I have learned a lot lately about scrapbooking. I recently joined Cricut.com and learned about Inchies/Trinchies/Twinchies. They are one inch squares decorated with at least three layers of embellishments. I have not had a chance to try them out, but plan to as soon as I get some decorative paper to go with my disney cricut characters. The inchies can be as simple as letters layered and placed on a square. These are great for embellishing scrapbook pages and cards.

There is a great section on the Cricut website that is for swaps and requests. Everyone is committed to helping one another by sharing cuts from different cartridges. I have joined my first swap for Disney Characters because I have only gotten the Mickey and Friends Cartridge so far. This way I can get other characters from other cartridges, like the princess cartridges. We plan to go Disney this winter and I want to put together a scrapbook and maybe an autograph book for my kids to take with them. Another great thing about this is this way I get to make ten of one character, using the same shape and colors. If I made one of each character even on my cartridge I would be wasting a lot of paper.

As soon as I get around to finishing my swap, I will post pictures before I send them out.

Mickey Film Strip Photo Frame

I found this on my Mickey and Friends Cricut Cartridge and I am so excited. You can use it for so many things. Next year I want to put together a book for each kid to put their friends school pictures in and I want to use this in it. I would be so fun to have a movie theme for one of the books and label it something like "You are a Star".

This is cut out at 5 1/2 " tall by 11" wide. You can insert 4 - 3 1/2" by 2 1/2" pics. Perfect for wallet sizes, but I think I am going to scale it down to fit the pictures the kids trade.

Butterfly Cricut Diecut

I know this may seem like a very expensive hobby, but I own a Cricut Diecutting Machine. I started Scrapbooking last year and always wanted one. Since I never know what my hubby should get me for Christmas, I asked for one of these. Then I waited until a few weeks after Christmas for it, so I could get a better deal on e-bay. The store price is $189.00 and I was not willing topay that much. I ended up spending just over $100 with free shipping and not extra tax on top of that price. That is almost saving $90. Yeah. Since then I have been buying a few cartridges off e-bay when I can get a good deal.

My latest cartridge is the Disney Friends cartridge. I had always planned to buy it, but when a friend went to Disney I decided to get it early, so I can share my diecuts with her. Thinking it would only have Disney Characters on it, I was pleasantly surprised to see the extras it came with. It has tranes, planes, cars, and trucks. There are purses, lipstick, nailpolish, hearts and love letters. Bones which can be used for dogs, or halloween. Borders are a really nice accent.

Here is a post of the butterflies that came with the Disney Cartridge. I made them in green and yellow to accent my pink and yellow flowers. I plan to use them on a blue background page and maybe add clouds and a sun, which also came with the cartridge. This is the best buy so far.

Bunny Easter Cookies

Bunny Easter Cookies
Originally uploaded by gensler97

I consider baking a craft. Especially when it is a decorated cookie, cake, or cupcake. I love these little bunnies I made a few years ago for easter. The flower necklace adds just enough character to the rabbit. This is also the only form of drawing I do. Everyone will go crazy for these fun cookies and think you spent the whole day decorating them.

Easter Egg Baby

SANY0002
Originally uploaded by febielin

Thumbprint Chicks Easter Craft

Thumbprint Chicks
Originally uploaded by activityvillage.co.uk

Anything done with fingerprints or handprints is always a winning craft with moms and dads. We love to keep those special little projects that show the size of our children when they made it. For me it doesn't hurt either that this is about the cheapest project you can make.

These chicks can be used to decorate a card, a poster, or just a piece of paper. Kids can make a scene on a piece of paper and turn it into anything they choose. I can't use this project this year, as my kids are not old enough to draw the extra arms, legs, eyes, and beaks on each chick to make them unique. I hope I can make them some day.

Milk Jug Easter Basket

Big E's basket and booboo bunny
Originally uploaded by mslil65

I love this idea for an Easter Basket for school kids. I can make this with things I either have laying around the house, or will have laying around the house soon. I respect any projects that require recycling of household items or food containers. The most expensive thing I would need to buy for these is the green grass for the bottom of the baskets.

You can personalize these as much as you want. I have seen them painted white or grey. The opening have been smaller, so you can fit a few more eggs inside the basket. The faces can be made out of any materials you have at home. Have fun with this one!