Don't forget to check out the rest of the posts this week for handmade gift ideas for all the other people in your life! If your idea was featured, please feel free to grab a button from the sidebar! And, if you have any ideas you'd like to submit for any of the Handmade Christmas categories, then fill out the Submission Form!

To start off the Handmade Christmas week, we're going to focus on the littlest ones in our lives. Sure, they probably won't notice if they get anything or not. Truth be told, they'd rather play with the bows and paper! But we can't forget them. Here are some fun and easy ideas for the littlest ones.

Do you have a baby girl on your list? How about a cute Ruffle Bum Onesie? Originate and Renovate has a great tutorial for sewing ruffles onto a onesies. You could totally do something long-sleeved for the cold winter months. Makes me want a little girl!

How about some Soft Photo Blocks? Erin from In Between Laundry shows us how to make this fun and simple project! It's also a great way to use up some scraps from other projects. I also love that she reused the clear vinyl packaging from some baby sheets!

Are you a knitter? I'm definitely not, but if you are, you've got to check out this adorable Baby Sophisticate set from Never Not Knitting. Absolutely darling!

I'm really loving the idea of handmade stuffed toys. First the blocks, and now this Stuffed Giraffe from Craftin' It. This one is pink, but you could definitely go for something more boyish or neutral.

Again with the stuffed stuff. I'm drooling over this blue and green fabric used to make this super cute Baby Gift Set - including a bib, stuffed toy, and a crinkle toy - from The Seasoned Homemaker. I love the soft chenille on the back. So much fun!

How about some cute Sock Rattles? Jill from Homemade by Jill has a great tutorial (complete with patterns). Again - change up the colors and you've got something for a baby boy or go for something more neutral.

Want something a little more colorful that is sure to use up all those scraps? Then head over to Homegrown Happy and check out the Baby's Soft Book of Colors. So fun to use different patterns (and even textures) to create a book of colors.

How about an easy (unstuffed!) Teething Toy? Patchy Apple shows how to turn some scraps and an unfinished wooden ring into a Ribbon Ring Teether Toy your little one will love!

Not into sewing? Is crocheting more your thing? Then how about a Crocheted Loop Baby Toy from Herbst Handmade? This project *almost* makes me wish that I could crochet or knit.

What about another book? Check out this Soft Book Tutorial from Don't Call Me Betsy. It does look a little more time intensive, but its so fun, and even the littlest ones will enjoy looking at the pictures and feeling all the textures.

Here's one last stuffed toy - a Sunshine Rattle from Little Pink Monster. Absolutely darling - and totally easy!

Do you have any other handmade baby gift ideas to share? I'm sure we'd all love to hear your ideas!

A Homemade Christmas - A Week of Handmade Gifts!

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

It's sad that Thanksgiving is always overshadowed by the commercialism of Christmas, but this series is at the beginning of November for a good reason. Simply put, you need time to gather supplies for and make handmade gifts. While making gifts can be a little daunting, they can be so much more meaningful to the giver and reciever! They can also be less expensive - which can help you give more!

All this week we're going to be sharing some awesome ideas for handmade gifts. Starting a little later today, we'll have a day devoted to each of the following groups:

Monday - Infants
Tuesday - Toddlers & Preschoolers
Wednesday - Bigger Kids
Thursday - Teenagers
Friday - Spouse/Significant Others
Saturday - Neighbors/Teachers/Coworkers

Before we leave you for the night, here are some organizational tips for the upcoming gift-giving season.

