Handmade Valentines

Valentine's Day last year was kind of hectic.  The weekend before, we spent 3 days in ICU with Caridad.  She developed pneumonia so terrible.  It was a scary week or so, including the days that led up to her hospital stay. I had no idea that the symptoms she'd been feeling for almost a week before, were leading up to what she went through.  She fought for every stinking breath for those 3 days she was in the hospital.  Needless to say, she did not get to participate in her class party.  And I didn't get around to finishing this post.  But, when she returned to school she did have a bag full of "love notes" from her classmates waiting for her.  And she did get to pass out her creations as well.     

Below was our process for Valentine's last year. 

I wanted to do something different for Valentine's Day celebrations at school.  I can remember being a little girl and I loved making boxes to collect all those "love notes" from my classmates. 

With my son participating in his first ever Valentine's Day Party and with my daughter's suggestions and preferences, these were the "love notes" that they passed out. 

My Materials:
1}  Felt
2}  Yarn
3}  Pen, Scissors and cross stitch needle.
4}  From Scrapbooking Supplies Acid-Free Paper I used a couple of the Printed Sheets from the Valentine Collection.   

Sissy chose 2 patterns for the boys and 2 for the girls. 

I made a heart pattern out of regular paper and traced the hearts onto the back side of the sheets of felt.  The 2 sheets of black felt we handled differently.  Mommy just cut heart shapes without the outline to work with. 

Then we cut all the hearts out. 

Then Mommy and Sis sewed 2 hearts together so that the hearts were colorful and the patterns covered both sides. 

And we attached a little piece of Valentine's Day paper to write who the "love note" was from.

There were really fun to make.  And Sis enjoyed helping...Mommy enjoyed the help!

Do you do something crafty for Valentine's Day treats for your children to pass out to their friends?  I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments section. 

 

Mommy Sauri~

Shepherd Costume ~ Sauri Style

SO... You remember Caridad's 2011 ~Halloween Costume~ right??  Yes, it was originally made for the Nativity Play at church on Christmas Eve 2009. 

She and Reynaldo decided that they wanted to participate in the Nativity Play last year.  We originally thought that Ernest would make a great lamb for Rey to "shepherd" but when it was time for play practice, Ern was having nothing to do with it. 

Men size T-Shirt and different types of rope

His name was crossed off the sign up sheet!  Poor guy he's still drinking a bottle for goodness sake. 



Babies Sauri with Papi.  Excuse my shadow...





Aunti Vi sewed Caridad's Angel outfit in 2009 but I didn't feel comfortable asking her to whip something up for Reynaldo this time around.  Granted, I did not yet own a sewing machine, I figured that I would rely on my fellow bloggers in blogland to help me with ideas. 

I used ~her~ method and I think it worked out perfect. 

Listening to instructions.  Caridad looks a bit confused wouldn't you say?

After all, I do not imagine that Shepherds back in Jesus' day were draped in gold and fine linen.  Wouldn't you agree that they probably wore simple cloth that was not immaculate and not prim and proper? 

Don't get me wrong, I will sew something up for Rey the next time something like this comes along but I vow to make it simple and fitting for a Shepherd, not a King.     

My beautiful Shepherd and Angel Sauri

Happy Easter

The Sauris are going to THE RANCH to celebrate.  It's sure to be a fun day because lots of little relatives will be up there to pay with. 

What are you doing today?

Mommy Sauri~

Book Party Invitations

I promised that March is full of lots of fun stuff in preparation for Ernest's 2nd Birthday! I'm so excited to share all of our projects leading up to his big day.

Reynaldo decided that Ern needed to have a BOOK PARTY so why not something book inspired, to invite the guests.

