ABC Book

As planned, I have finally finished my ABC book (months and months long past due!), but it isn't just any ABC book, it is also a family picture pocket book. I painted the letters for each page and then made clear pockets to slide pictures into it of family members that start with that letter of the Alphabet. I also backed the pictures with old cereal boxes cardboard for extra support and then contact papered them, so if my little girl so chooses to pull the pictures out of the pockets and chew on them (because at her stage EVERYTHING goes to the mouth), they will hopefully still stay mostly in tack!

This book will be a fun and multi-tasking sort of book for my girl to be familiar with the alphabet and different words that relate to certain words along with being familiar with our family members, especially since we live far away from most of them. I hoping it will help her not be totally in the dark at how many mounds of family she has and how wonderful they all are. So with this little intro, now to show you the final works, drum roll. . . . .

 For the blocks on the front cover, I printed these pictures onto regular material with my regular old printer, in the same way I printed words onto my quilted storage boxes in THIS venture. Then I sewed the cloth onto the book. I also put some extra quilting batter and cardboard from old cereal boxes in the cover to give it some nice firmness and the likes.

 For the buttons I cut them from an old pair of jeans

 Along with this pocket. I put the pocket on the back to store the extra pictures that wouldn't fit in all the picture pockets at the same time (cuz let me tell you, there are TONS of pictures, because we got TONs of family! :)

 See how they fit in there so nicely :) I also sewed on some Velcro to close it nicely and keep pictures from falling out.

 Then I made the pages, Red, Yellow, and Blue (yep the lovely primary colors, so she can work on colors too! This is a very multi tasker book!) I painted the letters with a stencil I made in the same way I made the wording on my lovely hubby's Father's day tie in THIS venture. And the pockets I glued on with liquid stick (because I tried to sew them on, it was a pain, because my machine's foot kept getting caught on the plastic, ugh. So yeah for easy liquid stick!)

 For my family's own privacy I am only showing examples from just our smaller family and . . .

 letters that don't have family members names for them. I am not sure what kind of name you could get with an "X", but I really wouldn't be surprised that there are many names that start with an X, just not in my family, so we get to use the Xylophone! :)

 Then for "Y" I put a little mirror, for "YOU!" isn't that cleaver!?

 And last but not least, I had to show pictures of my little girl enjoying the book. . .

She LOVES books, so she better love this one, because I put a TON of time into it! (the ironic thing with this picture is she is actually crying, she was ready for a nap when I tried to get these pictures, and she just wasn't in the mood to "enjoy" her new book, but she better enjoy it sometime, or else. . . . I will be very sad :(

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to come join me again next week for another fun post! It is amazing how much more time I have on my hands now that I am not posting near as much, so I have been working on lots of goodies. Next weeks post will be on these lovely storage boxes I put together for my girl's toys, and they are a little different than the quilted boxes, so come by and see how they all turned out!

Until next time!. . . .

Mirror Frosting

In today's "We-flecting Wednesday" I thought I would share a little treat that relates to my wonderful Hubby and I (in a fun honoring of our 2 Year Anniversary this weekend). I made him this mirror as a gift back when we were still engaged.

Sorry if it is hard to see the image well, but it is some mountians with a storm on the side and leading to the top of the mountain is an LDS temple

In case you are curious, the inspiration I got for the design for this mirror is from the following little story. It was from a Devotional given at Brigham Young University-Idaho on Janurary 13, 2009 by President Kim B. Clark. In praying and deciding of whether or not I should marry Michael, this talk keep coming to mind and is what ultimately gave me the peace and assurance that I should marry him. So from this inspiration I made the mirror for Michael, and it is a nice reminder in our home that when times are tough, if we look to the right "mirror" things will always work out. Ok, so now to the part of the talk that I am refering to, so you won't be as confused to what I am talking about. The part of the talk that stuck out to me is this: (if you want to read the rest fo the talk, you can read it HERE)

"We may experience a thousand different things that rob our minds of peace. At their root, however, is a gap between what we want our lives to be and what we are afraid is going to happen. Consider, for example, the parable of the two mirrors:

 

The King of the land sent one of his sons and one of his daughters off on an important journey to establish peace in the land.

 

 

The brother and sister set off and followed the King's directions carefully. Then, unexpectedly, there arose a great storm. The wind blew, the rain was heavy, and swirling debris obscured the path. The son and daughter took refuge in a small hut. In the hut were two mirrors beckoning for their attention and focus. Each mirror showed them a vision of the future with them in the picture.

 

The first mirror was full of darkness and swirling fog. The son and daughter saw themselves in despair, lost, hungry and cold, unable to complete the journey. The mirror seemed to whisper, "Turn back; it's hopeless; give up."

 

 

The second mirror was bright and clear. They could see the storm, but they saw themselves making their way through it, completing their journey and establishing peace.

 

 

The second mirror seemed to whisper, "Carry on; walk in the light; the way is sure; you can do it." They chose the second mirror, left the hut with confidence, fought their way through the storm, and completed their journey.

 

You and I are often like the son and daughter. We keep the commandments and make progress in our journey of peace. But we encounter storms of life that bring uncertainty, anxiety, and stress.

 

  

When the storms come, the same two mirrors beckon for our attention. The first mirror is the mirror of fear; its perspective is the fallen world. When we look into the mirror of fear, we see a future that is dark and unhappy, full of failure, self-doubt, and even despair. The mirror of fear is the mirror of the adversary who whispers, "Things are going to be bad. It's not going to work. It's all your fault. You're not going to make it. Give up."

 

 

The second mirror is the mirror of hope and faith. It is the mirror of Christ; its perspective is eternal. In that mirror we see ourselves as beloved, valiant spirit children of Heavenly Father, here on earth to gain the experiences of mortality and to learn to be obedient and faithful. The Spirit whispers that the Savior, who has all power over all things, loves us and will help us through anything that happens. If we look into the mirror of Christ, trust in Him and in His timing, we will face our storms with hope and stop the cascade of fear.

 

This is what the Savior meant when He said,

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.^16"

So there is the little story behind the mirror I made. I love this story, it is such a great reminder how important it is to have a good perspective with everything we experience in life.

Then if you are curious to how I made the mirror it's your lucky day, becasue I will tell you. I smiply bought the mirror I wanted to use. Then I put contact paper over the entire mirror. Then I traced out the design I wanted to be etched on and then using an exacto knife I cut the contact paper but left the opposite of my design on the mirror.

Then I used this lovely stuff. I used a paint brush and put it on over the mirror on the areas that were exposed still. I let it set for I think 3 mins (but is says on the instructions how long), and then washed it off giving the mirror the lovely look that it has. The longest part was etching the design into the contact paper. Oh and beware if you try this at home, this frosting mirror stuff stinks really bad- like a really bad case of rotton eggs, just a little warning.

So there you have it, this lovely Wednesday. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day and don't forget to join the giveaway (I will be giving away 15 alligator clips), it will end tomorrow at Midnight and I will announce the winner for my "fun find" on Friday!

You can enter the giveaway HERE.

Thanks! And Until next time!. . . .