Coming to you from a new home in Pennsylvania!

Posted on December 20, 2014 by themercadoproject

Hi guys!

I hope you are all well and ready for the Christmas countdown!

I know, it’s been awhile. So much has gone down and that’s the reason why I haven’t been posting. We’re no longer living in Brooklyn, NY. We made the big move to Pennsylvania on the 1st of November and so far things are well. Slowly, but surely we’re settling into our new home. My mind and heart hasn’t quite adjusted to the move, but I’m doing my best to sort of embrace the new location. It’s definitely a better place for my girls to grow up in so I’m taking that into great account. I just have to take things one day at a time!

In the meantime an idea sprung up in my mind and I wanted to share it with you guys. My girls are very fortunate to receive Christmas gifts from friends and family members who don’t live near us and I’m always telling them on Christmas day, “This is from so and so,” but I can always see their little faces trying to register who the person is and I don’t think they get it. This year while I was making the labels for their presents that came in the mail I thought, “Maybe I can print out their pictures on the label.”

Using Word and address labels, I printed the wording and the pictures separately because my program didn’t allow me to cut and paste the pic. You can always print everything out on Word and simply tape it onto the gift, but I didn’t want to use tape. I just improvised by cutting and using another label to assemble the words and pics together. This is what I got and I love it:

These lovely people are my girls’ paternal grandfather and step-grandmother who live in New York, so this year when they open their gifts from them they’ll actually see who the gift is from. 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this idea. More to come later on, hopefully.

Thanks for stopping by and may all your holidays be MERRY, SAFE, AND BRIGHT!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Remember me?

Posted on September 17, 2014 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody!

Remember me?

Probably not, but that’s okay because it’s my fault.

Let me re-introduce myself. I’m Angelica and I hope you guys are doing well.

A lot has happened since my last post, which was back in April of this year.

Here’s the rundown:

1. My sister and her fiancé announced they were expecting their first child!!!

Congrats Dave and Monchie!!

2. My youngest daughter turned 4 years old and we had a party at the bowling alley! The theme was Peppa Pig and my husband made her TWO cakes! Yes, my hubby made those cakes you see below!

Two Peppa Pig cakes

3. My daughter received a certificate in her school for writing an essay on the most special woman in her life. She chose to write about her Grandma Rose (my mom, Rosa).

The essay read: A remarkable woman in my life is my Grandma Rose. She’s a very brave and strong woman. She became ill a few years ago and isn’t able to walk without her crutches, but she recently surprised us by walking without them by using her special brace on her right leg. This was very exciting for me. I held her hand and we walked together. It’s a memory that we now share.

(That’s a black and white copy of the original above. My daughter drew the picture and asked my mom if she could send her a picture of her wearing the brace so she could draw it. My daughter gave my mom the original for Mother’s Day.)

4. My oldest daughter turned 7 years old and we had another party at the same bowling alley! The theme was the Minions from the movie, “Despicable Me” and this time around the cake was store bought (yeah, we got lazy, but the cake was still yummy).

The birthday girl and her Minion cake!

5. My daughter successfully completed the first grade!

Summer vacation begins!

6. We went to see the New York Yankees play against the Toronto Blue Jays!

My youngest strikes up the funniest poses! 🙂

7. We went on vacation for a week with family to a Pocono resort, The Villas at Tree Tops. We had a lot of fun and great memories were created.

8. Final days of the summer were spent going to the library and spending time with family, then it was back to school!

My oldest entered the second grade and I’m keeping my youngest with me at home, even though she can enter Pre-K, but I’ll rather have that time teaching her myself and having fun together before she officially goes off to school next year.

So that’s the recap and there are so many things in the horizon, for example, we’re preparing to move (yikes, more on that later on), a Halloween themed baby shower as well as a destination wedding next year in beautiful Puerto Rico. Oh boy! or girl…it’s a surprise, due in November. We can’t wait and I hope to be a better blogger!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Comparing First and Last day of School pictures

Posted on July 1, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

I wanted to share this idea, which I did with my daughter, that I saw on Pinterest. On Olivia’s first day of school we took pictures, of course, but I also took pictures on her last day of school so we could compare and see how much she grew. Boy, did she ever!

Her sweet, little baby face has disappeared and in its place is a sweet, little girl who had so much fun learning. I’m going to do this every school year so I can see my little girl grow into a fine adult.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

and the resolutions have begun

Posted on January 1, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. Happy New Year! Well, it’s out with the old and in with the new. Time to start making those resolutions, if you’re into that, and trying really hard not to break them, at least for the first week! When I was younger, I really didn’t care much for resolutions, but as I got older I started jotting some things down and then it became a full-blown resolution list. Last year’s resolutions didn’t go so well. With the exception of a couple of them, the others are being placed again on this year’s list and I have to let fear fall at the waist side and accomplish what I want in my life. No more excuses!

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. – Thoreau

I decided to take pictures before my daughter went to sleep. The youngest was sleeping already. They’re not used to staying up so late so the new year’s festivities will have to wait until they’re much older.