My Materials:
1}  Book Pages
FromThe Paper Studio   

2}  Cream Cardstock
From Stampabilities

3} acid-free pigment ink pad in black & gold

4}  Invitation Info Stamp

5}  double sided tape (I'm sorry I threw away the original box but I believe it is Scotch foam double sided tape)

6}  The Paper Studio Dual Tip Glue Pen

From Zig

7} Photo Signature Black Pen 

8} Scissors

I used Excel to create this Library Card.  I printed onto my cardstock and used the paper cutter at work to cut each out...Shhh don't tell anybody, it took me a good 3 days to get them all cut out.  You know how it goes when you have to be discrete about something. 

Next Reynaldo and Caridad helped me to ink the edges of the library cards to add a little decoration to the plain cardstock.  Mommy stamped the invitation information onto the inked cards.

Remember the quick and simple table centerpiece I posted about earlier in the week...Well I cut out blank pages from our ~trusty book~ to use as the "envelope" for the invite.  You will notice that some of the pages have words on one side.  I made sure that one side of the page was completely blank and faced the blank side out, to write guest's addresses.  Once again my trusty helpers inked one side of the "envelope". 

I folded the envelope in 3, with the inked side on the inside, and taped the library card to the middle section.

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I tried to get a good photo to show you, but the tape made the library card pop up, off the "envelope"

I used these triangle scraps to seal the envelope shut.  We just inked them to add some contrast to the plain book page. 

There you have it ready for delivery.

This was a lot of fun to make.  I will definitely be making our party invitations from now on. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Mommy Sauri~

I'm linking this post to}

~Creation Corner~
~Homemaker In Heels~
~Oopsey Daisy~

~Sew Can Do~
~The Shabby Nest~
~Under The Table and Dreaming~

Happy Valentine's Day

From Casa de Sauri to all of you...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!



Valentine’s Day Garland

I've had a print out of ~this tutorial~ ALL YEAR. 
I wanted to make it last year but just ran out of time. 

This year, I made it a priority to get it done. 

My Materials:
From SEI's Couture collection
1}  Chintz
2}  Tabaret
3}  Marquisette
4}  Scissors, Ruler and pencil
5}  Ribbon
6}  Hot glue and clear thumb tacks

I'm going to let you go to ~SEI's Blog~ for Audry's step-by-step, but I wanted to show you some pictures of my process. 

I think these little hearts turned out so nice. 

It adds a little touch of color in honor of the holiday without making it so girly.  Girl's are outnumbered by the boys at Casa de Sauri so Cari and Mommy have to be respectful of the boys. 

This one is my favorite.  The large purple flowers with the mix of green and black is so gorgeous.  

Do you guys do anything special for Valentine's Day with your home decor? 

Year after year I'm trying to add to my stash of things to use during certain times of the year.  I'd love for you to share your ideas, especially links, in the comments.

Mommy Sauri~

January 2012 ~ Scrapbooking ~

In 2011 I made the decision to become a ~SEI Club Member~.  I knew that I wanted to make my Christmas Gifts to my family a little more meaningful.  Handmade maybe...

I also love taking pictures.  {Some day I will have a nice fancy camera that I know how to use and my photographs will look better than ever.}  I have also really enjoyed the experience of documenting the Babies firsts in their baby books.  So I decided it was time to start scrapbooking. 

Oh my goodness, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.   But my MEGA club shipments come in every other month and thus, my grand stash of materials for scrapbooking continues to grow and grow.

I decided that I was going to make a 2012 calendar for my parents for Christmas.  In order not to spoil anything, I've waited until after the holiday to share my creations with you.  

And here is January 2012. 

       
I also posted some sneak peaks to this layout ~Here~ and ~Here~. 


My Materials:
From SEI's Sunny Day Collection
1}  Tulip Field solid cardstock
2}  Umbrella glitter paper
From COLORBOK's Pink/Blue pack
3}  Mixed dots
From Ranger Stickles
4}  Yellow 
5}  Some foam letters we bought at the $ Tree...Sorry I don't have the original packaging to know the manufacturer.

