Why Teens Are Choosing To Stay Home On Halloween Night

There are countless indications that today’s kids are growing up faster than ever. Take a new toy for babies one mom nicknamed “babies first cubicle,” complete with a faux smartphone and Post-Its, which she sees as pushing office culture on the diaper-wearing set, parents.com reported. Flash forward a few years, and many of us parents find that our daughters, who just outgrew playing with dolls, are begging to go to Sephora for skin care products with price tags to rival a fancy dinner for four. Meanwhile, teen boys are singularly focused on building cologne collections that look like the display … Continue reading

Affordable Spring Embellishments

The good news is that there is a seemingly endless supply of spring-themed scrapbook embellishments available in craft stores right now.  The bad news is that many of the gorgeous accessories are quite pricey.  Adding just a few of the eye-popping decorations can easily send the price of a single spring layout into the stratosphere. Fortunately, there are a slew of affordable alternatives to expensive scrapbook embellishments.  For example, rather than purchasing elaborate silk flowers to decorate your spring page designs, consider making your own colorful blossoms at home using inexpensive coffee filters.  All you need are some basket-style paper … Continue reading

Keep It Simple This Spring

Meteorological spring begins this Friday; unfortunately, most of the nation still looks and feels like the dead of winter.  While you may be itching to tiptoe through the tulips, Mother Nature clearly has other ideas. To help pass the time while waiting for the spring thaw, channel your warm thoughts into spring-themed scrapbook layouts.  There are a slew of simple and affordable ways you can create page designs that pay homage to the first season of the year.  For example, rather than purchasing apple stickers to embellish a chalk-drawn tree, add red buttons instead.  The accents add texture and dimension … Continue reading

100 Days

Today is the 100th day of school for my child.  To mark the occasion she and her classmates were asked to bring in 100 of their favorite items. Yes, the assignment that parents from coast-to-coast dread each year. It’s even more dreadful when your kid reminds you that she needs said items two hours before they’re due. So, you run around like a nutcase looking for 100 what to cram into a Ziploc bag? Cheerios, LEGOs, coffee beans… blood, sweat, tears? When all is said and done, hopefully you remember to snap a photo of your kid holding up his … Continue reading

Spring Into Scrapbooking

Spring?  What spring?  I have a quote to add to a seasonal layout:  “Where the h*&# is spring?” Despite the blizzard warnings, school snow days and brutally cold temperatures, I am moving forward with my spring scrapbook. It’s all about denial, right? My efforts may be in stark contrast to what Mother Nature is doling out right now, but I am undeterred.  My daughter is making coffee filter butterflies in school and I’m planning to use them to decorate several pages in my seasonal memory album. The adorable scrapbook embellishment is a cinch to make.  All you need are some … Continue reading

Beachy Keen

Don’t let your family getaway go undocumented this spring.  If you are planning to escape to the sun, sand and surf, be sure to take plenty of pictures, collect a bunch of mementos, and then create eye-popping scrapbook layouts to preserve all of the good times. Beach-themed page designs are fun to make.  Use the opportunity to flex your creative muscle by incorporating items you collect during your vacation with the myriad of scrapbooking embellishments available in stores and online.  For example, consider bringing home a small container or Ziploc bag of sand from the beach and adding it to … Continue reading

Scrap Your Magical Spring Break Adventure

If your family’s spring break escape includes a sprinkling of pixie dust, a pair of glass slippers and a castle fit for a princess, then you will likely be documenting every magical moment. No trip to a Disney theme park can take place without snapping at least a few hundred photos and collecting a mountain of memorabilia.  When you return from your fantasy vacation you’ll want create a scrapbook detailing all of the fun had with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and the rest of the crew. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a ton of money crafting a Disney-themed memory … Continue reading

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Old Man Winter doesn’t want to loosen his frigid grip on the country.  So, what do you do when the snow is piling up and the temperatures refuse to rise over freezing?  Create a winter-themed scrapbook layout.  Or, if you live on a frozen tundra like I do, consider crafting an entire memory album filled with snowy seasonal memories. Take your kids and your camera outside for a bit and snap shots of winter play.  You don’t have to stay outdoors for an extended period of time; rather, go out with the goal of building a snowman, a snow fort … Continue reading

Get Creative with Valentine’s Layouts

Love Day has come and gone, though the memories will linger for a lifetime, especially if you scored a serious sparkler and a marriage proposal on February 14th.  Even if your sweetie didn’t get down on one knee this Valentine’s, you shouldn’t let the holiday go by without crafting at least a single page layout detailing the day’s highlights.  However, rather than employing the same ol’ trite scrapbooking techniques, consider getting a little creative with the following ideas: Choose a Theme:  So, you didn’t get the five-carat diamond tennis bracelet you had your heart set on for Valentine’s Day.  Surely, … Continue reading

My Funny Valentine

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be dripping with lovey-dovey prose and high-octane romance in dark secluded spots.  For many families, February 14th is a time for love and laughter. If you are looking to create a Love Day layout for your funny Valentine, consider peppering the page with the following humorous quotes and poems: You know it’s love when you want to keep holding hands even after you’re sweaty. You can’t put a price tag on love, but you can on all its accessories. Love is a lot like a backache, it doesn’t show up on X-rays, but you know … Continue reading