Make a list of who you'll be giving gifts to this year. It's important to know who you're giving to before you can figure out what you're giving (handmade or purchased)
Set a budget. Even if you're going handmade, you'll probably have to buy some supplies. Know what you have to spend (even if it's close to nothing) and stick to it. There's no reason to go into debt to get someone a gift!!
Come up with gift ideas. What I like to do (and I usually start thinking about this in like, September) is make a list of each person we're giving a gift to and then a list of gift ideas. I don't do anything fancy - just a simple piece of notebook paper. I try to come up with a few different options - some handmade, store bought, something cheaper, etc. As I made the list of ideas, I usually come up with something that I know will be just perfect for that person. Some people are harder to give gifts to so that's when I kind of start looking around for deals and see what fits into the budget. Don't just walk around the store looking for something. You'll probably either overspend or wind up unhappy with the gift.
If you're going to be giving homemade gifts, you need to know what you have on hand. This might mean examining your ribbon and thread supply, going through your craft supplies, and even taking a look at your pantry. You don't want to go out and spend extra money on thread when you already have the color you need sitting in your craft supplies.
Know when you need to have gifts purchased or finished. Do you have family out of town that you're sending gifts to? Check with the postal service you'll be using and know what timeline they recommend. Are you celebrating with or seeing others before (or after) Christmas?

Do you have any other tips for making the Christmas season a little less stressful?

Harvest Party Features - Round One!

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Sorry it's been so quiet around here again this week. I'm getting ready to host a Shutterfly party this weekend and my house needed a little TLC in order to be party-worthy. I've also been a little inundated with orders this week and trying to get some new gift sets posted. Which is good for me, but it means that this poor little blog gets a little neglected. Hopefully after the party (and while my house is still clean), posting will resume as normal and I can get back to some projects I've been itching to get to!

Also, while I've got you here, don't forget to go enter the giveaway for the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software. I'm really loving this software, seriously! And there are only a few entries so far, so your chances of winning are pretty good!

Now, on to the features. First of all, thanks to everyone who has linked up so far to the Harvest Party! There will be a few rounds of features through the month of November, so keep on linking up your awesome projects!

First up are these cute little PB Knockoff Metallic Pumpkins from ReMade Simple. I love the look of the silver and the orange and how the orange is peeking through. So cute!

Even though I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie (blasphemy, I know), I enjoy other things made with pumpkin, so I'm totally digging this Round Up of Pumpkin Recipes from Crumbs and Chaos!

Looking for something fun to do with your kids for Thanksgiving? I love the idea of creating Thanksgiving Potholders that show off the kiddo's handprints. What a fun keepsake! Thanks to Pampered by Tammie for sharing!

If your idea was featured, be sure to grab the featured button from the sidebar to the right! Have a great weekend!

Inspired by Pinterest - Using Canning Rings

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Like most of you, I'm on Pinterest. I wouldn't quite call myself addicted, but that's probably because I just don't have time! Anyway, one of the things that I thought would be fun to do would be to try out some things that I've found on Pinterest and see how they work.

So, for our first week - Using Canning Rings to cook Eggs.

Pinching Your Pennies

I saw this idea and thought it was perfect! We love making our own homemade breakfast sandwiches. I've been making them for years - since about 2004 when I'd moved out on my own and couldn't afford McDonald's breakfasts anymore! Anyway, I can easily make the eggs in a square shape to fit on toast, but I have yet to find a way to make the eggs round to fit nicely on a biscuit or english muffin.

I coated the whole ring in cooking spray and let it preheat with the pan on medium heat. In went the egg and it immediately started oozing out under the rings. I had to hold down the rings as I poured the egg inorder to get it to not ooze. I let them cook for a couple of minutes and then the bottom was starting to get a little golden so I decided it was time to try and turn it. And maybe that was my mistake. Maybe I turned it too soon, but I could not get it to come out of the canning ring. I had to practically rip it out. The part of the egg that wasn't completely done spilled all over the pan. I was able to salvage it and it still tasted it the same, but it wasn't easy.

I haven't given up hope. I'll try again, I think. Has anyone else tried this? Any tips or tricks that I'm missing?

Digital Scrapbooking Freebies from My Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Have you all entered the giveaway for the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software? The more I use it, the more I learn about how awesome it is! Thinking of purchasing the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software? Be sure to use the code STMMMS51889 at checkout to get $10 off the software and an additional $10 to spend in the MyMemories.com store.