So what do you think?  Do you do scrapbooking?  I'd especially love to read comments from experienced scrapers.   

Mommy Sauri~

I linked this post here:

Creation Corner

New Year's Menu

I'm trying to make a tradition of making and eating black eyed peas New Years Eve or New Years Day.  I have used ~The Country Tart's Recipe~ 2 years in a row. 

I made them New Year's Day this year.  Instead of the smoked paprika I used 2 extra chipotle peppers and I had to omit the turmeric because we ran out. 

I have to admit that I've never eaten black eyed peas other than the ones I've made using The Country Tart's Recipe.  I love spicy food.  The hotter the better for Mommy Sauri, so I do not remove the seeds in the peppers.  These peas are really yummy and quite spicy.  I kind of regret not taking pictures but ~Her~ photo looks even more yummy than something I would have taken.

For New Year's Eve we went to a friends house for a traditional Cuban Year End Celebration.  This year the pig was roasted using a Chinese Box.  It was quite interesting because the pig sat in the bottom of the box while the charcoal stayed hot above, at the top of the box.  Yummy Yummy.  

My contribution to the celebration were champagne, including sparkling cider for Mommy and the Babies, and this lovely idea from ~The Girl Who Ate Everything~. 

I have to admit that I hesitated to post my photographs of our process because ~Her's~ are so much more appealing but then I remembered.  This blog is mine and I'm here to show the world how we do things Sauri Style.  So feast your eyes.

 

So do you have any New Years Traditions, food or otherwise?  Do you make ~Resolutions~?  Do you have great big celebrations like my crazy Cubi is used to?  Tell me about them in the comments.   

Mommy Sauri~

New Year's Resolutions

As children I have vivid memories of our family road trips over the New Year holiday.  Mom and Dad in the front seats.  My brothers and I in the back seats dreading what was about to happen. 

Dad would pull over so that Mom could jump into the driver's seat.  Dad would settle into his seat, Daytimer and pen at the ready, to record our New Year's Resolutions.  

As a child, I hated this.  It would bring back all the ill feelings I had of my personal image and personal accomplishments.  At the time, and even now-and-then as an adult, I see myself as a fat, unattractive, second rate citizen.  I was always compared to my brother, Jesse when it came to academic accomplishments.  Even as an adult I catch wind of things that make me feel "second" to my brother and I've had to train myself to stop taking the comments personally.  As a child I wasn't able to do that and this annual ritual of expressing what I wanted to accomplish during the year was not so fun.

As an adult I actually like the idea.  I've learned that without a road map you cannot get to where you want to be so here is my attempt at resolutions for 2012.

1}  Be a better wife, more date nights, more "private time" you get my drift.
2}  Be a better mother, stop to "take in" the small things.
3}  Be a better employee, do what I can to get us to the next level, always.
4}  Scrap more often.  I enjoy it and I think others will too.
5}  Spend more money on me, not just everyone else.  After all, I'm not the only one supporting the family and I work hard for my money the same as the next person.
6}  Eat Green, everyday.  You can visit ~NutriMirror~ to learn more about what that means.
7}  Exercise in some form at least 5 days a week.
8}  Make an effort to reach out to my extended family more often.  I'm not the best at keeping in touch.

Wow, there you have it.  I think I have a good working list of resolutions.  How about you, do you have resolutions for the new year?  Tell me about them in the comments.

Mommy Sauri~

    

Happy 2012 ~

Just a quick drop-in to wish you all a great 366 days in 2012. 

I'm ready, are you??

Mommy Sauri~

Christmas Jamies

I had to post pictures because I think they look adorable. 

Even if they weren't surprised at what was waiting in their December 24th envelopes on the ~Advent Calendar~, at least they are enjoying the surprise.


Mommy Sauri~

Merry Christmas

At this time we hope to be fast asleep as Santa is making his rounds. 

May your Christmas be full of family and friends and lots of red and green chili.

Mommy Sauri~