Olivia gave me a couple of silly faces, which I loved.

My husband took a picture of my youngest the next day, photoshopped her into the above picture and using a green screen app he put us in the middle of Times Square. Funny, huh?

Take good care all and if you start a resolution list I wish you good luck. May this year be a very good one.

Until next time…

DIY IRON ON TRANSFER T-SHIRT

Posted on December 18, 2012 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. My heart is still quite heavy regarding the tragedy that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. I’m a mother of a kindergartener. I don’t know what I would do. I do wish everyone love, support, patience, and peace.

I wanted to share with you something that I’ve done as a gift for my father for years now. The other day he wore a shirt that I had personalized for him using iron on transfer paper and fabric markers. I made that shirt a looooong time ago and I was so surprised to see that he still had it and that it still looked great. My mom mentioned to me that he loves wearing the shirts that I make for him, especially the ones with his grand-daughter’s pictures. She said, “those are his favorite because he gets to show everyone his grandkids!” Love it!

Here’s my process:

I purchased my iron on transfers and t-shirt at A.C. Moore. The shirt was on sale for $2.99 and with a store coupon, I was able to get the transfers for half off.

Choose and print out your picture. For this particular brand, I had to print my image as a REVERSE IMAGE.

You’ll need an iron and I use this piece of wood, specifically for my t-shirts so I just store it away when I’m done, along with a pillowcase. I place the pillowcase on top of the wood so I can have a hard but smooth surface. I always do the transfers on the floor so I can press down on the iron.

Cut out your design or image and place it on your t-shirt right side up so you can see exactly how it’s going to look.

Flip over the paper and center it once again. I usually like to place the image one finger long down from the neck.

PrintWorks instructions: “Iron transfer with firm pressure in a straight, non-stop motion top to bottom and side to side. Keep iron moving at all times to prevent scorching.” Make sure your corners are ironed down.

Let your t-shirt cool off completely (this part is hard for me because I’m so impatient). Then carefully peel away the transfer’s backing.

I LOVE IT and I hope my dad loves it too.

I hope you guys enjoy this gift and crafting idea.

Take good care.

Until next time…

A year round gift

Posted on December 4, 2012 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. I can vividly remember the first time I gave my mother a custom-made family calendar as a Christmas gift to her. She started crying! It was of course tears of joy, but I wasn’t expecting her to cry. Be overjoyed, yes, but not cry. Needless to say, she absolutely loved it. She completely immersed herself into the calendar. It was as if the world around her suddenly disappeared and it was just her and this gift that she couldn’t wait to see. I watched her intently. She paused at each month and you could see her eyes darting here and there, taking in all of the images. A loving smile would appear on her face and I knew she was looking at pictures of herself with my daughters, her only grandchildren, so far. A small laugh would escape her when she saw the funny pictures. I got a few “Oh my gosh,” and when she reached the end of the calendar, she let out a big, “I love it!” Sweet music to my ears.

There are many places and web sites where you can make a calendar. So far, I’ve made mine on www.shutterfly.com because they offer great promo codes and free shipping. The calendars always come out great. Since I like to include more than one picture, it usually takes me more time to assemble them into place. Once you’re done and you complete your order, the calendars are on your doorstep fast! My cousin loves taking her pictures to Wal-Mart and making her calendar there herself! She’s the one who gave me the idea to give a calendar as a gift because she sends me one every year. Another tradition that we’re forming and I love putting it on my kitchen wall and looking at my gift year round.

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

Sing along with me: “Oh, the weather outside is baffling!”

Posted on November 13, 2012 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody. I hope you guys are well. Yesterday, schools were closed in observance of Veterans Day and the weather was absolutely beautiful. Since my husband had the day off as well, we couldn’t waste the opportunity to go to the park and bask in this rare weather. Off we went and I made sure to have my camera in my bag.

Olivia was ecstatic to find this giant leaf. It came home with us.

Sophia kept picking up different sticks and swiping at all the leaves on the ground.

I suddenly realized, hey we can take a pic of ourselves as well. What a concept! 🙂

Here’s my attempt at a shot of nature.

Some days I wish I was a professional photographer with a great camera, but then I see those cameras and think 1. They’re expensive 2. They’re heavy/bulky (that won’t fit in my bag!) 3. Why are there so many buttons on that expensive, bulky camera? and 4. I really don’t want to get mugged.

I’m not too fond of my current camera, but I’m stuck with it, for now. For me, my perfect camera, and I’m searching, is one that’s small, takes pictures fast and they don’t come out blurry. I HATE blurry pictures, especially when you get a perfect shot, but oh wait, it’s not perfect because it’s BLURRY! It drives me nuts! If anyone out there has any recommendations on a great small camera, oh please let me know. I would appreciate it.

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

themercadoproject

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Tag Archives: pictures

Coming to you from a new home in Pennsylvania!

Remember me?

Comparing First and Last day of School pictures

and the resolutions have begun

DIY IRON ON TRANSFER T-SHIRT

A year round gift

Sing along with me: “Oh, the weather outside is baffling!”