My Memories wants to share some freebies with the LITM readers! The good news about these freebies? They're .png and .jpg files, so they can be used with any editing or graphic software! In fact, one thing that I've learned about the files that I've purchased from My Memories is that all the packs of embellishments, papers, and templates can be downloaded on to your computer to be used with any graphic software. How awesome is that?!

Anyway, on to the goodies!

When you download the freebie pack, you'll get the two-page layout Quick Page files, plus all the papers and elements use to create the pages. How's that for awesome!? Click the picture or link above to access the download.

This particular freebie will only be available for a short time, so if you want it, go get it now! But, you can look forward to new freebies from My Memories every week. Yay for that! You'll be able to easily (and cheaply) grow your digital scrapbooking supply and you'll get your pages scrapped quicker with the Quick Page layouts!!

Hope you enjoy!!

A Call for Guest Posts

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

There are some awesome things that are in the works for this little blog and I need your help!

First of all, There is going to be a new series called "Extraordinary Women" starting on November 18th! This is a series that will feature a different extraordinary woman twice a month. We're looking for women who have faced their struggles with courage, who have beaten the odds, and, most of all, who have endured their trials and lived to tell about it! It doesn't need to be something life shattering - maybe just life changing. Does that make sense? If you, or someone you know, would be willing to share your story with the LITM readers, then pretty please fill out the form below and we'll get things set up!

And second on the list - we'll be hosting a Handmade Gifts series! For a week in November, your projects are going to be featured on our blog. Projects that would make good handmade gifts for anyone. Projects are needed specifically for the following groups: Infants & Toddlers; Preschoolers; Big Kids (ages 5-11ish); Tweens & Teens; Spouse or Significant Other (since most of the people who read this are moms, we're especially interested in things for the men folk); and Neighbors, Friends & Co-Workers (this is where I see projects for the ladies going). This series will run November 14th - 19th. Guest posts with unpublished projects would be awesome, but this blog is still growing, so any and all already published projects are welcome too! My hope is to be able to feature every single submission that we get - so PLEASE, submit your projects! Anything new, old, published or otherwise will be AWESOME! Just make sure that it's something that is a handmade project, that was made by you, and that fits with one of the categories above.

So, what are you waiting for? Fill out the form below and let me know what you'd like to share with our readers!

Train Name Plaque for the Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Because Andyroo loves trains, here's yet another fun train project, just for him.

It was super easy and took me all of an hour to complete. And it only took that long because I kept getting interrupted.

I found the wooden train plaques (I actually purchased 2 - not sure how I'm going to use the other one) on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I found a cute train paper, traced the train shape, and mod podged that baby on. I used my Silhouette to cut out Andyroo's name and there you have it.

Easy peasy. And cheap too!

Thanks to all the fabulous bloggers out there who take the time and effort to host these spectacular parties!! We're linking up here:

Mondays:
Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Turquoise Lovin', Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Mondays Marvelous, Creative Me Mondays, Made By You Mondays, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Made with Love, More the Merrier

Tuesdays:
Get You Craft On, Tuesday Confessional, Who's Got Glam, Ta-Da Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesdays, Take a Look Tuesdays, Show Me What You Got, Tuesday Tutorials, Too Cute Tuesdays, Craft & Tell, Tutorials & Tips Tuesday

Wednesdays:
Whatever Goes Wednesday, Idea Sharing Wednesday, What I Made Wednesday, DIY Under $5, Woot Woot Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Lil' Luna Link Party, Hoo's Got Talent, We Can Do it Cheaper, Look What I Made, What I Whipped up Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday

Thursdays:
Strut Your Stuff, DIY Diva Thursdays, Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths, Get Your Brag On

Fridays:
Frugal Friday, Creative-ly U, Feature Yourself Friday, PityParty, Look At Me, Show & Share, Fantabulous Friday, Tickled Pink Fridays, I'm Lovin' It

Saturdays/Sundays:
Lovely Little Linkup, Weekend Wander, Sundae Scoop, Sunday Showcase Party, Think Pink Sundays, Anything Goes, Whatcha Got Weekend, Free For All

My Memories Software Review + Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Miranda @ Life in the Motherhood) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I've seen other reviews and giveaways around blogland for the My Memories Suite Software and I've really wanted to check it out. So needless to say, when we were contacted by My Memories to review their software, I couldn't refuse!

