HOW TO MAKE A BUTTON

Thank you, Bee and Rose, for passing on the info. from April Showers on how to make a blog button! I am much better with the old-fashioned kind of button maker, I'm afraid, and even though the instructions were very simple to follow, I still had issues. Heavy sigh. I gave it my best shot, and at least there's something up there in the corner to show for it! It's been a good weekend so far; we've played some games, watched some movies, and spent some time with good friends. Isn't that what it's all about?! We had a yummy dinner tonight complete with a recipe for ribs from a friend, and lots of fresh veggies! Even the dog had his way with a few carrots and some spilled mashed potatoes! Besides a little work that needs to get done tomorrow, I have really high hopes of getting in that great room of mine called my CRAFT ROOM (or more commonly, the place where the kids go to watch t.v.) I'm thinking of attacking my scrapbooks from another direction--one I started a while back when I was feeling overwhelmed with the incompletion of it all. I decided to do a book for each major "theme" in our lives, and expand from there. For example, I have a book entitled "HALLOWEEN". It certainly doesn't contain all the photos I take for that given holiday (hello, have we met?!), but just a sampling of a few pictures of the highlights. I also have a book called "BIRTHDAYS" with a 2-page spread for each birthday party for each child. Since my husband and I were married over the July 4th weekend, that holiday holds special significance not only as a national holiday of our great country, but as a celebration of our marriage. I have tried to take a family photo each 4th of July weekend, and these photos go into the "JULY 4TH" book. You get the picture (pardon the pun!). I also have a "YEAR IN REVIEW" book concept, and that one is a bit overwhelming because there are so many years that remain undone. With the 365 day photo challenge from BECKY HIGGINS, future years may be easier. Especially if I actually remembered to take photos every day. Ugh. Anyway, here are a few photos of the books as they are right now, and some other projects. With any luck, I'll be working on them here and there throughout the rest of our (rapidly disappearing) summer! I think the temp. here is supposed to be 156 degrees or something like that tomorrow--I don't watch the weather reports anymore--really, what's the point? The only thing I know for sure is that I now need oven mitts to grasp the steering wheel of the car and open the doors from the outside, and tongs to remove the keys from the ignition once we get where we are going. It's the price we pay for our beautiful winters here in Arizona. And I can say that, although I've had 2nd degree sunburns before, I've never lost a digit due to frostbite. I figure I'm about even.Photo tour of our home.


Year in review book, no journaling yet, only notes.


Another page of the same book, ready for pictures.


Birthday book, year 2. Incomplete, naturally!


Thanksgiving photos, recipes, traditions.


Book of Christmas cards from one season, not decorated yet.


Just a fun school idea that the kids and I did here at home.

ABC book of baby's first year, the first book project I had ever done.

Another book of Christmas pictures and letters from family and friends. I put these out every year in a Christmas basket so that we can look through them and remember years gone by!