I used to be really big into scrapbooking - it was my creative outlet! I was able to keep up with it after Hubs and I got married for a while. I finished our wedding album, but my scrapbooking habits died off pretty soon after. We were in a tiny little apartment and it's hard to scrapbook when you have no room to work - when you have to pick up everything each time and pull everything out again to start over. It's not very fun! And even though we have a bit more room now, I still couldn't leave things out because Andyroo would get into them. And to be honest, purchasing scrapbook supplies is...expensive! Even when I worked at Michaels and could take advantage of the employee discount, it was still expensive and just not something that we could really afford.

Needless to say, Andyroo's scrapbook has become very neglected. I purchased the album and completed about 4 pages. In 3 years. Terrible, I know. I've made a few photo books over the years to compensate for the lack of scrapbooks, but those can be expensive too. Don't get me wrong, they're worth it, and less expensive than scrapbooking. However, for the most part they're generally uncustomizeable, which is a huge downside.

I've wanted to venture into the digital scrapbooking world for sometime, but didn't know where to start or which scrapbooking software to use - and I've found that the My Memories Suite is the perfect place for a newbie like me. It would also be a great addition to any seasoned digital scrapper.

Check out a few of the layouts I was able to create - and in MUCH less time than it takes to pull out the scrapbooking stuff and come up with a layout that I like. I decided to start on Andyroo's scrapbook, and look at what I was able to come up with in just a short time! Seriously, soooo much fun!!! And, don't laugh. This was my first time ever attempting digital scrapbooking. I'll get better, I promise! :)

Besides scrapbook layouts, there's so much more that you can do with the My Memories Suite. I'm hosting a Shutterfly House Party later this month and I wanted a physical invite to hand out to some friends. I switched to an 8.5x11 layout, grabbed the logos from the House Party website, and quickly made up my own invitation.

Besides that simple little invitation, you could create announcements (birth, graduation, wedding, etc), holiday cards, photo books, and so much more. You have full creative control! I'm also really excited to try out the feature to make a slide show complete with music. I see lots of creative fun in my future!

I could go broke buying all of their cool design packs. I'm currently (working on scrapping all of Andyroo's pictures, so I'm loving the All Boy pack, the What Are Little Boys Made Of pack, and the It's a Boy Thing pack. Super cute stuff!

Alas, most of them will have to wait until Hubby gets his promotion. In the meantime, they have a bunch of awesome freebies and - my favorite part - you can even use digital elements that you may already have on your computer! Yay for that!

And now here's a goody for you! My Memories wants to give one lucky reader a copy of this awesome digital scrapbooking software. Here's how you can enter to win your very own copy:

Be a follower of Life in the Motherhood

If you'd like additional opportunities, you can do any of the following.

Pop on over to MyMemories.com and come back and let us know what your favorite item (bundle, font, package, etc) is. I promise you'll want to immediately start adding things to your wish list!
Visit Life in the Motherhood on Facebook and give us a like
Visit My Memories on Facebook and give them a thumbs up - plus you'll get a freebie just for liking them!
You can also follow My Memories on Twitter, if you prefer that social media avenue
Share this giveaway through whichever social avenue you prefer - Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc.

Make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do so that each entry will be counted. And pretty please make sure that I can either contact you through your profile or leave your email addy in your comment so that you can be reached if you're the winner.

The giveaway will be open from Thursday, November 3rd through midnight on Sunday, November 13th. A winner will be announced the following Monday (the 14th).

Are you excited to get started and you don't want to wait for the giveaway? You can order your very own copy right now and have it downloaded in minutes! My Memories was cool enough to give LITM readers a code to get $10 off the price of the software and $10 to spend in the MyMemories.com store. Just use the code STMMMS51889 for all this scrapbook goodness!

Good luck!

(I was provided a free copy of the software so that I could use and review it. I was not told how to review the software or what to say. The review of this software is my own opinion)